REVIEW REQUEST: www.freelancedeveloper.org

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

Hello All,

http://www.freelancedeveloper.org was just recently made public. I would appreciate any comments about it.

To promote web standards and keeping in mind the audience of the site, the site uses css for layout and will not look nearly as nice in older or standards non-compliant browsers that do not support CSS2 and XHTML1.0.

I am also interested in your opinions re: navigation of the site. Is it intuitive? Would you use it if you were an employer? developer? seeking collaborations?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated

James
http://www.freelancedeveloper.org

mmi's picture

They have: 457 posts

Joined: Jan 2001

hey James - mmy bias is toward the sort of minimalist design you've used here - others might think it's a little "plain" - you could try adding a little more color somehow

perhaps provide a mailto: link to yer address, rather than simply stating it

I'm more of a copyeditor than a developer - the text here looks pretty clean to mme Cool - but I'd say the writing could be improved on

e.g., since the launch was so recent, you might say something like "was recently launched" for a while at least - and I'd think about opening with "Freelance Developer" rather than "this site" - yeah, that could be seen as redundant with the logo right above it, but I think it would be worth it for "brand identity" or whatever

that first sentence is a bit of a run-on, imo - maybe look to drop the "whethers" - I figure the first sentence/paragraph is critical, and I just don't think you've got quite enough "enthusiasm" or "spark" here - mmy writing style tends to be a lot like yours appears to be, sort of "academic" - I wouldn't advise you to go overboard or anything, but I'd say you should put on yer marketing/PR hat and pitch a little harder

e.g., you could talk about the different kinds of "development" right up front

dunno about the value of, "you can help us" - esp. in light of there not being a lot of other text

the navigation seemed fine to mme

one small point would be to add a reference to the asterisks used with the forms to indicate "required field" - obviously, that's pretty well understood these days, but couldn't hurt

good luck with yer biz! Smiling


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Busy's picture

He has: 6,151 posts

Joined: May 2001

It's clean and simple but as mentioned maybe to clean.

The copyright section (bottom text) doesn't align properly in IE5

If you don't want to add your email address use/offer a form as some people could find what you have confusing.

At least it's still readable in NS4.* - good on ya Laughing out loud

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

thanks a lot, mmi and busy!

yeah, i need to revise the text on the front page. and i am also considering some layout additions there.

i wish microsoft made it possible to install multiple browsers to be able to test a site with an older browser (I have IE6 installed and the copyright text looks fine with it Sad ).

anyway, i'll let you guys know when i make some changes based on yur observations.

all the best!

James
http://www.freelancedeveloper.org

He has: 286 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

This is the kind of neat, bright and to-the-point site that I like. Opened very fast, too.

Some people might tell you that you need some kind of flashy graphics to grab attention, but I've become very skeptical of these over the past year. For one thing, they slow down the site's speed, and since your site is for technically-oriented people, they wouldn't be impressed by "grabber" graphics or other forms of hype.

The site navigates well, too.

Roy Troxel
http://www.webservertimes.com

They have: 37 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

I like the site. I will register soon as a developer. The only thing I would suggest is to vertically center the table on the page. I think that would help your front page to look a little better.

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

the site's front end looks simple (it's actually not that simple because i do not use tables for formatting, i use css instead) because:

1) i want it to look good on pda's that support browsing over http. try using your handheld and you will see that it is totally feasible to use the site with it. i try to keep text to the minimum primarily for that reason. graphics and flash and most javascript stuff is either not supported on handhelds or is too bandwith-intensive (and $$ expensive) to download.

2) i don't know how to use either photoshop or flash so i had to find an advantage in this Wink

well, once again thanks a lot for your comments guys. this site is very helpful!

James
http://www.freelancedeveloper.org

They have: 19 posts

Joined: Jan 2003

looks good!
The site is nice and clean, very simple, and has a professional feel to it.

I like the design...the only thing is you may want to have some more content up there...maybe a little bit more about the company, some clients maybe. More information the better.

Also, I not to clear, as a developer, can I post my resume?
Or is it only for Employers to post jobs (is it free?)

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They have: 7 posts

Joined: Mar 2003

ok, motiv8x

thanks for your comments. i will work in incorporating them in my site.

i already made some changes within employers and developers sections. if you have a chance check it out and let me know if it is more intuitive now (free job posting, post your resume, etc)

all the best!
James
http://www.freelancedeveloper.org

They have: 160 posts

Joined: Mar 2002

I'm a photoshop guy but I like this site.

Graphics serve a purpose. For this site you don't need much.

Michael James Swan's picture

He has: 400 posts

Joined: May 2008

A basic looking website, with a fairly simple set of Google Adsense Ad's down on the left hand side.

The banner is simple, but effective and the website has been designed for a purpose and not a design; I respect that, because that is how a website should be done.

Although graphics are always a bonus to have, I do not feel that you needed to use them on this occasion.

~ Mike

They have: 12 posts

Joined: Mar 2009

Very easy to navigate, good contrast, but maybe to clean. I would consider maybe adding a few more graphics such as colorful buttons and something else to the top logo bar. Maybe an advertisement right in the middle of the top logo would fill in some of the grey. Otherwise overall a good color scheme a very simple navigation.

Bakerlayouts's picture

They have: 7 posts

Joined: Dec 2008

Well I went to the site but it sent me to another website, so I can not give a review of the site you have listed.
Thank you
Chris

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