Feb 2, 2015 / 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. Hi

    I’d love some feedback on my recent post.
    My blog is supposed to be funny and a bit silly.

    Generations

    Tips and comment would be great, I want a better idea of what i’m doing right and what i’m doing wrong! 🙂
    Obviously I will return the favour!

    Thanks
    Art Artz

    Liked by 10 people

    1. Poor phone 😦 the drawing, your choice of colours and the corresponding text is cute! I think your blog niche is exactly that – funny and playful silly. I like it!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I looked at your blog, I really like the style, the border of the page is very cool!

        It’s not my sort of thing but i found it interesting reading some of your posts, a look in to a world I never really think about! haha.

        You have my follow!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I love your style! your recent blogging 201 post is so fun, your story telling is great and it made me smile all the way through!
        Your Annoying news section is great too! I really enjoyed reading it!

        All these blogs take up all of my time! i just end up on my following reader going through everything. i’m looking forward to seeing your posts in there too!

        Great stuff

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Thank you so much!
        I know exactly how you feel re. being too absorbed on here, I should really be doing my dissertation…

        I’m excited to see more of your work too, thank you again!

        Like

      1. I really like how your blog looks and your posts were short and quirky. 🙂 But I didn’t really get if your blog was about something specific or like a lifestyle blog… But definately following. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Great! Finally a blog in worldpress about life in general and not some niche subject I know nothing about. 😀 anyways, thank you so much for following. I’ll try to be as entertaining as possible 😀

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Cool blog! you speak with a lot of experience and seem to be very worldly wise! very interesting reading.
        You make some interesting points in your posts that made me stop and think a couple of times!

        I have the same problem with my phone on wordpress!

        Liked by 2 people

      1. Hi Bonnie

        Great stuff, i enjoyed reading your post and got a good chuckle out of it!
        Your kids sound great, The mischievous ones always turn into the best adults!

        I suggest you add more tags to your posts. you can add up to 15 tags and the more tags the more people might see your post! Try some generic tags like “blog” and “life” along with “humor” “humour” etc 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    10. I love your blog , so easy to read and so fun , its just a nice escape from life , and your hard work appears , i suggest you think about writing a book for kids they would really enjoy it or maybe grown ups too i mean i am a grown up and i would really enjoy reading that book , my only suggestion is to write more in your posts maybe 2 to 3 lines more and maybe try to be a little more creative with your post ideas , i mean you are really creative with the writing so it won’t be a problem for you to create different kind of posts , i think it will be better that way . you just earned my follow and i am looking forward to your posts . Have fun writing them .

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I would adore to write a book but i struggle for ideas as it is haha!

        Your blog is great, inspirational and well written! i really enjoyed reading!
        MAKE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE THE BEST OF YOUR LIFE. 🙂 I’m going to start quoting you there!

        Thanks

        Liked by 1 person

    15. It’s adorable! The drawing cracked me up…I could even see it being a series of drawings (he falls, he makes a worried face, he hides in the sofa). I think he should make a silent plea for some armor, too. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    16. Not sure why, but I loved the last two sections. The return to “reality” and critique of our obsession with having the biggest and best was spot on.

      Liked by 2 people

    18. I LOVE your blog lol it is truly funny, my kind of humor at least. But your most recent post has a lot of truth behind it, and it’s kind go unfortunate that’s the way society is now with replacing things. Poor little phones lol. I read through a lot more of your blog too, your random pictures crack me up because of the title. Sounds like exactly something I would do so I can totally relate to your humor. Look Ors! haha! I would SUPER appreciate it if you checked out my blog too!

      http://www.thoughtsoutloud.me

      Liked by 1 person

    20. Hi. I really like your blog. When I read, I always visualize what’s happening in my head. I find it very refreshing that you show the reader what’s your head as well. I really dig your quirkiness.

