Sep 6
I have to end my obsession with Design Snack… it’s raising my blood pressure! The members downvote BEAUTIFUL sites such as Soap Media, Renegade Zen, Simply Jazzmin, and Draft.Media with little or no explanation and then turn around and vote positive on PAGE-BUILDER and table-riddled sites!
I had a conversation with one of my mentors recently on my ‘webdesign skills‘ and I came to the realization that I care more about code than pretty graphics. To me, code is as much an artform as a painting or a photo. And I find myself getting very offended when someone says, “People flaunting the fact that their website is valid XHTML and tableless CSS are stupid…” I’m sorry, but I’m quite proud of the fact that I take the time and effort to create a clean, original, and accessible website. Anyone can open up MS Frontpage, drag and drop a few pics, then call it a webpage but very few can pull out notepad and cook up a large website from scratch using PHP, XHTML, CSS, etc. 
Sorry about that rant… I just had to get it off my chest. Any thoughts?
Jem
I must admit I was a little confused by design snack.. my crappy layout got lots of +s and some really awesome looking sites were being outright rejected. It seems to be fixed by a whole group of members that go ’round voting for each other anyway.
Couldn’t agree more when it comes to the second paragraph. It’s just like drawing, or even cooking. Anyone can take some ingredients, throw them in a pan and make something edible. It takes real talent to make a beautiful tasty meal
Wed Sep 6th, 2006 4:41 pm
Renay
I remember being annoyed x 857394 when you happened to link to Jem’s site on this service and someone was all like “blah blah blah boring wordpress blah” and I saw RED because OH MY GOD she created that HERSELF and designed it from scratch and and–grrrr. After that I stopped reading the comments because so many made me angry. :grumpy: I admit, I can’t create these amazing designs or code in these languages but I really get a kick of finding beautiful pages that have valid coding. I think the internet would be a much better place if people tried to treat coding just as serious as any other pastime. Man.
Wed Sep 6th, 2006 4:54 pm
Jen
I think both are equally important. I know that when I go to certain websites that have amazing layouts, I think to myself, “WOW,” but I also think that the amazing layout should have amazing code behind it if it is to be truly great. I am an advocate for web standards and using valid XHTML and CSS and do indeed think it takes some knowledge and intelligence, not to mention skill, to make a standards compliant webpage. Like you said, anyone can open up Frontpage and put some code together and call themselves a programmer.
Wed Sep 6th, 2006 10:39 pm
Thomas
Thanks for the props for my site! I think the voters on designsnack act kind of strange. The guys with the worst websites seem to give the most negative votes on me….
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 12:25 am
Bubs
No problem… you have a great site! Sometimes I wonder if the voters vote negative out of jealousy…
hehe
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 1:21 am
Natasja
I couldn’t agree more with you bubs! I think CSS and XHTML don’t stand in the way from creating a good looking website (I really like that soap media!). And what’s the use of a site that’s looking good on the oustide but that isn’t accessible, flexible or can’t be find with google?
Maybe some people are just being jealous?
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 4:45 pm
Natasja
Very stylish site Thomas! I especially like the “wooden” background, which gives it an extra touch
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 4:48 pm
Bubs
You enjoy the best of both worlds - clean code AND beautiful graphics!
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 5:56 pm
Justin Scheetz
Hey Bubs,
Sorry to hear about your experience with the site! I’m trying very hard to improve how sites are promoted from the submissions menu. The next design (coming this fall!) should be a big improvement on how you look at the site. Less confusing, more fun to browse.
At least I’m hoping it’ll turn out that way!
In the meantime, if anyone has some great ideas on how to improve a system like this, please let me know (use the contact form on Design Snack). I mean, even Digg is having a hard time with this right now.
Anyway, glad you’ve been “obsessed” with Design Snack, hopefully the recent events won’t totally turn you away! Take care, everyone.
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 6:50 pm
Bubs
Hey Justin
DS is a great site… I was just referring to the way some of the members vote. But, of course, it’s all a matter of opinion… that’s what makes it fun! I hope you didn’t think that I was insulting DS.
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 7:23 pm
Justin Scheetz
Nope, not at all. I completely understand and agree with you. Hopefully with an increase in “good” members, the malicious voting will drop off.
We shall see
Thu Sep 7th, 2006 10:41 pm
nekoyo
Hey Bubs
I agree with you, it is just as important to have a clean code, as it is to have a nice looking page - for the feeling of it!! I always think my page isn’t completely fine if it has messy coding.
I dont know this Design Snack site, but the other pages you posted are really good-looking!
have a nice day,
nekoyo xxx
Sat Sep 9th, 2006 5:34 pm
lisa.marie
I think coding is as important as coding, but since I can’t code, I’ve to make pretty graphics.. XD~ I think noone thinks about a valid coding, ’cause it’s so difficult to learn it. (not everyone has a big amount of time, right?). I think I’m much more obsessed with graphics than the coding, ’cause this is my talent…
not the coding, but the graphics. So, everyone what he thinks. Take care, and don’t get to angry about this sites… they aren’t worth it. 
Sat Sep 9th, 2006 6:52 pm
Rikkye
I was exposed to the site recently because Nuwen was listed somehow. For a while, I thought I was in Crazyland because of the reasons you mentioned above. It’s a good thing since I thought I was the only one thinking that. A design is only as beautiful as its coding. Some of the sites deserved higher points. It just that there are those who are more susceptible to jealousy I guess.
Sun Sep 10th, 2006 2:25 am
Victoria
I totally agree with you!! Pretty side by the way, you’ve got all reason to be proud of it!
Tue Sep 12th, 2006 8:02 am
diwiesign
these are exactly my thoughts about webdesign and my experiences with DS. mein-brandenburg.com has the same ‘problems’ there.
DS is great site and Justin did a great job, hope better and reliable user will overcome soon to establish DS how it deserves.
Tue Sep 12th, 2006 10:04 am
Thomas
Hi again! Just wanted to add something. I just found out designsnack took me out of the “appetizers”-gallery (been there with the highest rating, 15) - but not moved my entry to the “entrees”-section (as I suspected). So they kicked me out for no reason. Sucks.
Wed Sep 13th, 2006 3:40 am
Nic Nichols
Well.. sites should also be about content, and not just how pretty the CSS is.. you commented that my site was in tables, but its not.. its just two jpgs stuck on a page. I am far more concerned about how good the Content is, then how pretty it is to look at. Your site is ‘pretty’ but the content is a little too ‘Sorority Girl” for me…. Keep up the great CSS, but tell us something real….
Thu Sep 14th, 2006 11:39 am
Bubs
My site is a personal site where my ’sorority girl’ personality shows through. That’s the purpose of it. I like to draw and write, and this is where I showcase my works.
And yes, your site was made with tables… the generator you used to stick the jpegs on the page created the tables for you. Check your source code.
Thu Sep 14th, 2006 8:07 pm