Category: Peer Review

I was requested to evaluate Lily’s blog, Knitting After Hours. I was astounded by how well-designed the website appeared when I initially clicked the link to it. Lily’s website is well-organized and put together, while we have just begun developing our website.

During the day, Lily studies, and at night, she knits. She intends to highlight her accomplishments and successful ventures. She discusses twist socks in the part on her knitting endeavours. I had the impression that I was speaking with Lily directly while reading the post. Even though I’ve never been interested in knitting socks, it was interesting, hilarious, and engaging enough to have me wanting to learn more.

Going through Lily’s website made me immediately take note of the images she included to each post. Since I like to see things visually versus mentally picturing them, I am a huge photo enthusiast. When I clicked on the post because there was an image, I instantly felt as though I understood everything Lily was saying. I loved that there was an image and a brief description of the post before you read it. I really appreciated how she combined visuals and links to the topics she was discussing.

In between the white and black on Lily’s site, there is this lovely yellow colour. The colour palette she is utilising, in my opinion, has a strong knitting connection. It is quite relaxing and does not overwhelm. Because of all the categories she has established, I had no trouble finding her posts. She has developed links to the knitting patterns she uses in her work.

I immediately recognise what Lily is attempting to advertise when I visit her website. She wants to share her experience with each project because she is so passionate about knitting. Regarding the goals she has for her website, I had no questions. Lily strikes me as funny and as someone who is well-versed in website editing.

I’ll sum up my evaluation by saying that she’s organised and can knit. She did mention that she would be include food and playlists in her “about me” section. Because I adore food, I can’t wait to see her prepare recipes. Her website will have content that goes beyond knitting, which is incredibly interesting. Additionally, I really appreciate how she’ll be sharing her own playlist. If she included a category of projects, she’s interested in trying, I think it would be interesting. Additionally, she might mention where she gets the yarn or give advice for it. It’s interesting to hear about what she does, but to keep people interested, she should provide more advice. I’d love to learn how to knit, so I’ll be sure to visit her page more frequently.

Lily’s website is knittingafterhours.com.

This week I’ll be reviewing Mikeala’s website, http://mikaelatallaiac.ca/. My first impression of her website was how appealing it was because of the colour scheme. I am a huge fan of how the pink and brown work together. I found that it all worked well together, it was like BAM in my face. It was neat and tidy which I liked plus the photo of herself on the home page allowed me to know who she was. It really brought in more engagement for me to learn more about her and about her health blog.

I really like that she included a “recent post” column on the side to check out her posts that she has made. She has also included her twitter to check out which I found nice. She has been publishing things about health, but not the typical health and wellness things.

I would have really enjoyed more about the type of things she would do to help ease her physical, mental, and social health. It would be intriguing to gather more information on how other people regulate or help their own health.

Another thing I would really like is photos. I am a huge visually learner that is why having photos on her post would really connect me to click on a post.

I feel like Mikeala’s website could really cultivate a good audience if she were to market it up. Basu (2020) said “a growing movement of people are… creating sites that are more collage like and artsy”. I get that vibe from her website. She is bringing in that aspect into her blog which I find appealing.

Basu (2020) said “everyone does their own weird thing” I agree especially in your own digital life, we do. I feel like Mikeala is focusing on personal development and growth, I feel like she should talk more about her own growth and development. Many people nowadays like to listen to people’s stories, how they overcame struggles. Everyone has their own weird habits or struggles that they are trying to overcome.

I know many people grow a huge audience with gym Instagram’s. What they eat, calorie deficits, and workouts they do. But Mikeale’s view is to learn about the best practices in our 4 components of health which is different but appealing. I want to learn about healthy ways of achieving things whether it be physical, emotional, social, or intellectually. She really could grow a strong community of people that are also willing to learn about these things. She could start off with starting an Instagram or Tik Tok to really market what she is learning in those classes. Many people would be interested to learn how to heal things in their own health.

Mikeala’s website could really receive high engagement if she focuses on showing new techniques while also showing her own lessons she learns.

I really did find a lot of her posts to be very beneficial. She wrote a post about journaling. She continues to learn new ways of dealing with your own health, in successful ways. Mental health has been something I have struggled with over the past few years. Anxiety. That was a weird time for me, but I have journaled my life away to help ease my brain. I find that her adding ways to deal with mental health is amazing.

I am still learning new tricks and techniques that will help me grow as an individual. I will be coming back to check out her other advice. I am intrigued with some of her posts. Sometimes most things I find that really focus on health is a lot of physically. I hope to see some of the things she is advising for her to try out and document it.

Overall, I like her blog and will be coming back for sure.

Basu, T. (2020, September 3). Digital gardens let you cultivate your own little bit of the internet. Technology review. https://www.technologyreview.com/2020/09/03/1007716/digital-gardens-let-you-cultivate-your-own-little-bit-of-the-internet/ 

This week I’ll be reviewing Mika’s website, http://yearofmess.com/. Mika’s website focuses on showing her true self and all her imperfect messes she makes. I really like that because many people tend to present this perfect lifestyle but will not show when things go sideways. Overall, I found the website very organized in the sense that I could find her Pub 101 assignments, all her lessons, messes, and practice. Sometimes going on a website that is very busy and has a lot going on I tend to get out of it quickly. Mika has it very simple where everything is accessible, where you know where to go if you are looking for something specific, she blogs about.

Mika has included an accessibility tool bar which I find amazing because sometimes people like to increase or decrease texts. I know on my website I do not have this feature which is why I probably will be adding it. It is an amazing feature to include on your website for people who need better guidance when using your website.

Mika has included a menu bar at the top of her website so when you move your mouse over it there is down bars of places to go. This helps it be easier to find specific topics when you go on a website. I know when I go shopping, they have the exact same touch down bar which allows you to look at different types of clothing instead of everything. For example, having the PUB 101 menu with the drop-down menu of process posts and assignments helps me look at her work. Overall, the layout of the website was very clean and organized. There were different categories on what Mika wanted to talk about on her website.

First impression on Mika’s website I could not figure out what her website is about. That took me awhile to figure out because on her main page it was just a question being asked. I had to read her about to understand the aim of what she was trying to blog about. I feel as though she could have added a few sentences of what she is aiming to do. I think adding some more information could help with the website’s identity more. Caulfield (2016) explained that our websites are all-seeing eye gazing directly into the hearts and minds of our audience. That’s why having a clearer idea and layout of your website will increase more audience attraction. Caulfield (2016) stated that the content should seek out to people who can and will identify its personality. That is the only audience that matters when publishing on websites.

Mika’s website design has a very good system, the layout of her website is very engaging especially with the powerful question she added. A lot of her website layout really relates to her content that she is making. Overall, I found her website to be organized and simple. I wish there was more to her main page after her question to allow for more engagement.

Caulfield, M. (2016, December 19). Yes, Digital Literacy. but which one? Hapgood. https://hapgood.us/2016/12/19/yes-digital-literacy-but-which-one/