Name: Erica
Site: Empty Dreams
Review completed on: 11/03/06

SPLASH PAGE

This is most probably the largest enter graphic i've ever seen on a splash page, is there any particular reason why it takes up the whole page? Splash pages should not be image heavy, at all. They shouldn't include scrollbars, either - there should be no need for them. You have listed some worthwhile site requirements, that one can view if they scroll down. Simplicity is key when it comes to site entrances - fast loading, a small enter sign (certainly not one that is over 200 kb) and site requirements placed right in front of you so there is no need to scroll down. 6/10

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

I've chosen to review your site in the skin it first loaded in...although every time I have revisted your site the skin alternates. Is this meant to happen? The skin I am viewing is titled "Rose In Disguise". At first glance it looks quite good, although I can already spot two things I'll be pointing out in the next section. 9/10

LAYOUT

"Rose In Disguise" - a blended image containing some semi-transparent elements that contain some traces of layering also. This has a very Victorian, vintage-esque look to it, feminine too. Tres artistic! The entire layout would look a lot better centralised, though - there is a considerable white space to the right that takes away some of the quality of your design. Also - there are three small green "things" at the bottom right side of your layout...I'm baffled as to what they are, and whatever they are they look quite out of place and rather weird. The colours of your tables and links compliment the image as best they can, although may I suggest bringing a bold red into the fray? Like the red of the rose in the top left corner, or even the cerise pink of the rose below it. Such colours would look great as the link hover text colour, instead of the dark brown you currently have. 17/20

