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I like this feature and have a number of requests for it, so expect to see them more frequently. Just remember - if you want your site Blustered, you better be a Blusterer, too. Two-way street! On to the rules.
There's a big, long intro to this, and I think it's important, but frankly I'm tired of looking at it. If you're new to this feature or need a refresher, click the label at the bottom of this post and see the first few posts. Otherwise, here's the basics:
What I'll do is list a site; you're asked to critique it. But here's the catch: to induce the most honest reactions, don't leave the comment using your normal alias/login - instead, go anonymous, and be as brutally honest (or complimentary) as you wish to be. Also, be specific, and naturally, don't be rude. If I deem anything inappropriate, I'll have no problem deleting the comment.
So, go to the site listed below, familiarize yourself with it for a few minutes, then come back and leave some constructive criticism and/or comments that you have.
Site: Stop the Planet of the Apes... I want to get off
LAMB#: 258
URL: http://stopthepota.blogspot.com/
If you're up for this treatment for your site (and you're a LAMB), send me an email with the subject "Bluster Me!" If you've already done so, no need to do it again - you're on the list, and these will be going up in order of when I received your email.
Jul 9, 2009
Brutally Blunt Blog Blustering #5: Stop the Planet of the Apes...I want to get off
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10 comments:
Nice blog with a wide variety of topics. I really like the new "Movie Review says what?!" feature. The writing is good and very observant, but I spotted several typos/grammatical errors. Nothing major, but enough for me to be momentarily taken out of the piece I was reading. Then again, I'm a bit of a grammar freak.
The layout looks good- not too complicated and easy to read. The monkey head review system is cute. The header is a little off- I like the picture, but the way the frame extends much further than the image looks haphazard.
Overall it's a cool blog, with just a couple of little things that could be adjusted. And I love the title of course!
thanks for the comments. I have actually been trying to work harder at proofreading my posts. I've started getting better at it but some still get through.
I'm not 100% happy with my banner but it serves its purpose for now. I've tried a couple times to make it look better but it never works out well so I've left it the way it is.
the header is god awful. Your conent is good. Just work on making it a lil more aesthetically pleasing.
The header is god-awesome.
Rock me, Dr. Zaius.
I have a natural aversion to black background/white font sites. I don't think that their design is bad - they just literally hurt my eyes. It's a shame, really.
Anyway, I'm a fan of this site and wish Rick could/would post more. I dig his taste in movies and writing style. Also (of course), I love the title and 'theme,' and appreciate that he not only has the Ape Ratings in the sidebag, but has one of the Ape icons for his site's favicon. It's the little details like that that go a long way with me. I also think the sidebar is clean and helpful - there's just enough widgets/information there and not too much.
As for the header/header pic - I'm a fan of it as well, though I don't like the URL and email address in there. If people are there, they can already view the URL just by looking up, and there's better places for the email.
And the size/border? How about just getting rid of the border(s)? Seems like a terribly easy fix to me.
Agreed on the white on black, with such a small font it gets a bit painful on the eyes. The header photo is perfect, but I also agree that the url is redundant. The site has a good layout and the content is good reading.
I kind of debated back and forth whether or not to leave the URL and e-mail address in the banner and it isn't exactly in there in a very clean way. The banner was kind of done haphazardly but fixing it hasn't been my highest priority... mainly because image editing isn't my favorite thing. I tend to get frustrated when things don't look perfect and then I end up just saying "forget it, that's good enough."
I think sometime next week I may try to work on the banner some. I have some ideas on how to make it better.
I'll give some thought to the white text on the black ground. That has just always been my preference but I'm not sure how much it bothers other people. As much as I might like something, I need to keep my readers happy.
Thanks for all the great comments guys. Keep them coming. I certainly try to write as many reviews as possible. One of the reasons I started the blog was because I loved to write but didn't do nearly enough of it. Having the blog has motivated me to write a lot more than I normally do. Also, I am not see many movies lately that are really worth writing about. I should be getting out to some more movies soon though.
I think the content is great, the layout is simplistic but interesting and inviting. I'm not sure I love the banner, but the monkey rating is just awesomeness. Overall I enjoyed it a lot.
I also have an aversion to reading white on black, but it LOOKS good overall on this site.
Pros: Lots of reviews, I feel the best way to get a feel for someone is the films they like and tons of reviews cinches that. Varied topics
make for interesting reading.
Cons: Not a big fan of white lettering on black, not a big deal though. The left hand column seems cluttered.
I think your banner is kind of interesting. Might be better to just keep all text off the image though, to avoid getting too busy.
You could move the blog title down, to be actual text just below the image, in a nice big title font. An all caps serif font might be pretty for the title treatment.
I agree with others that the web address etc... needs to go.
I really like your color palette, it's fun and readable but you might want to think about using less orange in your titles/subs. It goes nicely color-wise, but it's a little too much. Your sidebar titles could maybe be a more muted/darker color so the spotlight stays on your main content.
Finally, within your actual posts, maybe mix it up a bit with placing images on the left or right.
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