Feb 16, 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. I really enjoyed your post, it made me smile-as did the others on your blog. Personally I think everyone has a soft spot for anecdotes, and you tell yours in a manner which grabs-and keeps-attention and entertains the reader.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey there! I really like your content and blog name. It is a lot of text, though; if this doesn’t bother you then that’s fine, but you may consider choosing a theme with a sidebar so that the text is smaller (not all across the page, as it is now). One of the best ways to expose your blog to new readers on WordPress is to use tags and categories. I explain these a bit more in my post about things that I wish I had known when I started blogging. https://sherinaspeaks.wordpress.com/2015/01/26/4-things-i-wish-i-had-known-when-i-started-blogging/

      Like

      1. Thank you, Sherina! I will read your post and learn how to use tags and categories. I will also consider a different theme with a sidebar. I like using a narrow column of text as you suggest, so that may be the answer! Curious: how much text do you think is ideal? Thanks, again! Suzanne

        Like

      2. The amount of text definitely depends. My own blog has a sidebar on the left, and vertical blocks of colour surrounding the text; as a result, the horizontal amount of text is just larger than that of in a novel, I would say. It does really depend, though, so try playing around with it and see what you like! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I really like the picture of the surfer, it fits in really nicely with the tone of the article. I particularly like the article “2 Types of People”, everyone loves an anecdote and you linked it to the title and point really nicely. A quality blog!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I really like the Suburbia theme that’s up right now. The aesthetics are very clean, with great photos. In terms of your home page, I like that there’s a compelling photo and preview of each post, and that your whole blogging history is previewed. (Granted, my blog has similar theme, so perhaps I”m biased!)

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Hey everybody,

    I just recently posted a topic yesterday and I have other topics as well that I posted. I been on wordpress before Thanksgiving of 2014. It would be an honor & a blessing to you all if I would get feedback and of course I get likes, but I would love it if I have more feedbacks.

    Thank you all & Be Blessed 🙏💗🌸!!

    https://spiritualbluejay.wordpress.com

    Like

  7. Hey everyone,
    I’m new to the blogging world and would really appreciate it if you could take a look! My main focus is writing, especially novel writing. Feel free to question or comment. Thanks a bunch!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked the post about the bookkeeper.

      Just one suggestion – is it possible to add a word or two to the end of The Daily Pep Talk so when you’re browsing through the site, you can distinguish between them? It might be a challenge to sum them up, but you could think of them more as a teaser.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Hi all!

    My blog is just a way for me to showcase my photography, and I would love to get some feedback on both the theme/user experience as well as the photography.

    http://agoguen.wordpress.com

    Another note- I avoid the gallery option because I don’t want the full res versions to be available for download. If anybody knows how to protect images (not sure if that’s possible), please let me know!

    Thanks 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Particularly like the second Cambridge picture, the colours contrast beautifully, the first Dover picture is from a fantastic place. I particularly love Amsterdam’s pictures, they are all staggering! Keep the stunning photos! (Afraid I don’t know about protecting images.)

      Like

    2. Your theme is very clean and neat looking, but I had a really hard time finding your photos; there was one on the main page, but there was a lot of additional clicking before I came across more pictures. However, they are beautifully taken – lovely colours!!

      Like

    3. Hi! When you create a gallery, you have the option to choose where and if the images link to anywhere. If you choose “None” in the “Link to” box, the images in the gallery will no longer be clickable and downloadable (though it’s worth noting that all images on the web can be copied as screenshots).

      Like

  11. Hey all, I’m fairly knew to WordPress and am in the process of writing the first draft to a short horror story concerning a detective and his final days on the force. I have published part 1 on here in it’s first draft form and would like constructive feedback to help me bring life and, well, breath to the story. Of course, I’d like to hear what you think about the story so far too.

    I’ve been away from writing for a fair while, and while I don’t think I’m a rubbish writer, I have a lot more to brush up on before I even start thinking about heading to print. The following link is the first draft of part 1, that will of course have atlas five revisions and rewrites- but be warned, it is a little gory at parts. Many thanks in advance.

    https://garydeanholdaway.wordpress.com/2015/02/15/the-final-case-part-1/
    (I’d like comments on the blog post please, it’s just easier to moderate and reply.)

    Like

    1. Make your presence known. Interact with other bloggers frequently as in liking and commenting on their blogs and following – and ALWAYS reply to any comment left on your site. 😉 ~Elle

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I added a new post, NOT JUST ANOTHER 50 SHADES OF GREY REVIEW, with a poll attached (my first poll!) and would love every ones feedback. I promise it’s short – one of the shortest pieces I’ve written – and only one question with three possible answers. http://wp.me/p36w0d-Ij Thanks! ;)~Elle

    Like

  16. I would LOVE some comments on mine! I have two blogs, but I am concentrating on my genealogy blog right now because the information is really interesting. I’d really appreciate any feedback anyone would be willing to give. I’ll reciprocate if you want! (the link is for part of a series.)
    Thanks!
    julie

    Beautiful Berkeley California

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Fantastic blog. Fantastic idea (The genealogy blog). it’s really the first one of its kind I have come across.

