paul-hilton.info

This is my personal homepage to show people things i have done in the multimedia world.

I would like to start doing some freelance work around my current job, earn some extra pennys!

I went for the simple look, as i found many people try to over-complicate there personal sites (if you can do most of the flash/java stuff then fair play) but i prefer mine clear and to the point. Its been created using CSS with no tables (apart from the contact form) and uses ASP includes for the menus, footer and the contact form.

BTW, if you look at the web portfolio before i have a chance to change it there are 2 instances of "Sullivan Engineering" i have already noticed this and will be taking it off when i get 5minutes.

Thank You

Well ... it's simple alright ... just too simple.

Do you offer any services?! What are they? They're not on there. Or if they are ... they are not very visible.

Very colorful ... I like that.

Put some portfolio example on that main page so people can see right away what you can do.

Remove the validator buttons ... you're clients won't care if you validate or not ... just that you will do the job right.

Alot of unnecessary markup in there. For example:

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<div class="headertext" id="header1">Introduction</div>

Should be

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<h1>Introduction</h1>

Use the elements that already exists! And using headers will help you with SEO ... but not for stuff like Introduction. Put keywords in there.

The Div tags you mention create the coloured box that the text fits in, but i do know what you mean, it could do with a little tidying up.

As for the services, i do offer services, but not like a business would, im not trying to say "Hey i will make a website for anyone". im aiming at friends of friends, and im hoping that word of mouth will get me the potential clients.

appreciate the comment, think im going to tidy up the code up

<h1> is a block-level element too, so you can use it to create the coloured box. Apply the same styles to <h1> as you did to <div>.

This applies to lots of things. <ul> and <p> are also block-level.

Cheers, would you say its better doing it using the block level elements or with the Divs?

If you can easily do it without the <div>s, then that's better -- but only if you're using elements that make sense.

<div>s are semantically neutral: they don't have any meaning. In fact, <div> is the only semantically neutral block-level element.

Other elements, such as <p>, have meaning. When you put a <p> tag in your document, you're saying to the browser "this is a paragraph". Similarly, a <ul> says to the browser, "this is an unordered list".

You can achieve the same appearance using a meaningful element or a meaningless element. So why does it matter which you choose?

Well, it's good for programs to be able to interpret your page: programs such as search engines and screen readers. For example, headings (<h1>, <h2>...) help search engines to index your document well. They also help some visitors read your site more efficiently -- such as blind people using a screen-reader, who can skip around the content rapidly by jumping between headings. If you used a <div> instead of a real <h1>, then they cannot do this.

This is all rather technical and abstract, so let's look at some examples. This is bad:

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<div class="paragraph">This is a paragraph.</div>

This is good:

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<p>This is a paragraph.</p>

Let's say you wanted to put a box with rounded corners around that paragraph, using CSS background images. For a fully flexible effect, you will actually need eight image applications (here's how it works).

Unfortunately, you can only use one background image per element. Your <p> element will provide one background, but you still need another seven. This means you need seven <divs> nested around the <p>:

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<div><div><div><div><div><div><div>
<p>Introduction</p>
</div></div></div></div></div></div></div>

This code may be a little ugly, but it's perfectly harmless. The <div>s are purely presentational; for blind people using a screenreader, it's exactly as though the <div>s don't exist.

Nonetheless, it's good practice to avoid using more <div>s than you need: when you can easily achieve the same effect without a <div>, you should remove it.

If you were to use <p> tags instead, that would be very bad:

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<p><p><p><p><p><p><p>
<p>Introduction</p>
</p></p></p></p></p></p></p>

...because, even though you could make this look the same, it's not the same. Search engines and people using non-visual browsers will be told that you have eight nested paragraphs, which is a nonsensical structure.

The inline equivalent of <div> is <span>. Span also is completely meaningless.

It is very simple, thats not always a bad thing, I think you could really turn this into something nice, make the main navigation more prominent and add a few distinguishing images.

very simple although good. Just add some more pages and you will be on your way into turning it int a good site.

Thanks guys, for some reason i wasnt emailed that someone had commented here so i've not been on for a few weeks.