Review Request: Unofficial-Support.com

I've just completed this HOW-TO:

Installing Bastille Linux on Ensim WEBppliance 3.x for Linux
http://www.unofficial-support.com/modules.php?name=Sections&sop=viewarticle&artid=9

If you want to ensure that your server is as fully secured as possible, then this is one big step in the right direction. By completing this HOW-TO, you'll tighten general file security, fully configure the IPTABLES firewall, and also install an excellent utility which monitors for port scans and reports back to you via email within a few seconds of the attack... Let me know your feedback....

Welcome to TWF misnomer,

We do ask that before you post your site for critique that you review at least three others sites, can you please help us out with this.

First impression of the site is quite nice, although your logo kinda gets lost with the stong design of the body part and the banner above it, maybe it could be a stronger colour? The only other thing that bugged me was the boxes on the left where the middle part with the vertical lines is a lot wider than the top/bottom, but that's just a personal opinion.

I agree with Julia about that logo kind of getting lost in there. The border graphics for the boxes kind reminds me of the Windows XP chrome, but maybe that's something they stole from Linux? It does look good though

The other problem I find is that the content area is really long. The chrome on the boxes is taking up a lot of space so you have to scroll a lot to see anything.

I know virtually nothing about Linux so I can't give you any feedback on the content here.

That looks really good! I like it. The only gripe is that the page lengths is too long and you have to read or scroll a lot to get your information. Maybe it would be better to break down a few of the pages.

What is the backend to the site? It reminds me a lot of http://www.slashdot.org - although slashdot is written in perl.

Very nice, obviously you have aimed for an XP feel, and it certainly works. It is very nice to look at. When I switched the resolution to 800x600, I found that the right navigation(??) bar appeared to be wider than the left bar. I'm not saying that it is, and it may be an illusion. I also, have very little experiance with Linux, so I can't justly comment on the content.

As for the logo, I feel that it is a little loose, and the brackets are not needed, and shouldn't really be there. But these are very minor gripes and I really like your site.

It is not bad. There is a lot of information there and it does have the feel of Slashdot a little. Installing Bastille Linux, now that brings back memories of answering quite a few questions. In reading some of the tutorials like the Bastille one, there are some problems with them. The major problem is that you show them how you would do it. For instance, you tell them how to SSH to their server via Putty. Well my server is sitting right here next to me so I don't have to use Putty. If I do SSH into my server, I don't use Putty either. Then I am told to install it like so: rpm -ivh --nodeps perl-Curses-1.05-10.i386.rpm[RETURN], which is proper unless I am on a system that doesn't use rpm's. Then you go through the process of installation and tell people the answer to choose without telling them why or giving them any kind of explanation or giving them any other options. What if I want to enforce password aging, your tut told me not to.

I guess the point is that it is great to show people how to do something but you should give them more info about what they are doing. You should also consider that not everyone uses Putty or RedHat.