Apr 6, 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). 

If you’re looking for something more intensive, try our Blogging 101 or 201 challenge, starting April 15.

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. If you simply leave a link to your blog, it’s likely to be overlooked.
  • 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!! I was wondering if you guys could take a few minutes to read my blog and give me any tips on writing etc? Any comments are very welcome 🙂 cheers!

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    1. I think you have a great writing style and distinctive voice. Your posts do feel a little on the long side, so you might want to consider tightening those up a bit. Also, using line breaks a little more frequently to break up long paragraphs will make the post more scannable, and will make it feel easier to read, even if it’s long. Hope this helps.

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    1. Hahaha, I loved your post, it genuinely made me laugh! Definitely qualifies for the humour niche, I would say! I liked your use of images and dialogue!

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    2. Oh, my God, that was awesome. And I’m serious, not just being nicey-nice supportive blogfriend. That. Was. Awesome. Yes, it’s humorous and I read the whole thing, entranced, even though it’s not really my thing. You have the gift. I would say you could work toward a book.

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    1. More photos! A blog like this (makeup and fashion) really needs big, bright photos on every posts. Lots of visual interest…

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    2. Your blog is looking pretty good. One piece of advice i might offer you is to add some pictures to go along with some of your poems. I dont add pictures to all my poems mainly because I don’t like to have a lot of pictures I didnt take on my blog. I have added a few pictures here and there though of pictures I have taken in the past and a few royalty-free images. I dont do this for ALL of my poems because a lot of the time i want my writing to speak for itself but i find a few here and there will make it more visually appealing to readers 🙂
      I read a few of your poems. They are good, keep up the good work! 🙂

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  5. Hi everyone! If you have the time, I would really appreciate you reading my blog and providing me with some feedback on my writing or anything else! Any and all comments are very welcome 🙂 thanks!

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    2. Hi, I love your theme, the picture, the writing and the look of it as I scroll is gorgeous! I also, really liked your post and a lot of it was very close to home, so I have followed your blog 🙂 Good luck with the rest of your blogging!

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  7. Hi, as a non-native English speaker I wondered if my writing was good enough? Plus, I recently changed the design to make it easier to navigate, is it? Any other opinion on my blog is welcome 🙂 thehighheeledpapergirl.wordpress.com

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    1. Hi, your English is fab, and better than a lot of native speakers I expect! As far as your layout is concerned, I personally like to see a full post once I get onto a page, so that I can get a feel of the writing style, and see if the blog something I would like, by getting stuck in! However, it does give a good summary of what you post, quickly. A menu of categories might be handy too!

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  8. I’m in day 6th of a 31 day Devotional Reclaim your Joy in 30 Days
    It’s Simple. It’s Fun. It’s Transformational

    Introduction
    Welcome to Reclaim Your Joy in 30 days. If you follow the daily ideas and inspirations I have outlined for you, within 30 days you will begin experiencing a renewed joy that will bring the WOW back into your life everyday.
    Any Ideas to build readership?

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  9. Hello, I have only just started up a blog this week, and am finding it all a bit overwhelming but I think I am starting to get the hang of it! If i could get any feedback on better tagging, and making my blog posts look more inviting to people to read that would be fab! Thank youu, I can try and give feedback in return too, although I’m not sure if I will have much experience to offer! http://emilymiscellaneousme.wordpress.com

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    1. I think you’re going in the direction; you just need to build content now. Your writing is good and the tagging looks good to me. Maybe watch the headlines; they need to be short but also make it clear what you’re writing about. But that’s the only thing I can thing of it; it looks great.

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    1. Your wife blog is AWESOME. I’d love to know more about that relationship. I love the style of the post and I also resonate with it (I totally understand about picking up where you left off after months). I love it.

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    1. I love it! I love the header with the circular photos of food; very inviting. You have a very good balance of photos and text, and you copy is very scannable. You use bullets and line breaks really well to make your pages readable. Great job.

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  13. Hey guys, I just have one question today. I looked through my blog and noticed that on previous posts some pictures are missing and instead it’s a camera with an X through it. Any idea why this happened? Just not sure what happened.

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    1. Check your Add Media tab and find that photo. There’s something wrong with it that means WP can’t access it anymore. If you linked to a photo from another site, it may have been moved.

