geoffmyers.net/beta/

Only the homepage, photos, music, movies, and wallpaper pages have been recoded/redesigned so far. The other pages still use the old template and stylesheet.

My personal website now has much leaner/cleaner HTML code. At one point, the recoded homepage was 64 lines of code, when the old homepage was 664.

The only issue I find now with adding content, is that many of the external scripts (for statistics tracking, etc.) include HTML code that is NOT valid. I don't know what to do when this happens. Either I can take out the important JavaScripts, or do some type of "hack" to make them valid.

What do you think?
http://www.geoffmyers.net/beta/

Thanks a lot for your helpful comments and suggestions! I really appreciate them!

it is very nice, i do like it, but it is very slow to scroll 8/10

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Great googly moogly... what in the heck are you loading that makes it take forever and freeze up my browser?

I agree, I'm on 800 kbs download speed and it took 20 seconds to load your site. What is your site trying to connect to that's slow to respond?

The slow loading is because of an external JavaScript that converts a few RSS feeds to HTML. I'm trying to find a better way to implement these feeds on my site. Any suggestions? Otherwise, the rest of the elements on each page load quickly.

Look in to PHP code for rss feeds

tiz some slow!!!!!!!!

the only thing i don't like is the navigation at the top, i think it's too big. you could probably fit all the pages on to one line, or condense a few so that it does. 2 lines of navigation doesn't work for me. also the black/white gradient stands out a bit too much, i would try more subtle colours (like grey and light grey!)

overall not bad at all though. it does take a lont time to load - is the RSS really necessarry? if you're just using it to show off, it might put off more people than it impresses.

finally, as much as we all feel proud when we build a website, i think putting "tableless design" at the bottom of every site you do is a bit like those people who put "this site was built with dreamweaver version 7.0.3 build 457.3 etc......"
nobody really cares.

Overall I think it's quite nice! It loaded instantly for me, but I do have a cable connection. Visually the only things that stand out to me are the light to dark gradients on the "Home" and "Welcome" bars like edd_jedi mentioned. It seems la little too severe and reminds me of the good old websites of the 90's.

The RSS feeds are kind of cool in a gimmicky sort of way. I like to see where the visitors are from. If you are going to use the site as a portfolio site, I would definitely take them off because it's very similar to what always turns up in beginner web design classes that require you to use an RSS feed or javascript or something arbitrary just to show you can.

Nice but slow to load/scroll.

Also. I'm not keen on the grey/silver gradients on your navigation.

Look, I hate to sound crass, but there is enough information on the web. You've got to figure out a way to attract visitors to your site. If you don't get straight to the point on your main page, no one but family and friends are going to pay the slightest attention. Simple your site up a bit. Eleven links in your navigation and another link that reads, "More". It's too much! Drop all the stuff that no one cares about and concentrate on what you're trying to achieve with the site. Focus in on the hardware repair or the web design; they're both viable means of administering a successful website, but no person interested in an iPod patch up is willing to see "Blog, Photos, Music, Movies, Wallpaper, Store, and Auctions" before what you're offering.

The point of the site isn't about getting customers or making money. It's purely for fun. For my web design and computer support services, I have my business site, SimDex.org. In addition, there is a seperate site for my photography. I think that I will remove the "Store" link, the "Poll" link, and the "More" link. I think most everything else is going to stay.

Well, there's no better platform than learning XHTML and CSS than a personal site. I still think you need to reconsider your content, however. The main page is useless; visitors will find it faster and easier to click on each link and scan the different pages than they will by reading the descriptions on the index.

I also would recommend separating the personal from the business more. Why is the Simdex blog on your personal domain for instance?

All of Ryans points are very valid but I feel that because you are only doing this site for fun... Have fun! do whatever crazy layout and colour scheme you like! It's not like you'll actually be doing business from here.

I'd say the best way to learn XHTML and CSS is to build something, break it, build again.

Have fun man!

That's just way my domains are set up (unfortunately) -- simdex.org is actually just geoffmyers.net/simdex. GoDaddy masks the actual URL by using a stupid frame. Otherwise, I'd have to get a seperate hosting account for simdex.org.

Very true. I originally didn't know what to put on the homepage, so I just made a summary of each page. I agree with you completely. I guess that was just a temporary placeholder that somehow never got changed. I think I'll use a PHP script to implement my blog on the homepage instead of having a description of each section...

Thanks for the helpful suggestions.

Next time your hosting contact runs out, look for a host that lets you manage several domains in one package. I used to have a host that let me run 5 domains for a price no more than most web hosts which only allow for a single domain. Plus, you can always sell your own package to a web design client and make some of the money back!

Nah. It's not worth it switching hosts. I have the best host in the universe right now. I have unlimited everything: storage space, bandwidth, MySQL DBs, email accounts, etc., the fastest/best customer support, and all the latest featues in cPanel X. But the best part is that it's only $120 per YEAR...

And, NO. I'm not a salesman, just a very satisifed customer...

Haha, well, I've been a completely satisfied customer 4 or 5 times. I don't know if it's generally hard to come by good hosting, but I haven't had a problem. Now I've got basically unlimited bandwith, storage, dbs, email accounts, hosting for unlimited domains and incredible customer support for $1000 a year. The kicker is, since I'm hosting over 30 of my clients websites, I'm making $2000 a year doing nothing.