april 1, 2013 → I apologize for my inactivity, and you can read about it at my other site Cosmos. However now I am back and ready to continue reviewing! Unfortunately I have to skip It's Raining Cupcakes for now as they are having layout issues, but I am starting on Focus right now!
Focus's review completed.

After going to a ballet performance during your trip to Paris, you decide to take a class. After searching and searching you stumble upon this little studio called etoile. You peak inside and sitting at the desk is a girl. Hello and welcome to Etoile! How may I help you today? You ask her what she offers here for you to learn. Here we teach specific skills in the art of dance. She hands you a list of classes.
Look at the available classes? →

terms to know

length: roughly how 'long' the class takes or how long it will take me to review you. Length is measured as follows: 30 minutes(Fast), 1 hour(Slow), 2 hours(Very Slow).

difficulty: this simply means sites that the rubic is aimed for, however you can request any rubric you want! Difficulty is measured as follows: beginner(New sites), intermediate(All sites), and expert(Premades/Request Sites).

class description: gives you the 'quick info' on the rubric. Grading rubric will be listed immediately after.

calypso (in-depth review)

length: 2 hours

difficulty: intermediate

class description: In this review, I will go in-depth and get to know your site so I can fully critique you and help you improve or tell you what is enjoyable. Every critique will have something to help you improve. Note: Please include your site's age when applying for this rubric.

Rubric

first impression

This is the vibe I get from your site when first entering. Is your layout eye-catching or pleasing? Do you have a warm introduction to your visitors? Is your layout easy to navigate? Other things I will be looking at will be if you provided enough information on the first page and if your site looks and feel professional.
score out of 10 will be listed here

layout and function

Here I will go in more depth on the appeal of your layout, the ease to access to the visitor and any errors in CSS of the layout. Quality of the layout will also be looked at. If you did not make it you will not lose points because of inability, but you will lose points if you are using a bad-quality layout. I will also take a peak at how you organize things on your site.
score out of 15 will be listed here

content

Here I will take an in-depth look at your content and look at quality and quantity with the age of you site. If I find something I like or feel needs improvement, I will list it here.
score out of 30 will be listed here

mechanics

It is important to have good grammar and little to no spelling errors in order to be professional so I will pick out any of those here. I will also look over how professional you are in your text.
score out of 10 will be listed here

sitely

Here I will check the sitely section of you site. It is important to have aesthetic link back buttons, both to your site and linking out to affiliates or listers. I will also check to see if you have credits to people.
score out of 15 will be listed here

final impression

Final thoughts will be listed here.
final score out of 80 will be listed here
percentage will be listed here
deemed: Recommended/Not Recommended

Take this class? →

fouette (Pros/Cons)

length: 30 minutes

difficulty: beginnner, intermediate

class description: Think of this as a 'mini' review'. In this review I will give you at least five pros of your site and at least five things that need improvement, along with suggestions on how to improve. You will not get a score but you will be deemed recommended or not.

rubric:

pros

Pros will be listed here.

cons

Things that need improvement will be listed here, along with suggestions on how to improve.

final thoughts

Final thoughts of your site will be listed here.
deemed: Recommended/Not Recommended

Take this class? →

barrida (Link Sweep)

length: 30 minutes

difficulty: intermediate

class description: In this review I have specific requirements for different sites. There is no score for this review and it will be deleted after 2 weeks. (Why?)
For link directory sites; I will go through at least 200 links to make sure no links are broken or sites haven't moved. You will be informed if any have. If you have 200 or less sites listed, I will go through them all. If you have more than 200 sites listed, specify which sections you would like me to check and I will check those sections. Note: Affiliates/Listed At/Broken links are not included in the 200 max check. I will always check affiliates, places you are listed at and links within you site.
For any other site: I will go through all your links, affiliates and listers to make sure no links are broken or sites haven't moved. You will be informed if any have.

rubrics:

link directory sites with under 200 listees

--- section

I will go through each section of your site and tell you which sites have closed, moved or are under hiatus. (Note: there will be one of these for each section)

broken links

Here I will list any links that are broken (ie: links inside of your site that don't work or lead to something else than intended)

affiliates

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

listers

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

link directory sites with over 200 listees

--- section

I will go through each section you have asked me to and tell you which sites have closed, moved or are under hiatus. (Note: there will be one of these for each section)

broken links

Here I will list any links that are broken (ie: links inside of your site that don't work or lead to something else than intended)

affiliates

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

listers

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

non-directory sites

broken links

Here I will list any links that are broken (ie: links inside of your site that don't work or lead to something else than intended)

affiliates

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

listers

Here I will list which affiliates have closed or moved, if any.

