Hi, I am Gary Newport and brand new to this website and forum! I look forward to collecting ideas and thoughts.

 

Okay, I'd like to bite the bullet here. I have been developing sites for some time and for various companies and people but never have I asked my peers to review them, beyond those I know personally and so are possibly gentle on me.

 

The site I would like your honest opinion on is my personal site. Content is less important but feel free to comment on anything as you see fit.

 

http://www.garynewport.com

 

I await your comments and constructive critiscm! :-)

Your code is very clean, and I like the concept of your site. However, I don't feel it works very well as a web page. As a magazine layout, it could be excellent.

My main gripes were that the links were hard to read - and I didn't understand why you have 2 navigation lists with the same links?

 

The main content was a little easier to read, but the line length is perhaps a little long. I also wondered why none of your portfolio items linked to the sites you have done. I was looking forward to checking out Bike Tours

 

You obviously have a good grasp of HTML & CSS, I think you need to play around with your layout a little.

To add to notbanksy's comments, I'm not too sure about the scrolling div behind the rocks.

It's a nice idea but perhaps the rocks are a little too large?/cover too much content?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

In reply...

 

The reason for a vertical AND horizontal navigation bar is because I was experimenting with the concept of a single navigation list but used either top or side.

 

Yes, the rocks are too big and do interfere but again, it was playing with the idea of the scrolling behind an object. I like the idea but if I were to use it again it would be for a less intrusive(?)

 

I am now considering columnizing the content into smaller bands to break up the text, as well as include imagery. Yes, the sentences are too long.

 

None of the design images link because very few are now still active . However, Bike Tours will be again soon!

 

I designed it with a 1024x768 resolution on a widescreen laptop. I'll change the link size this weekend.

 

These are not excuses (though they read like excuses). I really do appreciate your feedback! Thanks.

I'm looking forward to seeing your website V2. Hope you post again when it's done

A small tip. Don't bother with the music autoplaying on your site. It's O.K to have music as an option should people want to play it, but do not have it play straight away. If I ever visit a site and I hear music playing I will leave immediately, no second chances and I know I'm not alone in thinking that. I would also agree with the comments regarding the dual navigation. It's confusing and the text is too small. Keep improving though, sites always gets better through iterative design.