Dec 8, 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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Photo by Brian Cantoni.

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    1. I clicked on your link and surfed about a bit in your blog. It’s fun to look over the blogging fence to see what someone else is up to!

      I could use a little help navigating around. I finally found your categories, but it took me a while. It seems like you have a book going, but it took me a while to stumble on Chapter 1.

      Liked by 2 people

      2. I’m no widget expert. I just randomly added and subtracted widgets until I got the look I wanted. Try adding categories to side bar rather than below.

        Like

    2. I spent some time on your blog just now. I read the post about people making time for each other and I have to admit that out of all the posts I’ve read today that affected me the most. I do have to say also that I had a little bit of a hard time navigating around but maybe I just am too new at this. I think it would easier for people that aren’t used to reading blogs to be able to easily access a menu and see what posts may be available to them. I love how you support other bloggers. We should follow your example more.

      Like

      1. Cindy PRN : Thanks for the words of commendation Cindy. I’m also new at this. I’ll keep playing around with the widgets until I get it right. I’m going to check out your blog right now.

        Like

    3. Another Sleepless Night:
      This post is gets me tired and on-edge, because because of purposely accustoming yourself to thieves. Also makes me feel glad that this isn’t my neighborhood.
      You:
      Writer high-five!
      History enthusiast high-five!
      I’m not as adventurous as you, but at least you got the talking and acting.
      Blog in general:
      How about creating pages with a menu. With much help from my prof., you can check my blog that’s still under construction.
      https://ellesadventureinchina.wordpress.com/
      Leanne

      Like

      1. Thanks for the suggestions and the encouraging words Leanne. Pages with a menu? I don’t know if that’s a free option or if it’s even available in the syntax theme. I’ll investigate. I’m going to head over and check out your blog right now!

        Like

      2. When you first log onto WP, scroll down (under “Look and Feel”) you’ll see “Menus.” Click on that. But before you can have a menu, you need pages. I assume you’ve been typing in posts, and not creating pages. To create pages, go to
        1. Dashboard
        2. On the left side, you’ll see a tab called “Pages” below “Links”
        3. Hover or click on it and “Add New”
        4. Publish

        I must credit my professor for teaching me and my peers such tools. When you need PR and other services to get your book known to the public, his website is PmD Interactive
        http://www.pmdinteractive.com/
        and his name is Victor Campos. He’s super nice, intelligent, patient, been doing web design since 2001, and provides all the services a company needs. He got his job teaching at my school in 2008; if he can get a job in the recession, AND keep it through the recession, he is the man you want to hire.

        Good luck!

        Like

    1. Nice blog! I like your writing style and I think the Christmassy theme to your blog is really good, first time I’ve seen that. Keep up the good work! 🙂

      Like

    2. Never seen that theme before but it looks great. I’d love to see it change with the passing seasons!

      Like

  3. I would love it if you check out my blog. I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback and followers but I’m always wanting to improve my blog. Any thoughts? In return, I’ll look at your blog as well.

    whatiliketodobysteve.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. 22 Quotes:
      You must really like, “My precious” to put it on there twice.
      Things I like:
      1. You have a nice layout. I like the colored tabs, something I assume only the theme can give you
      2. You give a sense of who you are on your about page.
      3. You don’t like spaghetti because the sauce is not all over the spaghetti?
      Suggestion:
      I would prefer you use a bigger font.

      Like

  5. I have a few questions about my blog that I have NO IDEA how to ask, so I’ll just ask them here!

    1.) I feel like my blog is disorganized and hard to navigate. I’ve mostly posted poetry and creative nonfiction on there, and it’s hard to shake the idea that many of my current followers are looking for one or the other. Is there a way to separate the two that doesn’t involve creating another blog address (like a menu at the top or something)? I also don’t know HTML, so keep that in mind.

    2.) Do you have anything to say about my content? I haven’t gotten comfortable enough with the format to post anything beyond personal stuff. I’m afraid it’ll be disordered if I post my longer fiction.

    3.) What do you think about the theme? Is there another theme I could use? I have no intention of ever posting individual photographs; this blog is primarily a writing blog.

    Any and all input would be appreciated! Thank you so much for your time!

    Liked by 1 person

    2. 1. I don’t think you have a problem with your followers wanting either or, since you have tabs or links, whatever they’re called, on the right side with the proper labels, and they work.

      2. I like your poetry. For your most recent post, it’s good to know what manic is, so I see the kind of difficulty you live with. I know those kinds of swings are not what you want, and I get the feeling that you want stability or a stabilization pill. I don’t have the answer but I think your blog is a terrific start. Because you’re in an unstable state right now, work with what you’re comfortable with until you are ready to dive into something else.

