Jun 1, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for feedback, 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 . .

TIP: 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.

  • 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.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

Show Comments

515 Comments

Comments are closed.

Close Comments

Comments

  4. Nice to meet everyone! I have started a blog not long ago and still have something to struggle with. I’m keep thinking about the approriate lenght of my blog posts wether it too short or too long. I’d like to receive feedback on what you think about the lenght of posts, the topics or images. I’m appreciate you comments to help me improve this blog. I’d be grateful for all your help.
    http://khanhhoavothi.wordpress.com/

    Like

    1. I like the theme on your blog. Also, the lengths of your blog posts are very appropriate. Beautiful photos, it’s a shame I can’t read most of your posts. You probably wouldn’t be able to read mine either 😀

      Like

  5. Hey Community Pool, I’m a new poet and writer on WordPress. I’m working on a poetic series called “The Gift of Her Love”, as well as other series such as Useless Agony, The Impetuous Tales and The Inspirational Files. Please check it out http://www.poetryanddreams.wordpress.com

    Like

  10. Hi everyone, I just launched my new/first blog and I would greatly appreciate your feedback! Also I would love to see your blogs as well 🙂 Comments on my blog are preferred

    Like

  11. Hey fellow bloggers, I’d love for your feedback on my new blog, Lena In Wonderland. towonderlandandback.wordpress.com 🙂

    Like

    1. I really like your layout, it reminds me of a diary 🙂 Interesting posts, also.

      Like

      1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate that! 🙂 If I could speak/read Danish I would definitely read your posts! I suppose I could try to use a translator?

        Like

      2. You could try that, but I don’t think you would get the real idea of what or how I write. But thank you for looking 🙂

        Like

  12. Hello everyone! My colleagues and I recently changed the layout of The Geek Anthropologist blog. We also updated most of our pages and changed the way we manage the blog itself. We are now a community run blog, and we’d love to reach out to more readers and invite new contributors.

    We are wondering if our new layout, and widgets, make our content more obvious and interesting to readers. We wish to showcase what we have written in the past and make it clear that we invite new contributions. Did we reach our goals? We’d love to hear feedback, positive or negative, in order to keep improving!

    We look forward to reading your thoughts!!

    http://thegeekanthropologist.com/

    Like

    1. I would say you succeeded on the “obvious” part.

      And then I like the black and white (and gray) header even though it seems like I’ve seen the layout on 100 different blogs. Stark works for you, I think. Nevertheless, the look doesn’t really stand out from the crowd, kind of like your standard academic journal in the library…

      Like

      1. Thank you for providing your input. We are in the process of creating a logo and choosing colors as our signature palette. We hope this will make the blog stand out a little bit more, and that using these on our social media will unify our look accross multiple plateforms. It’s not easy of course to create an image to represent ”geek anthropology” and to make a blog stand out while looking serious and credible. But we have some great ideas we hope to realize soon. Thanks again for the comment!

        Like

  14. Hi all! Long time aspiring writer, new blogger, so I’m looking for feedback on my page and posts. I like my current layout because it’s simple and easy to follow, but my concern is that maybe it’s a little too simple. As far as posts, as always I’m looking for writing feedback, but also insights on some of the finer intricacies like how to wrap text around a picture instead of just jamming it between paragraphs. So far I’m enjoying my blogging experience, writing as well as reading, and am glad to be part of this community! So, if you want something different to read for a while, come check me out! http://www.mooretified.wordpress.com

    Like

    1. Hi! I’m not great to provide feedback on writing, but I’d say your blog looks good. It features your recent pieces effectively, and showcases the images as well. The pieces could be separated into smaller paragraphs to make the text look less heavy, but the wide width of the layout already helps with this. Not all of your posts have tags, and these are what readers use to find you in their wordpress reader or using search engines. Tagging efficiently is important and not so easy to learn though, and I personnaly revise my tags frequently.

      Hope this helps! Cheers!

      Like

      1. That does help! Tagging is still somewhat of an enigma to me. I will revisit them and see if I can revise/add tags to improve their efficiency. Thank you!

        Like

  16. Hi all. I blog about growing up in an LGBT+ family, and most of my posts are quite personal. Naturally I’ve only had finite experiences so will stop being able to post so regularly at some point. I’d like to broaden out the original purpose of the blog by adding other people’s voices / writing about other LGBT+ issues / topics that interest me. Would it be best to do so by setting up a separate page on my blog? Thanks.

    Like

    1. Hi shoshana. I don’t think it’s necessary to make a separate page. In your bio (about me) page, you can set the tone for your blog and include you’ll write on various topics etc. My blog is mainly about recovering from a TBI, however I’ve spoken about other things as well.

      Like

      1. Oh great, thanks. I’ve never used the category function – all my posts say they’re uncategorised. Is that the purpose? – to categorise some posts TBI (for instance), and others differently? Not quite sure how it’s different from tagging.