Take this class? →

releve (Q&A)

length: 30 minutes - 1 hour

difficulty: beginner, intermediate

class description: In this review you can ask me a series of questions to focus on what you would like to know. There is no limit on questions! Please list questions on the Additional Information section of you form.

rubric:

your question

My answer to you question will go here

your question

My answer to you question will go here

your question

My answer to you question will go here

Take this class? →

Please only request when requests are open. Label the neomail "Etoile Review Request".

Only active sites please. If your site is on hiatus, please request when you come off hiatus! No under construction pages (extras pages excluded).

Re-reviews are allotted if you have made changes to your site and you are serious about continuously improving. Please do not ask for a re-review if you are simply unhappy with the score.

A review is my opinion on your site. Please do not be disrespectful if you are unhappy with your score.

I will not review a site with any stolen content.

Only one review per person per week.

Please fill out the entire form.

Reviews will be completed in Chrome unless otherwise requested. If you read the rules please put plie somewhere in your form. I also offer reviews in Firefox, but you must ask in the form.

I don't review guilds, shops/galleries or applications because of my lack of experience in those areas.

Fill out the form completely. I will reply once I receive it and once your review is complete. If I don't get back to you in 2-3 days, feel free to resend the form.

Link back somewhere on your site. It can be before the review is complete, but it must be on there after it is complete.

portfolio

Take a quick overview at scores of past sites I've reviewed! More ➨

f.a.q.

Have a question you need answered or unsure about something? Check here! More ➨

recommendations

All sites that have been deemed recommended after a review here at Etoile. More ➨

references

Looking for a guide? These a pages I'd definitely recommend you check out! More ➨

link back

<a href="/~veramoa"><img src="http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac285/jellohcow/eto_zpse8597fce.gif" border="0"></a><a href="/~veramoa"><img src="http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac285/jellohcow/eto2_zpsb74742f4.gif" border="0"></a>

sister site

I'm Kind of Mean is an up and coming review site by Billie. At IKOM, you can find a wide variety of reviews to assist you in your ever-continuing process to build your site! From Classic to In-Depth rubrics, Billie has just the one for you. IKOM is definitely a place to go and get a helpful, second opinion.

affiliates

listers

Pixie Dust, Fireflies, The Parisian, The Shelf, Clockwork, Smiley Central, Judging You

first impression

Your layout has a simple, classic design that has a nice feel to it. The top navigation however is a little hard to read, maybe change the color to something a little lighter? I'm having a lot of trouble scrolling through your site. Maybe have a scroll bar instead of a hidden one? It's nearly impossible to scroll using both a mouse and the scroll pad on my laptop. I really enjoy the story introduction, that is definitely something to keep!
8 / 10

layout and function

Again, we run into trouble with the scroll bar. I can't scroll outside of the white text area. The blue area is a dead zone for scrolling. As I said earlier, maybe not have a hidden one? Since I can't see your CSS I can't give you too accurate of a solution for this problem, but feel free to check out the sites below to help you out!

I like the layout but it's a LOT of blue. Maybe incorporate some grays too? Also as I said earlier, the top navigation is really hard to read, try #cde4ff as the text color! A good start to adding grays would be making the body text #333333 or any color that suits the layout!

Moving on to the actual body text, links and underlines are bigger than the text and it makes it look a little awkward. I would suggest changing them so they are all the same size.
8 / 15

content

You seem to have a good start for petpages listed considering you opened on December 12, but it's only a start. If you are thinking about adding more, maybe look through neopia and any sites you don't already have? Be sure to inform those you listed that they are newly listed at Clockwork and you would appreciate if they linked back.

The "Advertise your site?" area is literally pointless as it just takes up a good amount of space. It's also not near the actual advertisements! I would add it in a div near the advertisements, or even at the top in the same div! At the bottom you have a link with a pre-loaded message for submitting an ad, so you may even want to think about just entirely removing the "Advertise your site?" area.

Your site community section is organized and helpful! Very nice. Nothing major to work on here, but maybe in the site news add a button back to the site rather than just simply listing it?

