Jul 21, 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. in the light of all the Trayvon/Zimmerman conversation that has been happening, i would like to share this blog and the connected blogs [a whole bunch of different peoples thoughts on it more than my own] for peoples’ perusal… the children with the Cheerios ad is a classic.

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    1. Oh dear. I have not seen this video before and I’m glad you shared. You have indeed brought up the issue of discrimination and racism very seriously. And everyone, in this era, should accept everyone for who and what they are. Love has no boundaries. I feel that this was both a compelling and heartfelt issue which is often overlooked by many people. We should start to accept the decisions of others and respect them for who they are. Moreover, this commercial is not about the parents. It’s more about Cheerios being a healthy snack!
      To conclude, I would strongly encourage everyone to read brettfish’s post to know more about how racism can be truly disturbing.
      Thank you for sharing.

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  7. Hello everyone, I am relatively new to blogging, (I started last november, with a blog that i couldn’t really keep up with at the time. My second blog is http://www.thepsychoticjourney.wordpress.com and i was really hoping that you guys could let me know how I am doing? I am trying to go for a blog that is a mixture of helpful tips and personal experiences as an unpublished writer in the crazy world of authorship.

    And and all feed back would be appreciated! If you don’t mind commenting on the articles you skim over that would be great!

    Many thanks in advance guys!~

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  8. Hi everybody! I’m a new blogger interested in self improvement, psychology, psychiatry, and stock trading. Take a look at my http://agent909.wordpress.com
    Any feedback about the layout, or maybe things you want me to share in my field of interest is appreciated and will be follow through! Thank you for your time.

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    1. I have a few thoughts:

      1- You need a tagline and possibly a different blog title. The title “Agent909” with no tagline tells me nothing about what your blog covers. (Completing your About page would help, but it’s no substitution.)

      2- I don’t think your background image loaded the way you expected. All I see is brown with a little cross at the bottom of the screen. I’m also not sure the brown color fits well with the header image.

      3- You’ll definitely want to add the category widget. I’m sure you’ll get visitors who will only be interested in psychology or in stock trading, but not both. Using categories and the widget will help them navigate your blog (and probably make them more likely to explore.)

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  9. Hello Fellow Swimmers…I really want to change the look of my blog, updating it with a new theme. I am scared to do this because I don’t want to lose anything. I am not looking to spend a lot of money, purchasing expensive back up programs at this point. Can anyone let me know if you have had success changing themes and if there is anything I should know to make it go smoothly. Does it take a long time to do this? Does the media library stay the same? How can I know about available widgets? Any help would be appreciated! my site is: http://www.mommyverbs.wordpress.com Thanks!

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    1. Changing themes is extremely easy and extremely quick once you’ve chosen a new theme. My tips:

      1- Use the live preview feature first. The live preview lets you see what your blog will look like if you change to a particular theme, but it won’t make any real changes until you tell it to. (In other words, no one can see what you’re testing.) You can also test background images and custom headers and a few other details while in live preview mode.

      2- Some themes will have “Theme Options” that cannot be tested in live preview and can only be tried once you’ve switched to the new theme. I actually created a second blog to use for testing so I could check these without having to make changes to my real blog.

      I recommend taking your time and testing a lot of themes using Live Preview, kind of like trying on clothes before you buy them. Some will look better than the thumbnail and some will look worse. And some handle custom background images better (and/or differently) than others.

      Once you click activate, it only takes a few seconds for your blog’s appearance to change.

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      2. Yes.

        (I also did it because I wanted to reserve the domain name in case I ever start a second blog.)

        The test blog is at blacklightcandelabra.wordpress.com . I created a junk post to help me see how everything would look once posts were added. (I didn’t add a picture to it but I should have.)

        You should also realize that the title of your test blog will be different from your real blog (unless you set it to be the same). That matters sometimes. The theme I use (San Kloud) looks great with a short blog title but ridiculous with a long one because the header stretches to fit the title. Just something to watch out for…

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  10. Good morning! My name is Alienora and, having run a Blogger blog for a year, I have recently catapulted all my posts onto WordPress and am starting afresh. I love what I have seen so far, and it is great fun writing to other writers. I do have a couple of technical questions for you more advanced people, however: How do I flag up the 331 previous posts to a new readership? And how do I share posts to friends? Sorry if this sounds really stupid,. but technology and I do not always see eye to eye. If some of you could have a look at my blog, and let me know if I am doing it right so far, that would be lovely. I am going to try the meze approach to the delightful blogging ‘food’ on offer!

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  11. Over the past few days, I’ve made some changes and added more posts. I invite everyone to go check it out and let me know how you feel about my writing ability. I welcome all constructive criticism, so please be honest, but please do not nitpick.

    Also, I’m always looking for new content, so if you feel unrecognized and fit somewhere in the art, photography, music, movie, or philosophy category, I would love to feature your work on my blog!

    Thanks in advance!
    – The Ergot

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