Feb 16, 2014 / 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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  2. I’m starting a blog reviewing restaurants from a dating perspective. I want to tackle the issues of dating in the 21st century like, will she want a greggs after? or are tracksuit bottoms appropriate to wear? I’ll be covering my own thoughts on the food, the ambiance and your chances on getting lucky. I’m trying to make it contemporary, funny and insightful…Happy blogging fellow compadres!!

    Welcome to My Therapy Now

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  4. It’s the old SEO question – what do I need to do to get more traffic? I switched from Blogger to WordPress over a month ago. Also, my invitations to old subscribers doesn’t seem t be getting through. Suggestions?

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      1. Hey, thanks for visiting my blog! Yes, a lot of people have pointed it out to me that the sidebars are a problem, and I’m working on that. Thanks a lot!
        And I do have an About Page, but the categories are hidden. You have to click on the 3 parallel lines at the right hand corner to view the categories. It’s a little inconvenient, I understand. Maybe I’ll change the theme or something.
        Thanks a lot again though! 🙂

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  6. I have been incarcerated for 5 1/2 years now with still 2 years left to serve. When I started my blog it was talking about what I go through in here and my thoughts and all, not getting the attention from it I wanted I decided to go another route and bring some humor to the page. My page is very asinine and you are sure to get a laugh from it and enjoy what you find. However, not being what everyone is into I took that into consideration as well and started making it a mix of things. Was this a good choice? Should I have avoided the whole asinine stuff or should I continue to post outrageous stories of the hell and craziness I go through in here? Any input on my page would be greatly appreciated.

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    1. Hey Joe, I’ve just started following your blog and I’m looking forward to reading what you’ve got to say. I too have been incarcerated (and coincidentally my name is also Joe) so your blog definitely strikes a chord with me.

      If I’m honest I can take or leave the humour. What I find myself more drawn to in a blog such as yours is the everyday experiences – the journey you’re on.

      Anyway good luck and I look forward to reading more,

      Joe

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      1. Thanks! I really appreciate you checking out my blog and giving me some feedback on your thoughts.

        Sounds like we have a few things in common as well. lol

        Again, I really appreciate what you had to say and best of luck to you, too. Joe P. Guerrero

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    1. Your blog looks great! Just try sticking to a posting schedule and maybe experiment with a few widgets. 🙂

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  8. Hi Everybody. I am new to blogging. English is not my first language. I was planning to publish photo a day, but I kind of stopped. I need to catch up – feeling guilty now. But I think it’s because I know nobody is reading/ looking at it, looking forward to it. I don’t really know how to go about promoting it. I think I’d rather people I don’t know in person to read/experience my thing.
    I am green, so have mercy. http://gosiabell.wordpress.com

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    1. I would keep up the regular posting! Even if not everyday, maybe every other day? I shoot for posts monday, wednesday, and friday. Maybe add a little more to the description as to what the pictures are and why you thought they were worth posting

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  9. I started my blog http://backyarddiy.wordpress.com/ yesterday and I’m just learning about WordPress so I’d appreciate any comments or feedback at this early stage.

    I’ve tried a couple of themes and may try a couple more in a bid to get the look that’s right for my content. I’m also getting to grips with widgets and the other nuances of WordPress.

    I’m enjoying it so far and it helps me focus my efforts on the backyard diy projects I’ve got going. Anyway, thanks for looking 🙂

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    1. I love how you already have videos and other media in your posts to keep them interesting! I would add a categories bar on the side to make navigation easier for when you have a lot more posts in the future. Even if you only have 2 or 3 categories it could really help 🙂 And dont forget a follow by email button! It is a great way to keep your followers updated!

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      1. Thanks for the feedback 🙂 I agree with you about the need for a sidebar. As far as I can tell the theme I’m using only allows for a footer and not for a sidebar so if I do include a sidebar I may have to compromise and opt for a different theme.

        I’ll also follow your suggestion to add the follow by email button. I’d seen it in the widgets but I didn’t really know what it did so thanks for enlightening me!

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  11. I just up my blog. Looking for ideas to get more readers. I posted my link on Facebook to my friends. Other thoughts would be appreciated. Lindz5.wordpress.com

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    1. I found it difficult to read and couldn’t read through the whole thing. Maybe if you had white lettering on the black it would be easier on the eyes. Your article sounded interesting I just couldn’t deal with the grey on black. I liked everything else.
      http://www.suepen2paper.com

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  15. I would really like some feedback about a new project. I have put off writing a book for a long time – fear based of course – and now that I have begun blogging I suddenly found a medium to test the waters. I plan to put my book up one chapter at a time – I have seen this in a number of the writing blogs and thought I would give it a go. Any advice or critique would be appreciated.
    http://jenniferann1970.wordpress.com/2014/02/18/prologue-chapter-1-first-draft/

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  18. Hey guys! I’ve been writing for a while now but my blog is relatively new. I’m a 22 year old girl. Six months ago I left the UK to travel to Sydney on my own and have started to blog my journal and share the things I learn, the places I see, the stories I hear and the beautiful people I meet. It’s definitely a work in progress but I’m hoping to have a large catalogue of posts soon.

