Loifeline review

THE FILANS
Owned By - Laura
Review By - Michelle @ Loifeline
Rated - 72 / 100

LAYOUT
Site opens with a nice splash page with a small picture at the top of the page. Everything is kept in an “autumn”-like colour scheme, must point out that the background colour is not the prettiest one ever seen, but that’s personal preference. The long list of requirements disturbs the picture a bit maybe you want to consider putting it in two lines?
The layout on the main page is kept in the same colour scheme as the splash, with pictures of Shane and Gillian on each site. Very nice I-frame layout, with an easy-readable text font and size, but I find that the grey header and the olive-green background is an odd combination. I do miss a bit of edge to the layout; it doesn’t really capture the eyes of the visitor.
6 / 10

GRAPHICS
There are loads of pictures of both Shane and Gillian, scans, pictures with fans as well as fan pictures. There’s also a special section with wedding pictures, which I think is cool, even though it took me sometime to find them because they are aren’t placed in the gallery section. You might want to consider reorganising your pictures, because they look very messy when they are all spread sporadically out on a page. Since you have so many pictures I would recommend that you use either thumbnails that are the same size, or the php-driven 4images, which allows your visitors to search through the pictures. Plus point for the all the picture credits! Top nice to see an honest person, who credits the rightful owner!
Uhh.. I love all the freebies! There are loads of great avatars for you to use on various message boards, as well as some fabulous blends and wallpapers, 800 x 600 and 1024 x768. There’s also a huge selection of dolls, but my favourite has to be the little blinkies! TOP NOTCH!
Well, done on the graphics!
8 / 10

CONTENT
There’s all the acquired information about the two main persons of the site, Shane and Gillian, plus loads of funny facts in the about section. Did you know that Gillian is a redhead? There’s also a lovely autobiography by Laura herself, with accompanying pictures and a section about the Filan house. The news section is packed with up-to-date news about the couple, very nice! There’s some fanfiction as well, including some interactive ones, and there’s reports of fan meetings. But I do think that the fans section needs a bit of attention. There are loads of facts and news, but more fanfics and some more interactive things for the fans, although there is a nice little quiz. More of that, Laura! Overall there are loads of things to read and look at, but I did try to access the download area, but it turned out that you need a password! BUMMER! I surfed around and discovered that the site had been online since 2002, and by that I was hoping for some more content, something catchy and maybe some interviews?
13 / 20

NAVIGATION
The navigation is very easy to find, and you have to be really talented to get lost here. The only minus is the thing about the wedding pictures not being linked in the gallery section. That confused me a bit! Uhh.. and why is there three dots after the “about” but not the others?
8 / 10

LOADING TIME
Loads like a charm! I’ve got a very fast connection though, but the site seems to load faster than other sites I visit, so that’s a plus for the fast load! Good job on using an external stylesheet!
5 / 5

SPLASH
Splash is very much present. As I mentioned earlier the long line of requirements does ruin the flow of the page a bit, so consider removing some of it [e.g. Like: Shane and Gillian Filan] or putting it in two lines. Just a small note that the site works perfectly in 800 x 600! The enter graphic has a very nice hover effect! I like! Fanlistings and listed sites are put in separate pop-up windows, which help to prevent the clutter. One BIG minus though, is the HUGE broken link right there, BANG SMACK on the middle of the page! The Elite banner exchange isn’t up anymore, so remove that! It really ruins the first impression of the site, and the green background colour isn’t too inviting either.
3 / 5

GRAMMAR / SPELLING
Didn’t seem to find any huge spelling or grammar mistakes. Language is very readable and easy to understand! A very nice job on that seeing as Laura isn’t English.
5 / 5

BROKEN LINKS / IMAGES
Well, there’s the one on the splash page, as well as some others in the joined / listed and www section! Have a look at that… Didn’t find any broken images! Nice!
3 / 5

UPDATES
Full score to Laura on the updates! The updates are very regular, with about 3 – 4 days in between! That’s the way Uhu Uhu I like it! As I said earlier; the news are very relevant and this is definitely the place to go if you’re looking for the lasted Filan gossip!
5 / 5

CODE
Code found right where it should be; under the listed and joined section! Full mark!
1 / 1

OVERALL
Overall I like your site! I’d definitely go here for my Filan gossip and news, but it lacks a bit in other interesting content! I could easily pass and hour up on the site, but then that’s about it! Keep working hard, because you’re getting there! Try and build up your interactive sections and find some interviews to post. Think of what you would like to see as a visitor! And remember that the layout is the very first impression of the site, so create something that catch the visitor and make them want to surf your site.
15 / 24

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