Aug 24, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Feedback, camaraderie, and free popsicles! (Free popsicles: not included.)

Have you just published a new post and are dying for some feedback? Did you recently start your blog and could use some layout or design advice from your more seasoned peers?

Tap into the wisdom of The Daily Post blogging community and leave your question here in the comments. Others can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips you might find useful:

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.

  • While you’re not required to, we encourage everyone who requests feedback to also reply to at least one or two other bloggers who need some help. Spread the love!
  • The Community Pool comments section can get quite big — and starting duplicate threads doesn’t help. Thanks for not posting the same question more than once!
  • If you’re looking for quality feedback, be as specific as you can. Questions about a particular post tend to draw more comments than ones about entire blogs. Questions about specific design elements are more likely to be answered than ones asking for general layout advice.
  • We discourage leaving links without a more substantive message or question. These are often overlooked by other bloggers, and we frequently remove them to make the comment reading experience smoother.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. The idea is to have fun — it’s a pool, after all!
  • 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 Brian Cantoni.

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  1. Hi, this is my first taste of blogging so please do be patient. I have had a look at the “community pool” and I must say I do like the very relaxed feel of the blog. And hope to contribute to it.

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  4. Hey i just started this blog i plan to make two blogs a week about beauty and fashion. At the moment ive only wrote my opening blog but soon i will have a beaty related blog post. I hope you would consider a minute of your time to read my first post
    Thank you
    Morgan
    XO

    Like

  5. Hi all
    I have recently published a blog based around health, exercise and injury prevention. I am more concerned about the content and what you feel is missing in terms of up to date advice that the general public may want.
    Your comments, suggestions are much appreciated.
    Kind Regards

    Paul

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  7. Hey everyone!!! Started a blog recently about my travels! My most recent one being me moving across the world for a guy (USA to Australia). I’d love for yall to check it out and let me know what you think! And I’d be more than happy to check yours out too!!
    Thanks XOXO

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  9. My GF has been writing about her life. She has been quite scatter brained and her posts are all over the place. I am trying to neaten her blog and would like suggestions of how to break it out. Maybe into multiple blogs? Maybe into better categories.

    Any help would be nice. I want to surprise her with it when she gets out of the hospital. She tried to end her life and has been in the psych ward for a while now. 😦 But I want to help.

    She hopes to do a couple things with her blog.
    1) Bring some hope.
    2) Reach others suffering.
    3) Heal herself by talking openly and honestly.

    Here is a sample of her work.

    Lessons

    Any hints, help, ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. I also promise in the coming days to go look at some other blogs and comment ect.. Pay it forward.

    Sarah

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    1. Hi Sarah, I gave a go and read it. First of all, kudos to you. It’s wonderful what you’re doing for her. I’m also a beginner here so I can only give you my thoughts on how the blog touched me. She writes from the heart and with tremendous clarity; although it’s a very heavy human experience, she makes it understandable and got my attention to this issue and its driving forces.
      I would create different blogs for the different subjects; it would help a lot with getting it organized, and easy to navigate and manage the content.
      I’m sad to hear about the latest actions and wish her and her family much strength and a way out of this. Best wishes.

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      1. Thank you. I love her writing style. It’s very raw and emotional. I was leaning toward multiple blogs or sections within the main blog. I’m not sure how to accomplish that just yet but I’ll work on it.

        Thank you for looking and some advice. Also thank you for the well wishes. She is at least in a place where she will get help. Maybe we can beat the depression once and for all or at least her nightmares might end. /major hugs and thanks.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi, it’s a nice post but I think the photos could be laid out a little better. There’s a big gap before the first set, and the way the text sits at the last photo doesn’t look quite right.

      In general I might say that less is more (weirdly, since I tend to write too much) and you might be better dividing the photos between a few posts – just to draw more attention to them.

      Like

  11. I am attempting some personal political opinion blogs now that I’m on break from school… I’ll be posting as much as possible if any of you are interested.

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  13. Hey! I’ve just posted my first blog. After a lot of contemplating on whether I should start to pen down my thoughts on a public forum, I had decided to take the plunge. Request you all to offer your constructive criticism on my blog post so that I could take steps to improve my writing skills. Thank you!

    The Awakening

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  14. hey guys! Im fairly new to wordpress – can someone help – i just am trying to find a saved draft i was working on last night and i cant manage to find it or locate the edit page!!

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    1. Hi, This post should really be in the support forums rather than here, but if you go into your dashboard > posts > all posts then at the top you will see post types, ie published, scheduled, drafts etc. it will be in the drafts section there.

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  15. Hi, I write a blog in French since 2007 about my cancer experience. I moved it from Blogger to WordPress a few years ago. I would like to know if a community pool like this one exists in French please?

