Review by HTR
A very flattering review, with a lot of constructive criticism.
First Impression:
The lady bug is a gutsy move for a layout especially as it is not a cutesy one. It makes me think that there should be something unique here. Though with the ladybug being so big, it's odd to see no more orange in your layout. It's not bad. Wow, you have a bright background. I've been to your site quite a bit so I'm going to try to see it like I haven't poured over its contents before.
It was a phase where I had a peculiar obsession with ladybugs. Still I wasn't 100% pleased with it either.
Presentation
The mint/lime green is a little bright for the layout. Maybe the dark green around the blurred leaf would make the rest of your layout pop out more and be easier on the eyes. Another color change that would put more harmony in your layout is to have a more muted color when you hover on the links. It's very vivid as is. The current background would be a good color for it. The overall vibes I get from your layout are relaxation and calmness, so the bright colors of your button links are a little visual shock. I usually like to use text links so everything always matches the layout. I do like all the sites you 'stalk' so I can understand your putting them up proudly.
I can never decide which colors to use, which is why I keep submitting my site to WPR sites.
I dig your organization. Nice headers, but I can't help but think that it would be better if you had two different kinds of headers; one for the section name and then the subsections within. So for the 'You are visiting: bribery' title you could have an italic or spaced out header for it. Nothing huge but something that stands out more. I like how you have the page and then its section linked at the top. Do you really need back buttons then?
The "you're visiting.." are not headers, more like a guide, should you get lost, due to the links' names.
I don't really believe that a site layout really needs a focus as the content should be the focus. The ladybug that you have certainly breaks the monotony of all the green. But it is rather distracting, my eyes keep looking at it when I want to read your content. The font that you use on it is sort of boring. I don't think that it is very attractive at all. But I do see how it would be hard to find a good font that would match your site and the layout. It can't be something cutesy or grungy or fancy. I check it out on Photoshop and Kaufmann Bd BT, Jazz LET, Freehand471 BT, and FlashDLig look nice. Belwe Cn BT and MotterFemD didn't look too bad either. Where the banner blends into the white it looks off. I think it would look pretty nice if the leaves faded out a little into the content and side columns instead of just a white brush cutting them off. The border around the ladybug and leaf (and the entire layout) would look better if it was a darker green, maybe the color in the corner next to the ladybug.
I DO belive the layout needs a focus, still not THAT much. The main problem here lies with my lazyness =P
Do you need to have a dashed line under the links? You have solid lines everywhere else. Maybe just lose the dash because the link is already a different color than the text. You really don't need it. I checked on Photoshop and after whiting out the dashed lines everything looked good. It wasn't so busy and didn't make your side column look cluttered. I'm on the fence about the 'Back to the Top' links everywhere; idiot proofing is good but still they get annoying.
Yeah, I'll keep the dashed lines for the main navigation only. The top anchors, are too many for lazy me.
Content
Your personality is completely stamped into your 'Profile of Culprit' section. I really enjoyed the self-description and Romantically Uncomfortable pages, though the title was a bit misleading. It was more like Beach Uncomfortable. The pictures are organized great and the descriptions are nice, too. Since it is the section about you, this is where it is most important to sparkle with personality. You did quite well with it. ‘Bribery,' because of the nature of the section where it is all writing by you, is full of personality. It is refreshing to see a personal site that has personality everywhere and in every page. Fantastic.
I find myself rather boring in offline, but I like to think I could be somewhat more interesting, were I braver.
Your site has content that has a lot of visitor appeal. I want to continue reading about the Tips and Tricks with WPRs. I want to see more but I'm satisfied with what I have read. I think that you have enough, but the greedy visitor (and reviewer) always wants to have more. I've been to your site many times and I think this could be the second time I've reviewed your site. And you know what? I still read your content without being bored.
More WPR related pages are in the making, I even have some ideas jotted down for them. The problem is with the end result. I try to make it 'professional' but not so boring you'd fall asleep.
I don't see a page on your site that is useless or filler. I can tell that you used thoughtful judgment on what to add. It seemed to take you time to make your site and it took me an awhile to go through it, which is nice. You managed in my visits to your site to snag my attention and keep it. My interest in your site did my fade. I wanted to continue and was disappointed when I couldn't. Kudos to you.
Errors
The contact form doesn't work,
*hides in shame* Will fix it as soon as possible! Thanks for telling me.
and then there is some awkwardness in the last sentence.
'Busy means just that - so don't bother unless it's a matter of life and death; blocking is also possible, though extremely rarely and don't send e-mails here (they are deleted right away).'
It would sound better if extremely rarely was extremely rare.
I'm constantly rewriting various parts of my sentences in hopes of getting them more to-the-point:such mistakes are inevitable.
In the page 'WPR and Their Use' there is a spelling and a grammar error.
'Getting hogh grades on reviews, does not necessarily mean that you'll also get lots of visitors, nevertheless it's a good starting point in your quest to achieve this.'
Hogh should be high, and you don't need the comma after reviews.
As I was saying: I rewrite the content way too many times... not to mention type too fast.
Coding
Your XHTML and CSS are validated. Though I don't think that you need to have paragraph titles be bolded and underlined with the individual tags. Why not make a CSS header for it? Vampyre Haven has a good tutorial on CSS headers that use a different tag than the one you have now. I use those and I prefer them. Everything is very organized and your grasp of coding seems much more advanced than mine.
Conclusion
Your personality shines through on every page and it really feels like I have a grip on your personality. Your layout is fine with only a little need for tweaking here and there that could improve it. I can’t say that it is my cup of tea, but I see the appeal of it. The real highlight of your site is your series on WPRs and the only so-so part of your site is the ‘... of Forgotten Blogs’ page mostly because I think it would belong in the site section. I would totally return and have many times before. I think you have a site that everyone can enjoy.
Score:
