Twisted has 6 Reviews
Below are the reviews left by other members on Twisted. Jump to review form?
Allee gave it
on 21st Nov 2008 and said:Hi Enzo :). I meant to review your site a while ago, but I just kept on getting distracted by Supernatural. Bad Allee :P. Anyway, here it goes:
I think I already left you a comment about your new design on your blog, but I really do love it. It's simple, it's clean, and I love the colours that you've used. The background pattern you have is great, too. My only gripe about your layout is probably the lack of padding and proper spacing (which I think I also mentioned in my comment to your most recent blog :P).
I think you need to have a lot more padding between your sidebar and your main content. Right now, your content area looks super messy to me, because it looks too squished in with your sidebar. Also, you might want to increase the spacing between each entries. Again, everything just looks really squished. The same can be said for your sidebar, and the space between your navigation and main content. It doesn't have to be super huge - maybe just an extra 10 to 15 pixels - just enough to space things out a bit more.
I'm not a genius coder, so I won't critique your stylesheet and markup. I did, however, quickly ran your site through W3C's CSS and XHTML validator. Your CSS is valid, but you had one error in your XHTML. Not really a big deal at all, but you might want to take a look at that nonetheless.
Now, on to your pages...
ABOUT
Your About page is well written, and you definitely made me chuckle at a couple of spots. However, aside from a couple of your favourite musical artists and movies, I feel like I didn't really get to know you at all. I agree with Clem, in that I would have liked to have your personality show through more in your About page, just like it does in your blog posts. It's like that old writing adage says, "Show, not tell." You've told us a few information about yourself and your favourites, but you haven't really shown us who you are.SITE
It's fairly generic, but I do like that you've included a reason for why you picked the name "Twisted", especially since the reasons you have are really interesting. Also, good on you for including a list of your WP Plugins. I shall take a look at them later, as I'm looking for a few more plugins myself.ET CETERA
Recipes - Hmm...chocolate chip cookies. I've never actually made cookies from scratch (umm, Betty Crocker mixes, FTW :P), but I'm tempted to try this recipe out. same deal with the pancakes - I find it interesting that you have sour cream included in the recipe. Does it make the pancakes extra fluffy? Again, I don't really make pancakes from scratch (I pity my future husband), but these look really good.Writings - I took a quick glance at "And There Was You", and eep! Incorrect dialogue tag usage! Pretty much my biggest creative writing pet-peeve, ever. Tsk, tsk :P.
"We better get going." Jackie said.
should be changed to:
"We better get going," Jackie said.
Also, you should be careful of writing "talking heads." And by that, I mean, having characters just talk to each other, with showing us their actions, expressions, etc. Again, show, don't tell.
Your articles all seem to be fairly well-written. I love that you've organized them into subheadings. You didn't go into any tangents, and as Clem said, everything looks pretty concise.
ARCHIVES
It looks like a standard archives page :). Which, you know, isn't really a bad thing (at all), since it looks really neat and organized. One thing I do recommend you use (since I think you're running on WP?) is the Clean Archives Reloaded plugin. I'm using it in my own archives, and it's really cool, because everything is collapsible, and it makes the archives look a ton more ogranized.I really love your blog - I mean, hey, you're in my blogroll and feedreader :P. I just think you need to translate your personality from your blog posts to the rest of your site pages. You come across as someone really interesting from your posts, but the rest of your site doesn't reflect that. Still, you're off to a good start :).
UPDATED 21 Nov 08:
And by this:Also, you should be careful of writing "talking heads." And by that, I mean, having characters just talk to each other, with showing us their actions, expressions, etc. Again, show, don't tell.
I really mean this:
Also, you should be careful of writing "talking heads." And by that, I mean, having characters just talk to each other, without showing us their actions, expressions, etc. Again, show, don't tell.
Sorry about that!