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  16. Hi everyone. I recently migrated my blog to WordPress.
    I’m still struggling with the layout and haven’t yet been able to create space between paragraphs…but that’s not what I’m going to bother you with now. I’m avid to learn from all tips you may have but would greatly benefit to hear your feedback about what I write. My followers are friends and family, and you know…they may not always tell me the truth to not hurt me. I’m an amateur writer, sharing true experiences or just my thoughts, who would love to hear your views at least on my recent post. Thanks much.
    The link is: http://luciledegodoy.wordpress.com/2014/08/18/contrasting-world/

    Like

    1. Hi,
      I’m no expert at wordpress but I tend to use to create spaces between paragraphs.
      I liked your post. Though perhaps it could have done with a picture or merging a few of the shorter paragraphs, to add a bit more variety in the layout. The content was good though – nice set up, interesting thoughts, with a conclusion.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi Philip, thank you so much for taking the time to read the post and even more so for your feedback. Good suggestions, which I will follow next time. Appreciated. I solved the issue about spacing with HTML but found it not user friendly. How do you manage to do it? Thanks again!

        Like

    1. Hi – I like your blog: both the words and the look of it.

      Very impressed that you’re writing in two languages – you’re Spanish, I think? Do you think in both English and Spanish? I can see that it’s a pretty direct translation. Which language do you write in first?

      Keep up the good work!

      Like

      1. Hi! Thanks a lot for your comments! It is a fairly new project I’m working in and passionate about! Im Spanish but have been living in London for a long time so I write it first in Spanish or English depending on the post and how it comes to my head more comfortably. I will do my best to write a better translation of the posts though!

        Thanks again for your feedback!!

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    2. @wiredmindproject I like the idea of you blog, read your last post and you make some good points, I think we all need to wake up, stop putting things off and live our lives now, not in the ‘someday’ that most of us refer to when planning all the great things we’re going to do.

      Followed because I’m interested in reading more, y estudio español así qué es genial qué escribes en dos idiomas!

      My own question for everyone here is – can you give me some feedback on my first proper post on my (resurrected) blog?

      squarahed.wordpress.com

      Any constructive criticism or advice is welcome (preferably on my site if possible so I can find it more easily in the future), I’m hoping to blog more consistently from now on (the focus will mainly (but by no means completely) be on travel and language learning).

      Like

  18. I started blogging 2 weeks ago on WordPress via my new site ‘Museum Geographies: Exploring the cultural geographies of museums, galleries and the arts’ (museumgeographies.wordpress.com/) using the Twenty Twelve theme. I’ve managed to sort out most of the basics, but if anyone knows how to truncate the amount of text displayed for each blog on my home page (or can point me to the relevant instructions that will guide me through the process) I’d welcome your feedback. Advance thanks…

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    1. I’m still learning how to use wordpress fully, so I’m not sure how to do this automatically, but you can use in a post to truncate the text for each post manually.

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      1. Thank you for your feedback. I will try to investigate how to truncate each blog manually. So far, I’ve simply reduced the number of posts that appear on my home page, but there is still a lot of scrolling…so (ultimately) I will need to figure out how other bloggers manage to abstract their posts (and just display the title and opening sentences with a “continue reading” option at the end of each entry), as this is a much more elegant-looking layout.

        Like

  19. Hey everyone, I’m trying to get into blogging about investing and finances, and I would love it if someone could give me some feedback on my blog! 🙂 Thank you!

    Like

  20. I am quite happy with the layout of my blog, it is the content that I would appreciate some constructive feedback on.

    The blog has been running sometime I find participation/views/likes/comments isn’t that high, I do comment on other blogs etc although admittedly could probably do better there but I am thinking that there maybe just a lack of interest on the content.

    I tend to post very short stories/excerpts, memories, thoughts, life type stuff and I wonder if that is too focused on things personal to me rather than interesting enough for others to comment on and get involved with.

    I wonder if you would be good enough to look over the last 4 or 5 posts for example and offer me some constructive feedback on the content, I am wondering if a complete change of direction is needed

    Like

  22. Amazing to find this page. 🙂

    I guess I should show what I’ve been up to too right? (will I be skewered for that weird sentence?)

    Your feedback will be treasured and appreciated! 😀

    [Oh…and as an alternative, you can pick one of the Q&A’s and post a question to the interviewee. I’ll take that as a sign that you like what’s been put together so far!]

    Like

  23. How do I make this Trivia site a whole lot more interesting? I was thinking of a quiz of some sort, but – since I’m a WordPress beginner, I haven’t the foggiest where to start.

    I’m using the “Quotes” plugin to rotate about 300 “Did you know?” facts on the site. Any comments and suggestions would be highly appreciated!

    http://triviasa.co.za

    (I’ve only been at it for three months now, but I think it looks okay? Hey?)

    Liked by 1 person

  24. Hello everyone, I am writing a blog and it’s mainly for my son who is 2 years old now.There are some things I would like him to know and understand.I was not sure if i wanted other people to read it but by chance one of the posts was published on facebook. The feedback made me think maybe others would like to read it too.I would like your feedback on the same.Thanks in advance 🙂

    So whom should I marry?

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I really like the topics your posts and the questions you try to answer.
      To some degree it was however hard for me to keep reading, because there were many repetitions (especially the beginning of you last post of who to marry).

      But all in all I like the idea of collecting all your thoughts for your son!

