Jun 15, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

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

Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/63057306@N04/5734415538">Beachfront Solutions</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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  3. Hey everyone!

    I have started my own blog about DIY’s / art / lifestyle. I’m looking for some constructive feedback on the content and appearance. I’m also wondering about some ways I could expand my traffic. It would be amazing if you could check it out and let me know what you think. Have a great day!

    http://misscaly.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Im pretty new to blogging, my posts are about beauty, fashion and lifestyle in general from an Irish girls perspective, I would love some feedback on my content! Thanks in advance to anyone who has a look 🙂 x

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Your blog is really powerful and really well written. Have to say that I approve of anyone who starts their “about me” bio with “my days are filled with poetry”. 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Hi All! I have just posted my first blog and would love some feedback so I can perfect my baby! This blog will be about views from a young female (me!) and her entertaining lifestyle. This is aimed to focus on the female mind, love, life’s purpose and decisions we as young women (or any age) may come across. This blog is just the intro, starting at the end of my trip to LA. I hope you enjoy it and look forward to some feedback to help me out. https://candicedarryl.wordpress.com/2015/06/15/the-beginning-of-the-end/

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Hello, all,
    I have a general question this week. Traffic has been slacking lately and coincidentally (in the sense of coinciding with) my posts have been sporadic due to travels and car troubles. I’d like to blame my inconsistency for the decrease in traffic but I have a nagging fear that my last few posts were too abrasive. Would you mind looking at the last few, http://tinyurl.com/mwqtb2k, and telling me what you think?

    Thanks very much,
    Alexander

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I wouldn’t say abrasive. I like your writing style, and your phasing is very creative but the overall tone sounds bitter, as if it’s somehow the readers fault. It sounds a little well…prickish (I don’t know if that’s even a word.) Its funny to me because I think I have the opposite problem I feel I almost sound pollyanna in my writing. I wouldn’t say your tone is a bad thing. I think Thursdays are generally a slower day maybe a shorter post would get more readers. In the end don’t change your writing style or tone to get views. Be you however it sounds.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I don’t think it’s your fault, I think many people are immediately skeptical of arguments which denounce political affiliation. As you mention in your piece, many are made to think in binary, attacking that balance might unsettle a reader as much as declaring a specific allegiance to the opposing side. As you felt with your podcast some might feel with your argument against following party lines, viewing it as another binary, but one where the person who hasn’t chosen a side is automatically placed on the opposing one.
      I liked the post and didn’t see anything else that might have deterred readers. If I were you, I’d just chalk it up to issues associated with approaching a touchy subject and not worry too much about it.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Hello! I am stepping out of my comfort zone and attempting to write my book. The genre is romantic fiction. I am releasing a chapter every 5-10 days and really need constructive feedback! Thanks

    Liked by 2 people

  15. Hey lovely bloggers! Would love to share my writing with you all, and not just to write in vain. I write whatever is on my mind, and am quite the a romantic romanticist. Please have a read, or like and comment, would appreciate it more than you would understand. Thank’s ya’ll xx
    https://cyberqueenbee.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your blog is great:) Your writing is very good! I love the name and the header for your blog!
      It’s very easy to navigate, your About page it’s lovely!
      So all I can say it’s well done, you are on the right track:)

      Liked by 1 person

  17. I’m new to doing video and to blogging so I’m looking especially for feedback on my use of text/photos/videos (too little or too much of any/all)?

    http://kayakyrstin.com/2015/06/13/ross-lake-kayak-camping-part-i/

    I’m also wondering about my layout of my blog posts
    http://kayakyrstin.com/
    I don’t think the counter always can track my readers (since it’ll say less “views” than “likes” and “comments”) but there are definitely more views to my homepage than blog posts. I like the look of my layout but am wondering if a title/pic only isn’t enough incentive for people to click in.

    Any other feedback would be appreciated, of course.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I think your blog concept is really neat!! I’m completely jealous of your kayak adventures. I think that the use of videos and pictures are great, but I think they were used a tad bit overused. I think if you’re going to use that many as you narrate the story, you don’t have to put a caption over the videos… if that makes sense. Overall, your blog concept is really cool.

      Like

      1. Aw thanks 🙂 I think that makes sense. You mean in the video just leave it be, then talk about it in the blog only? That makes sense to me and thanks for the input!

        Like

    1. Staying motivated is something I totally struggle with too. I think what you have to do is view each post as a daily routine and as a purge for yourself. If that makes any sense.

      Like

  24. I’ve just started this blog-the first five are about a motorcycle adventure I just had with my husband (the sixth should be up tonight) and would love some feedback. Is the header photo eye catching or on the bland side? Any criticism on style or content? What about the layout I’ve chosen? I’m thinking down the road I may pay for a fancier one…
    Thank you for your input!
    courtneyisms.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Courtney – I really like your blog – I think the photographs are fantastic – Just one thing – it took a long time to open so maybe the photographs are too big? Some of them did not open at all.

      Layout suits a travel adventure blog with lots of photographs.

      Cheers and good luck!
      Rowena

      Like

  26. hello everyone! i’m sharing my work with wordpress through bi-weekly updates and a few other side projects. each post talks about what was updated, what’s going on with me, and when the next update will be. do you think this works?

    check it out: penpressproductions.wordpress.com

    thanks!

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Hi All – Really enjoying going through the comments. It makes you feel less alone out there in blogging land! I guess I would like some feedback on the my blog as it is only a few months old and I am not getting as much traffic to it as I would like. Any ideas?

    I was thinking of incorporating another category – On Writing by the Sea to discuss my work in progress e.g research.

    Any feedback would be hugely appreciated.

    Thanks all!

    http://rowenasierant.com/

    (Drifting Through Stories)

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Greetings from Tennessee! Please take a second to have a look at our blog. You’ll find delicious recipes aimed at being wholesome as well as frugal. New to the world of gardening, we’re also documenting the journey from in the dirt to on the plate. C’mon over and take a gander at what we’re up to. Penny for your thoughts?

    https://gaiascure.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person