Name: Rachel
Site: Rachel's Ultimate Horse Site
Brief Description: It's about horses. It isn't informational so much as it is an interactive site for horse lovers.
Date of Review: 08/24/02

Splash: Your splash image is very cute, and the various shades of pink look really nice together. Very simple, but pretty, and you list all the requirements. The site requirements are set in simple text, centered below a centered image, which is pretty much standard. It's what everyone does. To make this a bit more original and interesting, you might use tables or layers here to liven it up. Think about possible ways of presenting this same information ... ways you haven't seen other people do a splash page.  4/5

Layout: I really like the look of the top half of your layout -- especially the fun font for your site title -- but this layout is way too cluttered, and too tall. You should really try to make it no taller than about 750 pixels. I would recommend removing the "Plugs," "Link Me," and "Taggin'" from this main page, and put "Updates" where "Plugs" is right now (and make it an iframe, so that it scrolls and doesn't take up too much vertical space). "Plugs" and "Link Me" are already covered in pages within the site content, so you don't need to repeat them here, and I'd add "Taggin'" to the main content, as well ... perhaps just above the links to the guestbook. Alternatively, you could make "Updates" a page within the content, and put "Taggin'" where "Plugs" is right now.  2.5/5

Originality: Your layout and your content are both very original. You've got tons of interesting stuff here, and it's a *lot* of fun to explore! You've given your visitors dozens of ways to interact with your site in creative ways. I especially enjoyed the "Mystery Breed," "Mystery Gait," and "Mystery Model" sections. I've never seen anything like them before! I wouldn't even know where to start, if I were to want to give you advice on how to make this site more original. You rock!  5/5

Content: You have *tons* of content! Your site is very interactive and fun, and yet also very informative, which is a rare combination. Most of your content is very well-suited to the width of your text frame, but some of the photos on the "Horse Colors" page are too wide, which requires your visitors to scroll both down *and* over ... never a good choice. I would recommend finding different pictures that fit better on your page, or resizing the ones you already have. Additionally, there are an unusually large number of typos and misspellings throughout your site, which was extremely distracting. Perhaps you could have a friend help you proofread?  3.5/5

Navigation: In general, navigation was smooth and easy. My only difficulty was with that once in "The Paddock," "Jumping Field" or "Riding Ring," there was no clear way back to the main navigation menu. After much experimentation, I figured out that "Rein Back" took me back to the main nav menu, but that was not very intuitive. I would recommend making that a bit more clear, somehow. Perhaps, instead of the clever name, it could simply say "Main," or something like that. Or use an icon. Give it some thought ... I'm sure you can come up with something better.  3.5/5

Various Comments: I really enjoyed looking through your site, because it is so original and interactive. With a bit of work on the layout and proofreading the content, this site will be excellent!

Total Score: 3.7/5