Review of Smashed Dreams

• Site Name: Smashed Dreams
• Site Owner: AnneMarie
• Date Reviewed: 20 February 2010 (started on 19 February 2010)

Site Name

I remember when I first visited your website, I was really into more “emo”, negative names like yours, so I absolutely loved the name Smashed Dreams. I still do, but the fact that there are two D’s back to back in it bothers me a bit. Other than that, I have no complaints here.

Layout

I like the green you have used in this layout, but you’ve used it too much for my liking. I don’t like how the layout is largely one color; it gets boring quickly.

Your navigation is prominent and easy to find, which is great. I like what you have done with the hearts that appear when you hover over your main navigation, but the color doesn’t make sense because you haven’t used it anywhere else in your layout. It gives me the impression of something you may have used in a previous layout and were just too lazy to change. I’m sure that’s not that case, but that’s the impression I get.

The hover effect of the affiliate links amuses me for some reason. I like it. However, the font you have used for the main body of your text is difficult to read. It’s too big for me—I don’t like text that screams at me! I also think it could do with a larger line-height. In case you’re not familiar with it, line-height defines the space between lines of text, and a larger line-height (unit: pixels) makes for text that is easier to read. I actually think the line-height of the text is a bigger issue for me than the size of the text.

Another big complaint I have with your layout is how the links look exactly the same as the rest of the text before I hover over them. How will I know which words are links, unless I hover over each and every word I read? For example, at the bottom of your sidebar where you say, “credits can be found on this page”, I thought, “wow, she didn’t link to the page?” Then it occurred to me to hover and see what happened, and I first hovered over “page”. When nothing happened, I still thought you hadn’t linked it! Then I finally thought to try “this”, and it worked. See what I mean? You could bold them, italicize them, or change their color, for instance. Just something helpful so your readers can identify links in your text.

I don’t understand why you have kept the “Reviews” link in your main navigation. If you don’t offer them anymore and the link doesn’t lead anywhere, why keep it?

Cross-Browser Compatibility

Your layout appears the same in Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome, and Opera. Great job.

Coding

Your coding is valid in both XHTML 1.0 Transitional and CSS level 2.1! Congratulations.

Content

History: I wonder if a more descriptive link would be better here. When I first saw history, it took me a minute to realize that you meant the history of your website, and not something about the Civil War.

Domain: When you talk about Neopets, Freewebs, or any other website that still exists, you should provide a link to it, both out of common courtesy and to allow a curious reader to understand what you are talking about. You should also link to the Gimp and Photoshop (or Adobe) websites.

game which should be game in which

MS Paint which was all I had at the time. And using codes should be MS Paint, which was all I had at the time, and using codes

decent graphics enough should be decent enough graphics

neopets experience should be Neopets experience

how to use freewebs should be how to use Freewebs

Istopped should be I stopped

had ran should be had run

viewers which should be viewers, which

neverapplied should be never applied

About the Girl: school I live should be school. I live or school and I live

the state which should be the state in which

say; I’m should be say, I’m or say I’m

others should be others’

planet; and should be planet and or planet, and

You have an extra comma after Sara Barielles in your favorites list.

Advertising: Your page about who is currently being advertised needs updating. Also, a 404 error appears where the contact form to apply for advertising is supposed to be. It says “[contact-form 404 "Not Found"]“.

Affie Applications: this rules should be this rule

Your contact form has the same 404 error here.

When I clicked the link to your “ask me” page, I realized that the links at the top to all the pages within the “history” section changed. This isn’t really a big deal, but it might be worth fixing. I would suggest using a little bit of php includes there to have consistent links throughout, and so you’ll only have to change them once if you ever add or delete a link.

It also just hit me that “history” really isn’t a good title for this section, since you have so many more pages in this section that are completely unrelated to your website’s history, such as “ask me” or affiliate applications. I doubt someone would think to look in a place called history for something like that. “Domain” might be more appropriate.

