1. I want candy. Eye candy that is.
2. Who are you?
3. I Can Has Cheezburger in your blogroll. Really?
4. Your Twitter hasn’t been updated in 7 days.
5. Your sidebar right margin needs some breathing room.
6. “You’ve gotta keep ‘em separated!” Your most recent posts, that is.
7. Why does your plugin for related posts have cute little thumbnails, but your posts are naked as a jaybird? (See #1)
8. Comments are closed on a post that’s not even 30 days old?

The Details

1. I want candy. Eye candy that is. Your content is interesting and funny, but I, like many people, am a visual creature. Give me something to look at.

   
   What does this mean? Give your readers some eye candy. A thumbnail graphic to complement your post would go a long way to adding some visual interest.

2. Who are you? One of my biggest pet peeves is not knowing who is behind the curtain–especially when I really like the blog. People want to know who is talking to them, this goes double for personal blogs.

   
   What does this mean? Add an About page. Or, since you don’t have pages (nice touch, by the way), and a little About widget in your sidebar.

3. I Can Has Cheezburger in your blogroll. Really? Am I the only person on the planet that thinks the whole “I can haz…” BS is, well, BS? I just don’t get it.

   
   What does this mean? Nothing, really. What’s in your blogroll is totally personal preference. I just happen to hate those damn lolcats.

4. Your Twitter hasn’t been updated in 7 days. If you’re going to keep your Twitter feed in your sidebar, it shouldn’t be a week old. I’m just sayin’.¹

   
   What does this mean? Does the phrase “Physician heal thyself?” mean anything? The 10 things Twitter feed is was way more outdated than yours!

5. Your sidebar right margin needs some breathing room. I know. I’m being super nit picky again. But I really hate when text runs up against the left or right side.
   
   
   

   Give the right margin some space

6. “You’ve gotta keep ‘em separated!” Your most recent posts, that is. I like that you are showing many reading options. I don’t like the lack of separation between the post options. You have a line separating them horizontally. Why not vertically?

   
   What does this mean? Your recent posts section would benefit from a nice little dividing line down the middle. Like Cake said, “You’ve gotta keep ‘em separated!”

7. Why does your plugin for related posts have cute little thumbnails, but your posts are naked as a jaybird? (See #1) This relates directly to item #1. You aren’t providing any visual interest until the end of the post. That’s not a good thing.

   
   What does this mean? See #1.

8. Comments are closed on a post that’s not even 30 days old? I’m all for preventing spam, but closing comments so early? There were a few posts I was going to comment on because they were pretty damn good. And I was annoyed to find the comments closed.

   
   What does this mean? I would recommend leaving your comments open a little longer. I can’t imagine you are getting so much spam that you have to lock down the post ASAP. When you encourage readers to browse other posts, you shouldn’t deny them the opportunity to comment on what they find. And I wanted to comment on TGIF.

In Closing

I’ve enjoyed reading your posts while reviewing your blog, and have added your blog to my feed reader. Even though there are a few things I hate, all-in-all yours is a sound blog with enjoyable content.

1. Update: this was true at the time I wrote this review. As of now, her Twitter update is 6 hours hold.

Great job TopBanana! You nailed it.

1. Not a cash payoff, unfortunately. At least not yet.
2. I believe I’ve used this word in the correct context this time, TopBanana!

I was pleasantly surprised to see this great theme. Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t things I hate.

So, The Queen Speaks, here are 10 things I hate about your site:

1. Holy blog description, Batman!
2. Read more—I get the point.
3. I don’t know what “Daily Mugshot” is, but it’s a good thing I’m not epileptic.
4. We have another victim of Fonticitis.²
5. I’m in sidebar hell.
6. Speaking of the sidebar, if having so much stuff is a compulsion, make sure it fits.
7. Help! I’m trapped! Oh, wait, there’s the door.
8. I’ve found some other content, but I have no idea what it’s supposed to be.
9. Does anyone actually use the “voting” at the bottom of your posts? (And shouldn’t this actually be at the end of the post?)
10. It annoys me that I have to use only “premade” profile options when leaving a comment.

Details

1. Holy blog description, Batman! A blog description is a great thing. It’s always nice to know what I’m getting into. Your description, however, is a combination of the blog description and profile information. The problem with this is that its too long for this location and is too difficult to read with the background.

   
   What does this mean? Separate your actual blog description from the profile content. Keep the very first sentence “Ramblings – sometimes semi-coherent but always royal – of a single mom.” right where it is. Move the rest of the text to the profile section. Check out The Saab Blaag for an example of the difference between the blog description and profile information.³

2. Read more—I get the point. Having two “Read more…” links is very redundant. I’m sure it’s a plugin causing this. Either that or you think your readers need to be asked twice.

   
   What does this mean? Paging captain obvious! Remove one of the links.

3. I don’t know what “Daily Mugshot” is, but it’s a good thing I’m not epileptic. Not only is the term “Daily Mugshot” scary, so is its widget or whatever the hell it is. It flashes back and forth so fast that if I were prone to seizures this review would not be done for quite some time as I’d be in the hospital.

   
   What does this mean? My recommendation is to remove the thing, stat! Of course, every blogger has their own sidebar items and has chosen them for some reason. Perhaps this one is near and dear to your heart. I honestly was so put off by the crazy flashing thing that I had no desire to click and see what it actually was.

4. We have another victim of Fonticitis.⁴ This is a common blogger disease, and can be very difficult to get rid of. On the main page alone I see four different font colors and three different font sizes. NOTE: I am not including headers nor theme options such as meta info. This is post text only. There is also a severe font change when going to the “Who is the Queen” page.

