Mar 23, 2014 / 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. I would put your categories as tabs on the top of your page and your other sites in a different section. Maybe in the “About This Site” tab or make a separate just for them.

      Hope this helped!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Definitely something to consider. I originally put them under the “Home” tab because I viewed them as subsets of of the whole; thus, making them a submenu made sense in my mind, but I can see your point.

        Like

      1. Thanks. A lot of the font goes to the creator of the theme, but I do play around with adding style attributes within each post to tweak the appearance as needed.

        Regarding the author quotes: Thanks. I figured since it was a blog that was supposed to be about me trying to be a “real” author and not “just” a blogger, having the writing quotes seemed to fit. I think my personal favorite is the last one from Earnest Hemmingway.

        Like

    3. I’m new to some of the different styles of the blogs and had to take a moment to figure out how to read your posts. Once I did I enjoyed it. Especially the one about aging. Boy can I relate! lol Good job.

      Like

    1. First, your hair is beautiful! Now that that’s out of the way, I like the graphic for the welcome page. I’m looking at it on my phone so it doesn’t show me the whole site. But, I like the way it coincides with the name of your blog 🙂 maybe you can add a blurb beneath the cup to give a synopsis of what your blog is about (even though your tagline says it’s ramblings, you can give more detail on the welcome page).

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I must admit that I was initially taken aback by how minimalist it looked, though in truth, compared to true “minimialist” themes, you have quite a lot going on.

      I love the title of your site and overall I think the theme works for you. How necessary the welcome page is, though, I can’t genuinely say. My first impression is to like it, but it does make it hard to see what new is going on at your site. Perhaps even if you just added a “Recent Posts” widget to it, it would make a sufficient difference in that regard.

      Like

    3. I really like the minimalist theme you’re using! The blank space really works for me, and helps your posts to stand out. Since you’re dividing your posts via the category, I’d suggest that you consider adding a recent posts or popular posts widget to your welcome page.

      The image on your welcome page is great, and I think that you could add a bit of content below to tie it together and welcome your readers. Will your hair/makeup pages include tutorials? What goes in the ‘usual’ category? If I see that it’s interesting to me, I’m more likely to click through.

      Like

    1. I was at least able to get the link in your username to work.

      Due to the obviously personal nature of your blog, it becomes difficult to accurately critique your work. I understand the need for writing in a far more personal voice that is typically more suited for personal journals rather than a venue intended for mass consumption, but it does make it hard to say, ”You’re doing this well,” or, “You could improve that.” As a result, my only bit of advice is just keep blogging.

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      2. Thanks JED. I checked out the site you told me about and I really appreciate you sharing. Thanks. You know, we are always looking for pictures for our post. Right?

        Like

  5. Hey everybody! 🙂

    Back around 2005 I had a Blogger account. At the time, I had just learned the word “blog.” Kind of like how I recently learned the words “selfie” and “twerk.”

    For over a month now I’ve committed to posting on my new WordPress site, The Offensive Playbook EVERY day. And I’ve been doing it. If you like satirical Onion-style writings, comics, amusing photos, and just about anything in that vein, I’m your guy.

    While I have no trouble with content, I am no web designer. Not by a long stretch. I’m a quick learner though. For instance, does anybody here know what a “widget” is? I do! Found out last week by clicking around my page’s options. (Yes, that’s how green I am.)

    Anyway, I believe my site is worthy of some superficial improvements, and if you’d like to help me out, I’d be ecstatic if you popped on by, read / looked at what I’ve created, and left a comment or two with some ideas. You’ll also find my email on my little Gravity Profile thing.

    (Looks)

    Whups! Gravtar! I am SO stupid! Sounds like an old Atari game or something, doesn’t it? Heh heh.

    But seriously…help?

