Aug 4, 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. Hi all! I asked for feedback on my site here a while ago and received some excellent advice and viewpoints that I hadn’t even considered myself. Now I’ve made some changes and want to try again. The site: http://interviewsthatmatter.net/

    More specifically, I want feedback on the design/look and navigation of the site.

    Thanks in advance 😀

    Like

  2. Hey guys, I am a new blogger and last week I got great feedback from you. I changed the colors and theme but I’m struggling with finding a combo I love. Currently I’m satisfied with it, mainly because I have tried dozens of combos and this is the one I’ve settled on. Any feedback and suggestions are greatly appreciated. You guys are wonderful. Thank you.

    http://hearthealthybeats.wordpress.com/

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    1. 🙂 It looks good! I find that grey text over white background is easy on the eyes.

      I also liked that your links were the same as the border colour – classy!

      Like

    2. Your blog looks great now. Though one thing if I may suggest would be that you may try to have a more eye-catchy header image. After all, it’s the first thing that someone sees when they visit your blog. Great job otherwise! 🙂

      Like

  3. I run a poetry blog and right now I am looking for any ideas for subjects or topics that i could write about. Also any general feedback on my post and my website. And any help/ways to get more traffic onto my site. Thanks.

    dwbb.wordpress.com

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    1. I really like that you’re writing and publishing poems. 🙂

      Perhaps, for me, your page is a bit loud.

      It would be good to have translations of some of the Haiku too – does that make me a pleb? 😉

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      2. Thanks for the advice i just put translations for all the Japanese Haiku. And i will be translating them from now on. 🙂

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    1. A couple of thoughts:

      1- Your blog needs a tagline. Although your title is effective, it doesn’t tell me enough about what your blog is about.

      2- I’d suggest switching out the gray background color. Since you use a lot of images, I don’t think you’d want anything too loud. However, almost anything else would fit your blog’s character better. Perhaps black?

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      1. Thanks for the input! Definitely will add a tag line. As for the background it appears as white on my screens behind the text and photos. The grey borders I’m kinda partial to bc I’m into minimalist stuff, but ill take a look at some other colors. Thanks again!

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      2. Please stop emailing me!

        This is getting way too much and draining my battery. I just need it to stop.

        Shuaib Rasool B.Sc Physiotherapy (UWC)
        Tel: 014 552 2159
        Cell: 076 246 9243
        Fax: 086 604 7095
        Postal: PO Box 190
        Sun Village
        0316

        Like

  5. I want to add seo yoast plugin to my blog. How can I do it?
    Also help me add rel author for google authorship.
    Thanks

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    1. I had this theme for a while, if I remember correctly you just have to change the “featured image” from post to post to get that to change.

      Like

    1. I’d say you definitely need a tagline or a new blog title. “My Life and My Career” tells me nothing about the contents of your blog? What is it that makes your life and career unique? (Yes, I know your kids are unique, but everyone’s kids are unique. So they don’t count.) Then, somewhere in your blog title or tagline, tell us what distinguishes your life and career from everyone else’s? What makes you unique?

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  8. I’m a lonely kid looking for friends on my blog, http://theergot.wordpress.com/

    If you visit[ed] my blog and like[d] what you see[saw], it’s probably worth noting that The Ergot is not at all selfish in its endeavors. I’m always excited to praise and promote new and upcoming artists, philosophers, or just those of you completely lost on the big, bad internet.

    Head over to my “About” page, get in touch with me, and we can talk about featuring your work on The Ergot!

    Like

  10. I would love a little feedback on this post in particular and on my new editorial calender in general. On the right side of my page under “A Girl with a Plan” I have the schedule of my weekly posts. If anyone has a moment to flip through my last week of posts–following my new themes–I would love some feedback about the new format. Do you think it is engaging for different kinds of readers but also still related to my theme?

    Any thoughts and comments are welcome!

    Minor Surgery for our National Monuments

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    1. Hi. Your blog is more of a personal online diary I must say. I have noticed your fluency in writing and I would suggest you to follow The Daily Post and participate in their Weekly Photo/Writing challenges.
      It’s a great platform for every blogger to stretch their capabilities and potential further. I’m sure you’d be able to get more readers and thereafter receiving more comments for possible improvements. 🙂

      Like

  12. Evening all, I’m an absolute newbie to this, and fairly lost still, but just published my first post and any feedback/advice/constructive criticism would be great! Idea with the blog is for it to be a pool of stories/advice about dating. It’s going to be very light hearted and hopefully amusing. If you’re interested then check it out http://matildabryce.wordpress.com/ Thankyouthankyou

    Like

    1. Hmmm. I might think quite carefully about personal stuff I published – especially if it were embarrassing stuff about friends and exes.

      On the other hand “stories” about love are the source of many films, TV shows and novels…

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  13. I’m worried that this isn’t as funny as I am hoping. I can’t really count on friends and family to be honest with me. any advice at all would be great since I really don’t know what I’m doing

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    2. Funny to whom?

      Here’s the thing. I also do a humor-ish blog and I get a satisfying amount of traffic. However, I also know that my sense of humor isn’t for everyone. And, truth be told, I rarely (if ever) laugh at the “humor” blog posts that land on Freshly Pressed and I know I’m not alone.

