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).

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. Have had my blog going for a little over a year and just not sure about what direction to take it. Any input on posts or suggestions on what type of posts would be interesting to readers would be really useful! Thanks in advance!
    http://onerunningmamaof4.com

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  6. Hello everyone! Saturday I started my first blog, with great apprehension. I am a private person, but I love love love to write and I love to create natural products for my home. So I thought it was time to share and write about it on a blog instead of my 13 FB friends/family. Hoping there may be an audience for it. Please take a look and let me know if it looks ok. WordPress can get a little confusing and overwhelming when you first start. http://gardenofgoodvsevil.wordpress.com

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    1. I love it! The visual theme seems to match the content perfectly. I really enjoy the home remedies. Mostly, I’m happy to see that you’re reaching outside of your comfort zone to share some of these wonderful ideas. Keep the posts coming!

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hello, I am starting my separate blog here. Not quite sure if this relates. I have my own domain and been working on it separately. The domain name I used is not very unique and would rate very low on search engines. When someone does a search the first thing the search engine check for domain name? Or popularity? And not so much as the subjects within?

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    1. I think popularity and how many keywords are matched. I searched my own blog’s name and the first post from it was on the second page..

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      1. Many thanks, going to try to keep working at the blog,. Real life wants to interfere at the moment. Really do appreciate your response and will continue to learn.

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    1. Your entries are pretty text-heavy (as are mine). With the layout you use I think it would be fortunate for you to bold a significant word here or there, just as an eyecatcher. Especially in the interviews it would be great if you formatted it in some way that makes either the question or the answer stand out.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. The layout put behind. Your blog is like a book heaven for me. Really nice book collection youve got there. No more googling for good books for me. Im gonna start reading all the books uve mentioned. Have read a few of them though. Thumbs up

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    3. The theme you use seems just perfect. Well, almost — the text is just a little too small. And for content, perhaps a [read more] button for the interviews (and other long posts)? Nothing too bad. 😛

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  10. Hello. A feedback is nice but I am more interested in meeting new blogger friends here. Let’s keep supporting each other. (^0^)/ ❤ I am very new here. I follow back as fast as lightning haha. My blog is mainly about love and anything occult,esoteric and magical! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey mervampitch! I’m glad to see you’ve started blogging and I hope we can both learn from each other! I’ve just heard about this blogging 101 thing from your site… I’ll have a look for myself!

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      1. Hello there! Howshould I callyou? Just call me, Mera for short 🙂 I feel so glad to have introduced blogging 101 to you! I’ts really great! Please do check it out. Are you new here too? Hmmm lemme visit ur blog

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      2. Hah, you can call me Sarcastination for now! My blog is mainly focused on silly rambles about gaming, books, drawing and whatnot, but I want to see it expand into something a little bit more personal, too.

        And yeah, thanks for mentioning it! I just registered!

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      5. I’m still trying to find my way around the site, too. I was wondering if there was a personal messaging inbox we could talk on, but I can’t find any… I’ll keep looking, anyway!

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    2. You only started your blog in July?! It just seems so…together. It looks totally professional. The content is fantastic, great recipes.

      Your carrot mint soup recipe is actually making me excited about the cool fall weather!

      Keep it up!

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    1. Good question! I have difficulty with that myself. Posing questions is one easy way to engage your readers. Something as simple as, “What do you usually eat for breakfast?” or “What do you think is the most important meal of the day?”

      Attempt to break that fourth wall and make the reader feel that you’re having a conversation with them, show interest in the readers opinions. This could prompt some comments.

      Good luck! (your breakfast post made me really really want a corn muffin! mmmm)

      Like

  18. I have a blog that centres around self-improvement; by drawing upon the concepts of thought, emotion, the mind and consciousness. This is not an exclusive list and I have prepared quality content to be released regularly over the coming weeks. Feel free to drop by.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello, I would love to check out your blog, would you be so kind as to let me know of the link? Thanks! 🙂

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    1. Hi! Just read your blog and love your conversational and humorous style. On your ‘About Me’ page, I’d love to see your name (so readers feel like they know who they’re reading about) and maybe the ages of the children, just so we can build a picture.

      I love the quotes from the kids, reminds me of my own little monkies! In terms of the visual, perhaps look at adding a header image to the blog as it’s got lovely content but nothing visually to draw you in from the start. I’d also look at making more of your blog name, bugger font or something that draws more attention.

      But overall a lovely read 🙂 Hope this has been useful!

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      1. Thank you that’s really lovely! I’ve been a bit anxious about getting it out there as friends have asked to read it but not sure it was worth reading!
        All comments and taken on board will see if I can figure it out I refrained from using names but makes sense to add them in hope you keel reading!

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  20. This post is a little different. For the first time, I’ve posted a blog that isn’t based on gaming or anything else – but my feelings. I’ve been having a difficult time recently, as we’ve all, and I decided to tell my blog in these turbulent times.
    If anyone would like to read my worries – which is strange, I know – then feel free to do so here:
    http://sarcastination.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/to-hell-and-back-in-five-pounds-a-current-state-of-affairs/
    And, of course, thanks in advance!

