SarahChristine.org

SarahChristine.org

****- (Rated by 8 people, viewed by 264 people)

The personal blog of a 20 year old biology geek. Generally a focus on the general ramblings, thoughts, and ideas that pop into my head, including the occasional lulzy post, or some photography.

For the record, the layout was not created by me, it was instead designed by a friend.

I'm looking for some constructive criticisms and ideas as to how I could improve my site. I'd love to hear suggestions as to what you personally would like to see. :)

Added by Sewwy in Personal

SarahChristine.org has 8 Reviews

Below are the reviews left by other members on SarahChristine.org. Jump to review form?

  1. [img: avatar]
    Swetlana gave it ****- on 22nd Nov 2008 and said:

    Hey Sarah! I am not a pro or anything like that at designing and coding but I thought I would review your site, because I set myself the goal to review as much of the sites that joined here as possible. So don't expect a review like the ones from Jem or Aisling, but I will do my best!

    Layout + first impression

    Though this layout isn't complety made by you I just love it! It's really cute and totally tells us the visitors something about you! Since you are majoring in Biolody and studying Sciene I think their couldn't be any better layout. I also like the background of the layout, because we won't see something like that on any other site! This Molecule structure is just totally out of everything I have seen so far, and I really visit alot of different websites. I would maybe say that the categories, blogroll and comments etc. stuff is to much on your sitebar but as this is a personal blog site, I think it's okay if they are in your sidebar. What I really like in your sidebar is progressbar. Seems like you have put alot of effort in loosing wight and it seems to be working! I hope you reach your goal wight! Going further to your pages.

    Sarah

    Your page about you is pretty interesting and easy to read. I really enjoyed getting to know the person behind the site. I think it is really important to atleast know a little bit about the person who is running a site. And I really love to read about owners! You seem to be a really cool and nice person! I will have a look at your last.fm right after I have finished this review =)

    50 book challenge

    On this site the is not really alot to review about, so I won't. But I like the fact that you enjoy reading =) I do so to! I think reading is very good and useful for the language skills of a person and also the spelling. My teachers always told us to read alot and I think it really helps. I don't have any problems with spelling and grammar, at least in the German languege, the English language is a different story most of the time ;) Going further..

    The Bucket list

    I don't know what to say about this site or what to review about on here. But I really like the fact that you set up some /alot of goals for your life and I really like some of the points! Going further..

    Domain

    This is really short. I thought there would be a little bit more about your history in web-design and how you ended up with sarahchristine.org or anything like that. I not only like reading about the owners of the websites I visit but also about their history in the web-business. Maybe you could add a little bit more here.

    Links

    Here isn't anything really to review about, but I think it's a good think to link your blogrollers! I just saw that you own another site, but I won't review anything over there as you submitted this site.

    Overall

    Okay so, overall I really enjoyed the visit on your site! It's done really great and easy to navigate around. The only thing I would suggest would be to maybe add some informations about how you got into the web-design thing. But besides that I really like your site! And your photos are looking really great!

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  2. [img: avatar]
    Terri gave it ****- on 17th Nov 2008 and said:

    Sarah Christine - what can I say about your site. The layout is freaking awesome (Thanks to Reese!!) and your blog entries always keep me wanting to read more. I am sorry I don't comment enough on your site (I don't comment enough on anyone's site!) but I do read it and find it one of the much better blogs out there.
    The Bucket List is a neat idea, and as for the rest of the site... I just can't fault it right now. Except maybe throw in some nudey pictures :P

    4/5 stars because I don't think you'll try hard enough next time if I give you 5 :P

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  3. jmellors96 gave it ****- on 15th Nov 2008 and said:

    Very good! Everything fits, I HATE reading but with this blog I just want to read more and more.

    Simply everything from the font to the images just 'go'. I love it, it's not too big or too small, which for one thing irriates me the most, everything has to be 'just right' and in your case it is!

    The one thing I would pick on is, mabye make your main navigation to the other pages more 'bold' and 'larger than life' because I've just noticed it after about 5 minutes. Mabye even image links?

    Keep up the great work, Joe. :) :)

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  4. [img: avatar]
    Peter gave it ****- on 10th Nov 2008 and said:

    I see that you did not design this website, so I will only make a few comments on how you could improve the design, and the rest of this review will be dedicated to the content.

    Design (in a random, unorganized fashion):

    Some tags in the "Tag Cloud" sometimes run over other tags. I know this is usual, but sometimes it can get a bit annoying.

    The progress bar is a nice, personal touch. It is very unique and adds some personality to the page (not like the rest doesn't show your personality :P).

    The "Miscelanious" and "Subscribe" sections of the sidebar are almost useless, and the links under them would be better off elsewhere (like the link to Wordpress could be in the footer (you should just bookmark the login page) and the subscribe buttons could be near the top of the page, on every post, etc.).

