Dec 1, 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.
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  • 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. Hey guys 🙂
    I uploaded a new image this morning and would love to hear, what you think about it, my page in general and my style of photography…

    brightpigments.wordpress.com

    Thank you very much 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I love your photos and I’m so jealous! You’ve traveled to so many places!!! Keep up the good work! It allows people like me to dream from their rooms. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks a lot- i know- it’s weird isn’t it? I worked nearly every weekend and during summertime almost every day to afford the expedition to China… London was a class trip- low budget, huge fun 🙂 I’ll revisit my beloved britain next summer with a friend 😀
        I am glad my pictures capture the moment and allow you to dream 🙂
        Thanks a lot for all this nice words…
        Mary 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Try using a few categories and tags on your posts so that they will show up on the Reader if someone searches for a specific topic. Visit other bloggers’ sites and actively participate in the community, and many bloggers will respond in kind.

      One small thing- I have seen many people comment in the past that they cannot read the white words on a black background. I myself cannot look at it for long before it hurts my eyes too much to continue.

      Best of luck to you!
      Karen

      Like

    1. Hi Debbie. Your blog is brill, your theme really suits it well, with lots of vibrant colours. It’s also super easy to navigate and simple to use! Keep up the great work!

      Like

    1. Hey Garrison!

      Looking around what’s on your site, I think you have a pretty unified, sparse look going on that works well with the kind of writing you’re posting. So–no, is what I’d say to your question about pics.

      However, because your prose tends to scroll in big chunks, with comparatively long paragraphs (for a blog), you might want to think about ways to make the breadth of your content more accessible to visitors. Maybe only showing a preview, or the first paragraph or two, on the main page, then putting in a “Read more” break? That way, a visitor can get an overview of more of your writings–and feel more invited to pick and choose what interests them to read fully. (Get someone hooked on one thing, she’s more likely to return.)

      Your welcome page is perfect, layout wise. But, honestly, I was overwhelmed fairly quickly by all the unbroken prose when I scrolled down the main page.

      Hope this is helpful!

      best, alice

      Like

      1. Thanks Alice! I appreciate such a thoughtful response. I tried playing around with a new theme, and I think it adjusts for the wall of text issue well enough.

        Great advice and hopefully I took it well!

        Thanks again and all the best,

        Nathan

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I had a good laugh over both your About page and your Welcome. I don’t think pictures are a requirement for fiction writing. My only thought is that the text is so small it’s a bit difficult to read, so perhaps consider changing the font size?
      Best, Karen 🙂

      Like

    3. The blog design is neat in general, but I agree with Karen that increasing the font size a little would greatly improve the appeal of your posts.
      Personally I don’t think that a title picture is an absolute must. I have thought about this for a while as well, but now I tend to only include a featured image if it really adds something to the actual post content.

      Like

      1. Hi Philipp,

        Thank you for the suggestion. I will adjust the font size to make it more legible. And what you said about title picture makes sense. I was hoping that was the case. Thank you for your input!

        All the best,

        Garrison

        Like

  5. Hey guys,
    So I went on possibly the best trip of my life ( so far ) last month, saw some great sites, did great things and fortunately for me it was with some great people.

    I took photos while I was there ( possibly too many ) and would love for you to go and see them. Please feel free to give me any feedback on the photos as I want to develop my photography in the future.

    http://joetakesphotos.wordpress.com/

    Thanks!

    Like

    2. Your photography is very solid, keep that up. Landscape isn’t an easy subject to develop a personal picture language so I’d recommend to mix it up by shooting all kinds of subjects and styles every once a while to really form your own.
      Regarding your blog I suggest you to select a more imagery-focused theme with direct slideshows. Your start page was a bit confusing to me at first.

      Like

      1. Yeah I’m trying to photograph as much as possible however it is a bit of a struggle this time of the year. Although I am looking forward to photographing christmas decorations etc.

        I will also look into a different theme as friends and fellow photographers have said similar.

        Thanks

        Like

    1. I definitely see some massive potential in your writing. I think your current posts are great. You really know how to create a powerful moment. Keep going! More of that!

      As a reader, I enjoy being led to my own conclusions. Some of your direct statements didn’t hit me as hard as they could have simply because you said it out loud. Of course, this is only my personal opinion/style, but I would enjoy more showing and less telling. For example, ” Money was not important to me that day.” While that’s a great sentence and an absolute key to your story, I’d like it if you could get me to think that sentence in my head without ever having to say it yourself. Show us a scene or something that happened that day that can serve as an illustration about how unimportant money was that day.

