Rate my site/portfolio

decimal

Hello, I'm looking for comments, suggestions and critiques about my site. I'm just after being thrown onto the job market and I'm thinking about moving to London to see how things go there. Anyway, any feedback is appreciated!


http://www.michaeldoyle.eu

Rollo Tamasi

very sexy and sleek, too much "noise" though, font is hard to read and an html version would be nice (i know you said you're a flash developer but it wouldn't go a miss)

Media player is nice, is that powered by an xml playlist or any server side scripting?

DublinWriter

Quite nice, all your own original artwork?

A friend of a friend has a 'multi-million-dollar' idea and is looking for someone to do virtual tours of factories etc. Could all be a load of tommy-tank, but I can pass your name on. They initially approached me, but I said it was something best done in Director/Flash, which is light-years away from the sort of IT work I still do.

I can pass your name on if you want. Can't\Won't promise anything.

Webmonkey

Its nice but your coding isn't the best tbh.

You are forgetting to close the head tag , </head>
You are still using font tags even though you are using stylesheets.

mneylon

A HTML version is a necessity, as it takes quite a bit of time to load even on a reasonably fast DSL line.
Opening it in lynx is quite amusing ..

judybaby

Takes a bit of time and I think a larger font would be better. In addition the NCVA level 2 has been renamed FETAC level 5 (sounds better me thinks!!!!!:D )
Content very good however! Well done Michael

Jude

forbairt

Its nice ... but...

I like a nice website I can find my way through thats easily accessible ... I can't with that .. and this annoys me ...

As others have said the font is too small ... / not changeable ..

I don't like the Internet Explorer icon for the webpage cv ... (yes I'm just getting annoying now)

With my version of firefox .. your popup windows are not being focused

I don't like that I have to click through each of your portfolio pages ...

apart from that ... I like the look I like the way the elements appear .. the sound effects and the general look and feel ...

decimal

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

very sexy and sleek, too much "noise" though, font is hard to read and an html version would be nice

Media player is nice, is that powered by an xml playlist or any server side scripting?

How do you mean, "too much noise"? The font I've used is verdana bitmap font, the reason I used bitmap is to present text in the clearest way possbile. Any chance you could explain a bit further or provide a screen grab?

The media player is grand, but it was pretty much just a simple thrown together one, I didn't have time to do an xml based player so it's just my own idea in flash.

DublinWriter wrote:

Quite nice, all your own original artwork?

Yup

blacknight wrote:

A HTML version is a necessity, as it takes quite a bit of time to load even on a reasonably fast DSL line.
Opening it in lynx is quite amusing ..

I've mulled over that idea, but in the end I think it'll add nothing to a portfolio site. How do you mean about lynx? Is it working okay on the lynx browser?

error9 wrote:

I like a nice website I can find my way through thats easily accessible ... I can't with that .. and this annoys me ...

I don't understand, why do you believe it's not easily accessible?



Thanks a million for all the suggestions, comments and critiques lads!

forbairt

decimal wrote:

I don't understand, why do you believe it's not easily accessible?

How do I link directly to your portfolio or another page on your site...
How does google/search engines index your site ?? ...
How do I change the font size ctrl + and ctrl - don't work .. yes I realise its cus its flash .. but for my eyes .. its tiny text ...

One should always have a website to go with your flash presentation ...

forbairt

decimal wrote:

I've mulled over that idea, but in the end I think it'll add nothing to a portfolio site. How do you mean about lynx? Is it working okay on the lynx browser?

Lynx is a text only browser ...

decimal

error9 wrote:

Lynx is a text only browser ...

Aha, I understand

Rollo Tamasi

decimal wrote:

How do you mean, "too much noise"? The font I've used is verdana bitmap font, the reason I used bitmap is to present text in the clearest way possbile. Any chance you could explain a bit further or provide a screen grab?

as in everytime i roll over a link i get a beep beep noise which is annoying and there is no off button available. Your text is very unclear as has being pointed out already, i'm on a 1024*768 res and i had to lean forward out of my chair to read the text on the site.

I've mulled over that idea, but in the end I think it'll add nothing to a portfolio site.

big mistake imo. SEO goes out the window if you stick soley with a flash site. A html version will show your diversity too, some clients may request to have both a flash/html site or just a html site.

mneylon

decimal wrote:

How do you mean, "too much noise"? The font I've used is verdana bitmap font, the reason I used bitmap is to present text in the clearest way possbile. Any chance you could explain a bit further or provide a screen grab?