      Like

      1. Oh ok. Thanks so much for reading. Hmmm…I guess I should check that if I want people to read more 🙂 but as I said it’s for him. But yeah he shouldn’t be bored too 😀 What if the best lessons are towards the end and he doesn’t reach there …hehehe
        Thanks a lot for stopping by and taking the time to read it. Also for your valuable advise. I will try to read all the blog posts and keep what you said in my mind. Maybe edit if possible.

        Like

    2. Hi! I thought this was a really compelling theme: what you want to tell your son. As someone who works in marketing, I think that’s a fantastic angle for other moms and really appeals to the sentimental heart. Congrats!

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      1. Yes. I am hoping that he would be able to read the blog when he is able to read and understand them. Not specific age related to specific blog post. Actually it’s more like if I am not around when he is in his different phases of his life. It’s not just things to tell him. It’s also me recording memories of his childhood. Did I confuse u now 😐

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      2. I hope I got the gist! 😀

        Hey! this could be bedtime reading! How could would that be? Your son learning to read using a letter addressed to him!

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  25. Hey all! I just started blogging again a few months ago, and would love to get some feedback especially on my writing style and also if the topics of my posts do have a common theme (of sorts) in your opinion.

    Home

    It’s very much appreciated!

    Like

    1. Welcome back to blogging! 😀

      No feedback as of yet…and would like to ask a couple of questions to get to know you more as a writer:
      1.) What made you choose this theme? (the page design theme) Have you experimented with other themes as well?)
      2.) What sort of feel would you like a reader to have when viewing reading your posts? (see you as a mystery? have a view that the blog posts are something to figure out, or wait to unravel after a few posts?)

      Like

  26. Hi everyone! This is awesome. I just started a blog based on my experience becoming a yoga teacher. I don’t know if the content is particularly interesting as it is more philosophical – should I add more personal anecdotes, pictures? Or keep it philosophical? Help!

    http://yogiyet.wordpress.com

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    1. It’s interesting, and I’m into yoga (check out the occasional shout out) but a few paragraphs in I’m losing steam. Maybe add some personal stories, something funny that happened in class. I’d also add some pictures to break up the text. You’ve got good, useful information so it’s important that people stay to read it.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Hi. I read your most recent 3 posts. The content is interesting to those like me, who love yoga and have a similar experience (from push push to relax). As your blog is based on your experience becoming a yoga teacher, then I would stick to doing exactly what is proposed. I would share more experiences, bringing your stories and interactions with others (even some of their experiences as well), which make it more interesting and attractive. I like your writing style, and way of thinking. So I will follow you too. Good luck!

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    3. Hi – I really enjoyed reading your posts – for the quality of your writing and for the subject matter.

      There’s so much assumed about yoga – and about the people that take it up – here in the UK anyway – that it’s really interesting to hear a different voice. Intriguing.

      Tell me – what are ‘animal therapy statues’? They sound fascinting but I couldn’t find them on Google! And is 5 Hour Poison something to do with energy drinks?

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      1. Hi! Thanks for the kind words! From what I understand (which is not a lot) it involves reflecting on animals as a way to learn something about yourself. For example: we should be more like owls because they observe and are quiet. So there were a lot of animal statues around this yoga place as a way to remind us of each animal’s characteristics. I felt it was a bit silly but I got the point 😉 And the 5 Hour Poison was just my name for a product sold in the US called 5 Hour Energy. It’s full of junk that’s terrible for you, therefore, ‘Poison’!

        Liked by 1 person

  28. I’ve been at my blog for a few months now and I am starting to build up enough posts to categorize but I am wondering how far I should go with that? 90% of my posts fall in to witty, funny, sarcastic or humorous but should I break those down further so I do not end up with hundreds of posts in one category? Would Love some feedback on this!
    http://www.nocrybabies.net

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    1. First of all, I LOVE YOUR BLOG. You sound like someone I’d hang out with. Too funny.
      About your question, I think maybe categorizing them would be a good idea. That way there’s not so many in one category, like you said.
      Seriously looking forward to your future posts!!

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      1. Aww thanks so much 4thandcoffee and thanks so much for actually checking out my blog I’m so appreciative! I will def look at reworking my categories and I’ll be checking out your blog as well!

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      2. No problem! You’re seriously doing a great job! 🙂 and thanks for checking ours out too! It means a lot!

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  30. Hi, At the moment i am feeling a little blue about my blog. Its not that i really care that much about how many followers i have (or in my case have not). i feel like i am wavering in the blog. I would really appreciate any comments and feedback that you all might have about the site and especially how you can see me growing the blog in anyway. thanks heaps Clo xx
    http://positiverayofsunshine.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi – you’ve got a lot of really useful information in your blog.

      One thing that occurred to me – you know how cookery bloggers often have photos of their ingredients etc when they post recipes? I thought, as I read your Anti flu Blend post, that if you’d gathered the ‘ingredients’ and taken a photo of the bottles (and maybe a photo of the finished blend – or the process) then it would have brought the whole thing ‘closer’ somehow. It’s just a thought, but it’s what I thought as I was reading it.

      Good luck with your blog.

      Like