   
   What does this mean? The cure for Fonticitis is simple. Stop using so many colors and sizes. It’s not only disconcerting to have a variety of font changes, it really detracts from a good blog template.

5. I’m in sidebar hell. As I mentioned above, bloggers have their own reasons for choosing the sidebar items and widgets that grace their pages. Anyone who has read 10 Things regularly knows I’m not a fan of a gazillion ads, widgets, games, polls, social networks, etc., etc., etc., on the sidebar. Your sidebars are so packed with this stuff the content is suffocating.

   
   What does this mean? Personally, I think you should take inventory of your sidebar content and weed through it, keeping only the really good stuff. I also think the sidebars would benefit from some actual Queen links (see #7).

6. Speaking of the sidebar, if having so much stuff is a compulsion, make sure it fits. Sometimes the widget compulsion is just too strong to be denied. When that’s the case, it is important to at least have all of the stuff look good. There is a lot of different sidebar formatting and widgets that are getting cut off:
   

   The Queen Speaks sidebar issues

   
   What does this mean? Probably the easiest thing to do would be to adjust the width of the sidebars to let wider widgets fit. Aside from that, there’s not much else to do since all of these widgets and stuff have their own formatting and you probably can’t change the colors, fonts and such.

7. Help! I’m trapped! Oh, wait, there’s the door. Bloggers blog to have their stuff read.⁵ I’m assuming this is the case with the you as well; however I can’t be 100% positive as it’s difficult for me to find any other content than what’s on your homepage. After several minutes of searching I did finally come across the Previous Posts dropdown, but that’s it.

   
   What does this mean? You need to give your readers more access to the rest of your content. If what is on the main page isn’t exactly what they are looking for, they have no way of finding what it is they are looking for. You take the time to categorize your posts—put these categories to good use. Include them in the sidebar so readers can browse topics in the categories that interest them. I’m also a fan of listing popular posts and comments.

8. I’ve found some other content, but I have no idea what it’s supposed to be. You do have your Previous Posts listed as a dropdown in the sidebar, for all the good it is doing. Listing your previous posts in this format is not helpful. How am I supposed to know if anything you wrote between 10/25 and 11/01 is of interest to me? (I’m also not a huge fan of the month and number of posts that is so popular, but I think it’s a better choice than what you are displaying.)

   
   What does this mean? Give your readers more options to find more of your content, and choose a different method to list your archives. Ken Armstrong Writing Stuff is a good example. His sidebar includes a list of recent posts, a list of popular posts, and his blog archive.

9. Does anyone actually use the “voting” at the bottom of your posts? (And shouldn’t this actually be at the end of the post?) While visiting your blog I think I saw one vote somewhere. I’m of the opinion that if a plugin or widget isn’t getting any much use, maybe it’s time to let it go since widgets and plugins can impact load time.⁶ The other thing that bugs me about this poll is its location. If you’re going to ask me to vote on your post, don’t ask me to do so until I’ve actually read the whole thing.

   
   What does this mean? Like widgets on a sidebar, these types of plugins and add-ons are personal choices and you obviously added them for a reason. If no one is using this plugin you might want to consider removing it.

10. It annoys me that I have to use only “premade” profile options when leaving a comment. This is one of my pet peeves with Blogger blogs that chose this method of commenting over the option of letting me enter my own name, email address, and URL. For those of us using self hosted Wordpress and commenting on your blog, we have no way of leaving a comment without choosing one of the existing profile options. This can result in fewer comments if the readers doesn’t have any of these profiles set up.

    
    What does this mean? Change your comment options to allow anyone to leave a comment. Not just readers who belong to certain groups.

In Conclusion

I enjoyed reading posts at The Queen Speaks. Her posts are funny and well written. I especially enjoyed The White Flag of Surrender (Made of Underwear). I just wish the sidebars didn’t detract so much from the content.

1. Blogger is a great tool for the blogger who’s not a control freak.
2. Fonticitis: the use of too many different font formats (bold, colors, italics, size, font faces, etc.
3. This is my shameless Saab Blaag plug (lol)
4. Fonticitis: the use of too many different font formats (bold, colors, italics, size, font faces, etc.
5. At least most bloggers blog for this reason.
6. I did not, however, notice much of a load time problem with The Queen Speaks.

1. Wow, there is A LOT going on here. So much to see—and I haven’t even clicked anywhere yet.
2. One word: boxy.
3. Black and white—good for prison stripes, I Love Lucy reruns, and poignant family photos.
4. Don’t tease me with part of an image, I can handle the whole thing.

Details

1. Wow, there is A LOT going on here. So much content, so much to see—and I haven’t even clicked anywhere yet. If this blog were sound, it would almost be a cacophony. While there is really nothing discordant nor meaningless¹ about Rarst.net, it’s content is almost overwhelming. I say almost because even though there is so much stuff, it’s organized incredibly well.

   
   What does this mean? Unfortunately for me, it may not mean much. There is a lot of content, but from what I’ve read it’s good content. After several days of visiting, I think what bothers me most about Rarst.net is the color scheme (or lack thereof). Check out #3.

2. One word: boxy. “Volvo. They’re boxy, but they’re good.”² While this may be true of the Volvo, it’s not really a compliment. This is, however, exactly what pops into my head when I visit your site.

   
   What does this mean? Unfortunately for me again, maybe nothing. The layout is clean, crisp, and very well organized. All things I like. So why do I have issues here? Check out #3.

