travisnapoleansmith Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 I have complete a major overhaul with my resume site using PHP / MYSQL / and CSS. I have checked each page in IE 6/7, FireFox, Opera, and Safari. Everything seems okay. I even ran it against W3C standards and it validates. I just want to have some honest feedback before telling potential employers about it. The address is http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/ Have a look. Thank You Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
webtuto Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 design is ugly and slow :s Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-685908 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mchl Posted November 9, 2008 Share Posted November 9, 2008 Slow? Huh? Not really in my taste, but it is interesting. I think that in some cases the font in buttons is too large. Almost touches top and bottom edges. Also buttons need some more work, as they look bad at edges. The buttons that appear at bottom are not aligned with background (and I suppose they should) Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-685912 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 9, 2008 Author Share Posted November 9, 2008 I'll see if I can optimize the site a little bit more to make it run faster. Also I will make the top buttons text either smaller to fit the larger words or cut out a few words to make them shorter. The bottom panels <about me; contact me; print preview> is aligned with the top menu so it follows the same slant. The panel just above it, I will move to the left a little bit more so it aligns with the top menu button <projects>. I had to wrestle with myself with using purple buttons because I am a guy but it seem to have look okay compared to blue; red; green. I am not quite sure what to do with the buttons to make them look better. I will remove or I will adjust the black edge that makes them popout a little to see if that will work out better. Also the design of the page shows well when looking at Curricular Experiences page - http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/index.php?idnumber=800 . Thanks so far for the feedback. Travis http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/ Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686102 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWater Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I think that there's too much going on and it looks realllly unpolished. When you go for portfolio sites, you need to think of something that really matches your work and sort of brands yourself. I personal think that the design you just posted is really ugly, but if you think that it defines your work, go ahead with it. If you do decide to change it though, make a really clean design that's pleasant to look at. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686388 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg_alpha Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 - I ran your site through Firefox's Firebug extension - Smush.it! and found that there are some serious image optimizations that could be done. I would seriously consider a lighter weight design. Something that isn't heavy on images. The buttons as other have mentioned are rough looking. There may be some free icons / button graphics out there if you need them. Perhaps even using a template to kick things off? - Your CSS code doesn't validate. - I also agree that you have too many buttons scattered all over the place. I would consider simplifying the design by integrating drop down menus and whatnot. If the visitor's eyes fight too much with all the detailed 'commotion', this isn't good. - Stuff found in links like WARP / WQKE and WRHO are filled with download files that are non links that have strike throughs... Not too appealing I don't think. - I wonder why people only offer resumes as downloads. Why not simply have your resume out on the open as well as offer the addition to download it? You don't have to put sensitive info on the live version on the site..just might save some people from having to download and open it on their end. It's a unique attempt you have going... just needs some more guidance / polish IMO. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686417 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 The original CSS did valid but didn't work right in IE because IE doesn't support CSS on all elements. I just looked at the errors that are generated and they are because IE 6 and 7 doesn't support opacity that is in CSS. So I had to use an IE behavior to make it work properly in IE. Firefox does support it but it is for CSS 3 which if you use in IE 6 or IE 7 doesn't work at all. So I am up a creek without a paddle because of IE. That is not a major issue because the other browsers will ignore the IE behaviors. I will optimize the buttons. I can't make a drop down because IE 6 doesn't support the hover pseudo class in CSS. Most of the people that are going to be looking at this are in television production. Many TV stations that I have been to use IE 6 some use IE 7; no firefox. The real problem is they don't have javascipt turn on because they are worried about the security problem with it turned on so I can't make a drop down menu using javascript. So I used the pseudo class for the users of IE 7 and Firefox but for the ones that don't I made it possible for them to click on the menu and when it shows the starting page for that top menu item the side menu would have the options that would be in the top menu. So I am kinda make this work in as many browsers as possible. I'm treading water with the fact that a lot of places that I am targeting don't have javascript turned on. I'm just hoping that IE 6 just goes away really soon because at least IE 7 has better support for CSS. The crossed out items listed on WRHO and WQKE because I don't have the download ready for them to download. I can turn off the text so it doesn't show and just put that the downloads will be in the near future. So it is a little bit cluttered; I will figure out another way to make it work without the junk. Any Ideas. Thanks, Travis Smith http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com Update: I just used SMUSH IT! on my images and it did cut down on image size for the GIF files but it converts them to PNG which is not support in IE 6 so I can only use the jpeg ones for now which didn't make a size difference at all. So I will see if I can re-optimize the gif files without using SMUSH IT! I will see how well Photoshop does with it. