Review #1: Crystal Moon
Author: Elora
Review by: Usagi-star
Crystal Moon
Content: ***.5
Originality: ***.5
Design/layout: ***.5
Technicality: ****.5
Overall statement: A large, spirited site with a lot to do!
(The maximum amount of stars is five.)
Main Page
The main page is simple, cute, and easy to follow. I love how the text is formatted under Usagi's hair ^^, and the mouseover script. One thing I don't like is the way the table doesn't have a border and sort of  crashes into the background. I'd actually suggest taking out the background altogether. We also have the option of a remote control, which is a pop-up that provides links to certain pages. However, I'm not sure that everything's here, so I'll just use the normal links...

Sub-pages
The library has an elegant layout and a great use of graphics. The only thing I'd  change is the link color, but that's minor. Most of the material in here is without error in terms of HTML, and the focus here is clearly content so I'm not going to pick on the design. ^.^ There is PLENTY to read here; it would take a millenium to read it all, actually. ^_^

The Archive is an information center, with profiles, FAQs, etc. It's modeled as a coputer database; cute idea. ^^ Although I appreciate the many profiles offered here, I'd suggest sticking to a black background. Also, the bottom frame is a bit large; it could be made smaller.

Crystal Tinker is sort of a help page, and even has its own reviews section. ^_^ The design here isn't too bad, but the colors make me cringe and the title graphic is sort of tacky. ^^;; "Tinkertoys" looks better, and is well-organized. I would recommend expanding this section. I love the webmistress' helpful attitude, and the long FTP tutorial she put up, which is very helpful.

The garden itself is a broken link ^^;, so we'll have to use the text index to g et there.  It's a pretty little layout using border backgrounds. Here we find a manga archive, with a very pretty use of graphics and plenty to choose from. There are a lot of scans here that I've never seen, all of which the webmistress kindly offers to anyone that wants them. Next is the romance shrines, a semi-original idea that is done nicely in terms of writing. I would love to see some graphics here that develop the romantic atmosphere of the shrines.

The Arcade has a cute layout that I like, although the graphics could be a little...smother. ^^; A notable feature here is the Ton Ten lists, which is pretty and usually funny.

Mooniewood is almost as pretty as the manga section; I like this layout a lot. There is PLENTY to see and hear here; the screenshots gallery has hundred of pictures, there  are plenty of midis to browse,  a lot of sounds from the DiC dub (although they're sorta low-quality ^^;), and some neat movies. ("Neat"? Wow...where did that come from? ^^;) Another must-see is the illustrated R movie and the entire SuperS season illustrated.

Positives

  • The atosphere of this site is very happy, enthusiastic and most of all helpful. It really feels like the author made this exclusively for the viewer, and tries hard to please us. A lot of effort was put into the site, I can tell.
  • Text and non-Java versions are offered often.
  • Although the page deals with both the dub and original version, the author does a good job of keeping them separated.
  • The section titles and ideas are creative and fun.
  • There is TONS to do here, it's almost certain it will take you more than one visit to see it all. ^^
  • Very few technical errors and annoyances.
Things to Fix
  • There is a broken link at the bottom of the "new" page in the library under drama; broken images on Krisiss' fanfiction page, and the last two chapters of V Thackeray's story seem to be blank. ?_? Anyway, there is so much here, I wouldn't expect anyone to get it all up perfectly. ^.^
  • In the archive, when we're in the frames and click on "back to the computer" we get a frame inside a frae. ^^;;
  • A couple of the Venus graphics are broken images.
  • The link from the Java version to the garden is broken.
  • The "2 Usagis" link is broken in the manga archive. 
  • I would put a table on the group posters page so it doesn't scroll.
  • The galleries in the shrines could use thumbnails; as time-consuming as they are, they're necessary. ^_^;
  • The "back to the romantic shrines" link leads me to something copletely different...*_*;
  • Times New Roman gets very boring after a while...maybe some Arial, or Verdana? ^_^
  • Broken pics on the "Black Moon Plot" (under Miscellaneous) page.
  • If a background is dark and the text is white, specify a bgcolor before the background loads. ^_^;
  • The dimension gate doesn't seem to be linked from the text index..(?)


Suggestions for the Author
Hmmm...well, in places, the design is nice, and other times, it could use a bit of work. I would say, though, that it's good in the important places. I can see in the newest pages that it's improving; keep up the improvement! Also, some of the graphics look sort of old and fuzzy; I'd suggest getting a high-quality image editor and experimenting with the filters, textures, etc. to create unique effects. Experiment with background to the left and right, and with text alignment, to find designs that are pleasing to the eye.
I'm guessing your top priority is content, because there's a lot of it here. If you really wanted to make the site ouststanding, you could add more original content, but I think what you need to focus on is organization. It doesn't require too much maintenance, just a bit of rearranging. Some of the features don't seem to fit in the section they are in (ie, Top Ten lists in the Arcade, etc). Just make it clear what each section is about, like you have it on the text version. Mooniewood: multimedia, Arcade: fun, Crystal Tinker: Webpage Related, etc. I would also suggest making soe kind of "Miscellaneous" section where you can put the forum, ranking stuff, etc. There's just so much here, just want to make sure it's all easily accessible. ^_- 

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