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.

Show Comments

356 Comments

Comments are closed.

Close Comments

Comments

  2. Hi, I’d like to know what makes you click on a link to another part of someone’s blog? I’ve just changed my theme to include a sidebar, and it would be great if you could tell me if the links I’ve put in make you want to read on! Or if not, what might?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi.. I just took a quick look… I thought perhaps an ‘About’ page would help to say a bit about your and what your blog is all about… and maybe a ‘top posts and pages’ widget . I did notice the ‘Freshly Pressed’ badge.. that is great!…What post was that for? Anyway hope it helps a bit… Diane

      Like

    1. Hi.. a few suggestions.. 1. perhaps choose a different theme that allows for sidebar ‘widgets’ such as ‘most recent posts’ and ‘top posts and pages’ and ‘follow me’ etc. for that you go to dashboard … left side … Appearance and click on it and you can change to one that has 1 sidebar which is called a two bar theme or 2 sidebars which is called a 3 column theme (your decision)

      2. Perhaps more color .. go to Appearance ‘background’

      3.You main page has all your posts but I’m thinking you haven’t typed in a Title of post when you did it… I’m a little confused but I think that’s what has happened because I didn’t have a place to click on to make a comment for a particular post….

      4. About ‘page’ good to say a little about yourself or your blog and what you’re hoping to use it for… (go to dashboard… “Pages” … select ‘About’ that’s the only page you have right now

      These are just observations and suggestions… You do what you want to do… hope it helps. If you have other questions just ask…You can do it here or You can do it on my site …go to the last post ..select it and use the comment section to do (or my about page)…. p.s. I had lots of questions to start also or I had to do a lot of researching to find out how to do things. If I can help someone new and make it easier…. then I do so… Diane

      Like

    1. Loved your posts! Interesting layout too! 🙂
      P.S. I also write sometimes on relationships and things around it!

      Like

    2. Freshly Pressed is not something you do… WordPress selects several blogs from thousands and thousands and declares it ‘Freshly Pressed’…

      For displaying photos on sidebar. I’m hoping this is right it’s been awhile ..and that I understand what it is you want… If not I would suggest going to wordpress.com support unless someone else is better able to help you

      the photo must have been downloaded and be in the media library.. ( otherwise if you only want it for sidebar you need to upload it by going to to dashboard … library… and ‘Add New’….. )

      After it’s in library . ..select the photo… at the far right you’ll see Image URL … highlight the complete url (part of it doesn’t show so make sure you do the whole thing) COPY ..

      you go to Appearance ..widgets … add the “Image Widget” to one of your sidebars .. add details as asked… I forget just now the specifics but I believe you’ll be asked for image URL ..that’s where you now Paste the URL click ‘apply or update whichever appears’

      Hope it helps… Diane

      Like

  9. Hello! As this is my first blog, just looking for feedback on 1)writing style 2)how it translates to blog-form and 3) is this interesting to read if you don’t know me? It’s always hard to gage interest-level when I’m talking with people with whom I have a relationship.

    Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh it just did! Don’t know what was the problem before. Anyways just started reading your blog and lovin’ it! 🙂 You have my followership! 😀

        Like

  12. Hello, thank you for this excellent resource. My blog explores the possibility of building an extension for 5000 in my back yard.I have just invited an author who will be documenting the architects progress on my project. Is there a way through changing the appearance of her posts(font,header, background??) to make her voice distinct from mine on the blog?
    http://5kextension.wordpress.com/. would love your feedback?

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Hello everyone!

    I just recently started blogging, and aside from my webmastering class I took in high school this is all very new to me.

    I’m just wondering if my page is visitor-friendly, as I’m trying to gain more and more followers, or is it kind of confusing at first glance? I love the colors of the theme, but I just worry if it is visitor-friendly. I want them to know exactly where to go when they arrive.

    Also, I am wondering if I should change my web address to something that is more related to the topic of my blog? I just chose my name for the beginning, but I’m debating if I should make it more obvious so people will know what it is.

    Please let me know of any other wonderful things I should do to make my blog better and gain more followers!

    New Site Name

    Like

    1. Pretty fascinating blog you got! I really love the way you bring such dimensions out of ordinary and mundane everyday things! 🙂
      and what a coincidence that my blog name is techPERSONIFIED 😀

      Like

  15. Hey ya’ll!

    I am trying to transcend beyond the “just another mom blog” blahs that I’m having right now. I sometimes write about race and class, and I try to write about my experiences being a Black mom in the ‘burbs… but I’d love some feedback about direction and new ways to stand out.

    Thanks in advance! http://blackbunchedmassmom.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Hey everyone! I’m still a little new to this, so I love feedback! Be completely honest! I’m trying to play around with some layouts, but I haven’t quite figured it out yet. Thanks!
    Also, if you know anyone who would be interested in my topic, please share with them!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I like your blog’s layout and you baby is just too damn CUTE!!
      More power to you gal!