3. Black and white—good for prison stripes, I Love Lucy reruns, and poignant family photos. I know there will be some readers out there who completely disagree with me and you are welcome to comment and tell me so, but I’m not a huge fan of black and white as a color scheme. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against black and white. But a little color can definitely add some visual interest.

   
   What does this mean? Three strikes and I’m out. Rarst.net is so well organized and laid out, even the bland choice of mostly black and white doesn’t detract, nor seem bland. Damn you Rarst!

4. Don’t tease me with part of an image, I can handle the whole thing. I am really bothered by the images in your posts, and the fact they are cut off in odd ways:

   
   

   

   Rarst.net image cropping

   
   I’m not sure if this odd cropping is intentional or not, but it is the only thing I’ve found on this blog that isn’t neat as a pin.

   
   What does this mean? This odd cropping does detract a bit from the actual content of the post. I would recommend using more conventional image cropping, or inserting a thumbnail with a link to the full-size image. Take my treatment of the image above as an example.

In Conclusion

Rarst.net is a good blog. It has good content and is very well laid out and organized. The four³ things I hate about the site aren’t huge issues. They’re really just things that nag at me—not really annoying, but pesky.

1. Thank you Dictionary.com!
2. Yep, obscure movie reference! Who can tell me what movie it’s from?
3. Can you believe there are only four things?!

The Writer’s Round-About has been around since 2007 which is pretty impressive in blog years. I’ve been a visitor there for about a year now, and like KOME Rocks, I’ve never had the time to delve too deeply into the content. I’ve left a comment or two and am now looking forward to taking a much closer look. So, Writer’s Round-About, here are 10 things I hate about your site:

1. The blocky title graphic and feed icons in the header scream “1999!” (and not in a Prince way).
2. Speaking of your header, there are some alignment/spacing issues across different browsers.
3. Your social networking icons are having an identity crisis.
4. I want <!--more-->
5. I want more.
6. Unicode, like the unicorn, should never be seen.
7. More Firefox problems: the Categories aren’t opening in FF2 on a PC.
8. So many views, so few comments.
9. Contact Rebecca and Services are not the same thing.
10. There is SO much going on here—writing, web design, WP guru—it’s like all the voices in your head are vying for post time.

Details

1. The blocky title graphic and feed icons in the header scream “1999!” (and not in a Prince way). Your blog design is a good one, but your header image is not doing you any favors. It’s just sitting there, all white and blocky, not blending in to the design nor looking professional.¹

   
   What does this mean? While the header image is not bad on its own, it needs to work better with your blog theme. Maybe change the background color of this section to white or move the header to the top of the page where the background is already white. The rest of your blog looks clean and professional—your header image should look clean and professional too.

2. Speaking of your header, there are some alignment/spacing issues across different browsers. (Click on the image for full-size.)
   

   Safari 3 and 4

   

   Firefox 2

   

   Firefox 3

   

   IE 6

   

   IE 7

   

   IE 8

   
   What does this mean? It is pain to ensure that layouts look the same in all browsers, especially since there are so many out there. Browser Sandbox is a great resource that lets you see how your site looks in different browsers without having to actually install them all on your computer. Unfortunately, I’ve only been able to use it in Internet Explorer on my PC, but it’s a great resource. Sometimes minor browser differences are not worth tweaking; however, I think there’s enough of a difference between all of these that you might want to look into the CSS.

3. Your social networking icons are having an identity crisis. First there are the three at the top of the page, then there is a different set and style at the bottom of the items on the main page. Finally, there is a third set and style at the bottom of your posts. Why the three different looks?

   
   What does this mean? Pick a style and use it throughout. Personally, I like the mini icons at the bottom of the posts, however, I know these aren’t prominent enough for the header and main page. I would recommend finding a set with multiple sizes. Check out the Resources page for a few links.

4. I want <!--more--> As in the more feature of WordPress. While your latest post may be this week’s current masterpiece, you should provide readers with a few options on your main page, not just one or two recent posts. The more tag (as I’m sure you know) lets you hook the reader, and then asks the reader to continue reading. If the top post is not their cup of tea, they can browse down the page to find something that is. As it stands right now, you’re not giving readers the option.

   
   What does this mean? I always recommend using the more feature. As I mentioned, it gives your readers some excerpts to choose from on your main page. Of course you are hoping that they will stay around and use all of the other navigation you have provided, but let’s face it—if a new reader doesn’t see something they like on the main page the odds of them clicking your recent posts, categories, etc. is slim. Right now you are only providing them with one option. Give them <--more--> .

5. I want more. More post excerpts on the main page.

   
   What does this mean? This goes hand-in-hand with #3. Use the more feature and include more post excerpts on your main page.

6. Unicode, like the unicorn, should never be seen. Unfortunately I’m not seeing unicorns, I’m seeing unicode. Check the Blog Reviews subsection of Reviews and Reviewing in your Categories. Your apostrophes are showing as Unicode.
   

   Your unicode is showing

   
   What does this mean Check the code for this section. Since it’s only affecting a small section, you should have no trouble fixing the problem. (I didn’t dig into the code or your header charset to see what it was.)

7. More Firefox problems: the Categories aren’t opening in FF2 on a PC. Again we have more cross-browser issues. I know there are still a lot of people using older versions of Firefox and while you still have a lot of other methods for navigating your blog (which is GREAT), it is still annoying to click on these links and have nothing happen.

   
   What does this mean? Same as above. Some cross-browser testing needs to be done when making changes and updates to your theme.