    The navigation should be near the top of the page, unless you don't want anyone noticing that you have several more pages of content. The navigation should be one of the first things on the page.

    The font is the same as So Chick Design's, so you may want to change that (branding and all, ya know? :P).

    The header is a bit big. The visitor doesn't want to half to scroll down to start reading your content.

    The Content:
    Your entries seem well written and entertaining, although I noticed that 4 out of the past 5 posts were just "Blah blah #5" kinds of posts, but I noticed you apologized for that in your most recent post, so that's fine.

    You have only updated one or two times a week, but as you said, you've been busy.

    Pages:

    50 Book Challange
    I really like this idea! I think I might do this on my website (if I ever get one). But seriously, only 50 books? I've read 20 books just from one series. Maybe you can expand it when you hit the 50 mark. I like how you say the date you finished, your rating, and whether you read it a second time.

    Domain
    A bit short, don't you think? I, as a visitor, might like to here about your websites history, any past domains that it has been on, how it started, etc.

    Links
    First off, there shouldn't be bullets next to the headings ("Blogroll", "Other Sites") especially since there are only 2 of them.

    How about a resources section? Are there some tutorial sites that really helped you? Are there any articles on content or design that you like? Are there any sites that you have gotten a review from that helped you? If so, then I'm sure most web designers, or just curious people would like to know.

    Sarah
    Wow! Big image. Maybe you could have a smaller image that floats to the left/right of the text.

    I like how you divide your interests into a different paragraph, and have a link to a site that has content related to that interest. It makes it organized and people can see more about it if they want, it's not like you have your whole photo gallery or a list of all your favorite musicians, songs, and albums.

    The "Find Me" part is nice. I hate going to a website and wanting to contact the person, but there is nothing that says how to contact them!

    The Bucket List
    There's not much to say about this page! :P

    Conclusion:
    This is a nice looking website with good content, although not much. You have some very creative ideas that I haven't seen on many other website!

    UPDATED 10 Nov 08:
    Regarding the "Resource Page" I meant a section on the links page that has different resources.

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    Sewwy's Response:

    Thank you for your review :)

    I do agree about the tag cloud, it frustrates me too. I may have to figure out a way to modify it so that it stays at a particular size limit. I may also move my page links up towards the top of the sidebar, that sounds like a better idea.

    Regarding the font, there's not much I can do about that. I don't own the rights to the images, nor can I edit them, and I quite like the font that Reese has used. :p

    The 50 book challenge will progressively become the 100 book challenge and so on, I just keep it short for the mean time so it's not so daunting ;)

    Thank you for the reminder to remove those bullets from my links page, by the way. That's been frustrating me for a while and it's been slipping my mind since I installed the layout.

    I liked your ideas about a resource page, so I may include one with time. Thanks :)

  5. [img: avatar]
    ohmyerica gave it ***** on 10th Nov 2008 and said:

    I just wrote a really long review of your website but I accidentally clicked back and now it's all gone. I'm so upset right now that I would honestly just like to kick something. ::sigh:: Here we go again!

    First and foremost, I would like to say that I gave you five stars. I love everything about your website and I wouldn't ask you to change anything drastic. I mean, it's not as if I can give you six stars. Here are a couple of little things I might suggest you changing:

    - your text set on justify. This is personal preference, I know, but so are reviews. I don't like justified text because it makes spacing weird, and my eyes have to keep moving to finish reading a line when I know in my head the line should all ready be over.
    - your contact information under your profile. Just consider spacing it a little or adding some sort of spacer between "email", "sewwy", etc. because it looks like it's all one word or sentence right now.

    Your content is perfect as it is, and if you ever decide to add any more content, please keep it personal as you have been doing thus far. Maybe more information about yourself, or your opinions but if you add something that is visitor-oriented (a plugboard, free avatars, anything along these lines) you will completely ruin the vibe that your web page has.

    In conclusion, I enjoy reading your blog-- I especially like the Friday Failure feature that you post weekly. It fives your reader something to look forward to each week on your blog. I think I'm going to start following you via your RSS feed. As a matter of fact, I'm going to add it to my feed reader as soon as I submit this review.

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    Sewwy's Response:

    Thank you very much!

    I'll definitely consider modifying the justified text. I personally have a bit of a thing for it, but others have mentioned that it's frustrating, so I'll see how it goes.

    Will add a spacer of some kind, good idea.

    *hugs* thanks again!

  6. [img: avatar]
    Aisling gave it ***-- on 10th Nov 2008 and said:

    This design is rather adorable, and by rather I mean I am squeeing internally. ;) I noticed that it is not your design, so I'm not going to really focus on it. I will just point out that I think the brown background doesn't really go, and would look better as a dark grey, which would also provide a delicious amount of contrast. I also think your text needs to be a shade darker. And Pages should come before Progress Bar.

    Let's see, content. This is your personal site, correct? Therefore the first link on your Pages list SHOULD be 'Sarah.' Because that is what people come to see! I want to know about the person whose thoughts I am reading first and foremost!

