Sep 8, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Looking for some blogging advice? You’re in the right place.

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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    3. I barely know what I’m doing so please take my feedback with a grain of salt. There’s some really awesome helpful posts out there about how to write blogs etc. Just type in “how to start a blog” in google and go nuts.

      I completely hear your pain about the minion children (and dropping a cuss word or two is totally understandable) not sure if people would find it offensive. I didn’t but that’s just me.

      I found the text a little too blocky (not enough rest space in between paragraphs/thoughts, so it’s hard to skim – I didn’t skim don’t worry. I was laughing my butt off most of the time).

      Also, the size of the text was a little too small (I should wear my reading glasses but my 16 month old hid them… somewhere…)

      Anyway, I’m going to send your post to my hubby cuz it’s funny and in the meantime keep blogging! you’re doing just fine 🙂 – that’s coming form a newbie too…

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi – I enjoyed reading your posts.

      Would have loved to see an About page or something to have given me a bit more context. I think you’re in the US? And you’re from a country in Latin America. Where there was a war – or a civil war? Now I feel like Sherlock Holmes!

      Good luck with your blog. I hope you keep writing.

      Like

      1. Thanks, I started this blog about a week ago and I am still setting everything up to look cool. The about me widget is pretty much hiding in the upper right hand corner. I might have to move it.

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      4. Cool is in the eye of the beholder.

        The look of your blog shows that you’re good at taming technology and making it do what you want. You’ll learn everything else you need, as you need it. It’s like learning to cook, or learning to sew. You don’t need to know how to make a souffle or sew a ballgown, until the day you need a souffle or a ballgown.

        Like

    1. I liked your writing and I wanted to find out more about you but I couldn’t find your about page. Your RSS feed is easy to find and so is your follow button. I couldn’t find your social network buttons and (just my opinion) the colour of your background gives your whole blog a sombre kind of feeling. Which, if that’s what your going for, works well.

      It would be nice to see more photos that either you took instead of pics pulled from google. Since the blog is about you and your thoughts I think this would add a lot more personality to the blog and get people to feel like they know you.

      Thanks for sharing your scattered thoughts. I really enjoyed it.

      Like

  5. I’m new at blogging and would like to hear what your think of my posts. My first blog answers question that my art customers have asked. My serious blog is “Inside the mind of an artist” and I’d really like to have your thoughts about it.

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    1. As an artist myself, I really enjoyed your posts. I Liked your about me page and don’t see anything that would need updating. I look forward to reading more post!

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Hello!! I am new at blogging and I would really appreciate any sort of feedback on my blog. It can be about my writing, my post types or even my theme, any type of feedback is greatly appriciated. Thank you 🙂

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      2. Oh yeah. I think I was on mobile when I read this. The blog and its content is pretty good, but I can’t judge too much with only a few posts. I can say though that you’re off to a great start!

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  8. I would love feedback on the comments section of my blog. Is it easy? Do you have to do any funny logins? I can’t tell from any of my computers because it auto loads. Any comments would be welcome on the blog thanks. Leave your blog link and I will follow/comment back. Thanks!

    http://www.mumrevised.com

    Like

  10. Hi everyone, I am wondering why I cannot get more followers on my page and any advice is appreciated, is it clear what it is about? Thanks a mil

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    1. To get more followers and traffic, check out the daily posts’ pages about them. They talk about how you should link to other blogs, follow them, and other tidbits that’ll get your blog going! 🙂

      Like

  12. Are there any writers in the midst of self publishing for Amazon? I’m dealing with figuring out a title for my book of short stories, which will tie in with a cover. I’d love for you to read today’s blog post on my site and offer you insight on how to come up with an awesome title that will entice readers. Thanks so much!

    Like

  14. Hello Community I am tapping in! I write two blogs here, Prototype3224 and A Comprehensive Guide to WTF Just Happened. I also tweet as @Prototype3224 I am looking for a way to connect with my readers. I would like to bridge the gap between those who read my fiction and those who read my blogs as I do on twitter in an expansive manner. Any suggestions? Help!

    Like

  16. Hello. I created my blog c.3 weeks ago as an informal space for exploring issues related to my doctoral research on museums, galleries and the arts. (see: http://museumgeographies.wordpress.com/). I was given some very useful initial advice via the community pool on how to truncate text on my home page (thank you!), but would also welcome some guidance (if possible) on how to differentiate my posts so that content I’ve tagged as “interviews” can automatically appear on the sub-page I have created for that, and (likewise) summaries about forthcoming events/conferences can eventually appear on the “conferences” sub-page. I’m really not sure about the technical aspects of how to make that work, so any feedback would be welcomed. Advance thanks. Carol

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Just wanted to let you know that I followed all the advice on the ‘Categories’ page and my site works perfectly now. Thank you for this feedback. For a ‘non-techie’ person like me, the Community Pool is proving to be very helpful, as the advice is specific and targeted to the formatting and layout queries I am dealing with at that moment. Many thanks!

        Like

  17. Hello everyone. I just made my blog yesterday and I wanted to get some feedback on how I’m doing so far- layout wise and post wise. Do you think it looks good so far? Any help would be really appreciated!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Beautiful family Ariana, I think your blog will grow if you have those worlds inside yourself to tell all of us about. It’s a question of letting them go and write them down. Good first steps!

      Like

    2. A beautiful blog with some lovely images. My only comment would be to pace yourself rather than try to put everything on at once, that way it will evolve and you won’t run out of steam. I love the clarity of the images and the brevity of the accompanying text.