      Please don’t take this as a criticism, it’s just something I thought about while reading your work. I truly think your writing is fantastic! Keep it up!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I truly appreciate your feedback ! Any feedback is always good ! I will take your words of wisdom and build on it ! Thank you so much. I have never taken a formal or technical class so this is all new to me and I want to improve as much as possible. Thank so much again !

        Like

    2. I loved your post on pressing delete. Its so true of how easy life would be if we all could do that but sadly we can’t. Congrats on reaching 200 followers by the way! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    2. First of all, I love the name of your website. It can’t get more creative and catchy than that! Second, you’re right! The tree can’t be more perfect and full of love! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. A wonderful site. Great content and presentation. But with a top down linear template and mid-length post content you may want to consider forgoing infinite scrolling as well as limiting the number of post per-page. This is a style over substance argument, in the main, but the site is so rich you risk the viewer feeling overwhelmed. Good luck to you and I followed.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thanks for taking the time to look at the blog and comment. I have been meaning to limit the amount to view but I’m not very good at getting round to changing settings and things. So your feedback is a really helpful prompt.

        Like

    2. Your tag line is hilarious. Not sure if all Americans will get it, but it’s been a standard joke in our New York house for decades. Keep up the good work!

      Like

      1. I did wonder if the meaning of ‘my cup of tea’ might not work elsewhere. I’m still not sure the tagline is right. It probably needs something a bit more straight – I’m not a hilarious kind of person so the blog won’t be. Thanks for commenting. It’s really helpful.

        Like

      2. That’s a little depressing, but I take your meaning. You’re right. If I had come across your tag line on its own, I would have followed the blog, but for the wrong reasons and with inaccurate expectations. (But I still love it.)

        Like

    2. The phrase in your ‘about’ post caught my eye – how you cannot not do things and relax. I can totally relate! If I’m not planning or doing one thing or another, I feel like life’s passing me by! Will be following 🙂

      Like

    1. I enjoyed reading a few of your most recent posts and about page. I liked reading a style outside of my norm. Great and powerful writing!! 🙂

      Like

    1. Hey Tomato Girl,

      As someone else who posts a good deal of poetry, thought I’d pass along a tip I’ve found helpful for making poems easier to read on blogs. WordPress sites automatically double-space everything, which can make a poem the length of yours feel really stretched out on the page. (Harder to read, and the stanza breaks can get a bit lost.)

      Instead of hitting a hard return at the end of each line: if you hold down the shift key when you hit enter, that line single-spaces to the one before it. Here’s an example of what I mean (on a long piece of my own): https://coffeeandablankpage.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/bodies-are-a-car-door/

      Maybe it’s just a personal quick of mine! I find poems easier to read this way–so just passing that along. The rest of your posts (prose) are inviting to read, well-placed pics, etc.

      Best! alice

      Like

    1. Heya! I checked out your review, it’s really intelligently written, great work! I also do a film review blog, it’s great to see other blogs on film as well, I’ve followed you to keep an eye out for future posts, and will check out Leviathan too, it sounds really interesting 🙂

      Like

  19. Hey, I have been writing my blog for a while and get some traffic on my blog but how do I create a active blog environment. For example, get people more involved through comments and things like that rather than having no response

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I love the topic for your blog. Being a feminist, I’ve always felt strongly about it and the post was heartbreaking. For the girl to get rejected because she’s an orphan is outrageous! Keep up the good work and speak for all women! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for your humble support. Yes it is my dream to speak for all the women and stand for all the odds against women which still prevail in the society.
        Thank you once again and please share my blog if you really like it.. 🙂

        Like

  21. Hello Ladies in their twenties. I am currently writing a series on being in our twenties but I’m having trouble with content. I’m not getting much feedback through my readers and wondering if maybe my topics aren’t broad enough or if they don’t relate. Here is the link to the series. I would like to have feedback on: 1.Post titles – are they intriguing enough? 2. Content – Are you immediately drawn to the types of content or do you skim over the titles and want to leave the page?

