posted
Howdy, folks. I'm redesigning my web site (though the changes are rather minimal), and I'm looking for some feedback. Tell me what you like and dislike about me. Tell me what rocks and what utterly sucks. Tell me if using a globe for the o in "world" is cool, lame, or cool in an ironic way.
But don't tell me that I don't have any pictures in my pictures section. I'll get around to it.
posted
Yes, Katie, the irony is almost mind-boggling.
Unless I decide to pay for hosting, it's either banner ads or pop-ups on every page. I hate pop-ups, so I chose banners. I'm still not sure what to do with the home page, though. It definitely needs something, though. Suggestions?
celia, what did I say about pointing out my picturelessness? I need to steal my brother's digital camera for a little while. I also need to get the photo CD from the wedding and reception. Patience.
posted
Eh, it isn't really irony. You wrote about a subject that was important to you, and in the above sentence, even though you were single, there is a whisper of wistfulness. You commented on the social structure as someone who wanted to join the parade. I'd be surprised if the events had been anything else.
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I can't find anything quickly. *misses Kayla*
Your home page is the page people see when they first come. There should be a clear navigation structure that lets people know what is in the site, a way to contact you, links (headlines) to prime content somewhere within the site, something distinctive (a picture or something), and a something to read (look at, vote in) that changes often.
And a tag line.
This is only if you want your site to be an active site that people return to. If you want it to be an electronic business card/resume/portfolio (which is what mine was), there is less need for changing content. People will probably only come once or twice or when you send out or post a link to it. This is considerably less work than an active site. It all depends on what you want to do with it.
posted
You know, I never noticed before, but in your engagement photo, your torso looks huge. Is it just the way your shirt is hanging, or do you actually have a freakishly long torso?
My thoughts on your web site:
I like the overall design, although more content would be nice.
If you want much repeat traffic you might want to consider adding some sort of regular update, like a column, or serial story, or something like that.
You might want to recode your links to external sites to open a new window, at least the ones that are in the middle of a big block of text (such as your kakistocracy or philologist links to dictionary.com). That will enhance readability.
You didn't list any of OSC's books among your favorites on your "The Glorious Present" page. This isn't so much a complaint as just a surprised comment.
Your rollover images load very slowly. You might want to try adding some code to preload them.
In general you might want to consider standardizing your navigation menu. It's one thing to have the menu on the front page be unique, but there are some minor differences between the menus on some of the pages. A unified style would pull everything together, I think.
You don't have to put up pictures right away, but at least give us something to look at while you're working on it, even if it's just a blank page that says "Go away, I'm not done yet."
posted
I also really like the titles at the top of each page. If you plan on looking any more at different hosting, Netfirms is nice. It only puts one, not too annoying banner at the top of each page.
Posts: 4292 | Registered: Jan 2001
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Yes, my shirt is hanging funny. My torso is slightly long, but not freakishly long.
I'm slowly working on content. I like the regular update idea, though. I'll work on that.
How do I make links open in new windows? I'm rather new to HTML.
I left out lots of my favorite books. I just listed several that came to mind. I can certainly add some Orson Scott Card stuff, though.
The images should be preloading (Dreamweaver says they are, anyway). I don't know what the problem is.
What do you mean about the navigation? Are you referring to the fact that when you're on the About Me page, for instance, there's no navigation button for About Me? If you're talking about the three-part biography pages or writing pages, then it's simply because I haven't changed those yet.
I'll link to the very old Photo Album page for the meantime.
Your typical anchor tag reads like this: <a href="http://www.site.com/page.htm">. To make the link open a new window, do this: <a href="http://www.site.com/page.htm" target="_top">.
Eh, it may just be my browser. But I've noticed in my own history with JavaScript that rollovers can be very finicky. For some reason even the same code on two different servers can behave differently.
Some of the sub-pages, such as your writings or your bio pages, have bare links instead of images for the navigation menu. Leaving off the current page is pretty standard, though, so I don't think that hurts the design.
posted
"I want Mrs. Roach to know that when I enter the workforce as a skilled editor, I will make more money than her."
*polite cough* I hate to point something out to, y'know, the freakin' index to The Chicago Manual of Style, but something's wrong there. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote: A strange thing has happened to me since becoming engaged: I no longer sympathize with single people. Not in the least, to be honest.