      Keep going. looking forward to following trees to the root.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you! I have had this tossing around in my head for YEARS and I am finally getting going with it! It’s kind of funny because I want to write and research ALL THE TIME! I was hoping someone other than my family would find it interesting. I’ve got some really cool stuff coming up, so I hope you’ll stick around. I read tons of blogs but I don’t comment nearly enough. I need to! Thank you.

        Like

      1. Thank you!!! When I read it the first time, I didn’t believe it, I mean, WHO WOULD?!?!?! But then I saw reference to it in two other places by two different people, so I knew it was. Amazing how different things were then. I can’t WAIT to start writing about his mother in law (my great great grandmother). She’s pretty interesting too– a suffragette!
        I tried to comment on your blog this morning, but my internet at home is down. Ugh!

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Some lovely pictures and I like the storytelling effect you create with them. For me the blue text stands out a little too much and overpowers the natural colours of the landscape, but it wouldn’t do for us to all be alike!

      Like

  18. This blog was definitely helpful because I recently started blogging and I am still learning how to get feedback from others. Other than for discussions, I am also trying to use blogging for things such as donations for my project ( which is not as easy I thought it would be). But I will definitely follow your blog for more tips!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. You are off to a good start and have a very noble attitude, I like that very much 🙂

      Maybe you could put your donation call into your sidebar as a picture of the logo that links to your page. In my opinion that would improve the first impression when landing on your site. if you do decide to keep it in the format of a blog post it would be helpful if you could detail your aspirations as to how you plan to use the money specifically. Additionally you could post some pictures from Panama to give interested readers a better imagination of where their money goes to.

      These are just a few tips out of the top of my head 🙂
      Raising money for a good cause (sadly) is never easy, but I hope you find what you a rebooking for and wish you the best of luck on your path!

      Like

      1. some very useful comments there – I will copy them to another blogger I know – because she is trying to raise money for her own project – but hadn’t understood that you need to prove your worthiness and TRUSTworthiness before you ask for money – otherwise, who is to know that you are not just going to spend the money on a holiday?

        Like

      2. Thank you so much for the advice! I really appreciate you taking the time to write it all out of me and I will definitely look into all of the suggestions. Thanks again!

        Like

    2. I think you’re making a very noble and honest blog, which is absolutely wonderful. I’d love to hear more about your journey in the Health Professions Field. It’s not something i can ever imagine doing. If I have to change anything…I’d say consider using a different background/theme? Nothing’s wrong with the one you have right now, but I just think you can probably find more visually attractive ones (like intergalatic, hemmingway rewritten) that would make your blog appealing. But overall great start 🙂

      Like

  19. I’m currently reading Vonnegut’s Hocus Pocus and blogging my thoughts. After I’ve finished the book I’m going to cover other Vonnegut titles. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

    Like

    1. It’s a cool blog and well written, but I’d love to hear more of your personal thoughts on the book. Summarising is fine, and useful to a point, but people could go to wikipedia for that, so to develop a really unique voice and opinion driven viewpoint for your blog would be a great next step (I know it’s hard only being 9 chapters in :P). I love Vonnegut and Slaughterhouse 5 is one of my faves (cliché I know!). Anyway, a good read, and keep it up!

      Ben
      https://bencnicholson.wordpress.com

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Hi – it’s a worthy task, but you give an awful lot away to people who haven’t picked the book up yet. You might want to post a spoiler alert.

      I agree with Benedict – I’d have been really interested to hear your feelings about the book. If I’d read the book myself, I would be interested to read your opinion on it and that would have made me comment on your post. In agreement or disagreement.

      All best wishes
      Elaine

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Ben and Elaine, thank you both for your thoughts! Yea, I’ve been trying to find my “voice.” This is the first time I’ve done something like this so it’ll take some time to smooth out all the rough edges. I’ve got plans to review many more books so I’ll have plenty of practice!

        Like

      2. You’re building strong foundations. 🙂

        All writing’s a work-in-progress and it would be boring for you if you’d found your voice and were just churning out book walk-throughs. You know the Cavafy poem ‘Ithaka’? it’s worth keeping in mind.

        All best wishes
        Elaine

        Like

  20. I don’t normally follow travel and food blogs (they intimidate me because the amount of food and places to travel in the world is endless, ha), but I just clicked through your last eight posts! I love the idea of writing about your local travels as well as those abroad. Nearby adventuring is so often overlooked!

    Like

    1. The way you write is very intriguing. Because you don’t flower up your language, you write what you want to say, it makes your posts incredible readable. I think the blog in general is organized very well and I quite like the simple color scheme. This is a very cool blog.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. After reading most of your posts, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say. Maybe because I feel sad and that might offend you (some people don’t want others to feel sorry for them). But I’ll be going on with you on this blog. ☺

      Like

      1. You feel what you feel, and be honest and true with and about your feelings. I think that is all anyone can ask from anyone. Truth. I have always been a no frills person, product of my life who knows. Does being that way make things hard at times? Sure. But I’ll take it. No worries I heard it doesn’t rain forever 🙂 Thank you for checking out the blog and coming along. Much appreciated.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked it! I work out at home too, it’s harder ’cause you have to be more disciplined, but the convenience of not having to go anywhere else beats it for me. I would also add some of the workouts you like to do at home, or maybe write another post about your fave work outs that you can easily link to this post 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I do eventually plan to do a follow-up post, but I’m currently moving to a new place and haven’t found a routine that feels 100% right yet. I can say that I am trying to add weight lifting exercises to my otherwise purely bodyweight-based workout.

