Sep 15, 2014 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for advice, feedback, and friendly blogging chatter.

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).

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  • 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!
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Photo by Brian Cantoni.

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      2. You are welcome! You got yourself a new follower btw 😉
        Hope you’d check out my site and too and follow me if you feel that my content are beneficial to you as well!
        Cheers!

        David

        Like

    5. So just read your 9/11 post (first one there). Wow, amazing! I love the fact that you really just wrote what was on your mind and the fact that it was so obvious that you did so. These are the kinds of posts that all bloggers should strive for; ones that are personal. Great job.

      Liked by 2 people

    6. Why are you always the first one here, no fair. XD I think I read your post already, it was very interesting to see your take on it, even though it made me a little sad.

      Like

    9. I read some of your posts and I must say that they are amazingly said. I agree with the person below, you really do pour your heart into all f your sentences. Well done. Xo

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    12. You just got yourself a new follower. Love your writing style. Plus loved your take on how death is just a part of all of our lives, even in the world of fairy tales. I have my own take on fairy tales, but I’ll leave that for a future post. hahaha.

      Like

      1. It stands out indeed! But the words in the middle isn’t very visible in my opinion thought “A life in pictures and words”

        But overall, I like the blog! You got a like and follow from me 😉

        Like

    2. While I like the layout, the red feels rather harsh. A little too bright, unless you’re really going for that ‘popping’ effect, making it seemingly leap off the page and grab attention.
      Perhaps a little softer, towards a (very) slightly pastel direction?

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you very much for your valuable input! Yes, I was worried precisely about the red colour — I love it as a colour for links etc., but as you point out, especially when it comes in larger areas it’s a bit aggressive to the eye. I’ll need to tune it down a bit. Happy blogging to you and thanks again for sharing your opinion!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Oh and another things, guys. I want the minimal look in my blog, but I don’t know if what I have is a TOO minimal. What can I do to jazz it up that would be simple? I don’t know much about themes and messing around with it but the help would be amazing

        theexprocrastinator.wordpress.com

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      1. Thanks a lot for your feedback! Glad to hear my theme doesn’t hurt your eyes 🙂 Eh, colour, I’ve been taught British English and I stick to it 🙂 What’s worse in my previous comment is the typo “me blog” instead of “my blog”…

        Liked by 1 person

    5. It’s not overdone at all – it has achieved the desire look. I really love your photos too. I wish I could be that good (: Maybe you should make your titles on each page stand out a bit more. The small white with the picture as the background is a little hard to see.

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      1. Thanks a lot for tuning in and taking the time to give feedback! You are right about the white titles on the busy background — I might need to fiddle a bit around to figure out how to change this, but yes, it’s what I should do! Thanks again for pointing that out 😀 P.S. I can’t see your photos on your blog, so I can’t compare, but you writing is intriguing — in the best possible way!

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      2. Glad I helped~ And you can’t see my pictures because I don’t upload them! 🙂 I’m not very good at photography, so I sit back and admire those who are.

        And I’m also glad that my writing intrigued you 😀

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    6. Personally I love the colors. It’s very reminiscent of nature. On my phone the red comes across as a little rustier and not as bright. I also love how legible the font is. I like this theme. Good job.

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      1. Hi Elke, great to see you here! Also it’s good to hear that you like my theme — I’ve noticed that you’re a fan of cheerful bright colours, similar to me 🙂 Thanks for your feedback and happy blogging!

        Liked by 1 person

    7. I agree, I think it’s crisp and lovely. The only thing is that the text is a little hard to read. I think I can see a grey outline on the letters, if that outline was darkened a couple shades, I think it would do the trick. 🙂

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      1. Thank you very much for tuning in and sharing your thoughts! Yes, you are right and now I can see it too — it’s an excellent idea with the font outline, and I’ll definitely try to see if my coding skills can cope with this challenge 🙂 Thanks again and happy blogging!

        Like

    8. I like it! Very readable, very nice images. The only thing I’m not sure about is the green/red at the bottom. But that might be part of the pre-made template and you can’t change it. Otherwise, very inviting site!

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      1. Hi, Victoria, thanks a lot for tuning it! Much appreciated 🙂 That’s funny, I like most the colourful green/red bottom that you hate… *sigh* Well, at least I’m glad to hear that overall the blog doesn’t kill your eyes 😀 Happy blogging!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Maybe you can spark it up a bit by adding a few more colors to theme? For the categories of the post, maybe you can put them on the top bar beside the “home” and “about” instead of the side? That way your readers can have easier access to your categorized posts 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi thealmostmd, I read your reply to ashleynicole, and I’d like to do that too, put the categories on the top bar, but I’m having a hard time figuring out how to do it. Please let me know what you think. Thanks!
        sandiyee.wordpress.com

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      3. It’s actually quite hard to explain! I suggest that you Google the areas you’re having trouble on. It helps if you really sit down and explore more of the settings so that you’ll be able to experiment and also learn what to do. If you want to create categories, just keep on adding them by typing in the box available in the settings. Making them visible on your blog, though, is quite harder to explain.

