Jul 14, 2013 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for input, whether on post ideas, writing, blog design and layout, or anything else. 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).

Read on for the ground rules and to leave a comment . . .

  • 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.
  • To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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  1. Anyone have input on My Blog? How to attract more viewers? Does the layout look right? Blog talks about injustices and also the human condition, talks about art, plan to have photography, but my blog just looks boring to me. itsinournature.wordpress.com

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    1. The numerous pictures you have of yourself as a background image don’t fit your blog’s topic. The pics say “personal blog,” not “social justice and art blog.”

      So I definitely recommend a different background image. Perhaps you could create a similar arrangement of portraits you’ve drawn. This could be especially good if you have enough black and white pics comparable to what you did of Michael Jackson on July 2.

      You’re a good enough artist to make that work.

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      1. Thanks so much for the feedback, you’re absolutely right about the background pic. I didn’t know what to do for the background so I just put a collage of myself lol. Good idea about the collage of black and white drawn portraits, i never thought of it that way! 🙂

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  3. I would love any feed back I could get weather it has to do with the appearance of my site or its content. I am just starting out and all help/ input is welcome,

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    1. Let me put it this way. You have a wonderful background image and it looks amazing with the Piano Black theme. The blog title is good, as is the tagline.

      When I look at the blog you have my attention.

      However, it’s white text on a dark background and that’s difficult for a lot of people to read. There is a way to make it a little easier for people, though.

      When you’re writing a post, there’s a row of icons above the text box. The farthest to the right is “Show/Hide Kitchen Sink.” Click on that and you’ll get a second row of icons and a drop down menu. The drop down menu lets you change the font size; with Piano Black, I recommend “Header 3” or larger for all of your text.

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  4. Hi everyone 🙂 I’ve been debating about whether or not to start a blog for a while now. I have been a journalist for a few years now but always debated on whether or not to branch out and do something for fun. I just put up my first post today. Any feedback would be amazing! Thanks 🙂

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      1. You’re a good writer, and you have a nice start. However, you need to have more tags so more people can find you. As soon as you start coming up with more content and become adjusted to the community, you’ll be good to go.

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  5. would be nice if you guys can critique my blog.. i just started this recently! thanks 😀 panikichronicles.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi the colours are a little bright, the swills put me off while reading, congratulations btw hard to judge as I think all Philippine women are beautiful and one with brains, country loving and environmentally friendly what more of a role model a country can want. I know there are issues with womens education in the Philippines, so its great to see that an interracial and intereligious countries starting to work. Keep up the good work for yourself, your country and the lives of the girls that will hopefully see you as their role model and good luck with the national competition.

      You can find my blogs
      http://www.rainbow-photography.net
      http://www.mysoresoul.co.uk

      Pete =)

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  7. Hey y’all,

    I just started blogging about a week ago and I’d love a critique! Just general comments/thoughts on my theme, content, etc.

    ameliamollyheath.wordpress.com

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  9. Would someone please review my blog post? Yes I know I only have one and the design of the page is simple but I want to focus on content quality before my theme. Thanks!

    –John

    blogbyjohn.wordpress.com

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  12. Hi everyone. I recently started a blog where I mainly write about travel (stories and musings along with restaurant/ hotel recommendations, things to do, places to see, travel tips, etc.). I would really appreciate some feedback on the content. Is it too diverse to be of consistent interest to most readers? What kind of topics would be more interesting?

    http://kanwalkwilltravel.wordpress.com/

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    1. Your blog advertises itself as a travel blog and fulfills that promise. The diversity of travel topics is to be expected.

      Realistically, almost no travel blog will be of consistent interest to most readers. People will be interested in various types of travel and have different budgets. Those budgets will influence the destinations they’re interested in and the affordable destinations will vary according to a reader’s location. Some may be looking for new destination ideas and others may seek ideas for international cooking they can find a recipe for and try out at home.

      Long story short, write what interests you and what you can make interesting for others. The rest will take care of itself.

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  13. Hi, I would like some inputs and comments on my blog. I enjoy blogging simply I love to write and share my thoughts. I read many others’ blog too. One of the way I know to increase traffic is to post regularly. I have been starting to do that, however, I find reaching out to more audience rather difficult. I have read ways to increase traffic but somehow I think it isn’t sufficient. I do not mind anyone criticising my blog, at least that will help me improve. I hope I’ll be able to get some useful critics from any of you so that I know what is wrong. Thank you!

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    1. hi christy, i see it is a good site and less traffic is common for me though. You are doing fine work. I have a gift for your kids. I want you to help them make world’s longest writing pencil… This will make them creative at young age and help them understand conservation values. Link: http://wp.me/p3dJz1-5p

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  14. A few days ago my current post surpassed all the other post prior to that and became my most popular post in one single day. Tracking them they came from my work in publishing on social media. Mostly new people arriving directly to that page. However great the day was, I received no comments. In your opinion why? Check out http://kirbyingles.com/21st-century-citizen/

    Why would you not leave a comment?