      Liked by 1 person

    24. I really enjoyed this post and your blog in general. I read your cell phone story out loud and my boyfriend and I got a good little laugh. Do you make the art to go with the story or make up stories to go along with your art?

      Like

    1. That was a really encouraging post. I often feel the same way, listless, about “What I’m Supposed to Be Doing with My Life” and whether or not I will ever make it there. Even though you don’t offer any “solutions” I think it’s valuable just to read someone else’s perspective about “failure.”

      Thank you for sharing it.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Thank you 🙂 When I wrote this post, I was so afraid because I thought “what if nobody gets it? what if people think i’m crazy and hung up on something irrelevant?” It’s encouraging to know I’m not alone. Thank you 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Hi there. I thought this was fascinating, very similar to something I have experienced myself sat around costing my parents money. What you say about writing being cathartic is perfect as well, and something I am trying to explore at the moment. Make sure you stick at it, your style is wonderfully engaging and interesting to read, and from the little I have read it seems like you post about things that really matter to you, which is always encouraging 🙂

      Ben

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ben, I just checked out your blog and one of your posts really stuck out to me. “The Importance of Keeping Perspective” – we really lose insight of how privileged we are, despite a huge gap in income inequality. Relative to the rest of the world, we do not have to witness incessant violence and the reoccurring thought of starvation. I really loved that you talked about this. Thank you!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Thank you so much, yes, it is this sort of thing that just strikes me occasionally and I feel this impulse to write about it. Makes me realise how lucky I have been in my lifetime. Have had a look at your blog and its fascinating, I spent a year in Portugal myself as part of my degree so that really resonated with me! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Is it bad that my mind read that entire comment in a British accent? I’ve never met someone with the name Benedict and I always wanted to. So HI 🙂
        Writing is the only thread I’m hanging on to. One that I hope never snaps.
        Thank you so much for the kind words 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      3. I come from a family of non-readers. None of them read what I write and I’ve never had someone tell me that I should be proud of myself. So thank you. Your words continue to make my day better 😀

        Like

      4. I can relate to that, I don’t have good relationships with my family.
        I do not have many readership as I don’t really have a theme to my blog (or so some say). You are more than welcome to contribute to the [lack of] discussions there!

        Like

      5. I have a very good relationship with mine. But they’re just not readers. My mom doesn’t understand what I write. My sister is too young to care. My father does not want to because this is a path he does not approve of 🙂 *typical Indian family*
        I will head over right away and create a discussion 😀 I didn’t have a theme until something pissed me off one day and I wrote about it and told myself that this will be the place for all such moments in my life.
        Sorry about the long comment 😛

        Like

    9. You write really well … I am loving every post i have read so far … Some i agree with, some i cried over, some I believe you must change your perspective. ALL have made me think. And react. Look forward to lots more beautiful writing.

      Like

  3. Hello friends!! 🙂

    So I have recently posted a new piece entitled “Running In, Running Out” It’s kind of about wanting to be a child again and having the innocence and wonder that comes with that.

    https://biancasbloggingadventure.wordpress.com/

    I would love to have feedback on it! And if there is anyone that wants to have someone check out there blog and give pointers let me know!

    Thanks in advance!! 🙂
    -Bianca

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I like it a lot, particularly the end where you switch to first person narrative, which captures the sentimentality of the piece. Personally I’m not a huge fan of free verse but I think the content is lovely and that is really just a personal preference form-wise. Having said that, I think the one before that ‘Looking in the mirror’ is wonderful and greatly pictures those feelings I’m sure we all have sometimes. Keep it up, you’re doing a great job!

      Ben

      https://bencnicholson.wordpress.com

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to look at my blog! Thank you for your advice as well! I have checked out your blog and I followed! I read a couple of your posts and honestly I feel like you have good information there and you raise some good points! I feel like I’m getting smarter when I read your blog! Keep it up! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    5. I can relate to that 🙂 I often draw about how silly adulthood is – its totally a trap! Keep it up the good work on your blog. I’d be happy to know your thoughts on the topics that appear on mine!