        It’s in the cards though, don’t worry 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I liked your post very much and I totally agree. I hate gyms with a passion for those very reasons, and because I prefer to exercise in private, even though, at the moment, that means walking round and round my house, rather than out on the road/footpath.
      One question though, why do you have comments turned off?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. It took me quite a while to decide, but in the end the moderation effort didn’t turn out to be worth it for me. I do have discussions with readers via Email and Twitter every now and then and from my experience this direct interaction often is better for both involved, because comment sections sadly tempt many to reduce themselves to hollow one-liners.

        My personal ideal is to never reduce myself to the simple “Oh cool – Hey thanks” chitchat, but rather value each reader individually and take to their feedback in a way that lives up to their questions, needs and impulses.

        Liked by 1 person

  26. Hi everyone!

    I started http://mintymornings.wordpress.com when I went to Asia earlier in May. Now that I’m back in my home city, I still want to log and share my weekly activities (sharing with others how to deal with personal challenges varying from student focused to long-distance relationship focused, sharing what Vancouver has to offer, those types of topics, etc.)

    My question is how do you focus your niche? How do I just take action and begin writing again?

    Thank you so much!
    Eunice

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I would pick 3 themes to write about and focus on those (like one could be about your life in Vancouver, another one about relationships and the other one about your life as a student) Those are just examples, in my experience, the best posts are the ones where the reader can see your true passions.
      Pick a few themes so that you aren’t all over the place and connect what you write about to your life maybe, so that they all correlate.
      I think you just need to write and your niche will come to you, finding a niche isn’t always clear cut, it can be more of an exploration to see what your true passion is.
      I liked your blog and your journal-like writing style, my only thing is that I couldn’t find your “About” easily, which is important if you aren’t gonna be focusing on just one thing, you can explain your branching out in the About.
      Hope it helps!! Keep writing though, you’re good 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I focus on cats, books, and recipes, and put in my blog explanation and about me that the blog will be a random collection. I use tags and categories to help others find my posts. If you’re trying to start writing again, try sharing news article or story about relationships or being a student and add your own personal commentary. Maybe do some reviews of your favorite places in Vancouver? Hope this helped 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I like that you went for a very simple theme, it effectively emphasizes your pictures. The site is also easy to navigate and your to-the-point post style made me scroll through and explore a bit 🙂

      Keep it up!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much! I really do appreciate you taking the time to check my blog out. I’m glad you like it, and that you were intrigued enough to go and look around a little. Thats awesome. Thank you so much 🙂

        Like

    2. I like your blog alot. My favorite thing about your posts are your large pictures, all too often you see people with huge themes and small pictures, yours take up the content space of the theme and allow the pictures to be main highlights. I also like that your category section is a drop down menu whereas most (including mine) are separated links. It consolidates the space more and declutters the sidebar. Nice!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much! I really appreciate that. I am having such a crazy and fun time getting my page together lol.Your comment about the photos means a lot. I tried to keep the page clean and simple, yet detailed… so I’m elated that you saw those point that I was trying to get across =)

        Liked by 1 person

  28. I’m not sure if this is the place to ask this, but I notice some of you have “blogs I follow” in your side bar.
    How do I do this for my blog please?

    Like

    1. It’s a widget.
      Go to your Dashboard (click on WP Administrator on the left of your usual Site Setting).
      All these little icons come up on your left on your Dashboard, go to the one that looks like a paintbrush (where you can work on the Appearance of your blog).
      WIdget is one of the options under Appearance.
      If your theme supports it, one of the Available Widgets options will be “Blogs I Follow”.
      Click on the “Blogs I Follow” widget and it’ll give you the options for placement in your blog.
      That’s it!
      Let me know if you need more help! 😀

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Brenda — I noticed that your site is a self-hosted WordPress site, rather than a WordPress.com one. That would explain why some widgets might not work the same on your site as they do on sites here. That said, you can find a lot of information on (and support for) WordPress widgets here.

      Like

    1. I definitely don’t think it’s too long for a fashion post – I enjoyed reading it (and am now following!). However, I would like to see some more images to accompany your writing 🙂 keep up the good work!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I agree with @emtag2 adding more images with help break up your text a little more. I also like how you use different font sizes and styles but I’d try to add more headers to break it up even more (also horizontal lines do wonders). Keep at it, I think this is a great start.

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Howdy fellow bloggers! I’ve been blogging for a few months now, but am still finding my place in this big bad blogosphere. I’ve written about 70 posts so far. Of course I don’t expect you to go through and read all of them, but I would really appreciate any feedback on specific posts – which ones you enjoy the most, which ones you don’t, and any suggestions for improvement. I still have so much to learn, and what better way than to learn from my readers! Thanks, I appreciate it 🙂
    http://www.taggletalk.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person