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![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Haley.png)
Haley gave it
on 19th Nov 2008 and said:My Review:
--Style/Design--
I guess I am not in the majority of the other reviewers, but I don't like this setup. I think it's way too plain (and I usually like plain). You could have added a background or image element to your entry titles to jazz it up. You could have made a logo/image for your header title (Twisted) versus the text. You could have customized your unordered list buttons. What I'm saying is that it looks to me like your site lacks the finishing details. I don't really get any eye candy from your site with its design. It's just sort of...there. The color scheme is nice, but I don't like the entire block setup. I also don't like the two entries per page thing.
--Content--
Your content is good. You have varied information (including some yummy recipes) and plenty of details about yourself. Your sidebar could use a little of that information there, in my opinion. It would be nice to see some widgets of some kind on your sidebar besides your links.
--Coding--
Your XHTML is surprisingly clean for WP. Usually there is a ton of junk floating around, but your site is very organized. Your CSS is nicely cleaned and well formatted. Big points.
--Originality--
Like I said in the Style/Design section, your site lacks the finish details. I really do not like the whole one big block setup. I think you could have done a little better with the actual style. The coding and logistics are good, but the actual visuals of this site are not the best.
--Overall Thoughts--
You are 14, correct? I think you have a TON of potential and I think you are off to a wonderful start. Experiment with colors, shapes, and images. Try to add some more pops of character. Your site doesn't scream YOU. It just says "Hi, I'm a blog." It's still above average in terms of design/coding/etc, but you have a little ways to go until it's really good.
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![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Tiffany.jpg)
Tiffany gave it
on 18th Nov 2008 and said:Layout
Whoa. The first thing I notice about this layout is the background and the gigantic georgia faced header/title. The layout is essentially small, but the utilization of your space isn't worthy.- The header is way too big for something so plain. Make it smaller or make it flashier. (The latter would make the whole layout better.)
- Too much georgia. Add other serif fonts. http://jontangerine.com is a great example.
- Boring color scheme. Use a color that offsets the blue and green in your background pattern.
- The sidebar bland. Your welcome is simple, but wasted space. Add something worthwhile. Same goes for the quick links. Try to make them images (they translate* better).
- I just realized the main problem with this layout. It looks like a template with a few colors changed. Make it more streamlined.
- Why does no body center their pagination?
- The footer isn't really useful. Your layout wouldn't be affected without it.
- Add more padding to the navigation links.Organization
- Make your meta-data and comment linklook less like the text.
- Divide up the sidebar.Pages
About
- "If you’ve been around this site for quite a while now, I’m sure you’ll know that my name is Enzo." sounds a little snobby.
- "English really isn’t my main language so if ever you encounter a grammatical error somewhere in this site" you asked for it so: replace 'ever you' with 'you ever'.
- Sub-pages?Site
- Bland.ECT.
- I really love recipes, but people eat with their eyes. Pictures please!Modeling Industry
- Sashay?
- I love how you mention Sasha P. first.
- Do top models even go to go sees?
- Some models's open mouthes work.
- Do models even appear on the cover of US Vogue? It seems rare.Archives
- That's it?!* This doesn't refer to web-standards. For example, how was I supposed to know the RSS Feeds link was in the sidebar? They're commonly show as buttons.
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Enzo's Response:
Hmm...the site is originally designed to display Century Gothic for headings and title. Perhaps you don't have it installed on your computer that's why too much Georgia is showing?
With regards to the modeling industry article:
- Yes, honey, sashay
- Don't we all just love Sasha?
- Yes, some of them still do.
- But, mouth open in every single photo? Don't you think that disturbs quite some people. *cough*Coco Rocha*cough*
- True, they don't really...Thank you for suggesting pictures in the recipes! I'll try to do that soon. Thank you for doing such a thorough review of my website.
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Diana.jpg)
Diana gave it
on 18th Nov 2008 and said:Hello there!
Ooh, I'm loving the simple layout. I think it needs more padding on the sides of the container/wrapper/whatever, and that the blue links need to be a tad darker on everything except the blog headers. Ahh, this layout is so cute!
About--detailed, yet not too long. Awesome.
Site--"I would like to thank," haha. As if you just won an award, that's cool. I like this page too, it's um detailed, yet not too long.
