I also went through the web host decisions. There were so many I used, but what it boiled down to is what will my site need now, or in the future. Back when I had n0madic.net, it was first hosted as a subdomain that had free everything. At the time, I only needed so much space and bandwidth, but I knew that I was going to expand and I’d have to get something bigger. Well, before I bought my domain, that “free hosting” site got hacked and the owner tucked his tail in and ran. So instead of looking for another host, I went to Netrillium (which was awesome back then).

But anyways, when it comes to building a site, a lot of the time, I did have an idea of what I’d need and what I wanted to use. Site builders, while good for those who loves easy stuff, is not for me. Maybe it’ll be good for someone else though.

As I posted on the last entry, I’ve opened up Illustrator more often than I did Sims 2 and Perfect World combined the past week. Please keep in mind that Sims 2 is my old-time addiction, and Perfect World is creeping right behind it (so much so that now I somehow forget the controls on Sims 2!). I’ve worked with it a few times before this, but I was never able to get it. Bah, that just meant I didn’t experiment enough. I’ve went on to post my “experiments” on my DA. Yes, boredom has done this to me. Not only that, but a resilient case of seasonal depression, which the peak of coincides with the impending approach of Cupid’s Day of Pink-Shitting¹, is kicking my ass. So this is my way of trying to distract myself from loneliness. Who knew?

Anyway, apparently quite a few liked the fonts that I posted in the last entry. So I’m doing the one thing that I may never do again after this creativity streak wanes–offering them for download.

Ardent: This was my second font that I created. The period is actually in the middle, which wasn’t noticed until it was printed. Oh, shit. Well, it gives it its…uniqueness. Download Ardent

Love!: There are two versions to this, but I’m partial to the first one. I am still kicking myself in the head for deleting the .ai for editing this. Download Love! V.1

Musical Scribbles: Just made this one since the last entry. Unlike the other two, there aren’t any accents, but unlike the other two, there are a few extra “musical scribbles” in place of some characters, such as the trademark and pound. Inspired by downtempo music and past doodles. Download Musical Scribbles

I hope that this spark of insane creativity does not go away–I very much enjoy doing fonts. More so than coding layouts. Which I need to change. Which I’m scared to change. Oh, the drama!

Okay, maybe not a problem but it pisses me off to no end.

You add your site on rev.iew.me and you ask for feedback on your site. When you submit your site to any WPR, you agree to the terms that not everyone is going to enjoy your site, and you should take things into consideration. This may mean that you’ll need to redo your whole site, a part of it, or whatever. Or not. In other words, you can take it or leave it. 99% of the time, the reviewers are honest and will give constructive criticism. Keyword here: constructive.

However, some people don’t understand this. I’ve done 57¹ reviews so far. I have done more, but they were lost before Jem implemented the “no review left behind”² system. I lost a couple of 1,000-word reviews due to people who apparently got bad reviews from people, and effectively deleting their site from rev.iew.me.

I am not better than anyone. I have little faith in my own site sometimes. However, as plenty of people said to me before I joined, I have a valid reason to have an opinion. Hence, that’s what I give. My reviewing style is tough (with loads of non-sequiturs in between), I’ll admit. But I’m constructive. I’ve had a few people try to say “um, this works–what are you talking about?”³, but I’ve had people say “thank you for being constructive; you taught me something I didn’t know”⁴. As with being a reviewer, reviewees take the good with the bad, and don’t get too hurt by it.

Besides, it’s all opinions, right?

Recently, I did a review on a site. I was the first person to do the review. To my disbelief (but not surprise, since it has been done before), I was greeted with a (site deleted). Now this is what I don’t get.

1. First, you join a WPR. You have to make a few reviews or one 1,000-word review in order to submit your site.
2. When you get 5 points, you submit your site. You are agreeing that you will get feedback, whether good or bad.
3. You get a bad reviews, but instead of possibly using the bad reviews to better your site, you delete it from the rev.iew.me database.
4. You disappear (or not). If you don’t disappear, you complain about it in your blog. “Why does my site get 1 star, and this other site gets 5, even though it’s boring?” By the way, this isn’t true. I prefer simple layouts, but if there’s one with a nice creative design, then it gets praise. Some layouts featuring celebrity images get points taken off on account of the images not being yours to use, no matter how well made they might be. If you do disappear, you come back eventually.
5. You come back, and readd your website with a new layout and everything. You are agreeing to slaughter feedback, both good and bad.
6. You get a review, one that’s apparently not a 5-star rating, and you delete your site again.

The vicious circle may begin again. Here’s how to break it.

If you don’t want your site to be criticized, even though it may very well benefit you in the long run by making you a better website owner, then there’s a solution–don’t submit your site. In fact, don’t even join rev.iew.me. Not everyone is going to like your site, and if you can’t accept that, then it’s not right for you. But don’t catch a fit because they’re trying to help.

That’s my rant, and I’m sticking to it.

A world-famous Crestfallen non-sequitur: I got FlickrRSS working again somehow. Yay!