Jan 16, 2013 / Community Pool

Introducing: The Community Pool

Community Pool

One of the things we’ve been excited to see develop here at The Daily Post is your engagement with one another in the comments — offering feedback, ideas, and support. We thought it would be valuable to carve out a space here for those of you looking for input on your work, so today we’re introducing the Community Pool.

Community PoolIf y’all are interested, here’s what we’ll do: once a week (probably on weekends), we’ll put up an open Community Pool post. If you have a post, page, or idea you want to bounce off someone, leave a comment. Your fellow bloggers can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

We’re hoping the Community Pool will be a way for you to both get the feedback you’re looking for and get introduced to new blogs you might not have stumbled across. That being said, this is not an open call to post a link to your blog asking us to come read, it’s a space for back-and-forth between bloggers who want to improve what they publish.

A few reminders before we get started:

  • You’ll get the best feedback if you can be as specific as possible about what you’d like people to respond to or where you’re struggling.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. We’re here to help and support one another, not to beat anyone down.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • No running on the deck.

With that, welcome to the first Community Pool! Come on in; the water’s fine.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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  3. Sounds like a great plan to me. I’m an amateur shutterbug and constructive criticism would be nice. Notice, I said constructive…not destructive. 😉 🙂

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  4. Great! Okay, I know I have to look this up on my own, but just in case someone out there knows more readily and quicker….what or how do I put up RSS or subscribe by email, etc. on my site? I have terrible trouble just getting picture links over in the side bar. Thanks!

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    1. Gardenlilie, there are widgets for both of those. Head to Appearance –> Widgets in your dashboard, and look for “Follow Blog” and “RSS Links,” then drag ’em to your sidebar. Be sure to customize them as well.

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  7. I’d love to get involved but I find that most of the good things are for english speaking bloggers. Why nothing as good as your stuff happens for french speakers?

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      1. Thats very kind of you 🙂 But I was mainly complaining (obviously so as I’m french) about the lack of initiatives like yours for the french speakers.

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      2. I understand. I know there is support no in WP for different languages. Maybe these initiatives will be too. I often see posts other than in English for the DP photo challenge. WP is growing all the time so hopefully soon there will be initiatives in more than English.
        I am very lax in only writing my blog in English.

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      3. I have a translator on my computer, I can read most languages that way. My reply might be a little awkward, however, as I must use the translator to do so.

        J’ai un traducteur sur mon ordinateur, je peux lire la plupart des langages comme ça. Ma réponse pourrait être un peu maladroit, cependant, que je dois utiliser le traducteur du pour faire.

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    1. I think your blog is interesting and I just signed on as a follower. Thanks Community Pool 🙂

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  11. Looking for advice and feedback here, too. When I go to comment on another blog, I struggle with the spam blocker. Sometimes I give up after a few incorrect guesses as to what those blurred letters are. I decided I wanted to encourage comments on my blog, so didn’t install Akismet ( I think that’s what it’s called?). But the past few days, my comment queue has been flooded with spam. ( sometimes 20 per hour) I mark each one as spam, but they keep coming through.
    If I install the spam blocking quiz, would people still comment? Or are most people as easily-frustrated as I am with those things?
    Thanks for your input.
    Melanie

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    1. I’ve found that having Akismet installed does not deter comments. The way I have it set up, I have Akismet installed to catch spam, and then I hold comments for review the first time someone comments on my blog. If the same person comments again in the future, they can post without delay. So far it has worked out well. I would highly recommend Akismet.

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    2. Beyond Back Creek,
      I take it you have a WP.org site? We don’t have captcha on the WP dot com and I’m pleased with the way Akismet captures the excess. Honestly, I would recommend moderating your comments and skipping those blinding captcha… They are time-consuming and can be frustrating when they don’t work… In addition to WP, I also have a blogger blog and moderate all comments. It’s been the best approach.
      Best wishes!
      Eliz

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    3. I agree the built in WordPress.com Akismet has been working fine for me, it seems to catch most all spam just fine. I’ve only had one false positive and only one spam make it to the approval queue (that i can recall).

      The hold for first approval seems to work really well for me too.

      If you are self hosting i would recommend installing Akismet

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  13. I’m in! I love the idea. I’m on lunch right now but I’ll jump back on later with a link to a post for critique.

    I’m considering a change in template also but I’m not sure…

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    1. I’m going to hold off on a specific post and ask for some feedback on my look & feel.
      Like I said I’m thinking of a switch of template to one which supports post types, is it worth it for my content or am I good with the way I’m doing it now.