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686430 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 I was reading again what has been said so far and with the resume section the person can view the resume online by using the sections on the left hand side as well as a shorter traditional resume as a download. Thanks, Travis travisnapoleansmith@gmail.com Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686441 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 Fixed the validation problem; make sure to select CSS3 not the default 2.1. It does validate! http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator?uri=http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/&profile=css3&usermedium=all&warning=1&lang=en I also remove a background on two group of buttons. One at the top menu and the other at the bottom multi-page panel. I think this might help out a little with the buttons. If not, then let me know. Thanks, Travis http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686456 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 I just looked at my site at a much lower resolution and now I see why it looks so bad to some people. I looked at it at 1024X768 and the stuff is spaced okay but the colors make it hard to look at. Also you have to do a lot of scrolling. I'm going to have to brighten it up a little. I thought I had looked at it before but I guess not. I can't imagine at 800X600. I use 1280X1024. Maybe I will make the colors more distinct like a blue background with red buttons and white text instead of blue background / purple buttons and white text or something where the buttons are more distinct because purple is made up of blue and red and the site has a lot of blue so some red might help it out a little. Thanks, Travis http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/ Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686485 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWater Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I still think it's a bad approach for a resume site. I think you honestly tried way too hard for this and it ended up not looking too pleasant. Just my opinion, and I'm not trying to be offensive. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-686579 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 10, 2008 Author Share Posted November 10, 2008 I'm agreeing with you on that. I need to make an overhaul of the design - make it a little bit simpler - remove some of the panels as well as combine some of them. That is what I am looking to do. I just have to work on a new design look. At least with the way it is designed it is not hard to make these kinds of changes because I used a separate CSS file for the look and MySql for all the data. So I guess it is back to the drawing board! I will work in Photoshop to get a design then I will post an image of my idea of a design for this site. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-687150 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWater Posted November 10, 2008 Share Posted November 10, 2008 I'd suggest not using all of those images, by the way. Also, make your content easy to spot; have clear boundaries between different parts of the page and stuff. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-687153 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 I just finished a mock up in Photoshop before I make any real changes to the site. I am posting a before and after picture. I removed the side panels and move everything over a little bit. I also made the bottom About Me - ETC panel outside of the content container. I also moved over the multi-page panel to align with it a little bit better. The text is just in a block form and not the way the text will look on the real site. I also was thinking of changing the button colors to red instead of purple, I kinda of have a problem with purple buttons, but I just want to see if I am heading in the right direction. Any Thoughts before I go any further and do this for real. Thanks, Travis http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/ [attachment deleted by admin] Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-687528 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 11, 2008 Author Share Posted November 11, 2008 This is a more accurate before: Thanks, Travis http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com [attachment deleted by admin] Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-687531 Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkWater Posted November 11, 2008 Share Posted November 11, 2008 I really do think that you're approaching this all wrong. =/ Here are some examples of really good portfolio sites that I've seen: http://nb.bottledsky.com/ http://bnweiss.com/ http://dominikwroblewski.com/ Just look at other sites for inspiration if you have to. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-687853 Share on other sites More sharing options...
travisnapoleansmith Posted November 13, 2008 Author Share Posted November 13, 2008 I gave it a ago again in Photoshop. I re-designed the backdrop a little - removed the circles - make the backdrop for the content part of the site not using that slanted look. I used the round corners of the original and make it 4 corners look that way. I remove the side panels, move the bottom part more down below the content and a few other things. I did keep the same colors for now but that will probably change. Here is a photoshop rendering of it. Any Comments / Issues / Etc. Travis Smith http://www.travisnapoleansmith.com/ [attachment deleted by admin] Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-689103 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mchl Posted November 13, 2008 Share Posted November 13, 2008 It certainly does look better now. Quote Link to comment https://forums.phpfreaks.com/topic/131990-looking-for-critique-for-a-resume-site/#findComment-689120 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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