      3. Like I told another blogger also writing about their depression, the effective use of color can change people’s mood. It’s for Depressionless and the comment is on the bottom because I’m a newbie and made a newbie mistake by not clicking reply to Depressionless’s post. In my opinion, your current theme makes your blog look clean and modern, so consider making the sides a different color so there’s contrast or complement. You can take a look at mines if it strikes your fancy.
      https://ellesadventureinchina.wordpress.com/

      In terms of individual photographs, it’s nice to get to know the writer, for me anyway, so if you do decide to post pictures, be aware of your readers’ temptations.

      Get well soon, Errorbear

      Like

      1. Well, I’ve lived with my bipolar disorder since I was six years old. I’ve gotten used to it for the most part. I can function (I currently attend university right now), and I didn’t start this blog for the purpose of managing my bipolar disorder – I made it for the purpose of starting a writing portfolio which employers could easily access.

        Like

      2. So sorry to hear that you’ve been living with such a tumultuous disorder since you were so young. How does anyone know they even have bipolar disorder that young?

        Like

      3. In my case, it was because of a severe depressed phase followed by a very, very bad manic phase. (I think at one point I was running around pretending to be a dinosaur, but I don’t remember it that well.)

        Plus, the ADHD medication triggered more mania, which was hellish.

        Like

      4. Also, keep in mind that I developed very early, which can trigger mental illness. We should discuss this somewhere else if you’ want to know more about it.

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      5. Yeah, sorry to put your business out there. I checked your site and I don’t see a contact page. If you feel comfortable, why don’t you come to mines and send me an email. Your case sounds interesting since I know nothing about it.

        Like

    1. The only thing I would suggest you do is to add your own opinions. I only read the first 2 and although it’s nice that you have links that take readers to the source, I think what makes a blog special is your take on it. Sure philanthropy isn’t going to get much more comment than “that’s nice” so something like, “in the last x years, x has donated x to x org,…. Wow!”

      For VS, you might bring in Donald Trump and objectification of women, what pressures girls grow up putting on themselves because of these models making all this money for their frilly things they put on their bodies, or the quality of lingerie.

      For TENI, you might might add, “this is (not) progressive since…”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much for your kind words and for following us! helped brighten up my day that much more as feeling so down past few days..Thank you 🙂

        Like

    1. I went to your advice column and am unfamiliar with advice columns in general. Great person to reply, right? What I know of advice columns, hmm, they ask you questions or tell you their situation and you give advice. Do you ask by contacting you in the contact and you respond privately? Or is it made public with the person’s identity altered? What vision do you have for this blog?

      Like

      1. Hi! It’s up to the person! If they contact me and specifically ask to keep it private between us both I’ll answer it for them on the email. If they don’t care, I answer by posting the question and answer on the blog of course without revealing their identity. Either way, I won’t reveal their identity even if they say I can. I believe in privacy 🙂

        Like

  11. Hi everyone. I have a feature I’ve been trying out for a few weeks. Its a weekly science quiz on my science blog! I’ve been experimenting with a few quiz plug-ins for aesthetics and ease of use and now would like to concentrate on bettering the content. I’m looking for feedback on making these quizzes a better experience. Would you like to see an explanation about the science regarding the correct answer. Any topic suggestions or other comments are also welcome.

    http://sciencealcove.com/2014/12/test-knowledge-classical-physics/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I think your site in fantastic and the quiz is a great idea, and a lot of fun 🙂 I am following and will be taking the Monday quizzes.

      I do have a couple of suggestions about the quiz:

      1. Readers may hesitate because many won’t want to put their name in before taking the quiz. In fact, I tried to take it without entering a name, then only entered BB. People are very afraid of looking stupid, and science makes a lot of people feel stupid, already. But if they have the choice of taking the test anonymously, more will.

      2. Could you put in links, under the question or at the end of the quiz, that will give the readers information about that subject (for me, the simple machines were killer. I don’t remember anything about them, but a mini refresher would be great.)

      3. Because the correct vs. wrong comes up as you answer the questions, the results at the end are a little anti-climactic. If you gave their score at the end, as well, I think that would add. If you wanted, you could also give them a fun grade. For a perfect score, they could get a big smiley face and a ‘congratulations, your are a science Wiz! If someone does really badly, give them a fun like ‘good try–why don’t we do these again, and it gives hints or something. Though I don’t know if you want to be silly.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Hey !
      Just did your quiz and yes I think feedback about the answer, when it’s wrong, would be good. The quiz is simple yet effective so a simple yet effective explaination would be cool. Especially for people with not such a good memory like me who forgot what they had right and what they had wrong in the end and close the page too quickly ;).

