About
Why?
I began submitting my personal website to review sites a few months ago because I wanted an honest opinion on what my site looked like to other viewers. I’d gotten positive feedback from friends, family, and Internet acquaintances, but you can’t always be sure that they’re not entirely biased. While browsing review sites, however, I found several issues:
- Quite a few of them are either extremely inactive, on hiatus, or closed.
- Some of the ones that actually had recent updates either didn’t offer a very comprehensive review, or didn’t seem to know what they were talking about in the reviews they were giving.
- The layouts on a few of the websites were horrible.
I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t want to sit in a queue for several years, would rather not be reviewed by someone who will only list ten facts about different pages of my website and give me less points for not having a splash page, nor do I want to be reviewed by a site that isn’t in any way appealing on its own.
That’s not to say that all the current review websites were disenchanting. However, seeing that lack of a broader perspective available for designers who actually care about whether their site is appealing is what made me want to open my own review website.
History
A long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, I ran a review website. I am not going to say I “invented” the random, thoughtful paragraph-form of reviewing; however, at the time my review site was open, no one was interested in receiving reviews from me because, as a few people claimed, my “reviews [were] too long.” They took too much time and didn’t easily break down each part of the website into three bullet points that might need improvement. They were open, honest, unpraiseworthy, and most importantly, included links to helpful websites instead of telling the webmaster exactly how to fix every issue. They encouraged further research and input from the person who requested the review. Basically, they were just as harsh, helpful, and thoughtful as the review websites that are currently popular.
I really enjoyed running that website, and so I think I will really enjoy running this one. Even if you don’t want a review, I hope you’ll look over some of my articles or find inspiration in a resource link. I’m here only to help by giving one person’s perspective of the Universe.
Resume
A Tiny Bit About Me
My name is Michelle, and I will be serving you today. I am 23 years old and I live on the East Coast of the US. I enjoy reading, working, designing, writing, cool autumn days, and vanilla ice cream.
Experience
I’ve been designing websites for 9 years now. I admit at first my pages were not all that spectacular; however, I’ve never used a visual editor for personal websites, except to create a layout and then view the source to learn how to mess around with it. (This is akin to opening a free template and morphing it to make it your own, except I was only doing it as a learning experience.) In other words, WordPad has been my guiding light during my entire web design career, and though sometimes I download editors such as TextPad or NotePad++, I always go back to the plain black-and-white friend that I’ve had so many years.
Tools
Computers
· Gateway T-1616 Laptop. This is my primary computer, which will be used for all reviews.
· eMachines T3985 Desktop. Used mostly for storage, but I’ll be using it to test your reviews in different resolutions.
Connection Speed
· I use a reliable Wireless connection.
· 5.73 Mbps, as recorded when this page was made.
Browsers
· Firefox 2.0.0 for the primary viewing
· IE 6.0 for testing
· Opera 8.5 for testing
Other
· Windows Vista operating on the laptop
· Windows XP operating on the PC
· If I feel like it, I may try to visit your website via mobile phone.
· 1024×768 default resolution
Most Importantly
Browse my domains (inthelouvre.org, wherewerewe.org). Browse the articles on this website. Read previous reviews. It is more important for you to be comfortable with who is reviewing you; if you don’t like any of my designs and don’t agree with any of my tips, please think twice before submitting yourself. Maybe you’re looking for a completely different perspective, but if you’re not - if all you want is praise - this might not be the place for you. I’ve presented what I like very clearly; I will not be rude or out-right nasty in any of my reviews, but don’t expect any more than what I’ve displayed.