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Rate my template?

Discussion in 'Design' started by dirkdunn, Dec 22, 2014.

  1. #1
    Template URL:
    http://dirkdunn.com/temp1/

    I am looking to get into freelance web development, but before I do, I want to make free templates for download.

    I want to reach out to the design community, and get an honest response, this would be a tremendous help.

    If anyone can tell me from there perspective what this template may need? is there something off? and how would you rate it.

    Thank you VERY much to all willing to take a minute to help me.

    I look forward to your response!
     
    dirkdunn, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  2. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #2
    I'm trying to be polite by not using the word crap, so ... how about toxic waste.

    It loads slow because of the really stupid oversized (over 600k) background image. The other thing is that the code is a real problem technically the the validator can't get past line 55 because of the tagging errors that should have been resolved before you worry about making it look "pretty".

    If you plan on doing web development you will just be another hack pumping out unmaintainable junk unless you learn that errors in the code need to be fixed and if you are not going to take the time to do it right please find another hobby.
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  3. dirkdunn

    dirkdunn Greenhorn

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    #3
    lmao. You have to be one of the best trolls i've ever seen.

    Your name is COBOLdinosaur, and your site looks like a dinosaur wiped it's ass with it. and your calling my work garbage? That thing looks like an acid trip, and i've never even been on one.

    It's built on the HTML5 boilerplate so if most of this code is "garbage", then you are calling what some of the best web developers out there have put together (E.G. Paul Irish).
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2014
    dirkdunn, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  4. dirkdunn

    dirkdunn Greenhorn

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    #4
    Oh and for the record Barney your Jurassic website has issues also according to the W3 validator. For someone who's been programming since COBOL, that sounds like a pretty long learning curve.
     
    dirkdunn, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  5. Kauser

    Kauser Well-Known Member

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    #5
    in my opinion this template is not bad. just few suggestion
    - add a small logo on header. left side. float right the menu
    - bring both content columns more closer. so it will right and left align with logo and menu.
    good luck :)
     
    Kauser, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  6. KewL

    KewL Well-Known Member

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    #6
    It looks decent but lacks content, too much empty space. The parallax mountain thing seems backwards. I feel like it should start at the base of the mountain and move up. I like the icons, maybe make the header a different color than the two boxes below the mountains?

    Overall its not bad. HTML/CSS boilerplates suck for the record.
     
    KewL, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  7. Arunsmilez

    Arunsmilez Greenhorn

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    #7
    Hello,

    Its look neat and Decent website...i give for the site 4/5
     
    Arunsmilez, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  8. kk5st

    kk5st Prominent Member

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    #8
    I don't object to white space in general, so I'll pass over that. I do have a problem with a banner image that does nothing but take up (way too much) space without doing anything for me.

    There are spurious end tags (which stop the validator). They can cause an error cascade, but usually are self healing. It's that you have errors at all that is the bad thing. You also have orphan form controls and empty list items (filled by css?), and excess list items that seem to be for presentation purposes.

    For such a small page, it is irresponsible to have so many css errors. They are, for a large part, typos; no excuse for sloppiness in what is to be made for sale.

    You must have a robust structure before you can hang stuff on it.

    cheers,

    gary
     
    kk5st, Dec 22, 2014 IP
  9. Mehrdad[

    Mehrdad[ Greenhorn

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    #9
    It's empty, add more content. Also looks more like a picture than a website!
    Too few colors, it's better to use at least 3-5 shades.
    Site is heavy (1.5 MB), reduce image size. It's responsive but when you browse it with a phone it's gone be a problem, because of it's size.
     
    Mehrdad[, Dec 23, 2014 IP
  10. ketting00

    ketting00 Well-Known Member

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    #10
    Nice job. But template like this should have a sticky header, for the better UXD.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2014
    ketting00, Dec 24, 2014 IP
  11. aidanriley629

    aidanriley629 Banned

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    #11
    If you want my critique...

    I have none. I love it; it's smooth, clean, pretty, but yeah, obviously the content needs to be changed because a visitor would think you're trying to sell him or her trees in Latin. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't work well on my phone. It won't scroll all the way down.
     
    aidanriley629, Dec 24, 2014 IP
  12. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

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    #12
    COBOLDinosaur hit a number of good points. It's painful to watch load, mostly because of bloated halfwit garbage LIKE "boilerplate". Layout frameworks -- Like Boilierplate, like Blueprint, Like bootcrap -- and scripting framework -- Like jQuery or prototype -- are some of the DUMBEST halfwit bull out there, and developers on the whole are dumber for ANY of that crap even EXISTING! They are at best a crutch for the inept, and at worst just make more work and result in code bloat for NO legitimate benefit!

    ... and throwing Paul Irish's name around isn't going to impress anyone who actually knows what they are doing. That jackass is responsible for more broken, bloated slow loading piles of crap than the next four worst developers COMBINED.

    Design-wise the first thing a vistior sees is... NOTHING -- or at least nothing of value. The content is below the fold, it's filled with layout decisions that have no real business on a modern website in the first place, and even where it's not too bad in concept it's really bad in execution.

    Let's talk NUMBERS...

    Total site size: 1.5 megabytes in 20 files.

    The file count isn't bad at all, though we'll get to that in a moment... but 1.5 megs before you even have anything remotely resembling content of value? /FAIL/ hard.

