Sep 1, 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 smother.
  • 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. The post about children had me giggling, I do not have kids of my own, but it makes me look forward to the time when I will 😉 awesome blog!

      Like

    1. I like the layout of your blog, and I like that you’ve kept your blog posts relatively short. I, personally, am more likely to read blogs that have short posts than those with posts as long as books. :p

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Am I replying to: My Hypothetical Blog? If so, I love the color of the background and the whimsy in the designs. But why is it hypothetical (anymore)? And the other question is, what is it about? Perhaps if you said a bit more about yourself (other than that you are a busy married American that’s somewhat overweight) people would have a better sense of what you will talk about and whether they are interested in visiting. I am interested, but I’d like to know what you plan to discuss, even in the broadest sense. Do tell…

      Like

    3. Well, three-column themes are something I’m not used to, especially ones that don’t take up the whole width of the screen. The blog’s header is pretty small. I would suggest a 2-column layout.

      But other than those, color’s good, font’s good.

      Like

  3. as confused as i am right now, i managed to publish a post. not sure if it’s viewable by others but i would love for more tips on layout. i have a general idea oh how i prefer the blog to appear but it is taking some time to navigate. Thanks. and i apologize for all the grammar/syntax err. I know it can make reading quite difficult.

    Like

    1. Hi! I got to your blog, and I had to click on “smiling wonders” under “Recent Posts” to get to your actually post. 🙂 I think your layout should depend on what you’re going to blog about. If you’re going to blog about stuff like smiling even when it’s hard to (which is a great idea – people don’t smile enough….) then I might think about a more “bright” theme, if you know what I mean. 🙂 But that’s just my personal thought.

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Like

  5. Hello Everyone.
    I have been blogging for over a month now and I love it. I write about family issues and being positive. Please check it out and feel free to like or comment on posts.
    Momoptimistintraining.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That’s very cool that you’re a teacher. Personally, I don’t think teachers get enough recognition for all they do, so I just wanna say thank you! 🙂
      In regards to your blog, I like your theme and your layout! Good job with your blog.

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi – I enjoyed reading your post about Nicki Minaj – though her video isn’t famous over here. Unless I’ve missed something!

      I liked your “You Cannot Leave Without Commenting (or your computer will explode)” That’s nice.

      The layout isn’t super conducive to browsing – so, yes, you’re probably right to experiment with helping your readers to look around more easily. Your blog’s worth reading, so they’ll certainly stick around once you’ve tempted them over the threshold.

      Good luck with it all.

      Like

    2. LOVE LOVE LOVE the nicki minaj article and completely agree. I’m not so sure I like the drop down menu. It definitely works, but it is a little easier just to scroll down and see posts. Also couldn’t find a follow button, but that’s probably just my bad technology skills haha 🙂

      Like

  9. Hey guys. I starting adding some things to my sidebar and moved some things around. I wanted it to appear more busy, if you know what I mean.

    teenageintrovert.wordpress.com

    If you have the time, would you take a look and tell me how the visuals are? Also, content feedback would help greatly! 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi – I think your blog looks very active and somehow (I don’t know quite how the psychology of this works!) it looked as if you’d be posting pretty regularly. That must be some clever visual information that my brain’s taken in! It looks busy without looking desperate or distracting. I felt I could click on any post to read more and that I wouldn’t be disappointed.

      I liked the fact that, when you swear you use dashes rather than dumping the whole word on the page. It becomes a demonstration of your energy and strong emotion, rather than an overused, one-dimensional rant. We all know how to fill in the blanks in our heads and you make it all the more powerful for that.

      Loved your photos and enjoyed your clear, limpid writing style. It’s not easy to write about yourself without getting bogged down in detail – but you’ve nailed it.

      All good luck with your blog.

      Like

      1. Oooh, then I guess mission accomplished with the look and feel. I actually do swear, but sparingly when there’s a reason to. But thank you. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Everyone swears, in some form or another. Everyone has a word, invented or not, that they use to let out anger or pain. We’d explode if we didn’t!

        I think well-known swear words have their power diluted when they’re thrown into a text as often as commas. You deploy yours judiciously. That’s what I appreciated 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I have not seen a blog like yours in a while. Smart, thought-out, controversial, brave and outspoken. Usually (this may be a fault of my own) I get bored quickly, and unless something about the writing or the subject matter grabs me, I’m out of there. I found myself reading numerous posts, and enjoying each one. Even though the subject, tone and information was drastically different. You speak your mind fearlessly and that’s a breath of fresh air, the fact that I agree with you is just icing on the proverbial cake. You are a find!

      Like

  12. Hey everyone! 🙂 I’ve recently started a general blog but am wanting to make it more review based. I’ve just written a review on the new films Nymphomaniac 1 & 2, there’s also a review on Boyhood and other ramblings about moving home, going to University etc. Would love anyone interested in any of those things/in writing in general to check it out and let me know what you think. In the mean time I’ll be going through blogs on here. 🙂
    http://ecoyne91.wordpress.com/

    Like

    1. Hi Simone – what a lovely blog. It’s got that marvellous mix of personal opinion and useful practical info that makes helpful travel reading. You do sound as if you love visiting new places and you make an enthusiastic, thoughtful travel companion for your readers.

      I really enjoyed reading about Nantes and it made me start looking at flights so that I could make my own visit! I liked the fact that you sprinkle well thought-out photos through your text – are they ones that you’ve taken yourself?