    All the best,

    James,

    The Offensive Playbook (OPB)

    Like

    1. Happy birthday. The pictures on your trailer were great but I would have liked to have more about the book. It seems a little long to me. I have a book trailer for one of my novels and it’s much shorter and has more story content. If you’d like to see it go to http://www.suecass.tateauthor.com and it’s on the books page.

      Like

  8. I don’t know much about design so I would love to get some feedback on my blog. I like to keep things modern and simple for the most part.
    Also any comments on my writing style would be appreciated! I’m still deciding what kind of tone I want for my blog and what I want to write about.

    http://www.anolivedaily.com

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    1. I think your design is simple, clean, and refreshing! I would say try to match the photos with their paragraphs, if that makes sense? For example, When talking about A, put paragraph A above the pictures paragraph A talked about.

      Hope this helped!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you! Yes I definitely get what you mean. I have debated back and forth about which post layout I like better (photos within the text or photos after the text). Maybe next time I will try it the other way around and see how I like it!

        Like

      2. Oh, I’m pretty sure there’s a way into San Diego Zoo from Balboa Park. Sorry, I’ll check my recent map of the place. If you do go to Balboa park, the neat place is near the International Houses, as the UN gift shop isn’t on the map.

        Like

  10. I am trying to extend my blog content by including posts about New York City events an attractions. This week I featured a post about why walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is awesome

    9 Reasons to Walk Across the Brooklyn Bridge

    and another about a NYC event celebrating french cookies: “Macaron Day” http://newyorkcliche.com/2014/03/21/macaron-day-nyc-2014/.

    I would love feedback on these posts– were they engaging? Even if you’re someone who doesn’t live in NYC? (I have readers from across the globe, I don’t want to exclude!) What could I improve? Do you think these posts are interesting?
    Thanks so much and if you’re looking for feedback too, I’ll try to return the favor!

    Like

  11. Hey
    I started blogging a few days back. I have quite a few ideas for short stories and novellas. I used to write a poem or two but now I have decided to be more regular. As I am not a student of literature, I might be lacking on the technical front. I would love to get my work critiqued. Thanks in advance.
    http://lochabvarun.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I like the clean look of it but may I suggest you do a tiny bit of editing on your sentences. There are several places you need a space between the end of one sentence and the start of the next. It may seem like a little thing but in writing it isn’t. Good job though.

      Like

  12. Hello! This is my first blog. Just looking for general thoughts about the content. Interesting? Boring? Helpful? Inspiring?Maybe topic suggestions? I typically write about my thoughts & lessons I’m learning in life & through my yoga practice. Thanks! 🙂

    Like

    1. I like the blog a lot and I think you have a clear idea of where you want to go with it. I like how you’ve stuck to a theme. My only suggestion is to be more consistent with your posts if you want to gain a good following. People tend to forget about you if you go too long without new material. Great job though 🙂

      Like

    1. I like your writing a lot 😉 Just a suggestion: some of your posts are quite long, so maybe you should display just the beginning of the post on your home page and use the “more” tag, so that the reader could scroll down quickly and browse more posts at once.

      Like

  14. Hi guys, I’ve done one of these before and got some great feedback so I thought I’d go again. I have a fairly new blog where I talk about my experience living with mental illness. I was wondering if I could get some feedback on my writing and I’m curious if those outside the mental illness community find my posts informative or interesting? Thanks so much 🙂 I look forward to hearing back.

    http://inconsistentlyyours.wordpress.com/

    Like

    2. Your posts are long enough to keep me interested and your writing style is mysterious (in a good way!).

      Sorry you’re suffering from this illness 😦

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    1. I think you’ve got all it takes to start…the design and layout is good…. maybe the ‘latest posts’ widget to give quick access for readers to choose one or two they might read…. I’m not sure what the W life beyond graduation is… but maybe it’s just me…. Diane

      Like

    2. Hiya there Selina. Your site looks good, but i was curious about what you intended as far as categories. Perhaps a widget for recent posts would fit better? I think that will help your readership better keep up with you.

