Name: Anna
Site: The Strange Kitten
Review completed on: 22/11/05

SPLASH PAGE

No splash n/a

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

It's small and cute. The brushes look good, and combined with the black and white colours you've used it has gothic overtones. Nice work! 8/10

LAYOUT

This layout may be simple in terms of structure, but that does not mean there was a lack of effort on your part. This is one of those layouts that suit being smaller. If I hadn't previously read on your site that you used brushes, I would have definitely thought that you drew the little pictures yourself. They definitely have that unique, 'hand drawn' look about them. The picture of yourself (I'm assuming that's you?) is a great touch, and stands out among the darker colours the rest of the layout contains. The brush with the word "Me" in it looks a bit too random where it is currently placed, on the left hand side of your graphic. I'd suggest moving this nearer to your picture, so it will give more relevance. Also, another brush or some sort of picture under the site title would complete the layout in my opinion, and make it look a little less bare. The tables are nicely arranged under the layout and the black background of them suits the layout well. I noticed upon reading in your "Site" section that this layout here is your first "good" layout attempt, and that the previous one wasn't made by you. If this is your first effort at making a layout yourself, you've done a great job! It's unique and has a personalised feel to it, especially with the picture of yourself there. 15/20

CONTENT

Your first section is the "Me" section. Tot tidy this up a bit, do a line break [br] after the title "Me", on your actual "Me" page. There is no gap between this title and the first link in the section. The first link is to your blog, which in effect is an external link to your Live Journal. I have two pointers for you in relation to this - firstly, although the link is external, it opens in the same frame as your other content, and one can hardly see anything - massive scrolling time here. To prevent this from happening you need to change the target to "_blank" or "new". Just paste this in: (replace the [ 's with the normal HTML chicken leg tags. [a href="http://www.livejournal.com/users/kittiicat/" target="_blank"]. Also, indicate next to the word "Blog" that it will open in a new window. You've provided some basic information about yourself on the following page, "About Me". While what you've put is interesting, I think you could use some more information here. Wow....another Kraftwerk fan! I've never come across a fellow Kraftwerker online before. I used to play "Computer World" over and over, and my mum got sooo annoyed by it! Referring to their music as a collection of funny noises, would you believe! Hmm. There's no "back" link at the end of this page, so you might want to add one just to make it more convenient navigation-wise. The "contact me" page is self explanatory, so I'll move on to the "Wishlist" page. The same problem with your live journal link has occured here too, with the Hot Topic link. Just add in the code I gave you above and you'll be sweet. I liked the cats you have on your "Adopted" page. Very cute indeed! Since you like cats so much, you could possibly have a page about your cats too, with some pictures! The next three links here, "Gifts", "Cliques/Fanlistings" and "Awards" could probably be put in the "Site" section instead, they seem to be more site related in my opinion. The last page here is "Before I Die". You have a very interesting lists of goals you'd like to achieve in your lifetime. You want to see Depeche Mode live? Girl, you have GREAT taste in music! I'm crazy about Depeche Mode!! The next section here, "You" only contains two pages - "Avatars" and "Graphics". Like the section previously, I think that you could benefit from some added content here for the visitors. Having more content will increase your site's popularity - and it's traffic! Your next section, "Site" consists of "Link Me" page and a "Past Layouts" page. The "Past Layouts" page was where I learned this was the first layout you'd made yourself, and as I said earlier I think you've done a great job with it. As with all of the sections so far, more content is needed here! For your "Site" section, how about a site history page, telling us how Strange Kitten came about? The final section here is "Links". Good on you for having a credits section here too. Your content on the whole is pretty average, and a LOT more is needed. Apart from the "Me" section, there were only two links in every section, when there could be a lot more! 14/20

SUMMARY

From my thorough exploration of your site I get the impression you're fairly new to the world of personal sites. You have made a great first effort here, and you show a great deal of potential. As with most beginners, if you put the dedication and the effort in you'll improve in leaps and bounds, and your site can only grow from here. Remember that external links should open in a new window instead of in your small frame, and that you need to put "back" buttons at the bottom of all your content pages. More content is needed in every section, particularly "You" and "Site". For the "You" section, maybe add some interactive opinion pages, polls, contests, reads, etc. And with your "Site" section you could add a site history page, as well as moving the "Gifts/Awards/Cliques & Fanlistings" page from your "Me" section - these would be better suited in your "Site" section. Your layout is an impressive first attempt, you have a creative flair with your designs and I'll be looking forward to seeing future layouts from you. As Kraftwerk fans say, "keep werking!".

OVERALL SCORE: 37/50