Jul 20, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

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!
  • 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 like the fresh approach and all of the photos to go be this much wanted details on your accessories. The theme could use a change to something that is going to really show off your photos.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I am completely new to blogging. I love writing so I don’t know why its taken me so long! That’s life I guess.

    This blog “Sex, Lies and Adulterous Guys” is meant to be tongue in cheek (with some truthful undertones lol). My boyfriend wasn’t particularly impressed but my best friend really loved it.

    I’ve tried to write in a sort of ‘chatty’ way, so I think that makes my grammar pretty bad?

    I would love some feedback on the actual writing, and any suggestions as to how I can actually get people to read my stuff lol as I’m really poor on the “tech” side of blogging.

    http://boxofchocolateslife.com/2015/07/20/sex-lies-and-adulterous-guys/

    Like

    1. I thought it was rather funny with few grammatical errors. I like the title because it tells what you’re writing about and it rhymes.

      Humans are animals, hence animal urges. Some animals only have sex to procreate. Think of the silverback gorilla and his harem.

      You need not cite so close to home, for history and religion provide enough examples; spreading their seeds to ensure a good harvest, if you will. Chinese emperors would only have eunuchs in their palace to ensure that all the children his women bore were his, but this wasn’t always the case. Some Mormons practice polygamy. Remember the old guy that ran the FLDS and was arrested for something and still in prison? He had like 89 wives and the youngest he married was 15 years old when he was around 70. (That old geezer.) Some Muslims practice the family style having one husband with five wives.

      Like

  3. I am sure this has been an issue that has been addressed prior, so I apologize for asking again.

    I know that I can schedule posts to be published at regular intervals so I can write a bunch of posts and then just set them up to be published, but does anyone know of any programs that will allow me to time twitter messages and/or facebook page updates to go out at the same time my blog posts get published?

    Also, does anyone know any ways to use instagram? You can’t use clickable links for your photos and I am not sure how effective it is to keep just telling me people to click the link in my instagram profile.

    Thanks guys!

    Like

    3. I use Instagram fairly regularly in my blog- as widgets and as embeddable content in my posts (Visual>Photography category, to be exact)
      I think you could take a look for some inspiration

      Like

  6. Hi everyone

    I usually write posts about general happenings in my life or opinion pieces but this is a piece I wrote where I dabble into fiction.

    Would really appreciate some feedback as I’m planning to write more ‘short stories’ and so any critical feedback would be appreciated.

    The ordinary girl

    Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Hi everyone!
    My latest beauty post is a bit of a change from my usual (usual being fashion) I’ve got more traffic from this one and I’m wondering is anyone can suggest why this might be? What did I do right so I can keep on doing it? Thankyou friends! 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I guess the first question to ask yourself is what do you want people to get from your blog? Should it ask questions that will have them thinking for the day, do you want to teach them something? Are you writing your blog for you – or for other people?

      Like

    4. I’ll copy and paste my previous comment on this Community Pool:

      1. Keep your blog interesting
      2. Interact with fellow bloggers here at WordPress and in other blogging networks
      3. Partake in blogging events and prompts

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Hay peoples!! I’m Tara and I am a Pet Photographer in New Zealand. Every now and again I publish a personal post on what I have turned into my business website.

    http://tarasutherland.net/diary/2015/diary-imposter-alert/

    Today I am wondering what peoples opinions are on publishing the occasional personal post. The posts are not linked to via my Blog Menu but rather in another Personal Diary section. Or should I remove them completely and have a totally separate blog?
    I do a once a month Currently post, Sunday in the Life (what we get up to on Sundays – well when I’m not working) and the odd recipe. All posts have at least one if not more photographs.

    Am I wrong in thinking that clients wouldn’t mind these if they came across them?

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Greetings fellow bloggers! I have a rather peculiar inquiry: is the name of my blog too difficult, too long, too pretentious?.. Would love some feedback as I was thinking of changing it… Thanks so much in advance!

    Liked by 3 people

      2. Right now, I am involved in reading Christie books. My favourite among her books are ‘And Then There Were None’, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ and ‘The Murder of Roger Acroyed’.

        Like

  14. Hi,
    My site offers blogging advice to bloggers. Tips for engaging readers, improving content, and increasing traffic are waiting for you at my site. I am looking to expand my readership, so check it out. There is even a free incentive for signing up. I will try and answer questions bloggers at the pool have. Thanks. Here is the link:

    About Me

    Janice

    Liked by 5 people

  15. I just switched my blog over from blogger; it’s so nice to have a sense of community. Anywho, my blog is at smithfamilyrenovations.com and I guess I am just looking for some overall feedback/response. I feature home reno projects, diy projects, and just started ‘meal plan monday’ and ‘transformation tuesday’ series to expand and have more original content.