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    2. Your poems are short and sweet, however cliched it sounds, and they go well with the images that you pick. I like it 🙂 It is true that you could do with more colours, perhaps even a more adventurous background image. But don’t push yourself into any change that doesn’t look like you 🙂

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      1. Hi Mara – thank you so very much for visiting my site and for your kind words. 🙂 I will definitely look into adding more color! Thank you for your suggestion. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Why, thank you so very much! Your writing I find to be engaging and most articulate. I especially enjoyed “Holding On” and “A Drop of Light.” 🙂

        Like

  4. Hey everyone! I’m new to this whole blogging thing but I’m really trying to stick with it because I need a place to get my writing out. I post about random things, but I am finding that I really enjoy doing posts about sports and current event topics. I would love if you could check out my blog in general and give me some feedback/advice/tips/criticism…whatever floats you boat!

    Thank you!
    https://jennajaytn.wordpress.com/wp-admin/

    Liked by 3 people

    1. You will find your own theme. Mine started out random and still is but I’ve found my style. If you blog more about sport than others then just create a page for that. I have pages for music, photography as I blog about them mostly but I have a random page which is, well random. Good luck!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. You will have to remove the /wp-admin/ from your link as that is the address to your personal dashboard. I will check out your site now!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I like the general content of your blog! Try adding in some paragraphs in your longer posts. Clumping them all together in a single paragraph is like information overload on a certain level. Also, try putting the description below your blog title in your “About” section to declutter 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Happy Monday everybody!

    I’ve just marked my first year anniversary of blogging and I still love it. I’ve had a slight change of theme by removing my “cartoon” images and trying, yes trying to be more grown up. I’d love to know what you think. Steve-says.net/about

    Also, I’ve published a post giving my advice to others about blogging guilts. What do others think if you have time to read.

    http://steve-says.net/2014/09/09/dont-suffer-the-blog-guilts-and-just-blog-on/

    Thanks so much for looking and I appreciate any feedback.

    Liked by 4 people

    6. I like your header image. Made me feel like you are embracing the world.

      Some opinions of mine mostly of the layout:
      1) I just wonder maybe you can choose the same photo for the background but with a bigger resolution which allows the photo to fit to the background instead of tiling.

      2) More paragraphs. Your post on Writing 101: Unlock The Mind has a paragraph that is almost 1 page long. As reader, I will prefer maximum length of paragraph like 5 or lesser.

      3) Lastly, you can try separating the footer widgets into four columns instead.

      Have fun blogging!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I love your background image! I think it’s perfectly OK for your blog to encompass many topics, I’ll need to check back for more posts later, but from what I’ve seen, I’m entertained and cheered up by your blog — which is what I want from blogs I read 🙂 It looks like you nail it!

      Liked by 1 person

    3. You just got yourself a new follower. Love your humor and style. And left you a comment on your swearing post. Loved. Sometimes I don’t want to read about the same thing, so great job in keeping your reader entertained. That’s key.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Why thanks! I really appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to read my ridic rant on swearing! Plus if you read my reply comment to you…I’ve now got some new ammo when arguing with Mr. VS about my swearing. Thanks for telling me about the health benefits of profanity. Sweeetttt!!

        Like

    1. Really enjoyed it! You have a new follower(: I felt like even though it was a stream of consciousness type piece, it was a very clean piece! You did lose me a bit here and there with the run on sentences but eventually caught my attention again!

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      1. Hey, thanks I really appreciate that. The punctuation wasn’t the best. I’m glad you were still able to enjoy it. I really had to resist editing after I wrote it lol

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    2. I’m glad you’re off on the right foot in Writing 101 — but please direct your course-related comments and questions to the Commons site of your course (you should have by now received an invitation to that site by email).
      Thanks, and enjoy Writing 101!

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      1. Hey, I signed up for a course, but I signed up to the blogging 101 accidentally. Will I still be able to have access to the commons for the writing 101?

        Like

  11. So I am having trouble building an audience right now for my blog, and given that I am attempting to fund a charitable project that is a pretty big problem. Does anyone out there have any advice of how I can expand beyond my simply spamming my Facebook friends? Any other feedback you may have is also appreciated!

    http://feedingwalid.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. That is so kind of you (: Unfortunately, I’m in no position to be donating, but just for now try to get traffic and call as much attention to your blog as you can.

      Like

    2. Chase, kudos to you for taking on this task. Love the story. I took the time to read the first page (which is probably your most recent post about contingencies) about all of your conditions on how you are going to help, but then also jumped to Walid’s story. THAT was much more compelling. If you can combine more of Walid’s story (which really is the “hook”), and make this your static home page and move the post page to another area and call it “updates” or “follow our story”, I think you will get more interest in donations. I get that you are being very cautious about the relationship and want to make sure that Walid follows through with the agreement, but that information should be secondary. If I am coming blind to your site, then I want to hear that Walid needs me and my money first, then I will do my due diligence on the secondary pages to make sure you are responsible as well and have done your homework. Does that make sense?