    In any case, I will review the pages in the order you have listed them.

    Your 50 Book Challenge is interesting, and I really should do something similar. What I would like to see, would be reviews of each of these books. I mean, you've read them, you've listed them, you may as well go the extra step and tell us about them!

    The domain page is short and sweet and could probably be combined with another page such as Links or Sarah.

    The Sarah page is well written and extensive. There are plenty of ways to contact you, which is nice.

    Your Bucket List is also cool. But part of me thinks that the Bucket List and the 50 Book Challenge could both be sub-sections of Sarah or a completely new section.

    I apologize for the short review! Since your design isn't created by you, it seems unnecessary to discuss things like coding errors! The design looks pretty and the content is adequate for a blogger. And I'm sure that's all you really need to worry about. Good luck with your future blogging endeavours!

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    Sewwy's Response:

    Pfft, it keeps deleting my previous responses.

    Okay, so i figured out how to un-alphabetise my links, and it's now in order from Sarah, with the two sub-pages underneath, then Domain, Links and Home. Woo.

    Thanks for your lovely comment, by the way - i wrote a nice thank you but updating my response got rid of it. Sad face :(

  7. [img: avatar]
    Roxy gave it ****- on 10th Nov 2008 and said:

    So far, very impressed.

    Personally, I love the flow of your side bar, I feel like it all is in the right place. The only thing that bothers me is your 'pages' order, from the looks of it, it's in alphabetical order, correct? If only it weren't, as I feel 'Sarah', '50 Books Challenge', 'The Bucket List', 'Domain', and then 'Links', would be a much better order.

    Your blogs are very long and hearty! I love that, although I don't practice what I preach, reading long blog post is more entertaining to me rather then reading a one liner.

    Going into your pages, I notice you have a very extensive book list, maybe in the future you could start a book review and tell us what you personally thought of each book you've finished? I'm sure it would be an interesting read.

    I see on your domain page, that this website is dedicated to your "photography and written words", while I did see a few post with images incorporated, it would be nice to see more blogs with your wonderful images and the stories behind them.

    Your "about me" page is well written and has a fair amount about you, if not all! I loved reading your "bucket list" (I don't think I've ever heard it be called that!) and wish to also visit Spain and Italy sometime.

    Overall, your website was a pleasure to visit and review. I'll be sure to stop by from time to time, hopefully see more photo-blogs! Sorry my review wasn't full of ways to improve, I see no flaws with your site and its pretty straight forward. Great job!

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    Sewwy's Response:

    Thank you for the lovely review, Roxy! It's lovely to receive positive feedback along with the constructive, so don't worry so much about the lack of ways to improve. I'm sure I'll receive plenty from other users.

    Yes, the pages are listed in alphabetical order. I may have to find a way to fix that. It is rather frustrating.

    I'd be interested in bringing book reviews to my website, however, I'm already a member of a book review website (www.reading-robot.com), and so by reviewing books on my blog, it may become slightly redundant. However, I do like the idea of reviewing, and i'm sure there's plenty of other things I could review aside from books.

    I wish I was able to introduce more of my photography to my blog at the moment, but sadly, University has taken up much of my time this semester, and my camera lens has recently kicked the bucket on me. Hopefully I'll be able to share more photos with the internet in the new year.

    Thanks again for the lovely review! :)

  8. [img: avatar]
    belinda gave it ***-- on 10th Nov 2008 and said:

    Your layout is great! That illustration is sooo adorable and I love the biology theme to the layout. Everything is neatly spaced out. The only gripe I have is with your text; that letter spacing and text-justifying you have makes your entry difficult to read. The text is stretched out more than it needs to be, and I feel like I really have to drag my eyes across the layout to read the text. I recommend removing the letter spacing and justification.

    Content-wise, I'm surprised that you didn't put the "Sarah" link on your sidebar as your first link. It's a little odd that a personal site about you has the first link as "50 book challenge". I like knitting too. :3 But anyway, you need a full stop at the end of the second paragraph after "at Flickr". There's not really much other content, though I guess your focus is on your blog and photography. That's not a problem I guess, but perhaps consider adding other content like writings or what not?

    In summary, you've got a lovely layout up but the lack of content makes the blog... well just a blog really. That's not a bad thing if that's your aim, but there isn't much else for the visitor to do.

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    Sewwy's Response:

    Thank you for your review!

    In regards to the text, I find it the opposite, I struggle to read things that aren't justified! I may change it if more people find it difficult like you have, however.

    As for the links, the links are generated by wordpress in alphabetical order. In this case, numbers become beforehand, not after the alphabet, and so there's not much I can do about that. I could link them individually, but it seems a bit silly when wordpress does it for me, and updates them when I introduce new pages.

    I am considering introducing some content within the new year, maybe some funny product reviews or something. Is there anything specific other than writings you'd like to see?

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