      Like

  18. I am wanting to add a new area of idea’s into the blog and asked my followers what they would like via a poll (my first poll ever :)) please take a look and feel free to let me know your thoughts about layout, posts .. any feedback welcome 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  19. My blog is primarily focused on fiction and philosophy, but I also have a few random posts of me playing cover songs. Is there any way I can separate these into visible categories so that it’s easier to navigate? I have followers who are more interested in one thing than the other, so I’d like to make it easier for them to find what they’re looking for.

    Also, I noticed a lot of people’s sites show clipped posts, but I can’t figure out how to do that. I tend to write long, and one post takes up a lot of space.

    As you may have guessed, I’m fairly new to this and you’ll probably gather from my site that I don’t know what I’m doing. Any tips?

    Like

    1. Try this for a clipped post. hit the keys control and the letter c at the same time. now mouse over the text you want to move to another site. When you are on the new site hit the control button and the letter v and you have clipped your post for the first time. Hope that helps!

      Like

  21. Hey everyone,

    Although I’ve had my blog since March I’m struggling to find followers due to my Facebook friends not having wordpress. If anyone would give my blog a follow, I’d grateful and of course I’ll return a follow

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Dear James,
      I like your post about those three cities. I think that if you take advantage of those pictures you posted, in a bigger size and in the centre, you will get more attention.

      Like

    1. Very nice pictures Anja. I like pictures of nature, and these, especially the ones with the orange backgorund during sunset are my favourite. I like the amber light in them. I am also an amateur photographer so I hope you enjoy my work too.

      Like

  23. Hi Bloggers everywhere!
    I have just posted a new article about my trip to Strasbourg, Alsace in France. I have described my walking along the city and added some historic data. Included also pictures as I am an amateur photographer. Please come and see! Let me know what you think about the article and blog in general.

    I’m checking blogs now so I am available if you need an opinion about yours.

    Thanks!

    http://viajemosblog.wordpress.com/2014/09/06/estrasbrugo-la-petite-france-y-los-rincones-de-la-grande-ile/

    PD: if you need a translation, please use the TRANSLATION link. You will see the post with the same apperance. I have English, German, French and Italian versions.

    Like

    1. Hi – I really like the look of your blog. For some reason it reminded me of a floating city. Are the old fashioned ships part of the theme or did you add them?

      I like the way your archives are easy to search and I liked your scoring system for your reviews and the way you broke the reviews up into sections. So it was easy and interesting to read. I liked your links to Rolling Stone and Guardian reviews.

      One tiny thing – in the first line of your latest review you’ve put ‘have’ instead of ‘has.’ I keep doing things like that when I write – fingers and brain not in sync!

      All good luck for your blog and your writing.

      Like

    2. The theme really looks good! But a note: The text is gray, and the background is a darker gray, so it may give some people trouble reading. It’s just minor, though.

      Liked by 1 person

  25. Hi Everyone,

    This community posting seems ideal. I have a blog I think I’m 10 posts in and a few of my friends have commentated to me but I’m sure they are diplomatic. I would appreciate anyone looking at my blog and giving me feedback on anything and everything on there. I have 3 different themes I write on – my travel journal, a day in the life chapters and random topic based views. Have a lot at the selection I have and see what you think. I am more than happy to provide feedback and views on your stuff too. I love reading so it’s more of a hobby to read your stuff. Just point me in the right direction. Before I forget here’s my link and remember be cruel to be kind. I can take it http://www.brettodownes.wordpress.com

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      1. Hello, that was quick. Did you read my blogs or you commentating on my post here? – as I thought that was standard issue haha. Yeah it’s a columnist theme I wanted it to be minimal and only started adding photos as it will help share my experience and also good for seo. Not that I’m fussed about that, but as I finally convinced myself to publish online I thought it would be nice if more than just me and my mum read it. I will look at your blog and let you know what I think.

        Like

    2. Hi Brett! yes, the argentinian flagd on your track are mine 🙂 I was checking your blog and have to say the travel reports are very interesting. I would suggest you two things if possible:
      1- have an About page written, because it will give the readers some information about you.
      2 – include some big size pictures, maybe of your own, to make the long post easier to read, remember images help other to build a situation of wht you write about.
      The idea is very good in general! Keep writing! Roberto

      Like

      1. Hi Roberto,

        Thank you for your comments I keep telling myself to update that about section and will ėñdeävòür to do it asap. That’s a good idea about breaking up the long posts. Else some people won’t give it too much attention as it takes a bit of time to read. Thanks for the advice.

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Hi everyone, would really appreciate of the seasoned bloggers among you can give me some insights on my posts and also the layout of my blog. I’ve recently started blogging regularly (having started in 2007!) And have been really enjoying it. I don’t seem to have a particular writing style yet, working on it 🙂

    https://thehhnarrative.wordpress.com

    Like

  28. Hello everyone. Can someone advise me about the layout and theme of my blog?
    Mine is a literary blog. I have already posted 50 posts and have not made even an about page yet. I realise that to make an about page is absolutely required. But there must be other necessary changes too that I have not seen.
    Thank you.
    moonlitshores.wordpress.com

    Like

    1. Hello! When you go to your Account Options page (https://wordpress.com/settings/account/), look at the third row from the top — that’s where you select your Primary Blog. Just click on the drop-down menu, select the blog you’d like to list as the primary one, and click on “Save Changes” at the bottom of the page — that’s it!

      Like

    2. oh wow i love the feel of your blog.. it makes me want to curl up in bed and read what you have written. you need an about page…tell me about you.. also maybe a couple of widgets that show your top five posts or recent posts might help

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      1. I am honestly flattered by your comment. Plenty thanks for your sweet words. I am working on an about page right now. But I have always found it really difficult to wright in that section.
        Once again, I appreciate your help. Smiles.

        Liked by 1 person

  29. Hey all,
    please either check out my blog or it’s inspiration, Blog Of Impossible Things. Tell me what you think about… anything! thanks

    Like