      Like

    1. Hey RAE… I read you’re poem I’ve Sinned and who hasn’t right? Some powerful thoughts to consider. Also, I notice that you have many tags… would it be possible to have the tags feature or categories on your site so that people can see it quickly and reference what poems fall in that category? For example, a category could be Friendship, another could be love… anger, confessions… etc. Thank you for sharing yours.

      Like

  19. Hello everybody in the Community Pool. It is the first time I’m using this so still not sure how does it work but I hope you can help me.

    I just would like to get feedback from my writing. And, if it’s possible, I’d also like to learn more ways on promoting my blog. I think my ideas are good I just need to get more readers.

    Thanks in advance,

    Tony

    http://thegramophonereporter.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. The blog looks interesting, though it’s not my niche really. Not sure if it helps but I found your articles quite difficult to read because of the rather small white font against the dark background — maybe it would we worth thinking about increasing the readability of the text?

      Like

      1. Thanks. I was actually looking for comments on my writing but any kind of feedback is always welcomed. I don’t know how to change the font I think it is predetermined by the layout. If I change it, I’d have to change the entire layout I guess

        Like

  20. First month into blogging. I’ve started with two section idea. One for personal thoughts and experiences. The other for my commentary on recent news and events.

    I started using subjects to separate the two. Is there a better way to do that? I’ve created a page on the blog for them both.

    The other question I had was about sharing pictures / videos from the sites I grab stories about. Legally, can I use / link to a photo or video that is on CNN / Detroit news ect…?

    It looks like this is a good place to find ideas about what works for others. I can’t wait to hear what you have to say (good or bad.)

    http://umadyet.wordpress.com/

    Like

    1. To be honest I don’t know about the ‘news articles’ on the web.. You could likely check wordpress.com support and find out…. but as far as other pics and videos you can’t use re copyright laws unless you pay if that option is available or you ask… I have two sites that are free to use stockvault.net (you need to sign up but can use the ‘free’ images… but not the premium without paying) and freedigitalphotos.net but you have to give credit to them… Hope that helps a little. It took me a long time to find out about photos etc. Diane

      Like

  21. For anyone who can help me I’d appreciate it. My daughter, who is 30-something and internet- experienced, helped me set up my blog. I have the BOOK LITE theme. I’m internet-challenged and still learning. I tried to add other sidebars to my post without success. What do I need to do? If that theme doesn’t support sidebars I’ll understand. Also, being internet-challenged, I don’t know how to get different smilies and the little red heart symbol. I accidently stumbled on 🙂 but don’t have the slightest idea how to find the others. You can comment on my sight. I’m assuming I’ll get an email message that I have a comment. Thank you. I’ll appreciate any help you can give me. 🙂

    Like

    1. Hi… I don’t believe ..pretty sure you don’t have sidebar options… you can switch to a theme that does though by going to your dashboard and on left hand side you see the word Appearance ..click on it and you’ll see themes… click on it and you can go and select another theme …. I believe you’ll get the option to preview it (I haven’t ever changed mine so I don’t know but usually when you change something you do) Some themes have one sidebar and that would be called a two column theme and some two( which I have) and that’s called a three column theme…. Why don’t you at least have a look … from experience that’s about the best way to learn
      As far as emoticons I’m giving you a link to something wordpress recently sent out re them… hope this helps… Diane
      https://wordpress.com/blog/2014/03/21/new-emoticons/

      Like

    1. Wow, that’s a cool find. I’m surprised they actually make a video for you. I’d be kinda scared to submit my site. Reading comments is one thing but there is something daunting about listening to that long of a review of myself. :-p

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    1. Ohhh I could smell that wisteria. 🙂 Very nice even though white on black isn’t my favorite. Thankfully your font is large enough for me to read.

      Like

  29. Hi, for anyone who is working with the Motif theme, do you know how you can add both pages and menus to your headers? I’m having a little trouble. General comments and suggestions about my blog are also welcome; thanks for reading!

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