Apr 20, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for advice, feedback, and friendly blogging conversation.

Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/8402178817">redjar</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

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! We tend to delete duplicate comments asking for feedback on the same post.
  • 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!
  • When leaving comments, please remember not to add your blog’s url as your signature. It’s kinda spammy: after all, your handle links directly to your blog.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • No running on the deck.
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  1. My blog is a mix of book-related and travel posts. Today’s post was timely and topical about a book – The People of Forever Are Not Afraid – and issue of teens in the military, both in Israel (the locale for the novel) and in the US. Later this week is Israel’s equivalent of Memorial Day (hence the timeliness.)

    http://www.findingmywings.com

    I’d appreciate feedback on whether I dealt with the broader issue while bringing potential readers to the book.

    Thanks in advance.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I took at your blog and read your most recent post. The People of Forever are Not Afraid sounds like something I’d read but a bit depressing. I also saw your Nightingale review, I can’t wait to read that! Overall, the aesthetics of your blog is nice. However, if you have a goodreads account make sure to add that widget so you can connect with other readers through your blog. You already have a lot on the sidebar though, so it’s just a suggestion.

      Like

  2. Hi everyone!
    I just recently started blogging again and I am wanting to spread the idea around to encourage happiness in my community. feel free to check out the blog and to even check out my Facebook page:
    facebook: http://www.facebook.com/holistichappiness
    blog: https://cultivatingholistichappiness.wordpress.com
    I honestly just started writing again, so i am happy to hear ideas of things you like to read about, and also just some traffic through the blog 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Ok so I am now going to follow your blog, it is such rad content!!!!
      My one critique: the first impression is a bit confronting at first. The reader lands on your page and there are suddenly these huge, busy pictures. Individually the pics/illustrations are beautiful, but side-by-side, they’re a bit confusing to look at. I am always willing to click around a bit to get the feel of a site, but most people are not, and as my boss always said, “a confused mind always says no.”
      However I finally clicked the “monday” post, and I was pleasantly surprised with the ease of reading and clean appearance of the page, and of the fun, challenging points you made. I am now a follower. Keep up the good work!

      Like

    1. Heya,
      Very cool idea. I think you need some visual stuff going on with your posts. I don’t always include a picture but something snapped off your phone that is relevant (like the draft paper you wrote your submission on etc) is kind of engaging and fun.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. Hey guys!
    Please check out my blog at adjustmyhalo.wordpress.com, I would really appreciate it.
    Feel free to comment on any of my posts. Agree, disagree… It’s all a part of the blogging fun! Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Hiya guys,

    Click on me to read my blog about returning to University as an adult student. The blog is called, ‘A Student Again…’
    Looking to connect with more people learning later in life with kids etc and to get people motivated to do it if they want to and haven’t already!

    Thanks

    Like

  10. Started my blog a while ago, but really just started getting into it for real. I am a teacher, and am using it as an outlet for my ideas on education. My writing style can be a bit short and to the point, but I think that’s my background as a math teacher and writing technical papers in college. What do you think? (this is post 3 in a series, but the best example of what I do).
    https://wordpress.com/read/post/id/72822288/53/

    Thanks!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hey I read your post that you linked, and I really like the content! I just found that the formatting and visual was a bit box-y… like maybe incorporate some more variation into the writing. So instead of having huge long paragraphs, break them up a bit. Unfortunately attention spans on the internet are about 3 seconds long and thick paragraphs can sometimes lose the reader.
      Good luck!

      Like

  11. If you care about DIY, the environment and being contemplative/creative, come check me out!
    I’d love some criticism (or compliments :] )

    https://arisetotrash.wordpress.com/

    Is my content too dense? Boring? Confusing?
    (I use some big words and play with grammar often)

    Am I too in-your-face?

    I haven’t posted in a week or so, but would still love to hear some real, honest opinions.
    Feel free to comment here or on my blog!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. hey there – loved the first few pieces i took a look at – you have a very easy to read writing style and make it fun – the recipe looks really tasty [despite not being particularly my vibe] and you communicated it well and the graphics added a lot – keep on

      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Woahho!~
        Thank you! That means a lot :} glad you thought it was fun to read. I don’t normally post recipes but this one kinda fit with my philosophy about minimizing waste and I took the opportunity to turn it kitch(in)-ward.

        I use images off the internet for some of the ideas I try to illustrate… I hope that isn’t a bad thing.

        Like

  13. Hey guys 🙂 My name is Emma kidd! I need some help and advice! if you could check out my blog and comment on it that would be awesome 🙂 My blog is basically my diary but on a screen. I do write in a journal but i cant exactly get advice from a couple of pages… so im reaching out to you guys! Please go check it out if you could! Thanks, Emma ❤

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hey Emma. I completely agree with “writing it out.” My blog is a diary and it’s helped in so many ways. It’s not so much about looking for answers from what other people say, but sometimes the best thing is to write just to write, get it all out without holding back. Once it’s out of you, you’re a bit lighter. Good luck!

      Liked by 1 person

  17. Hi guys! I recently started this blog, and its about rants, international relations, poetry, and basically a whole bunch of things that I’m passionate about. Please check out my blog! :)))

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Hi! I checked out your blog and it looks really cool! I like the poem too, it makes you think about your own memories. Keep writing! And your picture of the city is beautiful! 🙂

      Like

  18. hi, my name is disha and as mentioned i have just entered the word of blogging. I have written my first blog.
    can all of you go through it and gimme your views on it?.

    Like

    1. hey there – i love the logo picture you have with your blog – heading looks great – i personally am not the biggest fan of the newspaper type layout just cos it seems like there is so much to read but i am not sure how new content gets added so maybe if i followed your blog more regularly i would know that and maybe new pieces just get added at the top and then it becomes quite an easy way to search for similar pieces you might like which is good.

      But your indiivdual posts look really great and so overall i would give some thumbs up. Nice layout, good use of pics and appealing.

      But wow back to the title and picture heading of your blog – absolute winner – one of the funnest i have seen.

      Thanks for sharing
      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

      1. awww thanks a ton Brett, you’ve got me grinning ear to ear 🙂 I created the logo myself. as for the newspaper format, can’t take credit for that as its a theme I bought from WordPress. it changes as per the screen you are viewing from (on a phone it only has one column, tabs get 2 and laptops see 3). I like the newspaper format as it highlights a number of posts in one go to catch a leisurely visitor, but I agree it can get messy. I try to keep the length of the intro of each post somewhat the same so its a little more uniform, but that gets tricky when images are involved. Still working on it! All the best in the blogging world. Tezzy.

        Liked by 1 person

  30. Afternoon everyone!
    I’m not sure if my comment got lost here last night but I didn’t get any responses!
    Any chance someone could pop over and heck out the updates to my site please and thanks! Xx

    Like