8. So many views, so few comments. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have 1,868 views on a post (or on my blog, for that matter!); however the post How freelance writing almost destroyed my blog only has 23 comments to show for it. I’ve read many of your posts and I know your writing is thought-provoking and intelligent. I also know you do a good job of encouraging readers to comment. So I have to wonder why so many views and so few comments?

   
   I’m making an assumption here and thinking that perhaps these are not 1,868 unique views. I know I’ve visited this post several times; I’m sure you’ve visited this post several times; perhaps you’ve had friends proofread or visit this post several times. Whatever the case, I can’t help but wonder if the review/comment ratio is skewed.

   
   What does this mean? Going with my theory regarding unique views, I would suggest tweaking this code to show unique views only. Otherwise, it looks like lots of people are reading your content, but it’s not interesting enough to comment on (which I know is not true!).

9. Contact Rebecca and Services are not the same thing. That’s great that you offer so many services. What’s not great is that when I click on them to find out more, all I get is a “Contact Rebecca” form. You’re not utilizing this section very well.

   
   What does this mean? Put content on these pages regarding the services you are listing (like you actually did for “Hosting Packages”). Then include the form to contact you. I’m sure there are other people out there like me who don’t want to be forced to send an email to see what your Non-Fiction Writing services are. I don’t want to wait, so I’ll simply move on to the next blog/site offering these services.

10. There is SO much going on here—writing, web design, WP guru—it’s like all the voices in your head are vying for post time. I have to preface this last item and state that even though there is a ton going on, Writer’s Round-About is very well organized and laid out. That is no small feat for so much content. That being said, however, there is simply too much going on. First, your blog name is a little too specific for all that you are posting. I get that you are mainly a writer² so most of your content makes sense. What throws me off is all the other stuff: hosting, web design, domain registration. What does all of this have to do with writing, anyway?

    
    What does this mean? Break it up. It might not thrill you to have to manage two blogs but I would still recommend removing the web content and giving it its own home. Non-personal blogs should stay on-point and should not try to be all things to all people. While Writer’s Round-About is not totally all over the board, the web design and hosting just don’t make much sense here.

I like Rebecca’s content and I think this is a great blog! She provides excellent writing tips, inspiration, reviews, and more. Fortunately the things I hate about her blog have nothing to do with the content. Thank goodness since she’s a writer!

1. The same problem applies to those three networking icons.
2. I think being a writer is totally cool BTW. Those who can, write. Those who can’t, blog, lol!

So let’s get on with the show. Rock Music ~ KOME Style, here are 10 things I hate about your site:

1. There is too much wasted space between the main page post excerpts and the footer.
2. Your pages are all over the place.
3. Your page link text is too wordy.
4. Your font is way too small.
5. Your header/banner is too bland for a rock music blog.
6. There is too much stuff on the sidebar—most of which is repetitive.
7. Thumbnail images are great for adding visual interest to a layout, and for complementing the content. You have a great opportunity to include images but you are not utilizing it.
8. Your Best Vid’s page only has one video, making it singular, not plural.
9. There is no rhyme nor reason to your categories.
10. If you’re not going to keep a page updated, don’t advertise the last updated… date.

Details

1. There is too much wasted space between the main page post excerpts and the footer. This is due to a few things: repetitive sidebar items (see #6); not enough post excerpts on the main page to balance out the length of the sidebar; unnecessary sidebar content. People aren’t going to see that there is any footer content, because they aren’t getting to the footer.

   
   What does this mean? While it’s difficult to have the content column and the sidebar the exact same height, you should have then much closer than they are now. This can be achieved by following my advice in #6 and adding a few more post excerpts to the main content column. This should help even things out.

2. Your pages are all over the place. Not only are the titles too long (see #3), but some of your pages are really just subtopics of one main page: KOME.

   
   What does this mean? Organize and structure your pages. You don’t need all of the separate KOME pages—have one KOME parent page, and then list the multiple “sections” under this page. Then when I roll over KOME in the page links, a dropdown menu shows me the different KOME page options I have to choose from.

3. Your page link text is too wordy. Or in other words, your page link titles are too long.

   Second, whether you take my advice above or not, you need to shorten the page link titles.

   • Home
   • About
   • KOME
   • Videos
   • Artist Sites
   • Etc.

   Save the description for the actual page.

4. Your font is way too small.² I don’t have the best vision, but with my contacts in I do okay. Except when trying to read your content. Your font is TINY!

   
   What does this mean? Simple. You need to tweak the CSS and make your body font a smidge larger. I’ll admit that 10 things pushes the font size limit, but your font size is not fashionable. It’s small. Make it bigger.

5. Your header/banner is too bland for a rock music blog. Seriously. Your blog title has the words “Rock”, “Music”, and “Style”—your banner does not reflect any of this.

   
   What does this mean? You need a better banner/header. I’m sure your theme has an option to upload an image. If it doesn’t, I think some easy fiddling with the CSS can solve that problem. Either way, you need a good rock banner.

6. There is too much stuff on the sidebar—most of which is repetitive. The first problem is that starting with Blogroll, the sidebar items appear twice. The second problem is that you have other repetitive elements like the RSS button and Pages. The third problem is the calendar.

   
   What does this mean? First, find out why all of your sidebar links, starting with “Blogroll”, are showing up twice and fix it. Second, you don’t need to repeat sections that appear in other places. You don’t need three different RSS links, nor do you need your page links in two sections.³ Pick a place for key elements and place them there—if organized well, there is no need to repeat elements. Third, the calendar widget is so dated. Lose it.

7. Thumbnail images are great for adding visual interest to a layout, and for complementing the content. You have a great opportunity to include images but you are not utilizing it. Your blog theme obviously has a thumbnail option. Why aren’t you using it?