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    1. You probably know this, but page or post views run high relative to the “interaction” stats (likes and comments). An example: a post might have 50 views but only 15 likes and three comments. Personally, I comment on a very small percentage of the blog posts I read — maybe 5% max. Often I’m reading on a mobile device and don’t like or comment on something I do like and do wish to comment on (trickier to do that on a wee screen) and sometimes forget to do it when I’m back on my laptop. I also find a get a big uptick in numbers when I share on social media (Facebook in particular). The downside is that all of the comments happen there, and not on my blog proper.

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      1. Thanks Jeni,

        I do appreciate the comments. I do realize what you said. I’m really trying to focus on interaction. Its the one thing that I’m not getting wether its likes, shares or comments. Its hard to steer the boat without feedback from readership. Throwing darts blindfolded.

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    2. Lack of feedback can be challenging, for sure.

      I did take a look at that post and have a few more thoughts …

      I noticed that some of your paragraphs run long … not saying that’s a reason for limited interaction, but as a reader, I find shorter sections more engaging and easy to follow. More paragraphs will boost the overall post/page length but it aids readability. Where you quote a Bible verse, you could use the quote/indent feature … just a suggestion.

      The other thing is that anything that has any kind of significant religious content is guaranteed to be polarizing. This is *not* a reason not to write about it or to include religious references in your posts; if it’s significant to/for you, write about it, just be aware that it *may* limit your audience somewhat. As a rule, I don’t comment on posts with religious themes; others have the same approach to political posts.

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      1. My paragraphs is my one downfall and I use a template, but get away from it. I think I can get two post out of everyone I write due to the length. I’m running under 1000 words per and know for most bloggers the rule of thumb for length is 500 but I’ve also read other reputable bloggers say 1000 is fine as long as you can keep the reader interested and use the tricks of the trade to keep them engaged such as list, italics, quotes, a photo, etc as your blog flows. Pulling them in.

        To be honest with you I was going to use more quotes out of the bible to strengthen my point but cut them out because of length and sensitivity. I didn’t want to over do it. I’ve been worked on this for two weeks and then sat on it for two more. I didn’t want to drive away readership but wanted to capture the early history. I also decided to take a risk and see if I could drive up links or catch some controversial comments, I got the bump in readership but failed to get the dialogue.

        I will likely stay away from it in the future in the depth that I went this time. Great Points.

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  15. My blog is ‘Your Well Wisher Program’ and attempts to solve commonly known problems. I mentioned solutions on environment, water, health, technology & humanity. Request your feedback. thanks.

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  16. Hi,
    I would like some help please on writing the disclaimer for my blog (see link below). I did stumble across an example posted by the admin when I was on my phone. I have been trying to relocate that, but with no luck. Do you guys have any suggestions or maybe point me to where I can get some help on wording this properly.

    Also any comments on the layout of my blog would be really appreciated.:)

    (http://norilane.wordpress.com/ )

    Cheers,
    Lori

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    1. The design looks good but there’s one huge problem. Your background image is 2.7 MB and takes forever to load. Just to compare, mine is 328 KB and is probably larger than it’s supposed to be.

      People using cell phones (who pay for data) and others with slow internet connections aren’t going to stick around for your image to load. And once you eventually start piling on pictures in your posts, it’s only going to get worse.

      The best way I’ve found to reduce the file size is to open the picture with an image editing program and save it at a much lower resolution. This normally doesn’t affect how the picture looks.

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      1. Thank You, i thought picture would re-size during upload, size is big because i saved that picture in .png

        Once again thanks for input 😉

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    1. Since I don’t know anything about status posts, I’ll just comment on the blog. A few things stand out to me:

      1- Your blog title is small and gray, so it gets lost. I’d recommend changing the color and perhaps increasing the font size by one or two.

      2- I like that you went bold with the orange for a blog called Mirth, but it is slightly distracting. It might work better you used a slightly paler shade of orange. And I mean only slightly. Keep the mirth.

      3- (I assume this is possible with the custom upgrade you have.) Look at all of the blue text (links) in your sidebar and elsewhere. I would change the color to midnight blue if I were you… but you may have a different color preference. The current blue color is readable but not so attractive.

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    1. A couple of thoughts:

      1- You receive a pingback when someone else links to a page on your blog.

      2- You have several conflicting things going on. You call yourself a monster and you’ve got that goofy picture of yourself; however, most of your content is serious political and professional posts. And then the blog theme you chose doesn’t really fit either direction you’re going in. There’s nothing wrong with any individual element but things don’t come together as a whole.

      The two possible solutions I see are to make things more consistent or add some irony into your presentation.

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      1. Regarding the pigeon blog:

        I strongly recommend NOT deleting the post that drives traffic towards your blog. Your challenge is to make those visitors want to explore more. My thoughts:

        1- Who is Jeff Koch? Yeah, I know you’re him… but why should anyone care about what Jeff Koch thinks? The sales pitch in your tagline focuses on this person who most visitors have never heard of. Change the tagline to something more meaningful for your audience. What is it that makes Jeff Koch an interesting blogger to read? Focus on that. (That goes for both blogs you asked about.)

        2- What Ms. Roberts said about changing the background color is also applicable to the pigeon blog. My gut thinks you should try and match the grass in your header but you might find something better.