      In your post about travelling on a budget you talk about hitchhiking. I remember reading an interesting article about online apps for hitchhiking here http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/apr/12/hitchhiking-europe-using-apps-internet and The Man in Seat 61 is a great resource for train travellers http://www.seat61.com/. He’s a real train fan and he put a lot of energy into collating all the travel info long before it brought him an income.

      All good luck with your blog. It’s a wonderful resource.

      Like

      1. I really appreciate your feedback, it’s nice to hear something encouraging. I love visiting new places and I’m glad you could see it from my post. I’ll check out the links you posted, it’s always good to see different points of view and read about experience of others! Thanks a lot!

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Dear clickingmummy, u have a beautiful blog but u could make it btr probably by changing the layout and background. Mayb a darker background would suit ur pics. And creative captions instead of direct ones would make it interesting. Like for eg. Instead of saying ‘a carved eggshell’ , u could say finesse on a fine layer.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Hi everyone,

    I’m very much a newbie in this blogging movement going on. My blog revolves around traveling, rants and raves, etc. I was wondering if you guys could help and let me know exactly what would attract people to follow/check my posts out. Any suggestion (constructive criticism) would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks a lot!!

    http://thewanderlustconfessions.wordpress.com

    Like

  17. Hey,
    I’ve made a few post but i don’t know if they are likeable or not. Please drop by and tell me what you think:)
    intrendpost.wordpress.com

    Thanks you so much

    Like

    1. I think you’ve done a fine job of integrating recipes, pictures and text. Your blog is crisp, easy to read and navigate, and supplies the perfect visuals (without over or under-whelming). A most pleasant experience. Bravo!

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi April! I love your post on forgiveness! You have a lot of wisdom and maturity for a twenty-something. I like the way you bold and underline key phrases to help communicate your tone, and you also do a great job of engaging your readers with follow-up questions at the end. My only tip is to do a bit more proof reading. There are places where you have grammatical and other errors, like this: “I began to pity the the person..”

      Like

    1. I am really impressed with the graphics in your blog posts. The animated graphics are kick-ass effects. I am the total opposite of science, but found the blogs about the “aunt” giving north to her nieces, bone marrow recipients having different DNA from cheek swipes vs blood samples really interesting. Only criticism — if you want to call it that — is the long blogs take time to scroll through to see the next blog. I use the “Insert Read More tag” (between the Remove Link and Proofread Writing icons in tool bar). You can display a couple of graphs as a “sample” of the blog and see the next blog soon after. I will be back to see more and image ideas I can “steal.”

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Hi Theater Lover! Thanks so much for your comment, I’m glad you liked my blog. I didn’t know about the ‘read more’ tag but I think you’re definitely right that it would make it easier to browse, I’ll be adding it in.
        Thanks so much for the feedback!

        Like

    2. Hi cshooter! I agree with Theater Lover that your graphics add a lot to your blog posts! I really enjoyed your post on X-Men-like genetic mutations. I thought the comparison to the popular series made your scientific comments more relateable/accessible. One possible change I would make is to shorten your posts or add more sub-headers because your posts can get lengthy and lose the attention of other readers who doesn’t love genetics/natural history as much as you do. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi auroraroschen, I’m glad you liked my blog, I was trying to work out if I was overheaddering or underheaddering so it’s really useful to get your opinion on this. Thanks so much!

        Like

  21. I have made a few changes to my page. Please let me know what you guys think. Fell free to go to the Contact page and send me any feedback. Thanks in advance. Also what is the best way to get more people to see my site?

    Like

  25. I have started this blog this year for the company that I work for. I am not sure how to get it noticed beyond the clients I write about and their friends. Is there something I can change in the way the I write or how I post my blogs. Thanks for the advice

    Like

    2. Haha, I like your comparison between the Mythbuster’s experiment, and writing. :p From what I saw, your layout looks good, and your theme fits your blog.

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Like

    3. Theme’s nice and simple. Although I find it weird that there’s a feed of The Daily Post on the side.

      Like

  28. Hi everyone, I have recently started a blog and have posted a few times. However I am not sure whether my writing flows properly in all of them. I would really appreciate it if you checked out my blog. infinitedaydreamer.wordpress.com

    Like

    1. Hi Melis,
      I read your post on going back to school after summer vacation. Here are just a few things I noticed about your blog:
      -I really liked the layout
      -I liked the topic you were writing about
      -and I liked your tips in the article.
      You asked if your writing flows. On that, I would say that some of your sentences seemed a little to long (I’m guilty of that as well). I think that breaking up your sentences a bit with commas, or just trying to shorten them, would really help your writing.
      The only other thing I noticed was that sometimes it seemed like it wasn’t edited all that much- just simple grammar mistakes here and there.
      Besides those two points, I really enjoyed it!

      Like

      1. Thank you for your feedback I will definitely edit my posts and try to improve my grammar and sentence length. Hopefully this will improve my overall blog 🙂

        Like

    2. I like your post about summer being over, and your suggestion that students find things to look forward to. It’s a very good suggestion! 🙂
      Following!

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Like

    1. I like your layout, Marc! It looks pretty cool to me. 🙂 My feedback would be to just keep blogging. I, personally, like bloggers who blog consistently, but not constantly.

      So you make the pictures on your blog?

      rachsthoughts.wordpress.com

      Like