   
   What does this mean If you aren’t going to utilize the thumbnails, I would recommend finding a way to turn this option off. People don’t want to see the same 125 x 125 image for every post, in every place the thumbnail is coded to appear. Better yet, USE the thumbnail option. Post some kick-ass rock pics, to accompany your kick-ass rock blog!

8. Your Best Vid’s page only has one video, making it singular, not plural. You have tons of great videos in so many posts. Why is there only one video here?

   
   What does this mean? When evaluating your pages, you need to consider losing this page. Using a video tag or category is a better way to show videos. It seems this page is abandoned (see #10). There’s no shame it starting a page and realizing it’s too much to keep up with. You post videos. Tags and/or categories will filter these nicely.

9. There is no rhyme nor reason to your categories. Speaking of categories, you have quite a a few of them, and they are pretty random.⁴

   
   Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m going to point you to Problogger: How to Choose Categories for Your Blog. This article spells it out as simply and eloquently as I could.

10. If you’re not going to keep a page updated, don’t advertise the last updated… date. This is another one of those abandoned pages: Artist Web Site Listing. According to the blog, it was last updated a year ago.

    
    What does this mean? Basically, don’t bite off more than you can chew. It seems to me that you had very lofty ambitions for this blog and you created a lot of initial content. As time went on, however, all those pages and categories became a bit much to keep up with. This happens to most bloggers and there’s nothing wrong with trimming the fat. Take a look at what works and what doesn’t. Honestly, I will never come to your blog to check out classic rock band links. I will, however, come to your blog to read your latest post and see what great, classic video you’ve posted.

There’s a lot of good content at Rock Music ~ KOME Style. I was pleased to watch some old-school videos that took me back to my younger days, like the two Peter Gabriel songs that are some of my faves. There is definitely some history to KOME and I enjoyed poking around and reading a little about it. Like most blogs that use pre-made themes, a little tweaking is all this one needs.

1. KOME’s newest layout is a huge improvement over the last layout.
2. I thought my font size was pushing the small limit.
3. Okay, I know that 10 things lists the RSS twice, but mine is subtle
4. Your categories are more like tags.

It’s been three days since I started this review, and I’ve only found this. So, ZenBananas, here are: 10 3 things¹ I hate about your site:

1. Why is the RSS feed much lower on the sidebar than the email subscription?
2. Your comment numbering is interfering with my awesome avatar in the Safari browser, on my awesome Mac.
3. It’s a bad week for backgrounds at 10 things. I don’t like yours any more than I liked Tashi’s at the Tibetan Plateau.

Details

Check out the screenshot as of 9/8/09.

1. Why is the RSS feed much lower on the sidebar than the email subscription? The rest of your blog is so well organized and tidy. I was surprised to find this basic blog element so out of place. Does the Master not know that a lot of people prefer to subscribe via RSS?

   What does this mean? Your subscription options should be in the same place. Move your RSS feed button up with your email subscription option.

2. Your comment numbering is interfering with my awesome avatar in the Safari browser, on my awesome Mac. Those pesky Macs and their pesky browsers. This is what your comments look like in Safari:
   

   Safari comments formatting

   What does this mean? This is a tough one. WP theme formatting can be tricky, especially with the comments section. I’m guessing a small tweaking would fix this formatting issue, however, couple that with the fact that Macs are not as prevalent and this may be an issue you choose not to tackle. Of course, that would be disappointing seeing as I’m a Mac user.

3. It’s a bad week for backgrounds at 10 things. I don’t like yours any more than I liked Tashi’s at the Tibetan Plateau. I don’t get the background pattern—it’s pretty bland and uninspiring. Personally, I think your content deserves better. And while we’re on the subject, your header color is pretty ‘ugh’ as well.

   What does this mean? You should find a more zen-like background and color scheme. Honestly, those are the only 2 design elements I don’t like.

The Good

Well, that’s pretty easy. ZenBananas is a damn good blog. The content is interesting; the images chosen compliment² complement the content extremely well; the blog is focused and simple, as is the design. TopBanana knows what he (or she ) is doing. Good job.

Maybe my next review will give me something to sink my teeth into. Grrr!

1. Yes, THREE things, dammit!
2. Thanks TopBanana for pointing out this grammatical error

So, The Tibetan Plateau, here are 10 things I hate about your blog:

1. There is not enough differentiation between posts—they blend into each other.
2. Your posts don’t have any dates. Posts should always have a date.
3. I love the use of “Read more…”. Unfortunately I hate it when I click on it and I’m not taken to where I left off reading.
4. Don’t tease me and have me click on “Read more…” when there is nothing more substantial to read.
5. The stark white background of your LABELS widget is harsh and in complete contrast with the rest of the layout.
6. Your content is difficult to read because the letter-spacing¹ is too close together to make a good distinction between periods and the start of a new sentence (or commas and the next word).
7. I hope I’m not criticizing a royal Tibetan color, but I really dislike the background color/overall color scheme.
8. Your columns need to be contained—they are just floating sections of text.
9. Your special characters aren’t so special on my PC.
10. I’m confused by this: “Do not click on this link: Read more on this article…“.

Details

1. There is not enough differentiation between posts—they blend into each other. If I squint, and get really close to my monitor, I can see a dividing line between your posts. Add to that the fact that your post titles very closely match your links, and it’s difficult to differentiate between posts.

   What does this mean? You need to either make your post titles stand out more, or make the dividing line between posts more visible (or both!).

2. Your posts don’t have any dates. Posts should always have a date. Not including a date makes it difficult to determine how recent your content is. You are blogging about very timely subjects—your audience should know when the articles were written.