You do have a ranking system, which is ideal for visitors that just want a quick overview of the top sites in the area they are searching.
18 / 30

mechanics

In your introduction/story, spider webs should be two words.
Under site advertisements → WCPPN, cross painted should also be two words.

You are very professional in your text with very minor spelling/grammar issues.
9 / 10

sitely

The majority of your link back buttons are aesthetic except for the few I've listed below! Consider removing them.

Also for your affiliates, you link back buttons are mainly aesthetic except for a few. I've listed suggestions below to those that might work better than the ones you currently have.

The listed at portion is also pretty aesthetic! Maybe make the same changes for the listed at sites as the affiliates, along with the few others below.

14 / 15

final impression

Overall, you have a pretty decent start, although I would try your hardest to either keep advertising your site so people will know to list there or list people already and let them know! The biggest snag I ran into with your layout was the scroll bar and the over user of blue, so a few adjustments will make your site easier to navigate and even a bit more pleasant to look at. Another thing to attract people to your site is to possibly add some sort of "status" area that informs visitors what request sites are currently opened, it's very helpful to those who don't want to have to go through a bunch of sites just to find an open one.

The main thing is to add more sites. You want to be able to offer as many to your visitors as possible!

57 / 80
71%
deemed: Not Recommended

Keep at it and you'll be recommended in no time! Meanwhile I've added a button below for you to add to your site, but feel free to choose any you like!

<a href="/~veramoa"><img src="http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac285/jellohcow/eto_zpse8597fce.gif" title="2/10/13 | Calypso(In-Depth Review) | 71% | Deemed not recommended." border="0"></a>

first impression

I absolutely adore your layout. The blues and grays were obviously selected carefully and are very pleasing to the eye. Your layout is also quite unique to most I've seen. Although your introduction is a little awkward, I know English isn't your first language so you still recieve all the points.
10/10

layout and function

Your layout is beautiful. Although I'm confused as why the 'SITELY' navigation is a different shade than the rest of the links. Consider changing it to the same color. Your layout encompasses the whole screen, which is kind of an stretch to the eye, but it is still lovely although I wouldn't pull is again because it would be an overload. The headers are a bit boring though and easily blend into the rest of the text. I would highly recommend changing them.
You lose 2 points for the headers and 1 point for the navigation discoloration.
12/15

content

When requesting a button, you simply state that requests are closed in capital letters. It can be hard to tell to the visitors sometimes and is also unappealing. Consider using an image like the one below from The Lunch Box to let visitors know the status of your requests.

You have a preloaded message which adds ease to the visitor - nice! You also have statuses of each button you create and offer to show the requestee the button as it is at the moment. This is incredibly unique for any button request site, I love it!

As for the buttons themselves, they are very well done. It is obvious you take time in each and every buttong request. Although some of your very first buttons could use a bit of work, you later buttons show immense improvement. Things to avoid would be overuse of textures and PSDs, like in the button below.

This button's animation is a little too much. Next time you do an animation like this one, consider using a smaller stroke or a lower opacity.

These buttons have text that is hard to read because of the stroke outline color. Although the majority of the button is lovely, text can make or break the button. Consider other colors in the button that aren't so closely related to the background area next time.

The buttons below have a shine animation that doesn't blend very well. Consider using a light color from the button instead of white or blending the edges of the shine a bit more.

These are my top three favorite buttons that you've made. Keep up the good work!

20/30

mechanics

I'm going to be a little more lenient because English isn't your first language. However a lot of the wording is awkward. Consider having another friend go through all of your text again.
1 point lost for awkward wording.
9/10

sitely

I like most of your link back buttons, although the textboxes don't line up underneath correctly. None of your links are broken. You also list appropriate credits. All points awarded.
15/15

final impression

Overall, you have an amazing start. Keep up the good work and I know Focus is going to go far! Don't forget the minor CSS and organizational suggestions I recommended and the tips I gave you for your buttons as I know that you will have magnificient buttons with just a few tweaks.
66/80
83%
deemed: Recommended

I've added a button below for you to add to your site, but feel free to choose any you like!

<a href="/~veramoa"><img src="http://i908.photobucket.com/albums/ac285/jellohcow/eto_zpse8597fce.gif" title="4/1/13 | Calypso(In-Depth Review) | 83% | Deemed recommended." border="0"></a>