        3- Add the widget that lists recent posts. This gives visitors a clear picture of what they’ll find if they explore more. And if they see something they like in the list, it’s one click to get there.

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    2. I like the blog because there is poetry, book reviews, and the like but the theme is kind of bland. That may be a good thing though. My eyes zero in on the content but a different color background may not hurt.

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    1. That’s a challenging question to answer. If I were illiterate and judging purely on aesthetic appearance, I’d say it looks really good. However, I’m not 100% sure about the header image. Having the two lines of larger text overlap is visually appealing but it could be more readable. The 2 R’s in Roberts aren’t entirely clear to me.

      However, the font, font size, and colors are spot on. Especially with the background image you chose. It’s simple without looking like hundreds of other blogs.

      If you have more vertical space available in your header image, I’d say try splitting up those two lines of text (but keep the font specifications the same) and see how it looks.

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    1. I checked out some of your posts, there is absolutely nothing I can tell you to improve…your writing is amazing and the layout fits pretty well 🙂

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  27. Hi Community Pool!

    I just dipped my toes in the blog-o-sphere waters this weekend! I’m trying to make the writing style very natural for me so that I can focus actually “doing it” rather than being paralyzed by the fear of “doing-it-wrong”. That being said, I’d like to get input on my writing style and anything that might turn you off about my blog’s experience.

    Also, please comment on things you particularly like about it as well. I’d like to continue doing those things.

    http://randydsteward.wordpress.com/

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    1. Your content is good so I’d like to comment on presentation.

      1- The picture of you doesn’t scream JOY; you’re not even smiling. Because of the photograph’s angle, the pic would be believable if you were designing inspirational moments. Or if you were a professional wrestler. (Sorry… that’s what it looks like to me.) I doubt that fear is the emotion you’re going for. Either face forward and smile or replace the picture with a bright and joyful custom header.

      2- That background color is not joyful. Since the text is so large, you have a lot of leeway in picking a new color or custom background. Take advantage of it.

      3- Your title and header both start with “design.” Since the theme you chose is light on design elements, I’m not sure “design” is the word you want to be emphasizing.

      4- You need some widgets. Once you start piling on the posts, readers will need/want easier access to your old stuff. They’re not going to scroll through dozens (or eventually hundreds) of old posts. Even if you only a dropdown box for categories, you would be much helped.

      5- Don’t forget to add tags to your posts.

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      1. Thanks for the feedback!

        1. I agree the picture is not screaming joy. Right now it is the image I’ve been using across all of my social media, so it is consistent. That being said, I’m sort of rebranding myself right now, and haven’t gotten to defining the aesthetic (although, I’m sure it will be screaming joy). It takes time.

        2. I don’t have tons of control over the theme, but I dropped in the background image I use for my portfolio site. Ultimately, as I mentioned, I’ll develop my new aesthetic which will be present in my portfolio site and also my blog.

        3. Design is absolutely the word I want to emphasize. That’s what the content of the blog is about. Rather, the aesthetic should strength and support the content, which currently, you’re right, it doesn’t necessarily. But “design” is a word with lots of interpretations, and right now if we think of the design of my site as functional, and usable, then yes it is designed. However, my blog “content” is about emotion in design and adding the pleasure to “functional and usable”.

        4. Currently the only widget I have is my “about.me”. Since I only have two posts currently, I didn’t feel it necessary to add “most referenced” or “categories” or anything like that. My intent is to add that functionality as it becomes relavent.

        5. Tags are interesting, I currently have only one tag applied to each. I know how they should be used, but I also want to have them focused so that I don’t end up 20 years down the road with only one post under the transformers tag. This is going to evolve over time.

        Thanks again, very helpful. Looks like developing my branding aesthetic is the next necessary step.

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    2. I really love your blog, its neat, pretty and nice to read at the same time! I don’t have any advice in general, but I think you should start up a facebook page maybe, it could be a great success 🙂 And maybe have slightly larger photographs for some of your posts to make them more eye-catching?

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  30. Just starting out with “Cassie Warren Social Talk” and would like some input as to the overall look and functionality. I’m set to begin a new adventure with the Dr Phil Show and could really use the input. Thank you ❤

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    2. I agree with bumblepuppies. The dark gray does not have enough contrast with the background. The light gray you have for the body text of Dr. Phils article is nice because it has a softness to it that white wouldn’t allow, yet enough contrast that it is legible.

      Consider a lead in for each article, and using the “more” divider so that the blogroll introduces people to the content of each article, but doesn’t bother them with the whole thing until their interest is peaked. That will also, minimize the confusing effect of too many dotted lines in quick succession like you see with the first two articles in your blog roll.

      The poll without any contextual information seemed weird to me. Seems like a sidebar kind of content unless you have a story or information relative to the question you plan on asking followed by the poll.

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      1. Thank you rustystew for being so thorough in your assessment. I have already changed the page and I’m getting ready to change it again. I did take in all the advice though. I’m just not happy with it still. Maybe when I get it where I want it, you would be interested in looking at it again?
        P.S. I just now found where my messages were. Sorry I took so long to respond.

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