Etcetera-- RECIPES. I see a typo in your Pancake recipe. "purose" should purpose. In your writings, I think you should split up the prose and non-fiction. I like "Behind the Modeling Industry" a LOT.
Archives--seeing that you have your categories in your sidebar, I see you have a good, standard archive.
I enjoyed your site :D
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Enzo's Response:
Thank you for pointing out that typo! :)
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Clem.gif)
Clem gave it
on 18th Nov 2008 and said:Oh hai, Enzo, I'm going to review you today because I can't stomach crappy sites with 21012370213 pages of content!
I like the new theme you put up a lot. It's simple but not extraordinarily plain. I really like the background you're using, and the green is a lovely touch. I LOVE green, in case you didn't know that about me.
This is just a general pet peeve, but I don't really like it when the sidebar is to the left, especially when it's not in a box of its own colour. It just looks... weird. You don't really need to worry, since I'm just being picky and bizarre, but I just thought I'd mention that.
There are a few things I'm going to point out about this design that you could fix.
1. Century Gothic is a very thin font, so boldening it would make it stand out a bit more.
2. Your sidebar needs more padding on the left.
3. The line above your footer looks really weird/out of place/ etc.
4. I feel like, since this is such a simple layout, you would benefit from an equally simple logo next to the site title. I'm really loving the trend of having cute little logos, a la tormentosa.org. See what I mean? Nothing complicated, but something that kind of ties the whole design together.Overall, a pleasant to look at and organised layout.
ABOUT
It seems like nobody writes about their personality anymore! This is a PERSONAL site, so I want to know what makes you YOU. Are you talkative? Shy? Adventurous? Lazy? I want to know! Since I don't know you as well as I know other people on the internet, I would really love to have this kind of information available.In general, this page is decent. It's not completely dry; there are some witty bits, and it's informative. I just want more.
SITE
Very basic site info. I don't really deduct points for a boringish site section, but it is a bonus to have one! Hint hint.ETCETERA
Two words: et cetera.The recipes are great; these are a wonderful addition to any personal site. Too bad I can't cook or I'd do it too!
Your writing was quite nice to read; I especially enjoyed "Behind the Modeling Industry" and "Keeping Your PC Safe" because they were concise, interesting articles that you don't see on many personal sites!
ARCHIVES
Nicely organised.So, overall, I think your site is pleasant and enjoyable. I would love to see more in the way of articles from you, and I found it odd that you didn't have a links page. What personal site doesn't have a links page? Right now, your site kind of seems like "just a blog" that's recently expanded. You have a solid start, but I'd like to see MORE.
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Enzo's Response:
I'm actually working on a links page. Just that, my blogroll is still very unorganized at the moment. :)
![[img: avatar]](/avatars/Aisling.jpg)
Aisling gave it
on 17th Nov 2008 and said:I really like this new layout of yours. It's simple and blog-oriented but not boring. The background is pretty and interesting. And I love the green, which is weird for me since green is far from my favourite colour.
Not sure about the way the footer is divided though. It looks off to me. I think it would look better if the top border was just a few shades darker than the creme colour used for the main background. Footers are nice to have defined, yes, but right now it seems to cut it off from the rest of the layout.
I usually don't look at coding, but my validation thingy says you have 5 errors. If you want to fix them, fine. If you don't, I don't care. :B
Your About page is very well written, and I actually lol'd a few times! I also learned that you want to be a fashion director? I HAD NO CLUE! That sounds really cool! Good luck with that!
Your Site page continues to be pleasant, and also falls nicely into the Site page mould, which is neither a great nor horrid thing, it's just like most site pages in that it provides the same information as site pages the world over. ;)
RECIPES! These are my secret love, I have some on my site too. I love recipes sections because they can all be so different. One day all the personal blogs with recipe sections should have a bake-off, and then blog about it. :D
I flipped through some of your writing as well, and it seems well done and your tone is pleasant. In fact, your tone is pleasant throughout the website, which is very nice. I enjoy the pleasant, polite tone a lot more than the blunt, patronizing tone that is often dominate in our bloggy world these days. ;)
Overall, VERY nice. :D
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