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  15. I started a blog as a school assignment, but i dont know if i will continue to write on it when the semester is over. I enjoy on it, but i think i might create a new blog, specifically for creative writing. What do you think?
    Raigenosophy.wordpress.com

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    1. I think that to keep writing blog content at a consistent enough pace to get traffic, you really need to be in love with your subject. So, if this isn’t really your passion, definitely start another blog that is.

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    1. My goodness, this is great. You’re one of the only writers that really is able to use that template to great effect. Your titles are perfect: I know what I’m going to get when I click, but they’re also short and creative. And they lead to posts that are engaging and well-written. Well done.

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  18. I resurrected my blog from the dead.
    Do you guys also struggle to keep it going on a regular basis?
    gI mean, i don’t have that much free time, so i try to blog about the things i’m doind at the moment.

    If you can give me some input about my blog, i’d be very pleased: thiagoponte.wordpress.com
    I mean anything is valid, even about my English. It’s not my native language.

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    1. I wouldn’t have known English isn’t your native language. I’m not really familiar with your content, but I can tell that people who are would be intrigued. You’ve got a nice balance going; now, you just need to keep building your content!

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      1. Many thanks Jenna. You just gave me an idea for a new post: I’ll try to explain a little what i’m writing about.

        And your blog is about football’s referees?
        Amazing, i knew a referee once, he was my history teacher.

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      2. Really?! That’s pretty cool. Yes, I find referees fascinating. They have such an impact on the game, and they all come from such varied backgrounds. (Mark Geiger, the US representative in the World Cup, is a math teacher…)

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    1. Great post about an interesting twist on the movie. I too felt like the parents could have used guidance on how to help Elsa. They were well-meaning, but ended up doing more harm than good. It was eye opening for sure.

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      1. Hi, Jenna!
        Thank you so much for giving me great feedback! =) I really appreciate it. I couldn’t help but think the parents could have helped her more, but then again, it wouldn’t be Frozen if they did! I just thought since it is a very popular movie, it can be easily used as a tool to teach people, especially young ones about Mental Health issues. ❤

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  20. Hi. When I click on my archives posts many of the pictures I have on the posts do not show up. Is this normal? Thank you.

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    1. That means the picture isn’t available for some reason. Check your Media file to make sure they’re not there. (If there’s just a question mark there, the photo is unavailable for some reason.

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    1. Focus on building great content first. Then find other blogs that are similar and participate in their communities. Build a blogroll to other blogs. You might want to take the Blogging 101 course WP is offering soon; I found it really helpful.

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    2. Hi becksthebrain,
      The question everyone is asking, and understandably so 🙂
      From my own experience, and i don’t have a very big audience, the best place to start is with family and friends. Tell them about your blog and ask them to follow you. Next, do exactly what your doing; getting involved even in the littlest ways with the blogging population. I advise that you post a link to your blog though…
      Also, write about exciting and interesting things. Make sure your writing is at its best. If you’re new to the blogging world, make sure you put your best foot forward. People will come back depending on what you writing about. True, everyone has different taste, but everyone loves a well written post about something interesting or exciting.
      Aul
      BTW, please check out my blog http://montairyus23.wordpress.com/ I’m writing a novel and want to get the word out. Thanks!

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  22. Hi everyone! I started me blog about two months ago. I would appreciate any comments about content and any general feedback you may have. Thank you so much!

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    1. i think your blog is bright, engaging, fun and informative. I like the balance of posts that you have.The only thing I noticed is only two posts show up on your front page. You may want to see if your theme will let you expand that. It would give readers a sense of more breadth of content…

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    2. Well done, Mrs.Z for such an amazing introduction about yourself full of thoughts, dreams, opinions and aspiration in your “About” page! Your blog is off to a yellow and blue theme…the perfect spring colours.

      Indeed, this is your home away from how.

      How you used your widgets wisely. The categories, and putting your facebook page on as well. A very nice touch from you there!

      Even nicer and rarer is the variety of content. I love how you talk about all the different topics that interest you…music, your cousins, kids. It really pulls people together to think about the topics we can all relate to. I do the same thing on my blog.

      A piece of advice is maybe make the theme more personal. If you like a specific topic, use your passions to create an amazing theme. Like Jenna said earlier, you may want to expand your theme so your content will be easier to access

      Happy April to you and remember to stop and smell the flowers in this spring weather.

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  23. Hello Community Pool members,
    Terrific idea to have each others as sounding boards. I have been blogging for a little over a year and would like to take my blog to the next level – which for me means more engagement via comments, reblogging etc. I have family, friends – old and new – on board, as well as my book club, movie club etc. and I follow many like-minded blogs (foodies). I’m good (at least I think I’m good) on generating content regularly.