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Is your room a mess like mine? Have you held on to photographs of old boyfriends, hoarded hotel shampoo freebies, kept decades-old sweat pants?
    A clean space denotes a clean mind. I recently read a book about a revolutionary way of tidying up – it teaches us not to merely organise and store things, but discard anything that doesn’t bring us joy. Sounds very brutal but it seems to work wonders, so much that people pay the author to help them tidy up!
    What do you think?

    Book Review: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

    Blog in general: https://pixiedustbeach.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks Mara! It is those sentimental items that are hardest to let go right? Seems like you’re going through a rough patch…
        Glad the subject resonated with you and hopefully it will be helpful when you need to chuck away those things that are toughest to discard!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Ooh good! Yes, it’s a way of creating the mood for my posts and extracts. By the way, I have to say I love the first page of your blog with the ‘enter’. I haven’t actually seen that before, it was strangely exciting!

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Divorce is never easy – but I do feel the lightness and humour when you write about it. There’s liberating elements in the post, and some parts are funny, but I also sense a bit of anger/resentment towards the (ex)hubby (like him saying the same phrase one too many times…)? It’s also very personal and I would imagine relatable to many who go through the same thing.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you very much for your thoughtful feedback. You are right, I’m trying to be funny, yet there is some bitterness underneath that can’t quite be covered by the humour… You’re very attentive to notice. Your comment helps a lot, thank you again!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Wow! You’re brave. 🙂 I had the thought of doing something similar after my last break up, but knowing me it would come off as whiny and not at all humorous. But hats off to you. Good job 🙂

      Like

      1. Oh, thank you very much for your lovely comment! It’s reassuring. It helps to write about one’s experience, whether it ends up to be a badass rant or something more light-hearted, I certainly recommend trying it! Though I hope you will not need to write about breaking up any time soon…

        Liked by 1 person

    3. My favorite so far. Maybe it is because I was just trying to tell some of my friends how easy divorce can be, how the stigma shouldn’t exist, and how of they are so unhappy in their marriage, then getting divorced will be something to celebrate. Great post!.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Your kind words very the world to me, Josh. It’s a difficult subject to write about, and slightly controversial. It’s indeed a shame that divorce is stigmatised — of course it’s not what you should do light-heartedly, but neither is marriage. And it is more harmful to stay in a dysfunctional marriage than to leave it…

        Liked by 1 person

    4. I am so glad I found your blog, am now a follower here and on Instagram (I love cat and nature photos; photography is a bucket list item for me) I think your honesty is very brave and I enjoy your sense of humor

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Ooh, thank you, you are too kind! I promptly found you on Twitter too and will now stalk you in return 😉 Looking forward to staying it touch, and thank you again for your kind words!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Your new theme works perfectly for what appears to be mostly a photo blog — and I think I told you before how much I love your work 😉 I still love it, keep on taking photos, Joe!

      Like

    2. I agree with Mara, and I especially liked the close ups of the grass. Very interesting that you’re writing and photographing from Morocco. Your colours are vibrant, it gave me a ‘spark’ when I browsed through your posts. I’m following 🙂

      Like

    1. Your blog is a great and brave effort. Just one remark, I must admit that the white text against the grey background doesn’t agree well with my eyes — I like the look of it but it’s very demanding for me to read. Maybe others feel like this? But maybe it’s your intention to have the grey background to go with the topic of your blog!

      Like

      1. Mara, I have had that concern from one other person. However, I have had a TON of positives on the whole new look. I bought the font and color upgrade. Then I found that header. So I clicked a button that said”match header”. (This is a premium feature.) It hit me with all of that grey. I am taking Blogging 101 again so maybe I will play around again and see what I can find. I do like that header….it explains what I often feel. Thanks for the very relevant feedback. I was using the plain Chateau theme and this is so much better.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. First, the layout of your blog is great, easy to read. Your post is well written and thought provoking. I wished there was a link to listen to the music you wrote about. I will go see if I can find it.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Your new blog is exactly to my taste! Clean and neat, well organised and with the right proportion of beautiful pictures and interesting texts. Especially your post about the elderly cat saving lady struck a chord with me. Keep it coming!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Hi Everyone,

    The last time that I was on the Community Pool, it impressed me so much that I wrote a blog about it!