    Of that 20 files you have 8 separate scripts for Christmas only knows what -- especially since I see jack **** on that page that even warrants the presence of scripting... 154k of scripting at that which, well... Modernizr.js bull because of trying to use HTML 5 crap that has no business on websites if you care about older browsers in the first place, goofy "outdated browser" warning like the worst of late 90's practices (of course HTML 5 actively promotes the worst of late 90's practices so...), and of course the idiotic mouth-breathing halfwit nitwit dumbass garbage known as jQuery.

    Here's a tip, if you are starting out with more than 100k of code before you've even plugged in content, you're doing it ALL WRONG!

    Of course, the markup is the typical train wreck of HTML 5 code bloat and redundant semantics -- what makes those figures be subsections when they don't have content (what h2 means) or even mathematical/scientific figures? Given your placeholders I very much doubt that's semantically correct... BUT -- for it's faults on those fronts it is also relatively clean in terms of markup size; something I'm NOT used to seeing when HTML 5 and some rubbish "framework" gets involved... that said it probably COULD be leaned down further and bothering to use semantics properly would let you get rid of all the HTML5-tardery that's not doing a damned thing for you.

    Though you don't have enough of a website there to be having 44k of CSS in three separate files; particularly when your LINK tags don't even have media targets! The MEDIA attribute exists for a reason; I'm so sure your screen layout CSS makes sense on print or aural.

    In most ways, it reeks of your worrying about what a page looks like BEFORE thinking about it's content -- but you said that the moment you said "template"; dicking around making stock templates or using stock templates is NOT web design, no matter how many art faygelah PSD jockeys claim otherwise. The end result of starting out with that approach is most always inaccessible, slow loading, and lacking all the stepping stones you should have in place before even THINKING about what a site looks like...

    Since as I'm always saying, people don't visit websites for the goofy graphics and stupid layout tricks you place around the content, they visit FOR the content.
     
    deathshadow, Dec 25, 2014 IP
  13. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

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    #13
    How the **** are sticky headers better for UX? Crapping away screen space better used to deliver content is NOT a good user experience. Seriously the way people are using that garbage these days makes me whip up the knife-hand ready to deliver a pimp slap DI style...
     
    deathshadow, Dec 25, 2014 IP
  14. COBOLdinosaur

    COBOLdinosaur Active Member

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    #14
    @dirkdunn,

    Your response to criticism is generally what we expect from no talent, wannabes; but given what you are showing us your comments have the same value as the template; nothing. There is no point in responding to your gibberish as I don't think you actually want to learn you just came to get a pat on the head for your magnificent, ground breaking design. :rolleyes:
     
    COBOLdinosaur, Dec 25, 2014 IP
  15. samazgor

    samazgor Notable Member

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    #15
    @dirkdunn
    In my points of view the design can be more attractive.
    Why dont you change text font style, make the nav bar sticky etc etc.
    Before start design you should think how viewers want your site to be. And also what your clients want.

    I am not a very good designer. But i am a good viewer :p
     
    samazgor, Dec 25, 2014 IP
  16. ketting00

    ketting00 Well-Known Member

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    #16
    The New York Times do this. So why not.
     
    ketting00, Dec 25, 2014 IP
  17. deathshadow

    deathshadow Acclaimed Member

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    #17
    An excellent example of a website that doesn't understand what a website is -- hardly a shock since they're a brick and mortar for whom a website is an afterthought. I'm a little surprised they're still in business to be frank given print is going the way of the dodo and their web presence is so 1995 and such a laundry list of how not to design a website I'm shocked they even have traffic.

    Serif fonts on screen media, illegible absurdly undersized px metric fonts, fixed width layout, "semantics, what's that" resulting in ZERO graceful degradation, inconsistent willy-nilly element placements; much less the 267k of markup to deliver 15k of plaintext and three dozen content images? Ineptitude of the highest order making the New York Times' web presence an absolute JOKE... and that's before even talking about the 900k of JS in 16 separate files on a page that by all reason isn't doing much of anything to warrant the presence of scripting, and the rat-**** bat-**** dirty old **** insane 900k of CSS in two files for Christmas only knows what... probably why it takes three-quarters a minute for that steaming pile of crap to load here.

    NOT something I'd suggest trying to emulate anything from. Seriously if you don't know what's wrong with:
    [​IMG]
    Please for the love of Joe back the **** away from the keyboard and don't come back until you do. POSTER CHILD for everything wrong with most of the people crapping out websites any-old-way, and the reason many of these brick-and-mortar print companies are losing ground to companies that "Get it".

    *** sake, when the first heading on the page is a H6, it is PAINFULLY obivous whoever wrote the NYT website doesn't know enough about HTML to be writing jack **** for anybody! This is evident in what useless crap their site is on my 7" tablet, 10" netbook, or Joe forbid my phone (where they redirect a perfectly good smartphone to their WAP version)
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2014
    deathshadow, Dec 26, 2014 IP
  18. weakpa2

    weakpa2 Active Member

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    #18
    Try to optimize everything. Try to use Async attribute to your JavaScript file and Minify your JS and CSS codes.
     
    weakpa2, Jan 1, 2015 IP
  19. r2r

    r2r Banned

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    #19
    nice parallax effect,and great imagery
     
    r2r, Jan 2, 2015 IP
  20. TopForum.Ir

    TopForum.Ir Active Member

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    #20
    Too simple.
     
    TopForum.Ir, Jan 2, 2015 IP