Blog Review: Always Ten List of JR Plaza

Blog Title: Always10 - Top 10 List Collection ( http://www.always10list.com )
Owner: JR Plaza
Genre: Reference
Platform: Blogger
Description: Always10List is a reference blog that collects 10 (ten) list from different website references, contributors, readers and other media resource partners.

Cross-Browser Test: Tested on the Following Browsers

• ✓ FF 8.X
• ✓ Safari 5.1.4
• ✓ Chrome 17.X
• ✓ IE8
• ✓ IE7
• ✓ Opera Mini
• ✓ Dolphin Browser
• 
  

Things Worth Mentioning

• CSS file is an external file - one of most advised solution for faster loading of pages
• simple and corporate looking blog
• clever way of placing of ads

Things that Need Attention

• spacing issues - the above the fold section talks about nothing, all I see are ads, on the other hand, too many blank spaces below
• hover background - personally, I'm not a fan of this one but what makes it bad can be seen on the footer part where the hover background doesn't mixed well with your font color
• too many H1 on one page - Usually, H1 is used for site title only and it is advisable to only have one H1 per page

Tips from BTT

Note that this tips are just suggestions given by the author, following it is just an option

1. Avoid using elements with the same IDs (see your breakingNews div, it has been used twice)
2. Avoid using hover background color, it is an obsolete way of showing a link. You may change the font's color instead
   
   
   
   
3. Menu on Chrome breaks when you zoom in and out. You may want to add this CSS to fix it:
   
   
   

   #submenu{
    display: inline-block;
    width: 960px;
    margin-bottom:-5px;
   }
   

4. Breaking News left spacing is needed. If you really meant to do this then it's fine, else use the following CSS:
   
   

   #breakingNews{
    padding-left: 10px;
    width: 950px;
   }

5. What is the ellipsis for?? I don't think that it is a part of any design, so I think it would be best to remove it.
   
   
   

BTT's Opinion for Always10List

Design 3/5 ★★★★★
Personally I think that the design was too simple. It looks too corporate and clean. I'm seeing a very mashable[dot]com inspired blog which gives me a way to compare both designs and thus making Mashable more elegant because of it's European style of colors. One thing to point too is, I'm not a fan of serif using fonts like Times New Roman, it's like a retro approach that is already obsolete. An Arial or Tahoma might look better on it in my opinion.

Content 4/5 ★★★★★
I'll give a higher point for this one. Most of the post are really good and worth reading. The contents though tackles a wide variety of listings from Entertainment to News up to General Information. This wide variety of topics yet still leaning on the "Top 10 list" makes this blog attractive for different readers.

Branding 5/5 ★★★★★
I love the branding. Colors are chosen properly in my opinion, logo of a graph is perfect for the listing, title and description fits the content.

Audience Impact 4/5 ★★★★★
If I'm gonna based it on the social aspect, Always10List really got the attention of the public. Other than that, since the content tackles different topics, audience tends to become picky on their subject and avoid reading other posts.

Guest Judge Opinion for Always10List

For today's guest judge, we invited "The Undertaker" to review the site. She is a Web Designer and a Site Quality Checker for a private company in the Philippines. Here are her comments:

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in comments by the guest judge published on this blog site are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of Beneath the Tree, nor do they represent the views or opinions of www.ajibanda.com, or any entity of, or affiliated with www.ajibanda.com

Design 2/5 ★★★★★

Design
Blog is too compressed. There are not enough spaces to breathe. More particularly the homepage

Homepage
I think there are too much texts for the eyes to take and focus at, NAKAKALULA!
There should be at least a color-separator between main content container and the sidebar (like article page where paragraphs are inside a lightblue box which is better for the eye to separate content to sidebar).

Social Icons
Also, the icon for number of shares is too big and eye catching more than the article titles. Reader's don't really care on those numbers, why not lessen the size just like at the article page.

Content 3/5 ★★★★★
In my opinion, I don't find it interesting enough as compared to other site that lists the same thing. I prefer a visual approach on this genre than text.

Branding 2/5 ★★★★★
Logo is an obvious combination and copycat of Yahoo! and MSN messenger

Audience Impact 3/5 ★★★★★
It looks like an auction site for me due to the huge banner and ads.


So that's it, again this is just a friendly review from BTT. We aim for a better site and not to insult the owners and administrators. Whether you follow our tips and suggestions depend on your decision. Ciao!

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