Looking for Critique on my Portfolio Site (purely made from CSS)

[Winters]

Hey guys! I've just finished the first draft of a new and improved web design portfolio site for myself and I'm looking for opinions.

The site was purely made from CSS via Notepad, obviously with a few photoshop images thrown in. Let me know what you think :)

www.kjbartononline.co.uk (http://www.kjbartononline.co.uk)

Many Thanks!

[skOOb]

I don't know if I like the colors you are using. but keeping the links on the left highlighted after I visited them was a nice touch. I like the layout too, good work

[bwh2]

the design isn't cohesive at all. nothing's working well together.

and you shouldn't say your site is purely made from CSS because that's just not true; you're using html as well.

[JoshuaJonah]

I second that notion, and the nav bar is messed up in Safari 2.0

[Winters]

You're right, but it is purely CSS for me :azn: At least in terms of layout. I guess I needed to be more succinct.

It's just the img tag and the html you need to have with the google search thingy though - and I can just place the images as backgrounds within the CSS boxes if need be.

In terms of browsers, I'm really trying to optimise the site for IE and Firefox (though I have no idea what it looks like in firefox yet). I've also been reliably informed that the site works in Opera, which is an added bonus. I don't think Safari handles CSS layouts well (I know from experience.) Neither does Netscape for that matter.

Thanks for you're opinions guys. Like 'em.

[skiistari]

The bottom of "Qualifications" is cut off in my browser (Firefox on Mac OSX)

[BoonDock]

It's not bad, but I wouldn't have the links stay that purple color after you have clicked on em...I'd just make it a rollover.

Need some content in there for a full critique... ;)

[simplistik]

In terms of browsers, I'm really trying to optimise the site for IE and Firefox (though I have no idea what it looks like in firefox yet). I've also been reliably informed that the site works in Opera, which is an added bonus. I don't think Safari handles CSS layouts well (I know from experience.) Neither does Netscape for that matter.
Well, your experience is wrong then. Safari, FF and most other nonIE browsers are the browsers you should optimize for first... not IE, as it's a non web compliant web browser. Safari handles CSS layouts perfectly, the only errors you see are user and coding errors.

As for the look of the site... bwh2 said it perfectly. Nothing flows together, and the graphics, such as the main banner and section banner look very generic and hurt your page more than help it. You also shouldn't use a google ad bar in your portfolio... all you're doing is giving your potential clients a way to search for competitors easier. The colors aren't horrible, but they are very stale, and drab.

No need to have your site name in two places, that are so close to each other. The one on the left side is a waste of design space.

[SPAD3S]

I like the style and colors,besides what other peeeps say....but that good search bar isnt working lol it just donsent look good there try moving it at the top or bottom with more style if you can but over all nice site xD

[Winters]

Well, your experience is wrong then. Safari, FF and most other nonIE browsers are the browsers you should optimize for first... not IE, as it's a non web compliant web browser. Safari handles CSS layouts perfectly, the only errors you see are user and coding errors.


I was referring more to the fact that the majority of internet browsers use IE to surf the web. I read a statistic somewhere stating the 80% figure. I think that the figure is nothing like that in the modern age as I see more and more people turning to FF everyday. It'd be quite interesting to see what that figure is now.

I knew about the IE non compliancy thing, but I didn't know about Safari handling CSS better (I may have been thinking of Opera or Netscape in my previous post). Thanks for the info.