   What does this mean? Simple. Add the date to your posts.²

3. I love the use of “Read more…”. Unfortunately I hate it when I click on it and I’m not taken to where I left off reading. This is actually one of my biggest pet peeves—I should have listed it first. Part of the beauty of using the “Read more…” feature is to take the reader to where they left off. Don’t make them scan the first few paragraphs to find their place. It’s equivalent to losing your place in a book.

   What does this mean? I don’t want to re-read what I just read. Have the “Read more…” link take me to where I left off.

4. Don’t tease me and have me click on “Read more…” when there is nothing more substantial to read. While this was not a problem on most of the posts I read, it reared its ugly head on the first post I read: How Life is for Urbanised Nomads. When I clicked to read more, all I received was a quick sentence leading me somewhere else if I wanted to read more.

   What does this mean? Don’t make me work so hard for it—I shouldn’t have to click twice to read more. If you have a short post and some good content relating to the post in other articles, give me the links and lose the “Read more…”.

5. The stark white background of your LABELS widget is harsh and in complete contrast with the rest of the layout. I love labels and tags. I like the widget you are using for yours. I don’t like the stark, white background. It’s a little jarring to the eye and doesn’t match your color scheme (nothing else on your blog is white).

   What does this mean? Is there a way to change the background color of this widget? If yes, do it! If no, well, check out #7.

6. Your content is difficult to read because the letter-spacing³ is too close together to make a good distinction between periods and the start of a new sentence (or commas and the next word). I feel like I’m reading one, long, run-on sentence, and since your blog is an article-driven one, you want it to be as easy to read as possible.

   What does this mean? Personally I would change the actual font used. Serif fonts like the one you have chosen, are not best for web readability. A good sans-serif font like Arial or Verdana (with no special letter-spacing) would be a good choice.

7. I hope I’m not criticizing a royal Tibetan color, but I really dislike the background color/overall color scheme. This color scheme is very drab.⁴ I don’t know if it was chosen for a special reason to do with Tibet, but even if it was, it doesn’t work.

   What does this mean? I’m not suggesting bright, primary colors. I am suggesting a color scheme more dynamic than what you are currently using. If you need some color ideas, check out the color section on my Resources page.

8. Your columns need to be contained—they are just floating sections of text. Sometimes this floating thing works. Most of the time it doesn’t. It might just be a personal preference, but I like my columns, sections, containers, etc., to be contained by something.

   What does this mean? Maybe simply changing the color scheme and providing more differentiation between posts will help this problem. Maybe it’s not really a problem at all and I’m just being nit-picky.

9. Your special characters aren’t so special on my PC. I’m sure you didn’t mean to have a bunch of སསསས in the middle of your posts and in your FAVORITE LINKS section, but that’s exactly what is happening when I view your blog in IE7 and Chrome 2.0 on my PC.
   

   IE7 and Chrome

   This problem does not appear in Firefox on my PC, nor in Firefox and Safari on my Mac. Unfortunately, there are a gazillion people out there using IE on a PC—I’m guessing I’m not the only person having this problem.

   What does this mean? I don’t have an easy answer for this one. I’m not an expert on coding special characters for foreign languages. I would recommend finding a solution, however since Internet Explorer is not going away any time soon.

10. I’m confused by this: “Do not click on this link: Read more on this article…“. I’m guessing you are having trouble with the “Read more…” on Blogger which has prompted you to resort to “Do not click on this link.” Alas, human nature will ALWAYS get the better of us, and I bet that everyone who has read that post has clicked on that link!

    What does this mean? Configure the “Read more…” feature correctly. This feature should a) take the reader where they left off, and b) only be used on long posts. If you’re looking for a Blogger hack, do a Google search—that’s what I did. I found the article Blogger Read More Post Summaries Fix. I didn’t test this in any of my Blogger sites, but I like what the author said:

    And when you don’t want a post to have a “Read more” link, simply don’t put the fullpost span in the post body.

The Good

Even though I had 10 things I hated, this is a very good blog. The author definitely knows the subject matter and writes eloquently. Tashi obviously uses spell check too! While this is not a topic I would normally be interested in, I found myself reading more articles than necessary to complete this review. Tashi’s writing is interesting, well researched, and complimented by just the right amount of relevant graphics. All this blog really needs is a better color scheme and an improvement on the use of “Read more…”.

Add your 2-cents worth below…I know you want to. Be sure to include any information you might have that would help Tashi with the IE/special characters problem.

1. Letter-spacing is a CSS property where the space between text characters can be changed.
2. Adding the date may mean either tinkering with the theme layout, or changing a setting in Blogger.
3. Letter-spacing is a CSS property where the space between text characters can be changed.
4. Drab, aka, boring.

1. Who are you? What qualifies you to be a movie reviewer? Why should I listen to what you have to say?
2. The red title is eye-grabbing–but the red info below it is overkill.
3. Scrolling. Scrolling. Scrolling.
4. Plot content versus review content.
5. Categories. Wait, there aren’t any.
6. Tags.
7. Categories and tags.
8. The high contrast can be hard on the eyes.
9. Are you reviewing these movies to read your own words?
10. Okay, I don’t hate it, but I don’t get it. Why “musicalmystery” when this is a movie blog?

Details

1. Who are you? What qualifies you to be a movie reviewer? Why should I listen to what you have to say? This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Maybe there is a reason you want to be anonymous. Perhaps you are wanted in 12 states, or your mom’s going to be pissed that you are watching all of these movies, or you owe Blockbuster a gazillion dollars. Whichever it is, it’s still annoying when a blog doesn’t have an about page. Even if you make most of it up!
   