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    1. One suggestion is that on your home page, you should show more than one post at a time before having to ‘load more posts’. I wasn’t sure at first whether I was at the right page to see your posts, or if I had to click to another page.

      I would say at least 3-5 posts should show up on each page to let people know that is where to read the posts, that they don’t have to click any more to get more content. Having to click “load more posts” and only get one post at a time discourages me from clicking further.

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  15. This sounds like a great idea. I would love feedback on my blog posts. I would also like to figure out how better to use wordpress. Recently, I was able to put a picture in my blog and the next time I tried to do the same thing it didn’t work. So, in order to get my thoughts out there I posted it without the pictures. Let, me clarify, they were not pictures I had taken, they were pictures I thought went along with the post. I like how other posts use pictures to break it up visually.

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  16. I need someone to explain to me what an RSS feed is – I see it all the time and have no idea how to use it.

    As far as the feedback goes I think it’s a great idea and I’m in! 😉

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      2. The dark clouds around the brain finally (hope-hope) gets blown to another universe!!! Dianne, I hope someone hurries with the ahem, SIMPLE explanation. 😉

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  17. This is a good idea and it’s coming at a good time – I have a project I need some help and advice with. Also I love reading blogs of all sorts and have been finding some great ones here.

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  19. So does this start now? If yes, I’d like feeback on whether you think my blog is focused enough? Does it need a tagline? I originally started it to write about things I wanted to write about but am now worried that it doesn’t have enough focus? Maybe I should start a new one with a clear aim?

    Also not sure if I should post a link to it? Here it is anyway:
    http://mojitosandhandbags.wordpress.com/

    Any feedback greatly appreciated!

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    1. I’m all in favor of tag lines. I read a lot of blogs and it helps a great deal to be able to tell in a glance whether the blog is something I want to invest my reading time in or not.

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      2. Another quick thing to do – update your blog’s title to put spaces between the words (unless no space is your preference, in which case ignore me!).

        You can always try out a few different taglines, and see which one feels the best — you don’t have to nail it out of the gate.

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      3. I’ve added a tagline, separated the title and added a header, any better? Not sure whether my title looked better all as one word – so used to seeing it like that.

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  20. I would love some feedback. I am telling an important story. My fathers World War II story written from transposing a suitcase of his letters from him to my mother which begins in 1937. Here is the link to my last chapter. Dad is now overseas and in harms way.

    World War II, Chapter 46, A Bun in the Oven

    I also love dogs so they are the second thing I write about. Any feedback would be appreciated

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    2. I just read your chapter 46. This is incredibly interesting—are you going to submit this to a publisher? You should! I’ve long been interested in writing a novel based on a member of my family who sent letters home from the French trenches, but in World War I. You might be interested in reading a book called Dearest Ones: A True World War II Love Story, by Rosemary Norwalk. She left San Francisco for England during World War II to work with the American Red Cross, and her autobiography is compiled from her letters and journals.

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      1. Thank you so much! It has certainly been a labor of love. I am almost a year into writing Dad’s story and have a long way to go. I will look up the book you recommended. Thanks again!

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    3. Hi NotSoFancyNancy,
      You are covering a fascinating subject and what I see on the post currently on your page is a need to give endless running commentary on the letters. The power of letters or what they call the epistolary novel is that they stand beautifully on their own and give the reader a chance to imagine, fantasize, even speculate about the times and conditions in which they were written… You are blessed to have those letters and I’d say step back and present them with minimal commentary. Let the readers ask you questions. Add a paragraph at the end with some insights that are not obvious or that add background, but keep it to the minimum. Let the letters shine. Just my two cents. I love what I saw of the letters.
      Best wishes,
      Eliz

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      1. I know what you’re saying, but I like the commentary! It’s interesting in the context of a daughter today looking back at her father’s life as he wrote it. Without the commentary, it’s just another WWII story. I agree with you though that the letters are powerful and they sparkle with energy, as if they were written yesterday.

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      2. I hear you Caron. I like the commentary too, however, it would be more effective if it’s minimal and placed at the end of each letter though. Remember how at the movies, we want to see the action without our friends interpreting every scene? Same here. She has a great book there.

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      3. Thank you so much! I will take your suggestions and run with them. I do like to add my take on the subject matter but try to keep it to a minimum. I will let them shine! Thank you so much!