    However, this week I’ve written something new which I’d love your opinion on. It’s essentially about nightclubbing and spirituality (kinda) : https://revolutionfrommybed.wordpress.com/2015/02/01/jazz-rooms/
    It’s a bit of a departure for me so, yes any thoughts welcome (as well as on the site in general) and I’ll certainly reciprocate.

    M xx

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Hey everyone!
    Just posted a couple of new pieces and would your feedback.

    I’ve also been working on the layout of my blog and included some new widgets, your views would be highly appreciated!
    I’m also eager to read some pieces so feel free to drop a link in your reply.
    Many thanks!

    https://tashab95.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I don’t support cheating, but you have a very interesting blog. It’s captivating and it feels as if should be apart of a romance drama. Will follow.

      Like

    3. I absolutely loved: Why I Write, especially, “Writing is like Dancing with existence and with spirit”. So beautifully put! Just one thing, look out for capitalised letters and spaces, it is a bit distracting. Cheers!

      Liked by 2 people

    5. Hi Anagha. Browsed your blog and liked it. Lots! May i suggest something? My first sentence and the rest of this comment is an example. You have great content, wonderful ideas and lots of creativity. But since you are blogging in English, do consider grammar and punctuation. While incomplete sentences are perhaps “trendy” and often can work to emphasize a point, they have to be carefully placed. Your reader can get distracted by incorrect usage of language. This would be a pity because your blog is, otherwise, so nice. Sorry for the lecture, but as a teenager, I am sure you are used to that! Besides, you asked for feedback! 😈

      Liked by 2 people

  20. Hello,
    I just started running two serial-esque type blogs. Each has a story that continues with each weekly post (essentially these are novels I’ve already somewhat, mostly written, parsed out in 1,000 word blurbs). I’m not convinced the layout makes the most sense, especially down the line when posts start to get in the teens in twenties. Right now it is just a few friends looking, so not much in the way of constructive criticism Any thoughts on layout or content would be appreciated!
    https://neilhaswritten.wordpress.com/
    https://neiliswriting.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I love the idea! It reminds me of cartoons when I was younger, or the serial stories my grandfather would tell five minutes of every night.
      In terms of criticism, the layout is hard to follow. I would add more simple or visible mapping for the older posts.

      Like

      1. Thanks so much for the input! I will try and play with the layout function so that the mapping is easier, or at least more obvious. Really appreciate you taking the time to look and tell me!

        Like

  22. Im new to blogging and the whole concept. I’d like my WP site to take over from my current website which is looking tired. Bunsoffun.vpweb.co.uk if you want to compare. Thank you for reading x Emma

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Hello everyone,
    I’d love it if some of you could have a little look at my blog! I write about Christianity, Bible studies, advice and life as a teenage Christian girl. Please have a look and tell me what you think!
    Graciellen xxx

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Graciellen, what a pretty name! I read through several of your posts. I especially liked the one about what to do if you’re in a bad mood, but when I was looking for a button to “like” it and “share” it at the end of the post, there weren’t any. You can click on “customize”, then “widgets”, and play around with adding like and share buttons! Keep up the lovely work!