      I’m not here to say that there’s anything wrong with me, you, or Freshly Pressed (or the Freshly Pressed editors). It’s just that different types of humor resonate with different people. So I suggest that you consider what type of people are likely to find you funny. (College students? Educated professionals? Seniors?) Then, look at the titles you’re giving your blog posts. Are those titles likely to appeal to your target audience? What about the photos that will accompany those titles in the WordPress reader?

      And, I strongly recommend switching your homepage to the stream of your recent blog posts. My initial reaction to your blog was “where’s the content?” Or, if you want to keep the “About” page as your home page, you need to add a link in your header called “Blog.”

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      1. I’m going to be switching my posts back to the home page, you’ve confirmed my suspicions. The goal was to make it look more like so many of the small newspaper web content I’ve seen but it isn’t working out. Thanks for taking the time to look.

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  14. I just started blogging, and I would love some feedback on my ideas. My goal is to motivate individuals to achieve their goals in life. I’m just not sure if I’m truly showing that on my blog. Please feel free to guide me. Thank you a lot.

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  15. Hello Everyone,
    Like many others here, I recently started a blog and I would really appreciate some constructive critique if you have time. I would particularly like the focus to be on my writing (i.e. Does it make sense? Is it too verbose? Too boring or dry? Does it flow well?) but any and all parts of the blog are open for comment. Thank you!

    http://experimentnumberone.wordpress.com

    Like

    1. I think that naming your categories by experiment numbers is very confusing. I would use your experiments, such as Food, as the name of the category. I also think your header photo could be more interesting. The good news is that your blog topics are interesting and I am signing up to follow you 🙂 Annie

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      1. Thank you so much for the input and for the follow! You’re absolutely right about the categories. I tried to change them to make them clearer while still keeping with the “experiment” theme of the blog. Do they make more sense now?

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    2. I’ve just had a quick scan because I only want to comment on any blogs that I feel I might have something in common with, and I’ve signed up to follow yours because I liked both the concept and topics, the plain, clean design, and what I’ve had a chance to see of your writing.

      I think as your blog progresses it would be great to see a few more pages as well as the posts, but that’s just my personal preference: when I find a new blog I like to scan through the pages to get a feel for the writer’s style and attitude. Look forward to reading more!

      Like

      1. Wow, thank you! A follow is quite a compliment. I hope to add more pages as I start writing more. Thanks again!

        Like

  16. The reality of this world GOD IS THE WOMAN ,the CIA explain all in movie ,this nation brain wash in greed and ignorance only the soldier with moral ,respect and honor the rest people with money ,and our children became more gay and stupid by the day what a joke this nation nobody talk about reality were are the human only few ,we all should protect serve and educated if you are a man and human but we all are what we are because greed n ignorance, that is why 9/11 was done for order ,love and business ,but no love is education and respect all, also GOD is the planet so we all will go to hell soon a new 9/11 is on the work be ready…..

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    1. Do you think you could get permission to take photos in your bar and use one of those as a background image?

      Or, if you have liquor bottles or shotglasses at home, you could take a photo of those.

      Like

  23. Hey everybody, I’ve recently started my first blog ever!
    Its based on news and editorials mainly about Long Island, NY.
    I would love some input on the design, layout and content of the blog, and some advice is always welcome!
    Thanks,
    RecklessPress

    Like

    1. When I move my arrow over the “Blog” link, I get two options: “Life’s Like This” and “ThisIsWhat’sUp.” Initially, I thought that those were two separate blogs. (And that also didn’t make sense to me because your home page indicated that this was one blog.) So that was a little confusing at first. And then I noticed that those were two of your five category designations… so it was an incomplete list.

      If I were you, I would eliminate the drop down menu from the “Blog” link because you already have the category widget. If you’re absolutely in love with having that menu there, I think you should add the three other categories to it.

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      1. Thank you for the reply! I really wasn’t sure on how to approach on categorizing the subjects. Do you think I should remove the categories widget on just have them on different tabs?
        Thanks

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      2. A theme? Well, since you asked, I would recommend Pilcrow, 2010, 2012, Book Lite, or a blog theme you can change the colors like: 2011 or oxygen.

        Like

  24. Hi guys! I just (literally yesterday) opened up my wordpress blog and uploaded my first post today.
    The blog is designed to light an issue from two completely opposing standpoints, demonstrating the bipartisanship present in many current issues.

    I’d be very grateful for any constructive advice or comment for my newest article, titled:
    “Edward Snowden: Traitor or Emancipator?”

    Edward Snowden: Traitor or Emancipator?

    Happy writing!
    -Julian 🙂

    Like

    1. I like the concept.

      The one thing I’d add is perhaps a 2-3 sentence introduction explaining what you’re doing. (Or, you could open with something really brief like “Here they are: two viewpoints on Snowden.”) Otherwise, some people may tune out while reading part one without realizing that a second view is coming; I don’t think your blog’s tagline or post headline are enough to make a new visitor realize that without further explanation. (It’s not obvious that an opinionated conviction will be opposed to a dogmatic conception. Some visitors won’t even have enough vocabulary to understand what an opinionated conviction and a dogmatic conception are.)

      And since the blog is called “Julian’s View,” one would reasonably assume that only one view would be presented. I think you’d do better with a blog title that fully reflects your blog’s concept.

      Like

  25. hey guys so i was wondering if i could get any feedback on my blog im new to this so anything helps thanks

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    1. Hey! So this might be pretty far fetched, but nonetheless I think it’s a great read.
      The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford is incredibly interesting, revealing a completely different approach to daily economics.
      I’d say its somewhat part of personal finance? 😉

      Like