      Liked by 2 people

      1. That will be my next job working with the plug in and seeing how it will look. Check out next week’s quiz I’m hoping to have something worked out by then. Thanks for the feedback.

        Like

    2. I really liked your titles- just like a book or newspaper headline that is what will draw in the passing reader’s interest. My only suggestion would be to enhance those posts with some more photos of graphics

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Hey everyone so i just started my blog, its been something i wanted to do for a long time. I know i havent done much and im probaly super amateur, but would love it if you could give me advice on what I should improve on.
    Thanks!

    A day gone

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Hey everyone! I’ve had this blog for about a year and recently went through a revamp in the summer where I specified my direction for where I want my blog to go. I was wondering how I can engage more people to comment? Every time I post I gain a few more followers and likes but no matter what types of questions and thoughts I ask, I only have one or two people commenting. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 🙂 Thanks!
    https://emeraldnnaylor.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey Em. I was just reading your post. Maybe adding a prompt at the end of your post would help folks comment more. A question about your readers’ writing.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I am captivated by you….your words are magic on paper. My only thought is that you leave your readers speechless or that we are all left feeling to inadequate to comment. Consider me your follower.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. I’m so new to this, that I don’t think I can offer any great pearls of wisdom, In fact I’d love to know what you could do to get people to respond to posts too!
      Loving your writing though!
      Ritu 😊

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for checking it out, great to get some feedback. And relatable to the reader is always good, especially when their not my peer, (we won’t go into specifics!)

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I would also like to see what you have to say in the “about” section of your blog. Right now all we see is the standard WordPress info. I’m sure you have something far more interesting to say 🙂

        Like

      1. Thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated! I might just try and keep up the whole ‘closing with the opening’ style if it works.

        Like

      2. Ah yes… all this navigating is rather new to me. I’ll have a fiddle with things when I get the time and see what I can make look nicer and work better!

        Like

      1. This comment just made my day. Yes well that and Man Utd’s rise in the premier league! Thanks for the comment, now to try and find time… let the juggling begin!

        Like

    5. I read your 1st post and I think it’s for the most part – dark – but it’s also funny. Nose hair to keep you (not me) company is funny, the comment on Americans eating that much for breakfast…guilty. I’m not big either, but hey, I’m hungry and I need energy.

      Why are you giving up when you’re only 21? What is the life expectancy rate of people in Dublin? I’ve had a super bad year but I didn’t give up. I think you should press pause and take some time to reflect on yourself. It’s much easier if you’re the single guy and not the middle-aged housewife.

      Yeah, I’ve deviated kind of far so fast. Would you consider changing your banner from a nest on a couple of books for black grass?

      I think you should give my novel a 2nd chance. Do something different if it wasn’t your cup of tea earlier. You might learn something about the female sex if you read it since it’s from a female writer with a female perspective.

      Put more stuff up then proper feedback can be given.

      Leanne Lieu (real name)

      Like

      1. Haha. Well thank you for taking the time to both read my blog and give such a detailed response!

        I’ve recently had to clear up the fact that I am not all pessimistic or doom and gloom. In fact I can be quite the opposite a lot of the time! It was simply a tonal choice for this piece, and it will likely change depending on how I feel while I’m writing.

        I’ll try and give it another go when I get the time! You have clearly put in a lot of hard work and maybe a female perspective could be a fresh breeze.

        Keep up the work in the meantime,
        J..

        Like

      2. Did you have your about page written when I last checked? It’s my kind of humor – the obvious but can’t state it often enough obvious.

        Like

      3. Haha it’s in the Irish DNA I think! Not sure if I had it up or not, I only changed it when someone kindly pointed out that it was the standard”
        “Tell people about yourself” spiel! Looking forward to getting my next blog up now! 🙂

        Like

  21. I love these opportunities to share my work and discover others. I write like a diary about my personal dealings with depression, aging and life. I also jot down questions and concerns I have regarding the world around me. Feedback is always appreciated. Thank you so much for checking it out!
    http//writingoutdepression.wordpress.com/2014/12/08/the-selfish-child/

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Took a look and enjoyed your latest post. I found your writing refreshingly intelligent & applaud you for your general theme of working through depression. As a former sufferer I can relate & can honestly say that it does get better

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I took a look at your blog & while I’ll never be known as a fashion aficionado I can see that you clearly are & it shows in your writing. Plus your post on internship wardrobe decisions, while applicable to a limited audience was informative and a great example of writing what you know

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I love what you’re doing here. It’s clean and fresh. There’s a couple pieces from H&M which speaks to the average person and not a select group. What I would offer to you is to move forward. You are a season behind. Jump up to 2015…get into winter and even bounce up to spring. You are in the Christmas shopping right now and speak to those people. What you have is beautiful.