    Any feedback on my layout, theme, categorising etc etc would be really helpful. Also anything you’d like to see from someone travelling on their own and working and trying to be an artist all at the same time. Any criticism is welcome!

    In return I’ll do the same for you (should you want it) or simply share any posts of yours that I like!

    Thanks!

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    1. I went to your blog and all I could see was your ‘about’. At any rate I too like literature, learning, tea and adventures. Also I think ‘anythere’ is just an awesome word!

      About

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  19. I know many of you are busy with your own projects, but I’d love some feedback on my travel blog in two specific areas

    1) is the writing style engaging? I ask because even when I include questions or polls I get very little response. Any advice in that regard would be welcome

    2) Do I use enough photos or should I make it more of a visual experience than editorial one.

    Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. Especially by any travel enthusiasts

    http://www.tripaccomplice.wordpress.com

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    1. Your blog is amazing with the right balance of information and pictorial content. As for your writing style the informative but fun tone is engaging – perhaps you need to be blunter about requesting feedback – just ask outright something like ‘Is this a holiday for you and if not what would be’. I’m a newbie so I’m probably not the most experienced blogger but I trained as a travel consultant and worked for a number of years in the field before moving into PR and Marketing so I do recognize a well put together promo. Do you run comps with prizes – something as simple as using snap fish or another basic Photoshop program to create calendars/t shirts etc using the wonderful photo’s on your site for the best description of a dream holiday etc. Those sort of things draw people in and have them participating.

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  20. How do I tell how many followers a person has? I am participating in a pool where we are to nominate ten bloggers with fewer than 200 followers, but I cannot see how many followers anybody has. If you have fewer than 200 followers and want to participate come and check out my post about queries, or just let me know how to figure it out… thanks.

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    1. Well I have less than 200 if that helps you at all and I have been to your site – it’s very intersing especially looking at the correlation between health and diet as affected by income and who is at a disadvantage. I will be going back to see what recipes or suggestions you have in the future and what other topics you may wish to discuss.

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      1. You are looking for a widget to tell you about followers, I think its blog stats. Yes that’s how you know the count. Blog stats and followers are two different counts, add both widgets. I just found them myself this week and it has made a world of difference..
        Oh and come check out my Sexy Sunday post, This week is the 3rd installment but you can catch up.. Bring your wife, or significant other.
        Keep building those DYI’s make sure you send them out to as many as possible, try twitter, widget..Much success to you and yours..annie..

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    3. I have fewer than 200 followers too. I also write (occasionally) about food, nutrition and diet, but more from a feminist/training perspective. My only comment on the presentation of your blog is that I find the Font style for your headings a bit difficult to read. It’s a personal thing, but maybe the feedback would help?

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  21. Just wondering if anyone likes my writing but if you don’t that’s cool too and you can tell me. I know I’ve got grammatical errors as well.

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    2. Love your latest post titled ‘We too Go Gray’. The ending was really unexpected.

      Tbh, I find your background a little distracting – it’s hard to read the grey words with half the page filled with the picture, and the other half all grey. Also, having to click “older posts” after every post is quite tedious – perhaps you could increase the number of posts per page?

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  24. Hello everybody. My name is Morgan and I started my blog back in December 2013. I have a question about whether or not my writing is appropriate for the blog format.

    I am writing about pop song history. My posts are in essay format; they are historical, researched, wordy, lengthy pieces of writing without pictures. With such writing, posting is not as frequent as some of the other blogs I am following. I work on this blog is in my spare time during the evenings and the research, writing and editing process usually means I can only post one essay about every two weeks without hurrying myself and producing good writing.

    I understood when I started writing my blog that this sort of writing would not be for all audiences, due to the length of my essays; the last one, after all, was nearly 2700 words, including citations. But I’m wondering if this is the proper venue for such writing.

    Thank you for any input I receive,
    Morgan Howland

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  25. Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone could give me some feedback on my blog? I really would like to widen my audience and readership, and am after some suggestions on how to do that. I generally blog about training, climbing and running, and also some stuff on feminism in sports. How do you think I could make my blog more interesting to people who aren’t that sporty or don’t know that much about climbing/bouldering/running? Do you like my tone and writing style, do I explain what I’m doing well? I’m getting a bit stuck so any suggestion would be really helpful!

    Cheers

    Kate

    http://canadiankate.wordpress.com/

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    Imagine owning a profitable home business that you could start today WITHOUT:

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    Why not take that important first step and visit: http://www.sfi4.com/13883807/FREE

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  29. A silly question but on a former question I ticked notify me on follow up comments via email, I didn’t really think this through and am getting just tonnes of emails with everyones comments on which on such a heavily used comment section i would rather not, how do I undo this please?

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