When I click the link to credits from the ask me page, I get a 404 error. However, I can access the page from other pages. You should check to make sure that the URL is correct. I haven’t tested all the links from all the pages, which might be something else you might want to do. I also get a 404 error when I click “donate” from your credits page, as well as from other pages.

Previous Layouts: I like how you have live previews of each of your previous layouts. Not many people do that; it’s great to see! Like I said before, you should provide a link to deviantArt when you mention it.

Summerhugs I saw should be Summerhugs. I saw

from tutorial should be from a tutorial

Received Reviews: Is there supposed to be a place to actually read the reviews here? I only see links to the writers’ sites.

Writings: It doesn’t make sense to me to review these, so if you don’t mind, I’m going to skip over them. In general, I think they’re a great thing to have on your website for a bored visitor. I know that on more than one occasion, I have stayed on a site for a long time reading every one of the writings/articles.

Resources: I think your “21st Century Dating” article and your book review would be better placed in your writings section, since they are not so much resources as, well, writings. However, your other articles are related to websites and do therefore fit under the resources category.

21st Century Dating: Although, these should be Although these

My Favorite Plugins: availible should be available

Starting a Website: web sites should be websites

put the effort should be put in the effort

Icons: I think this page could use an overhaul. For one, a majority of the icons feature celebrity images. As I’m sure you know, it is important to be careful with usage rights when it comes to these. You should be sure to check the copyright permissions on such images before adapting them. While some levels of copyright allow for derivatives of the work (with credit) to be published on websites such as yours, others (such as MTV) are very strict and do not even allow people to email their photos. This is often something you can find in a website’s terms of use.

Brushes: These brushes are nice, but I’m not sure about the usefulness of the “squiggles” brushes. Also, why isn’t there an image pack for the circles? My favorite of these brushes are the swirls; I think they would probably be the most useful.

Free Programs: I wonder if you could get in trouble for linking to a website that redistributes Photoshop illegally.

Pre-Made Layouts: wordpress should be WordPress

The links for the theme (preview, PHP, WP theme) are not all below the image, which is I think what you meant to have happen. You should fix this.

I’m sad to see that you only offer one premade theme here! I don’t think the one you do offer is your best work, so I think it would be good to add some more, thus giving you visitors more variety from which to choose.

Tutorials:

Creating a mySQL database: Every instance of mySQL should be MySQL

Your “create new database” screenshot extends beyond the width of the content section of your layout. To fix this, I would define a width for the image, and then have it link to the full-sized image in a new window. If you need an example of what I mean, I have done that many times in my tutorial here.

buttom should be bottom

Custom Bullet Points: In this tutorial, it might be nice to explain why the CSS code is necessary. This will help readers gain a better understanding of what they are doing, rather than just blindly copying.

Rounded Corners: availible should be available

Actually, the CSS for rounded corners only works in Mozilla Firefox, as far as I know. For that reason, it will never be valid, unless all other browsers come to support it. A piece of code is only valid if it is supported by all browsers. If you know how to create rounded corners by using images, which is the valid method, I think it would be good to write a tutorial on that as well, perhaps as a complement to this one.

Also, CSS3 has already come out, so I think this tutorial needs a bit of updating, since you say, “wait until CSS3 comes out”.

whatever whichever should be either whatever OR whichever, not both.

Blending: The link to the full-sized version of your first screenshot has an incorrect URL. You have it linking to http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k97/natasha_b7/tutorials/Canvas.jpg" rel=, when it should be just http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k97/natasha_b7/tutorials/Canvas.jpg. Also, why are all of the screenshots displayed with Lightbox, but not this one? Perhaps it has something to do with the incorrect URL.

Back & Forward Buttons: It is better to display text in a blockquote using the <code> or <pre> tags than in a textarea, which I’m sure you know, since you’ve done so elsewhere on your site. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, this tutorial might help.

