Opinions on two websites I've built

mach1982

I want want to become a freelance web developer. It mostly been a hobby up till now . I been working on these sites http://portkey.dyndns.info/ , my own personal site and the site for Sllains and Nass Coder Dojo, http://sndojo.dyndns.org.

I've coded each from scratch, I known they are not perfect , there still stuff I have to do, mostly back end.I just want your opinions .

ejohnl

Sorry but the second site is not showing.

partyatmygaff

The second URL isn't resolving. The first i'm not too sure what to make of it. It's clean with a header, some center-aligned text and a "Source Code" CSS button that doesn't seem to actually do anything (In Firefox).

The RSS summoner is good but if you select nothing and hit "Accio" (Which is the default option) the page goes blank and needs to be refreshed. Your admin page for the RSS summoner is open-access as well which is a security problem.

As for the rest... the PHP and JQuery/JS section is just a Hello World with a "Press Me" button that doesn't do anything. I couldn't try Ceaser.Java but it's coming up as 684 bytes so i'm not sure if it's anything any way...

All in all, with a bit of work it could do for a code portfolio once you start getting some more content on to it but I don't see the need to re-invent the wheel unless you want the challenge. Wordpress with a few plugins and modifications would be much easier and probably more functional.

redman85

Why don't you just host your code on github?

Also your site while clean is just using the bog standard bootstrap template.

To be honest I would avoid using Wordpress unless it is your own design and template. If I went to a web developers website and it was a purchased Wordpress theme alarm bells would ring. Your meant to be showing off your work not someone else's.

Have a look online for inspiration.

Here's a nice portfolio -
http://toddmotto.com Nice and clean and good content.

mach1982

Thank you all for your comments . I've taken them on board and implement some the , ie the password for the rss_admin http://portkey.dyndns.info/php/rss_admin.php

I've still need to fix the rss feed when there is a blank entry , but added a disabled selection telling you what to do .

Also, the source code button works now .

Mr. G

mach1982 wrote: »

Thank you all for your comments . I've taken them on board and implement some the , ie the password for the rss_admin http://portkey.dyndns.info/php/rss_admin.php

I've still need to fix the rss feed when there is a blank entry , but added a disabled selection telling you what to do .

Also, the source code button works now .

First link isn't working for me (portkey one). Regards the other one, I wouldn't have a stroller, I find them very annoying.

Despite the above comments, I would look into a CMS like WordPress, It would be much easier to manage. I think Times New Roman rings alarm bells from 2000.

One small thing is that on the home page the link to the Coder's Page links the space and the | and is a dead link

mach1982

Mr. G wrote: »

First link isn't working for me (portkey one). Regards the other one, I wouldn't have a stroller, I find them very annoying.

Despite the above comments, I would look into a CMS like WordPress, It would be much easier to manage. I think Times New Roman rings alarm bells from 2000.

One small thing is that on the home page the link to the Coder's Page links the space and the | and is a dead link

As I host both at home , portkey went down yesterday it is back. While CMS are great , they are bit like Ikea furniture, any one can put them together with a bit of patience. I want to show that I can code, and I want to pass this on the kids that I teach at the code dojo

Jackojc

Its a good template but get rid of the marquee and add more css, html is the structure and css is the design. Use more of CSS for design you can't just use <center> tags for everything, learn css its very easy and then you can make great sites!

PaulPinnacle

mach1982 wrote: »

... I want to show that I can code, and I want to pass this on the kids that I teach at the code dojo

That's noble and to be commended, but if you're doing it at the expense of users/the event it's not really a good idea.

Viewing that CoderDojo site, I'd have grave concerns. The trust/professionalism/etc of it just wouldn't dare allow me to send a child to the event (I say that as someone with no children, so perhaps irrelevant but also as someone who knows many of those behind this scheme and have a passion to see it succeed). Don't let your own wish to show how much you can do end up costing local potential participants who are put off attending by an extremely unprofessional site lacking in the type of information they would expect/need to see.

(There's no reason you can't create all of the niche 'homemade' content you want to show and illustrate to the kids, and link to it from the main site, while still giving the main site the professional look and trust elements it requires. Do a blog post discussing each of the hobby pieces/projects you're working on, going into the type of detail that they'd struggled to find elsewhere [I came up with the idea xxxxxxx..., I jumped onto GitHub and grabbed xxxxxxx... etc.)

mach1982

PaulPinnacle wrote: »

That's noble and to be commended, but if you're doing it at the expense of users/the event it's not really a good idea.

Viewing that CoderDojo site, I'd have grave concerns. The trust/professionalism/etc of it just wouldn't dare allow me to send a child to the event (I say that as someone with no children, so perhaps irrelevant but also as someone who knows many of those behind this scheme and have a passion to see it succeed). Don't let your own wish to show how much you can do end up costing local potential participants who are put off attending by an extremely unprofessional site lacking in the type of information they would expect/need to see.

(There's no reason you can't create all of the niche 'homemade' content you want to show and illustrate to the kids, and link to it from the main site, while still giving the main site the professional look and trust elements it requires. Do a blog post discussing each of the hobby pieces/projects you're working on, going into the type of detail that they'd struggled to find elsewhere [I came up with the idea xxxxxxx..., I jumped onto GitHub and grabbed xxxxxxx... etc.)

I don't own the Code Dojo , it is a world wide movement , we just one of many Dojos. For more information see http://coderdojo.com/. We only got our server a few weeks ago , so the site is still a work in progress.