   An About page should provide context and necessary facts, but should also give the reader compelling reasons to do what you want them to do.
   -A List Apart

   What does this mean? Provide your readers with some kind of “About” page. We want to know who you are. We want know why we should care about what you think. Maybe we want to contact you. Right now I don’t know who you are, I don’t care what you think, and I can’t contact you.

2. The red title is eye-grabbing–but the red info below it is overkill. It’s also difficult to read, with the funky spacing.

   What does this mean? Keep the red title, but change the color of the text below it. The orange you use for your links might be a good choice. And while you’re at it, get rid of the letter spacing. Again, it works for the title, but not for the smaller text.

3. Scrolling. Scrolling. Scrolling. Tease me, please. Maybe I don’t want to read your review on “Men in Black II” or “The Meaning of Life” but I might be interested in “Hot Fuzz”. The problem is, I can’t see that you’ve reviewed “Hot Fuzz” unless I scroll through your reviews of two movies I could care less about. Relying solely on your sidebar to display the most recent posts is not the best method. Most readers will scroll your main page to see what articles you’ve written and won’t necessarily refer to the sidebar.²

   What does this mean? I’m going to quote myself here, from my review of Willem’s Internet Blog:

   Since you are using WordPress, make use of the awesome <!--more--> tag tag. This tag allows you to show a post excerpt on the front page, and the entire post content on the permalink page. This helps readers scroll through your blog faster, finding more posts that interest them, and it keeps your text-heavy content from looking so overwhelming. There are also some SEO benefits in using the ‘more’ tag.

   I am not an SEO expert. You can read about these benefits at Post Excerpts and the More Tag in WordPress.

4. Plot content versus review content. It appears that you are pulling your plot content from Wikipedia. No problem there. The problem lies with the fact that the plots are much longer than your reviews. First, if I haven’t seen the movie, maybe I don’t want to know the entire plot. Second, according to your info, this is a blog about reviewing movies. I would expect your reviews to be the bulk of the content, not the movie plots.

   What does this mean? Consider shortening the movie plots. I think that IMDB does a good job of showing a simple 1-2 sentence plot. That may be too short for your taste, but it might be a good place to start and build from.

5. Categories. Wait, there aren’t any. A movie review blog totally lends itself to the use of categories, yet you don’t show any. Categories are like your filing system. You “file” posts away into the appropriate category to be linked together. Chances are, if someone is reading a review on a comedy, they will be interested in more of your comedy reviews. Right now, they have to search, and scroll, and scroll, and hope they can find another comedy review.

   What does this mean? In its simplest form, you could use categories to group movie genres together. Then I could go to “Horror” and see all the horror movies you have reviewed. Or romantic comedies. Or musical mysteries. You get the point. Categories provide another means of navigating your blog. The more navigation choices you provide your reader, the more they will navigate.

6. Tags. I love tags. Unfortunately, they are seldom used correctly. ³ Tags are another way to help group your posts into logical sections, helping readers to navigate your blog and find posts that interest them. While they serve the same purpose, tags are not categories. Think of tags like a list of references for similar content. For example, at 10 things, I tag posts mainly based on blog/site elements–tags like navigation, sidebar, validation, etc. This way, if a reader is interested in what I have to say regarding navigation, they can click on the word in the tag cloud and see all of my posts tagged with “navigation”.

   What does this mean? Your tags don’t provide a good reference system. You’ve tagged posts with actor names, character names, and random words from the movies (which make no sense out of context). A good tagging system, while larger than the number of categories, is not too big. It will include relevant and intuitive tags, and will follow a system.

   Tags are reused over and over, just like categories. If you use categories to file your reviews based on movie genres, you could use tags to list the actors in the movie. So if I like Tom Hanks, I can see all of your reviews of Tom Hanks’ movies by clicking on his name in your tags. You could also use tags to indicate the number of stars you have given a movie.

7. Categories and tags. Okay, this is probably completely out of your control since you are on Wordpress.com, however, since I hate it, it’s on the list. While I’ve discussed categories and tags in #’s 5 and 6, you do have something that resembles actual categories and tags. Except when I click on them I’m taken from your blog to a list of blogs with that particular category or tag on Wordpress.com. I find this really annoying. When I check out a category or tag, I want to see what else YOU have written.

   What does this mean? Probably nothing, as I’m guessing since your blog is on Wordpress.com this is something you are not able to change. You can, however, follow my advice in #’s 5 and 6 and include your own categories and tags for YOUR blog in the sidebar.

8. The high contrast can be hard on the eyes. Especially with so much content.

   What does this mean? This is a toughie, since your theme is a dark one and overall, I like it. I just find it hard to read your large chunks of content with the white-on-black text. Maybe paring back the plots (should you take my advice) will help.

9. Are you reviewing these movies to read your own words? I’m guessing not. I’m guessing you want people to read your reviews. Usually, bloggers want these readers to comment, also. Unfortunately, I don’t see many comments on your posts. You are writing some good content, however, you aren’t following some important guidelines for getting comments.

   What does this mean? You need to engage your readers. A few simple changes to your posts will encourage people to comment on what you have written. Here are three tips for encouraging comments.

   First, invite people to leave comments. While this may sound strange since we assume everyone knows they can leave a comment, people like to be “talked to” and invited to take action.

   Second, ask a question at the end of your review. It could be as simple as “Do you agree that XYZ is the best movie ever? Comment below and tell me why or why not.“

   Third, allow your reviews to be more open-ended. If you are definitive in everything you say, there is nothing left for your readers to contribute.