Blending (Photoshop): highlated should be highlighted

I think this tutorial could use a lot more detail in explaining the steps. Otherwise, someone who is not familiar with Photoshop might get lost. For example, I would explain where to find the feather setting, or that the second image should be pasted on top of the first in a new layer.

How to Make A Brush Set: I think you should specify which version of Photoshop you used to make this tutorial, perhaps also stating that things might be a bit different in other versions. For example, I use Photoshop CS3, and I need to click somewhere else to access the preset manager. This would be a good thing to mention at the beginning of any tutorials that require programs of which there are multiple versions.

Increasing Upload_Max_Filesize: you have any other questions should be if you have any other questions

I’m really impressed by this tutorial! So far it is the most unique tutorial you have on your website. I’m really curious to try it and find out my upload max. filesize, but it’s almost 2am and I’m trying to finish your review by then. I will definitely try it out another time.

Adding Sidebar: When I click this tutorial, I once again get a 404 error. Check this URL!

Custom Templates: availible should be available

copy parts of their – I’m not sure what you meant to say here, but this is incorrect. Perhaps you meant “theirs”?

I think the placement of the header and footer codes in the body of the tutorial could be better. I would place them right after you mention that they will be needed to have the theme work with the template. They seem kind of random and late where they are now.

Customizing ‘Read More’ Tag: Once again you have a screenshot that extends beyond the width of the content section of your layout.

Designing a WordPress Theme: (It’s WordPress, by the way). juts yet should be just yet

one of my plug-in should be one of my plug-ins

a pretty straight forward should be pretty straightforward

Every instance of straight forward should be straightforward. “Straight forward” is something that is pointing directly in the forward direction, whereas “straightforward” describes something that is clear and easy to understand.

your [blog] – Why is “blog” in brackets here?

furthur should be further – There are at least two instances of this error in this tutorial.

The code you have provided to place above the comment textarea is not valid. You have not closed any of the <li> tags.

Styling.css – Do you mean “style.css”?

prt sc – This is not always what the print screen button says. The one on my keyboard says “Prnt Scrn”. You might want to clarify this.

your done should be you’re done

Downloading WordPress: You mean installing, not downloading. All downloading means is that you have gotten it from the WordPress (or some other) website. Installing WordPress is the act of actually making it work on a server.

Set up an mySQL database on your cPanel. If you don’t know how, ask your host. – You could also link to your own tutorial about this!

upload it to your cPanel – I think you mean upload it to your server/website, perhaps through the file manager provided on cPanel. Remember that cPanel is just a portal that provides access to a number of useful things that help run a website.

open your wordpress file in your cPanel – Clarify. Where in the cPanel? I honestly don’t know. Also, don’t forget that it’s not necessary to open it in a cPanel. I often edit my WordPress files in a simple text editor such as Notepad.

have a change should be have to change

any questions or help should be any questions or need help

Moving Your WordPress Blog: There is way should be There is a way

Overall Impression

AnneMarie, I can tell that you are dedicated to your site. I was impressed by the amount of detail you put into the pages about yourself and your website; it really shows you care about it.

Your website is well-organized, with the exception of the pages in the “history” section as I discussed earlier. Most pages are located right where I would expect them to be, and content is divided up nicely on each page.

From what I have seen on Smashed Dreams, I do not believe that you are very strong in terms of graphic design ability. However, I was extremely impressed by your tutorials, especially the WordPress ones. Not only is the tutorial section of your website the most filled, it is also the most original part of your site, in my opinion. I think you should focus on tutorials when adding content.

Finally, it is important that you proofread your writing. You are not a bad writer, but you do make errors here and there. Writing that is free of errors is much easier to read.

Overall, I think your site has potential. Like I said before, you should focus on tutorials and maybe some other writings instead of graphics, which I think you already do for the most part. Keep up the good work! You have actually inspired me to write a tutorial now, and it’s 2:36 am. Crazy.

I have decided to award your site four out of five doughnuts, because it has great potential but is not quite at the level it could be.