        Like

      2. Im not too sure of the difference either. My post categorize by default. Perhaps I unknowingly set it this way. Just be sure to tag your post, I think that’s most important. Others can use the tag sorter to find post on different topics. It can cause new readers to trickle in

        Like

    1. Can I point you out to something? The designer is a woman (sim, falo portugues) but in the english part you wrote “his designs” and “his —“‘ when it should be “her”. Be a little more careful about the translation so it doesn’t get confusing to anyone 😉
      Adorei o blog 😉

      Like

  18. Hi everyone I write poetry/lyrics, I try and put something up weekly. I’d appreciate feed back on what you think is good and what you think I can improve on. Thank you

    Like

    1. Lovely blog, makes me happy to look at.
      The header (title of your blog) is kind of difficult to read. Not that I can’t read it, it’s just messy for me to look at, because of the background and the color of the letters. But then again, it makes it stand out as a ‘happy’ blog. I hope that made some sort of sence 🙂

      Like

  20. Hello fellow bloggers.
    I’ve just started my own blog, and I have already posted ‘a couple’ of posts (I got a lot on my mind). I wonder how my blog seems to new visitors. What are you thoughts on the layout and the lengths of my posts? Too long, too short, too messy? Any thoughts are very welcome! I’m just trying to improve. Thank you.
    NOTICE: the blog is in danish.

    Like

  21. Hi all,
    I am new to blogging, and recently published my site. I have written 4 or 5 blog posts, 1 without pictures. I know being early days not expect too much, but I am getting 40-50 visitors a day, but no comments, no clicks on links.
    I’d love to know your very first impression . And some feedback on my posts would be greatly appreciated.
    I love my posts…. Till I publish them, then suddenly I hate them.
    If you have a relevant blog please let me know, I’m trying to create a page that will direct people to similar or relevant blogs. I’d love to include some kids art/craft activities, cooking recipes, ideas for entertaining the kids and anything else that may be useful.
    http://www.aussiemummysdiary.com
    Thanks in advance

    Like

  23. Hello all. I’m trying to help a friend of mine sell a book she just wrote (very proud!). I created this site super quickly and am trying to brainstorm ways to improve it and get her book out there. Any suggestions or ideas would be awesome. Thanks so much.

    http://vickibismilla.wordpress.com/

    Like

    2. I love the Spun theme, and use it myself. It has a minimalist appearance that I find appealing. I’d say it’s just confusing enough. I tried a few other themes but they looked too cluttered. I guess it’s trial and error. Whatever you’re happy with, is the honest answer. Nice blog too.

      Like

      1. Thankyou! I have tried a couple of others and got sick of them pretty quickly. Your blog looks good too, I think this theme suits the psychadelic, old school vibe of your photos

        Like

  25. Hi everybody! My name is Lauren; I’m just a girl who likes fashion! Check out my blog and show me love, it’s 2 days old and I’m super excited to share some beauty secrets!

    Like

  26. Hey guys I have just started and have a few posts up, was wondering you anyone can check it out and I would love some feedback 🙂

    Like

    1. I like it on the whole, but here are a few possible improvements:

      1- The blog title tells me nothing about your blog… and it should. That’s really important because the theme you’re using shifts the tagline over to the right and puts it in a much smaller font. “The Fitness Model’s Journey” would be more informative and attention-grabbing. Needless to say, you seem like a person who should be grabbing attention.

      2- For a tagline, short and punchy is better. I’d delete everything after the period.

      3- I love the header image but I kind of wish there were a way to make the horizontal lines go all the way across. It feels like a lot of empty space on the right.

      4- Look at what part of your background image is actually showing. I can tell there’s a picture of you back there but I had to look for the top of your head. However, the visible part on the right makes a really cool pattern; maybe you could crop the picture to just that and tile it so it also appears the same way on the left side.

      Like

      1. This is such good feedback thankyou! 😘 I will consider the heading, how does a change influence followers?
        The tagline, which part is this?
        As for the background I had no idea it wasnt easily viewed so I will certainly consider that as well!
        Thanks again

        Like

      2. The change does not affect followers as far as I know. However, you might consider notifying people that your blog name is changing. (It can just be a 2-sentence post if you like.) That way, followers will know what your blog is when they see it in their reader under “Blogs I Follow.” Good question.

        And the tagline is the text in the top right corner of your blog.

        Like

  27. Hey! I just made my blog today and if you guys have a moment just leave me comments. I write about what I feel and how I look at life. I would love to know your opinions on life!

    Like

  29. Hi there! I just started blogging a few days ago (mainly about fashion, granted, but I plan to take on Design as well since those are my passions) and I’d like to know how I’m doing so far, since I’ve been sort of experimenting on my 4 posts.
    It’s http://fashoffdesign.wordpress.com
    Will really appreciate the feedback, thanks!!

    Like