CONTENT

"Behind The Pixels" - this is the first section of content you have on offer, that leads to a page with a lengthy description of yourself, followed by a series of related links in case the visitor wants to know more. I notice with interest how the page begins with a series of descriptions of yourself that other people have apparently given you, such as you're "cooler than porn", you "kick too much ass", and you're "very alluring to the opposite sex". Funny, I don't see any pictures of you to back up this statement apart from a half-hearted webcam attempt to show non-existant cleavage. Sorry to be so blunt, but this lack of modesty on your part is enough to put any visitor right off, and sometimes it's just better to put people in their place about this sort of thing. Trust me, no one is interested in reading how great one is, and what Tom, Dick, or Harry thinks about you. Fortunately throughout the rest of this page you've managed to describe yourself in a more modest, normal manner. You've covered pretty much every facet of your personality here, including concise lists of your favourite things. I love "Me" sections such as yours, that displays such a generous amount of information. There's no way anyone could read all of this without coming away knowing you a great deal better. Under the header that describes your appearance, there is a grammatical error. "Beauty is Only Skin Deep ...but ugly is too the bone"....it should be "to". At the bottom of this page are several links to other pages leading to further information about yourself. "CDs" - gosh, you have heaps! You've surely listed over a hundred here - must have taken you ages! You have a great deal of "Rush" cds - I can't say I've heard of them."Desktop" - so you have a Powerbook, do you? I've been with Apple my entire life, and I'm getting an iBook soon and I can't wait. "Googlisms" - this is generic as fuck, but you've added your own comments to the googlisms, which shows originality and makes this page actually worth reading. "In My Bag" - this page is interesting, although why not try to be unique and maybe add a picture of your bag? It would make this page different from most other "In My Bag" pages that you see quite often. "In The Stars" -an extremely long page containing massive bodies of text regarding your personality etc in relation to your starsign. This is great for you, but you can't possibly tell me that visitors are going to read all this word for word, unless they too are Libras. You have provided links at the end of each paragraph so others can find out their own details, but really I don't think anyone apart from yourself is going to find this page particularly appealing. "Quiz Results" - good that you've indicated that this page opens in a new window. However, when it does, there is a massive problem. Take a look, you'll see what I mean. There are various graphics and passages of text buried underneath your sidebar and main table. It's hard to elaborate on this but just take a look and you'll see what I mean. "What I Want To Do" - a list of 42 things that you wish to accomplish in your lifetime. Each is linked to a website, "43 Things. Com", but you ought to make it so that the links open in a new window, since they're going to an external site. This page is quite cool, unique too in the fact that I haven't seen a page like this before. I'm sure a lot of people do have similar pages, but I only go to websites I'm in the process of reviewing, I don't browse around anymore. "Where I Want To Go" - similar to the prior page, except this is a list of countries in which you want to visit, linked to "43 Places. Com". Again, these links need to be targeted to a new window. Next to each country there is a number displayed that details the amount of people also wanting to visit that respective country. 4494 people want to visit New Zealand? Jesus...well, good on them, I suppose. If you ever come here I recommend you NEVER visit Palmerston North...it's a total hole. I should know - I've lived there most of my life. Well, that marks the end of your first section. Apart from the little hiccup at the beginning I'm definitely liking what I see. Your content is concise and in parts unique, and it has set the standard for other sections to come. With that said, I'll move on to "Writings". A generous amount of poetry and prose is contained here - I'll read two pieces, one of each. "Negative Shapes" - well, call me stupid if you like but I found it difficult to understand, probably due to the number of big words included. I'm very tempted to go to Dictionary.Com to look up words such as "adventitia", "sinusoidal", and "pandimensional", to name a few. I'm guessing this poem was written for school or something, because I doubt it would be easily comprehended other than by teachers. There is a typographical error on line 19 of this poem - just add the a to "portrayl". Since I'm strongly under the impression this is a typographical error I'm not going to bother pointing out where the A is, you're clearly not stupid. "The Process Of Writing" - a fictional tale about a girl who considers herself a "real writer", who explains in detail to the reader what the "real" process of writing involves, and how "real" writers do not have to do plot outlines and the like. To be honest, the girl in the story sounds a bit big-headed...there was nothing wrong with the story itself, of course. Apart from the fact that writer's does not need an apostrophe between the r and s. Using an apostrophe in this way is optional and if you were to use it, it would go after the S. You don't need to use one in this instance though. Moving onto a brand new section now, "Outsiders". In essence this is the "you" section of Empty-Dreams.Net. In my view, this is not a typical "you" section though...oh my god, I see interactive content and contests?! More than one contest? More than one interactive page? Very well done - this is a perfect example of what a You section should contain. Of course, you have the usual (admittedly snoreworthy) array of "Quizzes" and "Reads", but it is the "Contests" and "Interaction" related links that I would prefer to focus on, as this appeals more to me. On your "Guess The Celebrity" page, none of the letters after the various full stops are capitalised. "Surveys" - surveys that you have designed yourself, for the visitor to fill out. This is a wonderful idea - would you consider displaying the visitors' answers at all? That could be fun. "Epals" - wow, this is awesome. I used to be obsessed with having penpals when I was younger, I had over 200 at any given time, and would get at least 6 letters a day. It was great fun, and I see that quite a few people have been using your service. What a wonderfully original idea, I'm a big fan of this. "Empty Dreams" - where visitors can submit their own "empty dreams", which are impossible desires (as you explained). Again, very imaginative. "WWJD" - the creativity continues here. Do you remember the WWJD bracelets? Now for your "Reads" - I've never been one to find reads appealing, simply because there are never any topics displayed that take my interest. However, one of your reads did - "Microsoft VS. General Motors" - this was FUNNY SHIT, and it made me laugh out loud. One of the links to another read contains a typographical error - "Healty" should contain the second H. "Tutorials" - a selection of Mac friendly tutorials for html coding and designing. On your pop-ups tutorial, "weither" should be spelt "whether". I'm finding your tutorials (so far) to be very easy to read and follow. If I ever made another website I'd definitely follow these, there's some great resources here. Your graphics-related tutorials contain diagram boxes and screenshots - you've gone that extra mile to make learning just that little bit easier for those willing to gain some new skills. Excellent! "Dominion" contains some site-related information, such as how you came up with the site title and what was used to create your site. There are several links on this page including one that leads to a more detailed account of the sites' history. "My Internet History" - haha, "Clarisworks"! That's going back a bit. I remember using that, too. This page proved to be a very interesting read, you've gone into so much detail here. You've certainly come a long way in the world of web design, and not without a few obstacles either. There were quite a few spelling errors on this page, however. I've spotted some throughout your site, but until now they've been few and far between. Anyway - "simular" = similar, "changeing" = changing, "simularities" = similarities, "absent-mindedly " = absentmindedly, "browseing" = browsing, "adds" = ads (in ref. to pop up ads), "absolutel" = absolutely, "They're" = their, and finally "enviorments" = environments. These errors are slightly concerning seeing as there's quite a few...whereas the grammar and spelling on your other pages is virtually flawless. "Departure" - a self explanatory section containing links for your fanlistings, hatelistings, webrings, and the like. This section also contains a resources page in which you've credited the many sites that have helped you construct yours. These links open in a new window, which is even better. This concludes my evaluation of your content - on the whole it's very pleasing. A few spelling errors here and there and links not opening in new windows, but other than that there's not much for me to complain about. 17/20

SUMMARY

Empty-Dreams.Net is a massive website, containing many interesting links that can appeal to a wide range of audiences. Your layout is superbly designed - and you offer several skins to cater to everyones' tastes. Your content serves as the core of your site - and the quality of it comes very close to matching that of your designs. However, you need to be careful with your spelling and grammar - as there were a few careless errors I spotted. Also, make sure that those links from "43 Places. Com" and "43 Things. Com" open in new windows. As far as what I said in my opening sentence of your content, try not to take it to heart. From what I read you just came across as quite conceited, and some people can find that offensive. We all have our strong points but having an "I'm so great, I'm so great, blah blah blah said so" attitude is quite offputting and can give people the wrong idea about you, or cause a bad impression. Finally - your splash page. I'd consider reducing the size of the graphic drastically. It'd be a bitch for those on dialup. All in all it has been a pleasure to review your site - it really has something for everyone, and I'll definitely be returning. I'd recommend this site to anyone who is wanting to kick back, relax, and browse through some quality content with a cup of coffee in hand. Well done.

OVERALL SCORE: 49/60