Funny. When I became a parent, I stopped sympathizing with people who don't have kids. You have no idea how mind-numbing it is to hear someone say "I just don't think I can make it. I just miss my boyfriend so much and I feel lonely. How can I finish school so far away from home? I'm too sad to make it to class on time, and I'm failing them all. I think I should just go home." I want to say "Get over it! Just do what you have to do!" I cannot feel sorry for someone who thinks their life is hard when they have NEVER once done something they didn't want to do. When they can get up six times in the night with a screaming baby and THEN get up six MORE times with a toddler that won't go to bed, and clean the house on the power of one hour of sleep, then maybe I'll listen to them whining. But I'll bet MONEY they won't be whining about that unimportant crap anymore.
posted
Funny; I didn't. You can't expect people to be able to handle things like separation anxiety and homesickness as well as you Maureen, seeing that you've obviously developed such psychic muscles against exhaustion and hardship. It's all relative to what they've known; excuse me if you were one of the ones who was able to handle it entirely level-head, provided you experienced anything similar.
And not everyone who has those feelings you want to "FREAKING tell them to stop whining about" has never done anything they never wanted to do.
LOL, My husband just asked who Brinestone was. I'm like, "It's Diosm...uh, she's married to...ummm... It's a chick, Jes." There's nothing I can say that will give him a clue to who you are. I just find that amusing.
Oh, and Emp. I've never said that to anyone, least of all the people who are talking to me. It's just what I'm thinking when they're saying it. So sue me. You telling me you've NEVER had an uncharitable feeling or thought? I do care that people are upset or sad, and I feel bad for people who are having a bad time, regardless of the reason. My rant was about "people who don't do what they know they should do." And you KNOW they should be doing it. So there.
posted
What the freak was that? What are you talking about - what they should do?
Added: Okay, I just read Emp's post. Was that serious? Was MJ's rant sincere? I read it thinking that no one would post something so insensitive and nasty unless it was a parody, but in the context of a parody, none of the rest of the posts made sense. You mean it wasn't? Was DD's post? Please?
*awed*
Thank you, Daisy Buchanan. I hate it when my worst suspicions about human beings are confirmed.
quote:I cannot feel sorry for someone who thinks their life is hard when they have NEVER once done something they didn't want to do.
I couldn't agree with you more, Maureen. No one ever does anything they don't want to before they have kids. Life before kids is all happy fun-land where nobody has any responsibilities that matter. I really love this mind-numbing, soul-swallowing corporate job of mine. I just adore pinching pennies to pay my bills. Nope, no responsibility in being the sole earner in the house.
posted
If you want my honest opinion on you website, I utterly disliked it. When I was 10 years old, I could make a better layout than that. Well you learn lessons from your mistakes and soon enough you will make a better one.
Posts: 9 | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Maureen, your post came across as incredibly insensitive to people who have those feelings (whether you do feel for these people or not), and there are innumerable people out there still doing what needs to be done and feeling exactly the way in the example you presented. And yes, I have as much right to attack any of your own uncharitable thoughts as you have the right to do the same towards mine.
And, though this may be a bit of a stretch, were you implying that having a child was something you didn't want to do? Or did you not want to wake up several times at night for your children? Otherwise, your reasoning isn't making much sense to me.
Posts: 1004 | Registered: May 2002
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posted
Max Factor, I'm not normally this direct, but I sure hope that your post was some kind of a weird joke. If not, you can feel free to shut up and go away until you learn a little tact.
Posts: 83 | Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Guys, don't take over my thread and turn it into a nasty, hurtful discussion.
Max Factor, do you have anything useful to say? I could tell you that when I was ten years old, I could write better than you can, but that wouldn't help you at all.
Jeni, thanks for telling me about Netfirms. My site is enjoying its new home.
I like the over all design of the site. It's very easy on the eyes. The colors are a nice choice (big fan of blue on black). The rollovers, however, are... well I am not really sure what to make of them. I mean all they are are symbols. And the fact that they show up off to the left is a bit disconcerting. Perhaps centering the symbols would make it less so. (This of course could be just me and therefore could be regarded as the ramblings of an insane person .)
Content is funny and interesting. I do love the haiku.
(Psst... some of your links on your pictures area are not working, but as you said, it's all a work in progress.) Good luck with the site.