      That doesn’t answer how to find more readers (aka donors). My one suggestion is to find other blogs of a similar interest and offer to do a guest post for them. Type “Blog Search” in google and you will get a search engine that is specific for Blogs, then enter the key words that match your blog like, “humanitarian aid in Morocco” for example. Offer to tell your story of how the two of you met.

      If you are spiritual, you might find church blogs or youth groups that might want to partner with you to help Walid, maybe contributing or doing a one-time fundraiser.

      If I subscribed to your blog, I would want you to keep me informed of both Walid’s situation, but also the situation of other kids in the same area. More about the Center, more about the people that work or volunteer there. Keep me engaged and wanting to know more about the story. Teach me so I am knowledgable.

      Wow, did not intend to write so much. I hope that you are hugely successful for Walid and truly, taking care of one person in this way is such a great message for everyone. Best of luck to both of you.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Hey Ladies and Gents, I’ve reviewed and checked out a few people’s blog for this activity already so here’s me asking for any kind soul to review mine hah!

    Hope to hear from someone soon!
    Cheers!

    David

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I suppose your blog is mostly a motivational one, but I’m not completely sure: your About page is really rather too long for first-time readers to read through quickly and get a clear idea as to what the blog is about. This is my only complaint; other than that, the blog looks good, easy on the eye, with a good balance of images and texts.

      Like

      2. Umhh Thank you David.your opinion means a lot to me..my moto is to encourage people who is in dark.some bad aspects of life ruined their life and they gave up….Thank you For coming and joining me.Cherx friend.;-)

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Really enjoyed your blog and reading about your story of the eggplants, made me laugh too. I like your style of writing and I definitely think you should continue! Good luck with everything, ill be sure to check back.
      Mind giving me some feedback on mine? Just started and a little unsure about my start up. If you could, that would be great! if not, thats okay too 🙂

      About the blog

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I def. liked where your blog is heading. I’m the type and go buy something and hate it because I didn’t do my research but you do a lot. So for my beauty needs I will be following you. haha. Only snag is the image at the beginning of your page doesn’t load. It might be my computer but I tried numerous time. Good Luck!!

      Like

      1. I’ve been in multiple situations where I’ve purchased something online & hated it when it arrived! Which is why I will do my research with everything before I buy it because I’m very frugal with money so I figure why not share it ☺️ Yeah I was having trouble earlier with my header. Thank you so much for your feed back!

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    1. Your blog is quite impressive. You made the most out of your blog’s theme, including the beautiful slideshow for your header, and your photos are simply delightful. Great job, you have a new fan!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Chateau has always been one of my favourite themes 🙂 I’m surprised that you didn’t go for any of the new themes (this one is quite old), but it doesn’t mean that the theme looks other than good!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. While I love your header image and the design of your blog in general, I’m not too happy with the way the menu pops up on the whole page when I click to open it. This is just a detail though… Your About page on your blog says enough about you, but it doesn’t say anything about your blog. I’d love to know in advance what topics you’ll be writing about, for example. So, maybe you could describe besides yourself your blog too. Just a suggestion 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I love the thought and effort put into it. You obviously know what you’re talking about, and using your experiences to further your opinions was a great idea! 🙂

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      1. Thank you so much! As I mentioned, it was very frustrating for me to write. Usually I am more personal in my Humor posts, but formal in my Psychology ones. For this one, I realised that it just won’t get people interested unless I include a little bit of my story. The issue is way bigger than I am.

        Like

  26. So I recently started my blog a few days ago, I like simplicity, so it is very simple. But maybe you guys could give me some feedback, maybe its too plain. Just suggestions. . .I would greatly appreciate it

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I like simplicity too. But if you’re going for simplicity go all the way. I suggest more categorization within posts. In one of your posts you had an observation and then categorized ‘thoughts’ in the second paragraph. This seems like a nice way to organize your posts, and would likely work well for you and the reader. Other than that, I think the theme works great for your writing and the blog seems very whole.

      Like

    2. I just started my blog today as well and I too like simplicity. I checked out your blog- I like the simple look but I am biased. I’m wondering if mine is too simple? How do you balance simplicity with effectiveness?

      Like

    1. I enjoy the content of your blog and the good messages of how to help people better their lives. The only thing I could give you constructive feedback of is the background of the blog was too bright for me. A darker green may help the reader focus more on the center content, which is most important. Other then that all I have to say is you are doing an awesome job! 🙂 looking forward to more of your posts ^_^

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    2. Ahh, that green is really distracting. Perhaps make it much darker, or much lighter. The overall message of the site is fine, though.

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      1. The green represents the heart chakra, and the exact shade is what resonates with me, but you certainly have a valid perspective.

        Like