My First Personal Website

[mschaller]

I began teaching myself XHTML (1.0 Transitional) and CSS roughly one week ago. I have a website in development that I eventually plan on turning into an e-Portfolio for myself; a place in which I can post information about my work, my resume, and myself that employers or clients could reference at any time through the internet. I have a lot of learning to do, but I put together my first version. There is really no content in it yet; I spent the majority of the time in Photoshop.

The page is made for a minimum resolution of 800x600 pixels, and has a minimalistic theme.

I designed the logo in Photoshop using a free Custom-Shape Vector of a Sunburst Image. I applied a few Blending Options to the image, including a 1px Exterior Stroke, and a Orange-Yellow-White Radial Gradiant.

The Cloud effect was done using a Fog Brush at 1200px in white, with a transparent background.

The actual Content/Filler is tentative, and obviously lacking any real polish/thought/depth.

I encourage ANY sort of recommendations/criticisms.

Link
http://www.mattschaller.info

PLEASE dive into my code and see what bad habits I may be forming.

[meesa]

Well, the first thing I notice is the solid blue background. Do this, go outside and (Assuming the sun isn't in the way) look at zeneth. Then look as close the the horizon as you can. You'll notice a distict color change.

Here's a rule: When replicating anything in nature, study it, then make it, and when it doesn't look right, re-study it figuring out things like color changes, shadows, etc.

I notice that you say you need IE PNG compatibility. My question is: Are you expecting people with IE6 to be visiting? If not, then you don't need that as IE7+ support it.

I notice when I click on a link that I get a dotted border, add a{outline:none;} to your CSS to get rid of that.

Other then that it looks pretty good. All else I'd say is that the text looks rather boring for some reason.

[sfadler]

The look could use some refining but its not bad at all. Personally I'm of the opinion that a quality site takes time for both the graphics and content to mature so I wouldn't worry to much since you just started. The key is to always be active, have a goal and work toward it, but never be satisfied always know that you can do better and you will make it happen

A few critiques

• Make your logo an anchor tag
• Try not to have empty divs
• Don't be afraid to be more verbose in your id's and classes
• Use Google Analytics not 000webhost

[Ionisis]

Dead link for me. :/

[chrishirst]

Well it was posted in August last year

[Phreaddee]

...and a lot can happen in a year!

[Ionisis]

Yeah, i figured out earlier that i need to pay attention to the dates, sorry .

[chrishirst]

Meesa, if you want to report spammers to Stop Forum Spam


My API key is KYInzjDLkcREJb