Oh, and I believe <a href="http://www.site.com/page.htm" target="_blank"> will get a link to open in a new page (among other ways). <a href="http://www.site.com/page.htm" target="_top"> will open a link in the same window, and it can be useful for breaking out of frames.
Posts: 822 | Registered: Jul 2001
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quote: Or did you not want to wake up several times at night for your children?
Nope. I wanted them, but does anyone really look forward to getting up over and over again when you know that the lack of sleep is just going to make you behave poorly to your innocent little babies? No, I can honestly say that having kids is about doing things you don't want to do about 90% of the time. (I'd like to hear someone with children argue me on this one.)
And let me reiterate for everyone who seems to have missed the point. YES there are lots of people who don't have kids and still know how to do what's important. I'm talking about people who do not have any clue about the way the world works, and I really don't know why. It is extremely hard to feel sorry for people who seem to think everything should be easy and things should just be given to them. My mother is almost fifty years old and does have a kid and yet never seemed to learn this concept. So there are exceptions, but I'm telling you that raising children brings an entirely different light onto matters.
I can just feel all the people out there saying, "and who are you to think you know what people should do?" and I will tell you right now...I'm the one that's done it. I'm not insensitive to their sadness. I do care that they are upset. But I get very upset when they refuse to do the thing that they really should and then can't seem to figure out why things aren't going their way. Like the example in the first post. A person that didn't want to finish college because she missed her boyfriend. So she quit and went home, he broke up with her, and now she doesn't have a job and feels she's in too much of a jam to go back to school. Am I sad she got dumped? You bet. Do I wish she had a good job. Yes. But I don't sympathize with the inability for her to realize that she's going to have to work to get somewhere. It pains me that she doesn't get it.
In a way, my post was a parody, but only because of emphasis. The actually point behind it was how I really feel. So now I'm going to go back and edit it to be more user-friendly. I'd like to see how that effects people.
quote: When they can get up six times in the night with a screaming baby and THEN get up six MORE times with a toddler that won't go to bed, and clean the house on the power of one hour of sleep, then maybe I'll listen to their stupid whining.
Guess you've never been a camp counselor
Edited to say that the website rocks, keep up the good work!
quote:I'm talking about people who do not have any clue about the way the world works, and I really don't know why.
Then use your imagination. It's okay to understand someone's reasoning without accepting or condoning it.
I have a roommate whose favorite adjective is nuts. Everything is nuts. Everything she doesn't approve of, doesn't understand, or wouldn't do is simply crazy. It makes for a very boring conversation, actually, but more than that, it removes the onus of trying to understand. You don't have to be compassionate, understanding, or forgiving if the other person is simply crazy and you're much to sane to ever get it. That's not a pretty trait. You can be successful and happy without rejecting as crazy those who aren't.
posted
What I meant by my post was that I'd been feeling a little whiny over the past few days because I'm busy and don't have time for writing and spending as much time with Jon Boy as I'd like. I was put out by homework and dishes, and I needed her reminder that I need to buck up and stop feeling sorry for myself just because I have to do a few things I don't want to do.
I wasn't saying I agreed with everything she said; I was saying her post spoke to me.
Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Wow! You're studying Welsh? My oldest son (sophomore in college) just asked me yesterday if there was anyone in the area who could teach him Welsh -- none of the universities here offer it. (you aren't planning a road trip to Kansas, are you?)
I liked your website overall. It seemed a little "dark", as a contrast to what I read as a pretty bright personality. I enjoyed reading your bio pages (although I was a dork and went from the middle section BACK to the early years, because I didn't scroll down enough to realize there was another link below to the "present" years -- my mistake).
posted
Larisse, the reason that the rollovers even exist is that I discovered that I could make rollovers. For some reason, they please me, even though they're rather pointless. But thanks for the HTML advice.
Farmgirl, I am sorry to say that very few places offer Welsh. And no, I'm not coming to Kansas to teach it, especially since I can barely count to ten right now. Sorry.
And I realize that the site is rather dark, which might not be an accurate representation of my personality, but like the rollover buttons, I just like it. Maybe I'll play around with the color scheme and come up with something better.
posted
Okay, all you web gurus. How do I create a page that will automatically redirect traffic from my old URL to my new one? (You know what I mean, right? One of those pages that says, "Jon Boy's World has moved to www.galacticcactus.com. If you're not transferred in a few seconds, click this link.")
Posts: 9945 | Registered: Sep 2002
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