I Really Hate My Portfolio

Hey, there are certainly things that could be done different/better, but I do want to say that your portfolio doesn’t look that bad at all. Most people have come back to redo it after a while. So it is normal that the first version of your portfolio isn’t perfect, it doesn’t have to be! I would recommend you continue with the challenges and to redo your portfolio after the intermediate front end projects.

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Hi Tiffany, I think you are being too hard on yourself. I think it looks great! I haven’t figured out the pic in the back ground with the content sliding over it yet… Couple lay out things you could do, make ‘Web & App Development’ smaller than your name. I think you only need your social media links in one place. use them as an anchor at the bottom of your page maybe. I have some other ideas if you are interested. Nice to find another woman learning to code. :slight_smile:

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Hey thanks. I know I need a new background image and I figured I would add some smaller Font Awesome icons at the bottom.

Just saw some guy’s portfolio and got instantly envious. Frustration set it. I will revisit it soon.

I am interested in whatever you got. :relieved:

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I know. I feel that way about a lot of other folks work. Hard not to feel like I should be able to do more already! ha… comparison is a joy killer. or something like that. :slight_smile:

I don’t think you need your name/job in the about section, since its in the nav bar and that stays visible no matter where you are on the page. there is a really long space after your social media icons at the bottom that isn’t necessary. Last thing, the competencies look off kilter being over on the left away from the title. maybe make them into two columns or move the title over above them? maybe in a box? There’s a page that gives you a place holder box that’s helpful when you don’t have a pic figured out. here’s the site: http://placehold.it/
it’s simple and very helpful!

have a great night.

Theresa

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It could be worse - you could love it!
I think before you can build a good one you have to build an ordinary one.
I also am very unhappy with mine. I highly recommend going through w3schools bootstrap section while you’re doing it.
I found this as a good starting template -http://www.w3schools.com/bootstrap/bootstrap_scrollspy.asp -
Good luck

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Seriously do not worry about this. The most important thing is to just keep creating…that’s the only way to get better. This is only the 2nd project of FCC…of course it will suck the first time you do it. If you can look back on something you did a month ago and say “damn this really sucks” that should be motivating because it probably means you’ve gotten a lot better since then

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Everybody starts learning from nothing.

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Perfectionitis.

Honestly this tripped me up a couple times, especially at university. I know I shouldn’t worry about it. I was proud of it when I built but now I’m more or less like, “nahhhhh”.

Thanks for chiming in.

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I read this and thought of your post. The full article is linked below.

“Craftsmanship, design, and code” @JonathanZWhite https://medium.freecodecamp.com/craftsmanship-design-and-code-6d93eba3e7fe

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I feel you Tiffany,My portfolio is so bad i haven’t even submitted it. I just feel bad looking at other peoples portfolios. I am just gonna keep learning till i am happy with it.

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To be honest, I had to do a ton of off-site research/studying before I even felt comfortable starting my portfolio (which still isn’t anywhere near finished.) I think that with what you’ve learned so far it looks great, and I would recommend just moving on. Go on to the next lessons and when you have some new tricks up your sleeve come back and give it a good polish. You may also be able to add more to your projects completed section then as well!

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The fact that you know it could be better is good. Have a look at hackdesign if don’t have a design background.

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Thank You. Very much.

I need to read this article.

So the thing is, there are people here who do in fact have prior experience with these things. For example, I learned HTML and CSS many many years ago, and so my main focus isn’t those, but rather learning Bootstrap (which didn’t exist when I last did any tinkering), javascript, and the other things needed to create websites and apps. Others have never coded a single thing in their life before and are starting from scratch. Everyone’s going to have a different skill level, even from the very start.

But what other people can do isn’t important - what is is that you made that page. It’s something you built with skills you’ve learned so far. Sure, it’s not perfect, but I’m pretty sure the perfect page doesn’t exist. You’ve listed out things you want to improve on it - right there is a great place to start. But this is a really early project, so it’s totally okay to continue on and go back to it to apply new things you’ve learned.

And it’s important to remember that everyone’s first attempt at something is a mess. Everyone on here who built a nice-looking portfolio page has also, at some point when they first started learning, made a disaster of a page. I can certainly vouch for that (neon green and orange geocities page with all of the text in one huge block before I hadn’t figured out line breaks yet). So don’t worry about it.

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@twhite96 I think all of us go through this at one time or another. We finish a project and think it is the “bees knees” only to come back to it a month or so later and come to the conclusion that it was not as great as we thought it was. As strange as it may sound, this is a good sign. It means that you are becoming a better designer / developer. You are learning where a design may or may not fall apart and hopefully you are gaining the knowledge to not only bypass these pitfalls in future / current projects, but to also fix past ones as well.

I tried to look at your codepen, but it appears that you may have taken it offline. If you are willing to put it back online, I’d be happy to help you with this. Regardless, don’t give up and realize that this is all part of a continued learning process.

BTW, I found a talk by researcher, Brene Brown which I find most inspirational when faced with issues similar to your own., Although she talks about external critics in this talk, it also maps well when you yourself are nagged by that annoying inner voice that tries to make you believe that you’re not good enough. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-JXOnFOXQk.

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Hey thanks. Yeah, I took it down and made it private until it looks better. And will definitely check out that YouTube talk. Much needed lately.

Hi twhite,

May i just add a couple of book sugestions that helped me.

The HTML & CSS portion of FCC is very short to say the least, I am a noob too, and these two books reall helped me get a grasp of HTML & CSS.

HTML & CSS by john ducket (There is also a JS book in this series that i have)

Responsive web design with HTML5 & CSS3 one for after the john ducket book, lots of info about HTML5 semantics and CSS layout techniques. its fairly highly acclaimed this particular book i believe.

FYI, This is what i produced after reading these books. It’s not professional i know, and i worked on it for ages, but i’m happy for a first attempt - and that is deffinitly down to the books.

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Thanks. I was avoiding buying the Duckett book but I may have to. I have the JavaScript and jQuery book but I think I am going to get the HTML & CSS book.

Your portfolio looks really good. I am impressed. I took mine down to be private so I could work on it without the world seeing it. I am CodePen Pro which I really like because of the private pens.

Thanks again for the encouragement. :slight_smile:

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Same here, also hate my portfolio.