    I would love to learn what other bloggers are doing beyond what I’m doing to create a bigger following, more engagenment.

    Many thanks.

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    1. I love your concept. I’ve always wanted to start a tea-themed blog. I think your theme is a good choice for your content as well. On your other questions, you may want to do the Blogging 101 challenge WP is offering. I did it in January for my blog and it really helped me establish a readership.

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  24. Hey all! I’m thinking about writing a post about how social media has allowed us to humanize celebrities more than in the past and has made it easier to not idolize them. If it garners a good amount of attention and dialogue, I want to expand it into a magazine article-length piece and send it out to see if anyone would pay for it. Is this a topic that would even be interesting or is it too tired?

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    1. I don’t think it’s too tired, but you may want to investigate publishing policies. Posting something on the internet is considered publishing it, and you have first rights. Most magazines and news agencies won’t republish an already published piece, and most consider posting it on a public website the same as publishing it. It will depend on how much you change it of course, but it’s something to consider ahead of time.

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  25. Hi, I am a bit nervous about posting here as I am terrified of negative feedback. But nothing ventured……
    Constructive criticism is fine though!
    I have just started a new blog on here this week – having used blogger before. Was wondering what people think of the overall look, feel and subject matter? Thanks! It is http://www.101thingstodowithkids.com
    x

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    1. I love your blog! The about page is very concise and pretty much lets us know what you’re writing about, with a bit of humor here and there which is always appreciated!
      Two quick suggestions though: 🙂

      1. Perhaps include one page where you have all your blog posts, since when you start getting into your 56th idea, it will be hard for readers to find idea #1.

      2. On the page where you list all the 101 ideas, maybe link each idea to its blog post? (This could be a substitute for suggestion 1)

      But really nice idea for a blog, and I love the layout as well!
      If you can, please check out my blog and let me know what you think 🙂 http://prettylittlethingsxo.wordpress.com/

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  26. Would love to know what yawl think of the content on my blog, i write about addiction and personal experiences as well as other topics. Thanks in advance for any advice or tips you can offer. mommyx4boys.wordpress.com

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    1. Hi there 🙂

      I’ve read through a couple of your posts and I would just like to say how brave I think it is of you to be writing about addiction from a personal experience point of view. I think you’ve got a good mix of topics between informational posts, inspiration/feel-good posts, and personal posts so that’s great! The only suggestion I would make would be to proof read your posts before you publish them so that, for instance, sentences and paragraphs are shorter (makes it easier for the reader to keep up).

      Keep up the great work! And, if you can, please check out my blog and give me some feedback 🙂 http://prettylittlethingsxo.wordpress.com/

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      1. Thanks, im glad you liked it. I’m not very good with all of the punctuation stuff, but will definitely try to improve it. Much appreciated. Going to check out your blog now.

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    1. Hi there! I really enjoy the clean look of your blog but there are many ways to play with a layout like changing the header image, the background color/image, or adding/removing widgets. I personally really like widgets as a reader and when I come to a new blog I always like to see the categories or tags, recent posts, and more popular posts.
      Also, updating the About page can go a long way!

      But other than that, keep up the great work! And if you get the chance, please check out my blog as well and tell me what you think 🙂 http://prettylittlethingsxo.wordpress.com/

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      1. Tnx… I’m still trying to figure out how to improve those widgets. I like how you design your widgets simple yet catchy. maybe just the header I find kind of small if I looking right. maybe you can expand its horizontal side 🙂

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  30. I hoping to start building my reader base and am looking for helpful tips on ways to improve the overall look and feel of Exploring Alura. I desire a comfortable feel, warm and inviting, beckoning readers to stay awhile while allowing them to easily browse through my other work.

    http://exploringalura.wordpress.com/

    Any help or feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.

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    1. I love the hand drawn pictures! It gives your blog a homey feel. I do think there is a bit much as far as the widgets go. I was looking at those more than than your writing which I think is the most important! Otherwise I really like your site 🙂

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      1. Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to look through my site. I will be sitting down today to review which widgets are going to make the cut. I love those widgets but even with that, I’d prefer eyes on my words. 🙂

        I am very glad you thought the drawings added the right touch to the overall feel. That’s exactly what I was hoping for!

        Thank you again. I really appreciate it!

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