    Like

  21. I am very new to blogging, so I would love some feedback. My two recent posts are photo heaving, but prior post have more writing. Any thoughts on my writing style are appreciated! I was also thinking of changing to a more simplistic layout with more white.

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    1. What a fab blog – and I really enjoyed your post about Pride. I liked the way you added the story of Adrian Street. And told it so well. Great photos too – and perfectly deployed.

      The only thing I didn’t like was the way the banner stayed in place, covering half the screen and the text rolled up and disappeared underneath it (I don’t know the technical term for that – though I bet there is one!) For me, I felt as if I was sharing the post with a really annoying younger sibling who kept pulling it out of my reach and hiding it! The ‘action’ part, the text etc, felt a bit squished.

      But that’s just my opinion. I’d still read your blog, even if it was written on the seastrand and the tide was coming in!

      Like

  23. 32 days ago I both a premium theme for our website. However, on 31 days I discovered that the website for which we would like to use the theme is a wordpress.org site and not a wordpress.com site. We would like to get a refund to use the money to buy the same theme for a wordpress.org site. How can we do this? Thank you for your reply!
    p.s. I know I am posting a wordpress.com user but we want to use the theme for http://www.doetmetlef.nl (which is a wordpress.org site)

    Like

    1. Hello,
      This discussion space is for blogging feedback and advice, so it might not be the best place to request help; the Premium Theme Support Forums are your best bet:
      http://premium-themes.forums.wordpress.com/
      Make sure to post your question in the forum of the theme you purchased, though bear in mind that the refund period for premium themes is 30 days. You can also contact our general support to see if they can offer any further assistance:
      https://wordpress.com/support/

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    1. Hey Suzanne!

      Just wanted to say how much I laughed with your blog (especially the last post), I have always loved those real-life moments when people get to share with a strong dose of humour because it makes life seem so colourful and exciting!

      And the vividness of your writing really kept me engaged!

      To tell you the truth, I first read that post and then I went to read your about me which was very pleasant to read and not long at all (at least for my standards!)

      And now you earned yourself a loyal follower, I cannot wait to see more of you and your family life!

      Cheers:)

      Like

  27. Hello guys! I am a newbie myself & I would love some feedback, anything really as to how I could possibly improve! My blog is: hashtagbliss.wordpress.com

    & of course, despite my limited knowledge I would love to be of help as well!♥

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    1. Hi Elena,

      Firstly, thanks for the lovely feedback on my blog, always nice to hear someone is enjoying what you’re writing! I’m glad that the humour of each situation transcends, regardless of the reader’s personal situation – I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m not just aiming my posts at other mummies!

      I’ve just looked at your blog and I love your writing style – very fluid and makes me feel like I have a real sense of you from the first post. Interesting that you write your ‘About Me’ in the third person, it reads very well but makes it slightly less personal. Not a criticism, just an observation.

      With regards to your blog name, it doesn’t correspond to your web address which is a bit confusing when you first visit your site, but I love the layout and style.

      I will definitely follow you and look forward to the next instalment! Suzanne x

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      1. Oh goodness, it is a pleasure, thank you for taking the time to check out my blog as well! And I seriously wouldn’t worry about it, about your blog only aiming at other mummies because it is interesting and engaging, a different point of view is always nice and captivating.

        & yes, I will have to agree about the About Me, the reason I wrote it in 3rd person was because I felt it had a better flow than writing it in 1st, I have never been good with the 1st person if truth be told.

        As for the blog name, this is something I hadn’t noticed until now! Thank you so very much and thank you once again for taking the time to write this, you are truly a delight!

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    2. Hi Elena – your blog has a lovely cosy feel to it – you write as if you’re sitting in a cafe chatting to a good friend. You write as if you have no particular axe to grind, but just want to share your thoughts, human to human. That’s a rare gift.

      Love the flowers at the top – what are they, by the way?

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

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      1. Hello & thank you for being so kind as to leave me feedback about my blog, I very much appreciate it! The reason behind writing the blog was actually to expose myself, normally I would write through someone else’s eyes. I would prefer to create a character than to write from my own POV which I always found dreadful, thus I merely kept a notebook to write down my thoughts until now.

        & I am glad you like the flowers! I have not taken the picture but I have edited. If I am not mistaken the roses are called “centenaire de lourdes” or they could be a carefree beauty rose ( http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k131/lemdelacrem/GCarefreeBeautyandAbe08A.jpg )

        And I thank you dearly for your kind words ❤

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Hey i just read your blog. You literally write really awesome. The personal tone and a touch of quotes grabs the readers attention till the very end. Especially the very first article about blog names reflecting our personalities. I too struggled for two days changing 3 names until i finally came up with something that clearly defined me.. Thumbs up 🙂

      Do follow my blog too. Ive just started it.
      theravagingsilence.wordpress.org

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hello!

        Thank you so much for your sweet words and that you were so kind as to check my blog out. I am glad you liked it! And yes, man, names can be a true struggle, it was irritating to no end! But in any case, I am glad that you found something that defines you as well!

        Needless to say, I will definitely follow your blog as well and check your things out. I wish you the best & I really hope you have an amazing time writing!

        Like