      – Your latest follower 🙂

      Like

  18. Hi fellow bloggers. Can you help? Once I’ve posted my new post and send it to Google, facebook, etc. a picture other than the one I want shows up on google. How can I make the one I want to show up with the title? For example; my last post shows the last picture of the article, not the first. Thank you in advance.

    Like

  20. Hey everyone! I’m experimenting with the look and feel of my blog for a few days now. Do tell me what do you all think? Is it too much? or is it just perfect?
    Feel free to read my articles section too and provide me with any inputs you might have. 🙂
    http://techpersonified.wordpress.com

    Like

  21. HELP. I cannot for the life of me figure out why my blog posts appear in the full text on my blog even though I marked my default format as “aside” and manually changed all my psots to “image” “quote” or “aside”. They still all show up as full text posts!! I want them to just have a few lines so people can see multiple posts when they visit my page. Any suggestions/insights?

    My website is nomadicmegan.com

    I’m sending good karma to whatever kind soul has the answer to this problem!

    Like

  22. Hello everyone, I’m fairly new at blogging but enjoy sharing things in my world (even if nobody ever reads it!).

    I’m hoping that some of you would kindly take a look at my posts and let me know if the overall feel of it is okay. I like to put a humorous twist on my (rather mundane) daily life but I’m never sure if my idea of funny works for others.

    I know that I have a lot of randomness going on right now, that’ll probably continue, I tend to jump from one thing to another fairly quickly so some suggestions on how to (or if!) I should organize the posts would be wonderful as well.

    Thanks very much!

    Like

      1. Thank you very much for taking the time and commenting on my piece – I find your comment extremely useful and constructive, thank you again!

        Like

    1. Hi… if you like a few observations… number one… when I clicked on the name of your blog..it said not found… perhaps check the link?? I clicked the URL and it took me to it…

      I might suggest..(everything is just suggestion ..you decide for yourself) a few other widgets… ‘Archives’ quickly takes one to whatever month they want to check out ..perhaps a ‘top posts and pages’….. and a Category or Tag list or ‘cloud’… If you want to see what a tag cloud looks like …look at my site… so for eg. if someone wants to read your posts relating to ‘life’ or ‘family’ or education…etc they can click on that and find them.

      your image that appears on your latest post I noticed it difficult to read the words because of the color of them..

      Remember to use always tags and categories for each post because that’s how other bloggers might find you… on WordPress when they click on a certain topic to read

      ‘tags and categories’ are on the left side of your dashboard when you do your post….you probably knew that…

      Anyway… hope that helps a little …. If you ever want to put a background color other than white or a design… you can do that on your dashboard under ‘Appearance’ …background

      Diane… you’re doing an amazing job!

      Like

      2. Thanks for the feedback! I’ve sorted out the link, but how exactly can you change the background colour? Also, how do you use pictures with regards to copyright? At the moment, I’m stuck with using my own or trying to find copyright free ones. Also, is the text now easier to read at all? Thanks!

        Like

      3. You change the background color by dashboard… on the left side ‘Appearances’… ‘Background’ It will give you an opportunity to select a color you want or at the top I think you get the opportunity for a pattern of some sort… Don’t forget to ‘update’ the change If you don’t like it …change it again

        Pictures from the web… I’ve found 2 sites that are free. 1 is stockvault.net. You need to sign up but the photos are free.. BUT they also show ‘premium’ ones that if you use them you need to pay… I just use the free ones. You don’t even have to give credit if you don’t want. I do though.
        http://www.stockvault.net/
        The other one is freedigitalphots.net For them you need to sign up I think… maybe you don’t But you do need to only use them for your non-commercial blog (which ours is) and you do need to give credit to them …again the free ones only.. They’ll tell you if it’s not free…
        http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/ Hope this helps . If you have any other questions just ask…and yes the reading is easier… Diane

        Like

    1. You are using the same template as me! One comment I got a while ago (that I agree with) is that the grey text on the black background can be a bit tough to read if you have a lot of words on there. I always make my text a brighter white to make it easier on the eyes 😉 great site though!

      Like

  28. Hiya everybody! How are we all?

    So, I’d love if people popped over to my blog, http://blametheblogger.wordpress.com, to have a look. I’d really appreciate comments concerning the general layout of the site, and also the layout and content of posts! And if I’m extremely lucky, perhaps one or two of you may want to sign up to write a guest post? You can do just that at: http://blametheblogger.wordpress.com/guest-post/

    Thanks in advance. And by the way, guys at the daily post, on posts like this surely newer comments should be at the top? Just a suggestion…

    Like

    2. Your blog looks very professional! I love the color scheme you have going on as well. My only comment is that it looks a tad bit “busy” at the top of the site. You have a lot going on and it kind of makes it hard to distinguish what is what

      Like

  29. Hello, I really enjoy your site, and its wide variety of comments. I will keep visiting your site for more of the good reading that I have had lately from your site. Please update me with new posts, and I will do my best to read the comments. Thank You.

    Like

  30. Hi, Im new to blogging. I am doing this blog to become more confident about writing personal narrative. So far I am keeping it short. Feedback on writing style would be much appreciated.

    Like