    http://www.thechelseapage.com/?p=1360

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Chelsea, I too am a fellow twenty something all though I am very quickly looming towards 30, in response to your questions and what you wanted to know, I think your titles are catching and I had a read over a few of your posts, I rather liked the one on expectations, I feel this all the time, I have 2 children and that it’s self comes with a lot of certain expectations, your content is catchy and makes me want to read more 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Hey Chelsea,
      I really like the layout of the page, it’s clean and professional looking with a touch of chic. Regarding your two feedback topics;
      1. Titles; For me, they could be a bit more intriguing, perhaps use some wordplay or associate the topic with something that has a little more Pizazz! If a title sounds cliche to me, I usually skim over it.
      2. The content for me was 50/50; I think that your subjects have great potential with a little bit of tweaking. I understand it is a personal blog but for me, I enjoy reading about generalized topics (what I mean is that when they become to personalized, I become disinterested because I like to feel that the content was tailored for me and not for someone else).

      Extras; I think that is great that you love writing and I’m happy to see that you have a blog. One thing that was very hard for me to learn when I first started writing was that sometimes I tend to get a bit wordy and my content gets a bit drawn out. My favorite English teacher from high school taught me a very wise saying that I always try to apply to my writing when at all possible, “Your content should be like a skirt; long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep it interesting.”
      Whatever you do, just keep on writing, keep asking for feedback and take that feedback and apply it when you are ready.

      -Danielle

      Liked by 2 people

    3. Being a 20 something myself I fit in your target audience. I would recommend that you capitalize a few more letters in your titles so they don’t look like a sentence. I would also try to make them a little bit more playful. They are a bit to the point. Otherwise I enjoy your content. You are on to something.

      Like

  24. Good afternoon everyone!

    I am working on my blog, and trying to get back into the habit. I’ve recently made some theme changes and organized some new pages that I am going to fill in, but I was hoping to get some input on what you think of it. I will do my best to visit back and eave my own feedback if you’dlike!

    Thanks in advance!

    Liked by 1 person

  25. Hello all, i write a satirical rock music blog, any feed feedback would be much appreciated. I’d like to know where I’m going right and wrong. I’ll return the favour if you wish as well.

    Heavymetalblunder.wordpress.com

    Cheers
    Tom

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your site is certainly interesting, I’m still having a little trouble wrapping my mind around some aspects therein. Sing a few more bars & I may be able to catch up.

      The About section is wonderful but I’m not entirely convinced it will lead to people finding older posts as not everyone reads the About page.

      Liked by 2 people

  27. Hi there, fellow blogging aficionados! My name’s Sandra and I have a nail blog that’s a year and a bit old and, as of today, is four posts shy of magic number 500 (what’s so magic about it? Not a clue, but it sounds more lyrical, right?) Content is thankfully not my problem! But I recently posted a tutorial/picture tutorial for a nail art technique that makes your nails look a bit marbled, and I was wondering if, as a seasoned pro or a nail art newbie or someone in between, it was even halfway effective. Do my instructions make sense? Is the pictorial horribly offensive to the eyes? Do you think you could follow along at home? Suggestions and comments more than welcome, with advance thanks.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your blog is really interesting and has lots of great facts. I’m not sure about the theme though; when viewed on a desktop the content only takes up a small part of the width on the page. Other than that great 🙂

      Like

      1. Thanks so much for your feedback! I’ll look into your suggestion about my theme. Why waste precious screen space, right? 🙂

        I read through your blog and find it very refreshing. It’s unassuming, and feels natural and genuine. Great photos throughout as well! Following!

        And hope you’re thoroughly enjoying yourself on this side of the pond!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Hey,
      I am a fan of the blog. For me, the content is on point, the articles are the perfect length with substantial information and interesting facts. The content stays varied, which is great because you never know what to expect next and I don’t feel as if I will become bored with blog itself. Your usage of a conversational tone is a perfect balance between professional and casual and the syntax is agreeable ( I was an ESOL teacher for a while so I appreciate it).
      Overall, I give it a gold star 🙂 and I look forward to reading more.

      -Danielle

      Like

      1. Thank you for the feedback. I am an aspiring teacher myself, and would love to use my blog for my classroom as well one day!

        So glad you appreciate the varied topics and writing style…this is exactly what I was going for. I don’t want it to be too serious or too informal either.

        Read through your blog as well and am following now! Definitely an interesting concept and some great information. I think I can learn a lot!

        Thank you!

        Liked by 1 person