      Dee – http://www.buttonsandgoodlooks.wordpress.com

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Hello there Dee!
        Thank you very much for your feedback! 🙂
        I think if you go onto my blog on the Internet there are like and share buttons at the bottom of the post? Please tell me if you see them, they come up when I look at it!
        Also if you’d like to share that would be so kind!
        I really enjoy your blog too, and have followed you! 🙂

        Graciellen xx
        PS. My real name is Grace and my middle name is Ellen, but I thought I would squish them together to create a fun blog name hehe! 🙂 xx

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi Grace, No… I don’t see “like” or “share” buttons. Uhm…. not sure what to suggest, except play around with your widget section, and see if you have them visible. Also, when you adjust the setting, you have to “save”. You could see how it looks to someone else, if they check it out on their device for you. On a side note, you also have “uncategorized” on all your posts. That simply means you have not divided your posts into categories. You can “edit” your posts, and “add” a category, like “girly things”, “devo”, “bible for girls” or whatever you like; just make sure to un-check ‘uncategorized’ as well. It took me a while to figure that one out! It’s best to just choose one category or two, and also add tags. Where did you get your photos? They’re really pretty! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Re: “Like” and share buttons — those are only visible when you view the post on its own URL. When you just read it on the homepage these (and all other) buttons aren’t displayed. This is probably the source of the confusion here, since I’ve visited your posts and saw the buttons properly displayed.

      Like

  24. Please could you tell me when you need a blog or several blogs and when you need a website. I can’t go any further until I know which one to try. Many thanks.

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Margaret! That’s a good question. Generally speaking, blogs are continually updated – you add to the content as you go with new posts. Websites however typically have “static” content which does not change. Also typically blogs are more personal and informal, while websites are used by businesses to sell or promote a product. However, some companies use blogs to keep their customers updated about new products – LUSH cosmetics has a blog that it is a good example of this. This site might help give you some additional information: http://www.shoutmeloud.com/difference-between-blog-vs-website.html

      Liked by 1 person

  26. Hi everyone,
    Yesterday I published my ‘January favourites’ post which I would love some feedback on. I included a lot more images than I usually do in my posts which seemed to be well received from those who have already viewed it. I would appreciate any feedback on this post and my blog in general as it all helps me to improve.

    https://infinitedaydreamer.wordpress.com/

    Thank you 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for the advice it really does help me. I think I will only include more images in these type of blog posts anyway because my blog isn’t photography based. Also I thoroughly enjoy spending more time on the written aspects of my blog posts rather than the visual 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

  27. Hi Guys, I’m very new to the Community Pool set up, but I was hoping to get a little feedback about the content on my site; does it need a specific focus or does posting to suit my interests work better?
    The dream is to run my blog full time (shared by many here I suspect), so any advice/comments would be a huge help.

    Thank you in advance!
    Leigh

    ashleighanne.co.uk

    Liked by 3 people

    1. That’s the dream! I think initially you’ll want to just write/ post about whatever you think will represent who you are. If you’re too focused, it might limit your writing and inspiration. So go for it and soon enough, with the help of you wordpress site stats, you’ll see what your audience tends to like and you can cater to that!

      Definitely make use of tags as well – and make sure to build your community of readers to get a better idea of what your blog should be about. Getting involved with Community Pool is a great start 🙂 Best of luck Ashley!

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I really like your blog! Although I think I called you Ashley in one of my comments. Between your username, twitter feed, and heading, I spotted three or four different names in the one place so didn’t know which one to use! 😀

      As McCallister said, don’t box yourself into a theme too quick, because you’ll naturally fall into a smaller range of topics as you go – those that people keep coming back for and commenting on, which are hopefully the same themes you love writing about more than others!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Good post. With Wi-fi everywhere, data plans are practically useless if you do it right, but the companies won’t let you have a smartphone without a data plan. What a rip-off!

      Liked by 2 people

  30. Hi everyone. Ive changed my blog abit and got a new blog post up as well. Was wondering if you lovelies could give me some advice on it?? Any likes, comments and follows welcome. I will happily return the favour. Xx
    Seasonal-rose.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I like your header image and the background pattern!

      I would advise proofreading your posts more carefully – there are some typos and things (like “They *most* be comfy” instead of “They *must* be comfy”) that distracted me from the content of your posts.

      Liked by 1 person