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  22. What a great idea.
    Just yesterday WordPress sent out the mail ‘Enhance Your Site with Post Formats’. I wanted to try it straight away but found that my Theme ‘Triton Lite’ doesn’t have any. I only switched to this about a month ago from Liquorice. It took me a while to go over old posts and tinker with them so that they looked OK with this new theme. I like the theme and it is easy to use.

    I would like people’s opinion on my theme and if you think it is worth the effort of changing again to get one with Post Formats.

    Thank you.

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    1. Kerry, I took a quick look at your site. Your theme/format is fine; clear, clean, no distracting graphics. I don’t see the need to change it unless you absolutely want to. The only suggestion I’d make as a reader is that you provide an easy way for others to navigate your blog. For instance, a sidebar with your most recent posts will give us easy access to what else you’ve written. Right now, all I see is the current post on your page and a list of categories. Having a navigation sidebar with specific posts (dates and all) identified, not just categories, makes its so much easier to enjoy the content of a blog… It’s a great roadmap and visual for the topics you’ve written on too. Hope this helped.
      Best wishes!
      Eliz

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      1. Thank you Eliz for taking the tile to look at my blog and comment. I like that theme too.
        I think the problem is that my home page is my ‘about’ page and not the posts page. It is a fixed page. The posts page shows all the most recent posts but you don’t land on it. You have to go there using the top menu.
        Maybe this is what needs to be changed.
        Best wishes
        Kerry.

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      2. That could be it as a reader won’t know that unless they visit regularly. Try changing it and see what happens. It will make it more accessible for old and new readers too. Glad we connected. I do like your blog. TY! 🙂

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    1. Your blog takes a long time to load on my computer. I know other bloggers with this theme and they also take a long time to load on my computer. For that reason, I am not a fan of this theme. Maybe someone else can give some reasons to support this theme.

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    2. Soroilily, the light orange against the dark is a little hard to focus on in such a small print. I love the content, but can’t read long without the words blending together. Larger print or a more contrast might help to make it easier to read.

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    3. Your heading, should you stay with this theme, needs to be adjusted…right now, the first line reads CAMER
      and the rest is below so your blog name comes off a bit…shaky. Your blog loaded fine for me and usually I have major problems with slow blogs loading. Hope this helps. ❤ All the best.

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      3. While trying to make changes to my blog depending on the feedback that I received I came across a theme which would suite my blog. I would like to receive some feedback on the overall appearance of the blog as well as on my writing skills. I don’t claim to be an expert as I just starting out. I open to any kind of feedback. I’m in the learning process and would like to improve.

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    4. I really like the new look of your blog. It loaded quiclky and it is easy to read. Your photos are beautiful. I am now a follower 🙂

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  24. Love this idea! I haven’t even put on a bathing suit in a decade, but I’m willing to jump in this pool. Very much looking forward to some constructive feedback.

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    1. To be honest your writing style seems pretty good to me. It will probably improve with time also (I know mine has)

      I’m following you now and I’ll be happy to chime in if see anything.

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      1. Thank you very much, Laith! 🙂 I really appreciate your input. I hope you are right and that it does improve over time. I will continue to make the efforts to improve, and am following you now, too 🙂

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      2. I used to dread writing (creative or not) but over the last year plus that I have been blogging my wife has noticed a significant improvement in my style.

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  27. I just started my blog and I think this would really help me get an idea of the best way to communicate my thoughts.

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  28. One of my New Years resolutions was to blog more and to that end I picked up Post-a-Day, which I have to admit has been slipping as work has occupied ever increasing amounts of my waking hours, but I am still determined! One thing I definitely did which helped was move away from WordPress.com towards WordPress.org, mostly in a bid to save money. I can post more pictures and videos on my own host than spend the cash twice to fund something on the .com side of things.

    The Community Pool is a wonderful idea and I’m really looking forward to it. I miss the sense of community that I used to have when I was using LiveJournal back from 2000 to 2008. Posting frequently and using the prompts helps me become a better writer and I have to admit, sharing has definite therapeutic uses as well. Blogging may very well keep me sane in a crazy IT workaday world.

    Thanks, and I look forward to seeing more from PAD and Community Pool.

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  30. This is a great idea to get new input. Recently I’ve been trying to clean up the layout of my blog through better organizing of the menu. I feel like I may want to reconstruct some of the pages as well as make the landing page more inviting into the content, like some of the magazine style blogs I see. I’m not quite sure how to do this without changing themes or losing my background/header etc. OR is that getting tired too, any comments on the overall look and functionality? http://createabeautifullife.com/

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