10. Okay, I don’t hate it, but I don’t get it. Why “musicalmystery” when this is a movie blog? We all have an online persona. I’m just confused as to why “musicalmystery” is writing a movie review blog, and not a music review blog.

    What does this mean? Refer back to #1. An “About” page might clear this up for me.

The Good

I don’t always hate everything. In fact, there are quite a few things I like about “Let’s All Go to the Movies!!!!”

1. As previously mentioned, I find your reviews to be articulate and enjoyable. While I have seen a typo here and there, they are too few to point out.
2. Using the movie poster as a visual aid is a nice touch.
3. I love that you are ad free.
4. I also love that you don’t have a gazillion widgets and crap in your sidebar.⁴

There you have it. My review of Let’s All Go to the Movies!!!!. What about you, dear readers? Anything you would add? Anything you disagree with?

This is a test image:

teddy bear

1. At least the reviews I have read so far have been friendly.
2. I do like listing recent posts in the sidebar–I just don’t recommend that as the sole means of showing what you’ve written recently.
3. Tags are even misused at 10 things sometimes.
4. I’m not saying all widgets and sidebar items are crap. I’m saying it’s refreshing to see a minimal sidebar.

A half a year later (almost to the day), Holistic Serums is my first Where Are They Now? follow-up. There are two reasons for this: 1) Esther came to me and asked for a re-review after making changes a while back, and 2) this is a feature I had planned on implementing. I think it will be interesting to see what has changed, not changed, or gotten worse at some of the sites and blogs I’ve previously reviewed.

So, Holistic Serums, here are some things I hate about your site now:

1. The color scheme, still.
2. The use of too many colors, still.
3. Inconsistent links, still.
4. Inconsistent navigation, still.
5. Your look-and-feel is very dated.
6. Something is wrong with your blog when viewed in Firefox.
7. Your font is a little small.
8. What is going on with the Aromatherapy Website link?
9. Why is there a huge chuck of blank space at the top of the “Safety” page?

Details

The good news: this site does look better than it did last August.¹ The bad news: many of the items on this list were in my original review.

1. The color scheme, still. It’s very plain and drab. From August:
   

   While your overall background color scheme isn’t terrible, it’s just really blah.

   What does this mean? You still need a color scheme that highlights your products, not one that blends into the background. Here are a couple of palettes I think would work nicely.²

   Bi-Color Coleus
   

   Tropical Paradise
   

   Blossom Song
   

2. The use of too many colors, still. Just like in August, there are too many font colors being used, and still no consistency with their formatting.

   What does this mean? From August:

   Color use should be consistent…ALL of your body font should be ONE size and ONE color. Then use the chosen 3-5 color palette to create headers, subheaders, links, etc.

3. Inconsistent links, still. Why are some links bold? Why are some links default blue? Why are some links light blue? Why do some links change to red when rolled over, but others don’t? Why, why, why?

   What does this mean? It means the same thing now that it meant in August. Your links need to have a consistent format.

   I would recommend choosing two colors from your color palette: one for the link and one for the hover.

4. Inconsistent navigation, still. The navigation on your home page is still different than the navigation on the product pages. And the navigation changes again on the “Disclaimer” page. While it is true that people are more and more internet savvy, that doesn’t mean they want to guess where to go or that they want the navigation to be different on every page. Experienced internet users find frequent navigation changes annoying, and inexperienced internet users just get lost.

   What does this mean? First, you should have the same main navigation, in the same place, on every page. I am still considering the main navigation the horizontal links, starting on the left with “Home” and ending on the right with “Legal Notice”.

   Second, you need to have this main navigation on the pages you are linking to in your footer. On these pages you are repeating the footer links in the header and you have removed the main links. There is no reason for this, except to “strand” visitors within these pages.

5. Your look-and-feel is very dated. I don’t know exactly how old your site is, however, it looks like it was built in the mid-90s and never updated for the 21^st century. Your bordered tables and grid layout are keeping your site in a time warp.

   What does this mean? Your site needs a serious overhaul to make it more current. Starting with the recommendations above, you need to consider changing your layout to a CSS-based layout with some embellishments and some modern formatting.

6. Something is wrong with your blog when viewed in Firefox. This is what I see:

   

   What does this mean? There is something wrong with the theme you are using, rendering it incorrectly in Firefox. I haven’t look into the code, but it is obvious from the screenshot that CSS is not being linked in properly, or there is something within the CSS causing this problem.

7. Your font is a little small. It’s difficult to read, especially with all of the color changes.

   What does this mean? You need to bump your font size up at least one size. This will make your text easier to read, and will improve your line length.

8. What is going on with the Aromatherapy Website link? The link indicates this is a different website, but it is merely a different page on Holistic Serums. While the layout is different, it does not come across as a completely different web site. I’m not going to start listing what’s wrong with this “site,” however. That would entail an entirely new article.

   What does this mean? If “Aromatherapy Website” is intended to be separate, you need to give it its own URL and it needs its own identity.

9. Why is there a huge chunk of blank space at the top of the “Safety” page? It doesn’t appear to be a broken image so I’m guessing there is a problem and for some reason this chunk of content is not appearing.

While I’ve mentioned that this revised version of Holistic Serums was improved over the site I reviewed last August, many of the things that I originally pointed out were not addressed. This site still needs some major overhauling to bring it current and make it aesthetically pleasing.

1. Unfortunately, I learned to take screenshots after this first review, so you’ll just have to trust me.
2. The links will take you to the actual palette on Colourlovers.com