      Like

    1. Hi Cindy, I started to read your post about the mall and I noticed the font changed for your list. I don’t know which typeset it is but I could not read it…and I really wanted to.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I just got done looking at (and really enjoying!) yours! I posted a comment but not sure if I wrote what I meant to. I need to go back later and read more on your blog. Thank you so much for that!!

        Liked by 1 person

    3. My apologies if this comment posts twice, but since it hasn’t shown up here yet, I’ll making again.

      I agree with Jinx, that the changes in font size and style detract from the post and make it difficult to read. Having said that, the post ‘bic for her’ is hilarious 🙂 I’m still shaking my head and grinning about the whole thing.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That is very nice of you! I am so grateful that I tried this out today! I just started changing fonts on the last two posts thinking that might set things out a little differently to make them more visually interesting so now that I have feedback I know not to do that. This is fabulous!!

        Liked by 1 person

    4. Hello Ms. Cindy, you are funny. I agree with the others that the font changes and spacing are hard for humans to read (let alone me). But maybe using your theme’s preset typeface for block quotes would still give it some variety but in a way that fits better with the primary font.

      I like your header. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you Albert….I keep trying the block quote thing but for some reason it’s not working for me or I simply can’t figure it out. Will keep trying!! But thank you so much…I made the header on PicMonkey 😉

        Like

  24. Hi there whomever is being kind enough to read this! 🙂 I just launched a new blog for my company and since I have about 1 day of experience now in doing so, I was hoping to get some feedback from those more seasoned than I on if the tone is too friendly for a professional blog and if the post length is appropriate. I would really appreciate any feedback you can offer. Thanks! https://f2fzone.wordpress.com/

    Like

    1. Your blog’s look is great. A good mix between text and images, and the photos of the penguins were wonderful. I’m not a big poetry person, so I glossed over those, but the essays on Christmas was fun and the post about C.S. Lewis was quirky and interesting. I’m not armed with some literary trivia that will impress and astound others 🙂

      Like

      1. Thanks – it was interesting to look at yours and see one thats presented differently. I like to think my content is so amazing that nobody cares what it looks like…then i wake up from my dream!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Things I like about your blog:
      1. You write just enough
      2. You have pictures (and cite them) or video, so the viewer isn’t overwhelmed by words
      3. It’s clean

      Suggestions:
      1. I found some mis-typed words but you still get your point across. (Go to your “About” Page –> you are “a” …). When it’s not typed correctly, it disrupts what I was reading.
      2. Put “Read More” tag or dash thing so your home page don’t have to scroll so much to see the previous posts.

      That’s all.

      Leanne Lieu

      Like

      2. When you write your blog posts, there’s an icon that has a solid line, dashed line, solid line. Hover over it and it says, “Insert Read More tag.” Let me give you an example from yours. (I’m going to school for wordpress, btw).

        “Everyone goes to bed at night in hopes to dream of fantasies or longing loves. Then there are always the nightmares that we wake up from and as soon as you close your eyes,”
        [Insert Read More tag]
        you fall right back into the same place….”

        The read more tag allows you to get the reader to click on the post in order to read the entire post, instead of just reading the entire thing in one gulp. (My professor calls it a teaser). I see that you’re bolding your first sentence so I think that could also be a good place to insert a read more tag.

        You can also check mines out as another example. But you’ll soon find out that it’s the beginning to the chapter when you click on “Go to chapter x!”

        One more thing. On your post for laughing, add something to get your readers to laugh. Don’t keep it to yourself.

        Like

  30. Hello everyone !
    I’d like to have some solution on how to classify articles. I’m super scared on people’s feedback so don’t be too harsh on me if you read whatever is in there please http://malcolmmielle.wordpress.com/ :P.

    So this blog is more like a journal to me. I put some thoughts, some article about DIY or computer programming stuff (it’s more of the last type lately). I’m just putting all of this there so I can remember how I did it and if it can help other people that’s good with me (that’s the major reason why I let this public ^^).

    However I end up with very different articles and I would like to know if some of you know how to visually “classify” them without having to change my theme (I like it very much). For example I would like to have two links on top of the home page : “technology” and “thoughts” and when I click on one, I’ll have all the articles that fall in this category. Something along those line.

    It may be a stupid trick in the end but I didn’t found it if it exists :S.

    And I’ll take any advice on what is written in there, especially about the writing and way to make the speech clearer maybe. That would be useful and I’ll be grateful =).

    Thanks a lot !

    Like