It's not legible

decimal wrote:

I've mulled over that idea, but in the end I think it'll add nothing to a portfolio site. How do you mean about lynx? Is it working okay on the lynx browser?

add nothing? It'll show you give a damn and are professional.
Flash only websites with no html alternatives are not very professional and if I can't see anything in lynx, then how would a search engine spider or a screen reader handle it?

decimal wrote:

I don't understand, why do you believe it's not easily accessible?

There's no text content.

kjt

Quite a nice website I fink.
Nice and clean as it were.

Just wondering, all the reflections (buttons).
Are they all done individually..or did you use a script?

decimal

error9 wrote:

How do I link directly to your portfolio or another page on your site...
How does google/search engines index your site ?? ...
How do I change the font size ctrl + and ctrl - don't work .. yes I realise its cus its flash .. but for my eyes .. its tiny text ...

One should always have a website to go with your flash presentation ...

You can bookmark the site as normal, as for directly linking to a page, I don't think many people feel the need to bookmark my portfolio section, contact details or cv when the site can be bookmarked.

I'm not too pushed on google indexing my site, most people don't go past the first page of results, and it's pretty much impossible for me to get to the top of the list in "flash developers".

Tiny text suits the design of the site, a lot of my other work doesn't have such small text, a larger font doesn't suit the look of the site.

As for a HTML website, I understand it would be a bonus, but I've been working on this for pretty much the last month and the dole queue isn't getting any prettier, plus I'm won't be looking for much-non flash based work

kjt wrote:

Just wondering, all the reflections (buttons).
Are they all done individually..or did you use a script?

All done individually, unfortunately

Thanks again for comments!

Rollo Tamasi

why on earth did you bother posting this thread if you're not going to take anything on board that is being said to you. I would hate to have you developing a site for me if i was a potential client because obviously you don't listen. Not trying to be rude, just brutally honest.

decimal

Rollo Tamasi wrote:

why on earth did you bother posting this thread if you're not going to take anything on board that is being said to you. I would hate to have you developing a site for me if i was a potential client because obviously you don't listen. Not trying to be rude, just brutally honest.

I understand what you're saying and I have taken it on board, but no one here is putting food on my table There's a huge difference.
I think a lot of people are really pointing out the fact that the website should have larger text and have a HTML version, I understand that obviously if a client wants that, that's what the client gets, but I'm using this portfolio to showcase my experience and work in Flash Development and E-Learning.

Sorry if it seems like I'm just ignoring everything being said to me, but I have taken into account that I should make a HTML site, and probably will, but at the moment, I think a HTML version of my site won't get me a job, my previous work should (I hope!).

I am appreciative of comments, suggestions and critiques, sorry if it seems like I'm ignoring the responses or arguing the point.

Figment

As potentially one of your clients, a few points.

Don't make me wait when the site loads before I can click on a link to see your portfolio.

In your portfolio post screenshots. It lets me quickly browse your work and see if it is worth a closer look. I don't have time to be clicking blindly into an outside site without knowing what to expect. I did it on your site once and didn't bother again. Pre pick the best screen shots for me.

As said above. Less noise. Bigger fonts.

I wouldn't worry too much about the search engine stuff. Do one html page on your site with your details and link to it. Your type of work will come mostly through word of mouth. Nat many people will hire you from a Google search.

decimal

Figment wrote:

As potentially one of your clients, a few points.

Don't make me wait when the site loads before I can click on a link to see your portfolio.

Are you talking about after the links appear they are not clickable until the cv section appears?

Figment wrote:

In your portfolio post screenshots. It lets me quickly browse your work and see if it is worth a closer look. I don't have time to be clicking blindly into an outside site without knowing what to expect. I did it on your site once and didn't bother again. Pre pick the best screen shots for me.

Are you talking about the rolling demos? I'm not the happiest with those, I put them up because I can't make them available live on the net

Figment wrote:

As said above. Less noise. Bigger fonts.

Bah humbug! There isn't much I can do other than redesign with scrollbars at this point, I'm a sucker for small fonts.

GP

you might want to setup an e-mail account under this domain so that your e-mail contact is consistent with the site.

Small thing but I think it's important...