17wings.net

This is a review of Ben's Solipsus.

Layout

Looks

First/Final Impression · kero kero. crrrk (UK). ribbit (USA). croar. What's up with the frog? One day it just showed up, right? I have nothing against it, but I don't understand its presence ... Please explain somewhere. Why is Solipsus the blog with a frog?

Colors · Instead of going for an ever-present (on the internet, at least) combination of blue, red, pink, or gray, you've used an atypical color scheme. I can't think of another site with beige/light khaki, green, and rose ebony. That's good. Being original is hot.

General Positioning · The bases have been covered: the navigation is well-placed; there's a search box; the link to the RSS feed is easy to find; the site's name is easy to find &c. Everything looks splendid in Firefox. But there's a slight problem in IE.

Add a CSS hack, adjusting the width of ul.top-navigation, to fix the IE problem?

Ben, your usage of icons pwns all. You've really done a good job with the details of this design: it's simple but innovative and memorable.

Code & Coding Errors

You write neat code. Solipsus can handle internet users who have style sheets disabled. My only suggestion is that you consider adding the CSS in the head of .html documents to your external style sheet.

—Everywhere · <div id="sidebar" />. Lose the /.

Domain » Contact · There are two closed but unopened paragraph tags, <p>, after the form.

Links · At the end of the list of profile pages, instead of a closed ul tag, </ul>, you have an open one.

Content

Author

Your auto-bio is FTW. I like it; I enjoyed reading it. It's not too short. It's not too long. ♥

My name is Benjamin, I come from the UK (although I was born elsewhere) and I have been described as having a ginger personality. Whatever that means. I assume they’re referring to my hair and my Ronald Weasley nature. Aside from that, I’m the only male blogger worth knowing.

As I read this paragraph, two questions popped into my mind: where were you born and what is a ginger personality? Thankfully, you address both. I only wish that you resolved the location issue as quickly as you resolved the ginger one. The words New Zealand should sneak into the first paragraph. I also adore the unfathomable amount of modesty that you display here. You're the only male blogger worth knowing? Wow. I'm astounded by such humbleness. :P

I am of course a ginger through and through. Why of course? I'm curious. Although at times I wish that I could die my hair and look better. No! I love your red hair. Don't dye it.

My ginger hair means that I inherited from my grandad, pale skin which no matter how long the holiday lasts, will never tan!

This sentence is strange. Make it clear. You inherited your ginger hair from your grandfather, and your hair means what? That you're destined to be forever pale?

—Grammar Nazi · After Benjamin, there should be a period. It wasn't until the age of 3, that my... Remove the comma before that.

In the second to last paragraph, you use too many adverbs:

My personality can be very misunderstood at times as being extremely clingy and annoying; but that is just me! I am very wacky when it comes to my passion for the theatre, web design and my friends. That and the fact I am very clumsy at times might be the reason why I am thought of as a real Ron Weasley.

Is it enough to say that your personality can be misunderstood? I think that so: there's no need for the word very.

There are weird line breaks, <br/>s, in your second and fourth paragraphs.

Favouritism · Nice. Links to descriptions of the books &c. would make this page better. Consider adding some. :)

—Grammar Nazi · In the first paragraph, but when I do; I like ... shouldn't contain a semicolon. Use a comma.

Horror movies do not even enter the equation, as I get scared too easily therefore meaning I am mostly found behind the sofa, or on one occasion hiding behind the seat in a cinema.

This sentence is too long. Turn it into two by inserting a period after easily. Transform the second half into something like this?

Therefore I am most likely to be found behind the sofa or, as on one occasion, hiding behind the seat in a cinema.

I've developed a three-step method for dealing with horror movies (I'm not good with them either). Step 1: cower. Step 2: close eyes. Step 3: cover ears. It works every time and keeps me from getting scared! Impressive, huh? :D

Joined Fanlistings · I love the borders surrounding your fanlisting images. ♥. Milka, Mario Kart, and Gingerbread links seem to be broken. The internet fanlisting has moved.

Photo Gallery · Photos! Your photo gallery is well organized. I love it. The photos make you look like someone who is always having a lot of fun. I don't have anything else to say. ♥ But the screen shot from Snark is slightly out of place in the "Me" folder.

Web History · This is informative: you discuss several things, and you cover a lot of ground within them.

Your first paragraph is unnecessary. Consider deleting it. :) Also, consider adding some dates. When were you young and not-so-intelligent? In 1990-something? In 2000-something? Talk a bit more about how you came up with your sites' names. What inspired "Winged-Hope?" I know that you mention things about the word solipsus in your domain section, but think of adding a sentence on it here as well.

This is random (but because you want to become a professional Web designer) seriously consider registering the domains benmacgowan.com and benmacgowan.co.uk even if you'll only use them as forwards. Snatch them up as soon as possible, seriously. ♥

There's a weird line break, <br/>, in the first paragraph.

—Grammar Nazi · this game was great in broadening my knowledge of businesses and how the worked.

I think that your "Author" section would benefit if you added a bit more content. Consider adding a short list of random facts about you. You have a strong personality. Your list would be fun to read.

Domain

I like the word solipsus. It's cool. :) Regardless, it reminds me of solipsist which dictionary.com defines as being:

1. Philosophy. the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist.
2. extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires, etc.; egoistic self-absorption.

So when I think of solipsus, the first words that pop into my mind are: egocentric and narcissism. I'm not saying that that's bad. I just don't understand what solipsus means to you. It's not clear. What about the word strikes you as quirky and memorable?

Credits · I am lucky enough to have alot of resources. A lot is two words. ♥

Past Layouts · I love this. Your past designs are great.

Downloads

You want to become a professional Web designer—I want to become lawyer. So I'm recommending that you license your downloads under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-No Derivative Works 2.0 UK: England & Wales license. The terms of the CC license are the same as yours. The only real difference is that the CC license has a more official air to it.

It's super sweet of you to offer downloads. The Procella WP theme is absolutely lovely, btw.

Plug Board · The image for shemuse.com is broken; shemuse.com no longer exists.

Blog Entries

Your blogging style is "all good." Like most people with blogs, your entries cover a wide range of topics. I read all posts from September and October. Out of those, my favorites are "Pimp My Mac 2," "Your Questions Answered," and "Mixed Feelings."

Get working on the articles you mentioned in "Time to Think!" I'm curious to see what you'll come up with. I can't wait.

The "Archives" page is well-structured. I like how you have the categories listed on the side, and the entries listed by title and arranged by date in the main box. It's all so neat and orderly. ♥

Conclusion

2.99 · Solipsus' highly subjective score is 2.99. Well done. Solipsus' design is great. It's creative and different. But it's also simple, flexible, and presents content in an easy to read manner. Just watch out for little coding errors and little compatibility issues with devilish browsers like IE. Also, add more content. Don't forget about the articles you mentioned in Time to Think. ♥

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