Please Review My New Site

[Major Que]

I am new here and am by no means a web designer and I am self-teaching myself CSS through the trial-and-error method.

I am here today looking for reviews, comments and suggestions about a new site I have put together. The site can be seen at The Best Rated Smoker Reviews For 2014 - Pick My Smoker

Any and all input would be/is appreciated as I cannot learn if I don't know what I am doing wrong.

Thanks in advance . . .

[Fireproofgfx]

Not bad, needs some refining but not bad especially for someone that isn't a web designer and it's not a theme! I think you need to use similar fonts. The about, Contact and side menu uses Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; where you did not clarify a font for the menu so it uses the default font. I tend to do the following


body { margin:0; background-image:url(dark_bg.png); font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif; color: #000; font-size: 17px; }

which covers all fonts and then if want a different size in a different section I can adjust that but at least the font type is the same.

I don't like the About and Contact links floating, they should be with in the menu section. Also looks like you have a float issue with the Side bar menu as it is overlaping your menu on all of the pages that have the Popular articles. I would also recommend a better image and company name on top, try (if you have Photoshop) messing with the fonts layer settings, specifically with overlay and soft light and see how it turns out. I would be willing to help you make a top banner for the hell of it, if you would like. I would add a little more padding to the main text on the home page.

Also you can see the Click Here to Read customer review on http://pickmysmoker.com/az_propane_vertical_smoker.php/ as the link is white like the BG, I only noticed it by accidentally mousing over it.

I would recommend more and try to help fix the float issue but I am leaving in a few minutes and I am strapped for time. I will check back in, in the next few days.

BTW, since you are in the process of self teaching yourself I would recommend Learn | Codecademy to help you learn

[Major Que]

Not bad, needs some refining but not bad especially for someone that isn't a web designer and it's not a theme! I think you need to use similar fonts. The about, Contact and side menu uses Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; where you did not clarify a font for the menu so it uses the default font. I tend to do the following


body { margin:0; background-image:url(dark_bg.png); font-family: 'Roboto', sans-serif; color: #000; font-size: 17px; }

which covers all fonts and then if want a different size in a different section I can adjust that but at least the font type is the same.

I don't like the About and Contact links floating, they should be with in the menu section. Also looks like you have a float issue with the Side bar menu as it is overlaping your menu on all of the pages that have the Popular articles. I would also recommend a better image and company name on top, try (if you have Photoshop) messing with the fonts layer settings, specifically with overlay and soft light and see how it turns out. I would be willing to help you make a top banner for the hell of it, if you would like. I would add a little more padding to the main text on the home page.

Also you can see the Click Here to Read customer review on http://pickmysmoker.com/az_propane_vertical_smoker.php/ as the link is white like the BG, I only noticed it by accidentally mousing over it.

I would recommend more and try to help fix the float issue but I am leaving in a few minutes and I am strapped for time. I will check back in, in the next few days.

BTW, since you are in the process of self teaching yourself I would recommend Learn | Codecademy to help you learn

Thanks for your input, Fireproofgfx. I have made changes and corrected the problems with the links to reviews that you brought to my attention. The information your shared about font family within #body was helpful and something I will need to be aware of in the future.

I have checked a few of my pages in Chrome, Firefox and IE and for the life of me I cannot see the float issue you mentioned. Unless I am not looking in the right place, I cannot see where the sidebar menu is overlapping the menu on all the pages that have the Popular articles. In IE I see where the Popular Articles title does not line up where it is suppose to and have no clue as to how to fix that, but I cannot see the overlapping problem.

As for the logo, I am open for suggestions. Being that I am not a graphics designer either, I always welcome any help/suggestions that will make my sites look more appealing.

Finally, I am looking into Codeacademy. I have read positive feedback on other forums as the place to check out for those wanting to learn more.

Again, thanks for your input and I look forward to any additional comments/suggestions you might be willing to share with me.

Cheers . . .