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. Good morning everyone! I started a Kentucky Sports Centric Blog a couple weeks back in conjunction with a twitter account that I created last year. Would love to get feedback on the site, including the design (it’s a free one) and whether it looks professional enough. Do I need to upgrade?! I really appreciate any help you could give me and I will try my best to give you feedback as well!

    http://3bbnpositives.wordpress.com

    Like

    1. I like the layout although I think maybe one key picture at the top would be more eye catching. Could you have all of those pictures on a rolling schedule so they all show at timed interval changes?
      As for the posts- really eye catching – love the mixed media and mix of bold and normal type. Picking out key details – great job!

      Like

  2. Hi Compadres, I am playing catch-up with Blogging 101 assignments. It’s only been a couple of days or so, but sure enough I got behind. Once I got into getting caught up, I felt the focus and clarity coming along quite nicely.

    Like

  10. Help- what am I doing wrong? I wrote my FIRST Blog but the page is empty to the reader when logging on to http://cynthiakomlo.com
    ??

    If you click on the side menu, my blog post is there but I want it as the opening page. How do I accomplish this? My host is Go Daddy.

    Thanks for your expert advise!

    Like

    1. There is an option in the dashboard to set a page as the homepage, rather than the list of posts. Blog dashboard -> Settings -> Reading, then the top option.

      Like

    1. I really enjoyed that piece. You really gave the ocean character. I think it worked well without a title. The picture says enough and I had that in my mind as I read on. An ideal marriage of image and message.

      Like

    1. In WordPress, ensure you start with ‘New Post’ and not ‘New Page’ , this will ensure your post lands up in the blog home page, if that is what you meant …nice clicks 🙂

      Like

  15. Hi Guys, I’ve just set up a blog about language learning and language acquisition. I would love some feedback on my first post “The communication station”

    kayleenorris.wordpress.com

    thanks so much 🙂

    Like

  17. Hi everyone!

    I recently rediscovered my passion for writing, and I was inspired to start a blog. I’m having some trouble getting my footing with writing style, subject matter, and how much is too much. I’m very detail-oriented, and I don’t know how to shorten my posts. If you can take a look at my blog, and provide any feedback on my posts (there are only 6 so far), that would be fantastic. I love reading everyone’s blog and I aspire to become as good a writer as some of you on here.

    http://burberryandbabybottles.wordpress.com/

    Thank you!

    Like

  19. Hi Folks! I’ve been bitten by the blogging bug and would love some feedback. I’m especially curious about how to get my search menu etc up at the top rather than right down at the bottom without changing my theme (I love the theme!) mollyrogerscooks.wordpress.com Would also love feedback on the blog – old fashioned coffee cake today!

    Like

  20. I’ve only written two posts , but I would love to hear what you guys think of my two little posts. Do I look like a fool writing? I would love some feedback :). Sobeidacuriel.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Visually I love the blog. I also love your The Beginning post. I agree about the need of writing and expressing one self. My blog is used for the same thing. To rant, to share, to feel, to experience. Great job and I look forward to reading all that you have to say. Welcome fellow new blogger. You’ll feel right at home here.

      Like

      2. Everything! In this post, the passages are short and to the point; they are powerful and persuading. Your tone is very informed, which made me (the reader) agree with you 100% and follow you where you were going. The confidence that you convey — not just in this one post, but in previous posts as well — left me no choice but to trust your lead an keep reading.

        Sorry for my brevity earlier — sometimes I lose track of time on wordpress and it makes me late to work. I had realized this was the case when I opened up the comment box.

        ;D

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Thanks for the review. I really appreciate it. I just learn from other bloggers and from life itself to bring life to my posts.

        Like

    2. Francisco, bravo!!! Love the Dear post. My favorite being to the cereal companies. I hate those crumbs especially being the mom to 3 boys and when they spill out the last bit all that dust comes pouring out. Yuck!. My solution? To create bags with a perforated bottom so it can serve like a strainer on to an additional tray on the bottom. I should patent that. Also, loved the simplicity but eye catching ABOUT ME portion.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks for enjoying my post. I’m glad someone actually payed attention to the layout of the about me page. Did you pay attention to the slow but gradual grownth of each line?

        Liked by 1 person

  22. Hi all! We are working on a team novel and I’d like your feedback on how it has turned out. Right now, we have finished 9 chapters. This is the beginning of our story.

    Chapter 1

    The theme we have chosen is a bit rare. We have also included some words from Malayalam language. Please let me know if it gives the feel we intend to give you.
    Also, let me know if there is anything unclear in our description.

    Thanks in advance! 🙂 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  25. To my fellow Pool’ers, nice to see everyone again. I love this meeting spot. So, I wrote a new “ranting” piece for my segment “Better Pissed Off than Pissed On”, let me know your thoughts. I also wanted to ask anyone if they’d know how I can have a back to home button on my menu or sidebar. If you venture away from my static page, how does the reader get back to that without hitting the back arrow? Let me know your thoughts.

    http://theprettyplatform.com/

    — Elke

    Liked by 1 person