    Thank you for any ideas/help you’re available to provide! I’m trying to grow my reach in order to make some money with my hobby.

    Liked by 4 people

  16. Hello out there! I started a film blog about a month ago, http://crackedrearviewer.wordpress.com. I cover movies from the 1930s to the 70s, and am thinking of adding more (just did a book review, maybe adding classic TV and music). If your interested in fresh takes on retro pop culture, please visit and tell me how you like it. or dislike as the case may be.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked your post ‘The Precipice of “what if”’, it inspired me to write a blog post of my own, since I am also ‘what-iffing’ a lot, only in a more pessimistic way.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I found this idea really interesting! I’d be so intrigued to see where your work goes away from this series, as I don’t know it that well and would like to see where your imagination takes you without that restriction anyway 🙂

      Like

    1. Since I’m not in the same age group I found it hard to agree/disagree about the review, but some feedback I can give: I liked your writing, it’s obvious that you do like to do reviews and it shows. Also I liked the site design.

      Good luck, keep reading and sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for the feedback. As I am a beginner blogger I believe that it is really important to hear what my viewers think about my content. In the future I will base my reviews more on the genre and other related books rather than age groups. Thanks again for sharing your opinions and I will definitely continue reading and sharing great books with others.😀

        —Aditi

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Hy! I like your writing style a lot so I followed 🙂 There’s just one little thing I’d advise you to do, which is to slightly extend your About page. It’s great that you have one at all, but it could be a little more detailed, I’d love to hear who you are! I’m just telling you this that every reader who gets beyond the first few sentences on you home page will likely check out your About page, which can be the crucial decisive factor to hitting “follow” or “back” 😉

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Hi there! i just recently started a blog, less than a month ago, and am having a hard time gaining traction. I’m not sure if i’m doing a diary-blog, an adivce-blog, or any other type of blog. I feel if i just had a mentor–or a few– my blog would be easier to handle. I’m also not quite understanding how to design my blog. Please any insights or tips for making my blog better and gaining readers would be great! My goal is to eventually be a freelance writer.

    Liked by 4 people

      2. I have two. One is more personal while the other is going to be my future short stories that I add parts to weekly. The personal is: theopenmindedmom.wordpress.com
        The story one is: kleighsedgeofthecliff.wordpress.com

        Any tips on either website (design, content, etc.) would be appreciated! Please, I take constructive criticism very seriously and really want to succeed in this!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you for the tip! I will for sure look into taking a course! I will just have to rearrange my schedule to make time! Thank you so much for the link!

        Like

  27. Hi I’m back,

    Wow I didn’t realize how great of a community this is and I’m so excited to talk to more people as I continue on this blogging journey. Anyways, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how to add another tab to the top part of my blog next to the about tab, so that I can have a recent posts tab. Even if you have no clue what I’m talking about check out and follow my blog and I would be happy to do the same to yours!

    https://insertmyaveragelifehere.wordpress.com/

    Thanks,
    Rachel

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Go to your admin page and add a new page. This new page will be added next to your about page. There are some videos related to this on the YouTube. You can check that also….:)

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Aaaah a fellow barista, that’s awesome! I couldn’t stop laughing when I read about the extra ice to stop the frap from separating… I had people order fraps without the base and they always came back complaining that it separated, even though I warned them^^

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh those are the best! When someone gets an iced coffee blended and you’re pouring it like umm… you do you? Those moments make me love my job haha

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I like it, it oozes of your personality; this is my first time visiting your blog and I can already tell that you are a happy, funny, vivacious woman 🙂 good job!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh thanks. But there;s an incredibly……not so happy-funny side of me in this blog too 😮 I am writiing another post on the Vulnerability series where I share my deepest, darkest thoughts 😮

        Thanks for the support, I love you! 😀 Hehe

        Like

      3. I think your blog is great 🙂 And I think you should have an About Page too, it’s the most important page in a blog! Readers need to know you 🙂 Also, I prefer smaller paragraphs over long ones, they put a bit pressure on my eyes, I know others can feel this way too 🙂

        Like

    2. Wow, that was quite the experience. Your page is very loud and out there. It’s a good thing because you put your readers in the exact mood you want them to be while reading your blog, and you also scare off the people who would want to criticize you with an abundance of smiley faces and o00oooo00000ooos. Very sweet and very well done in a happy, bubbly and girly way.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you! 😀 Seriously? Smileys scare away critical people? 😮 I need some constructive criticism for my blog XD But OK, as long as it drives out the mean ones I am more than fine with that XD Thank you, I am glad I seemed all that ❤ Thank you for taking the time for all the kind words ❤

        Like

      2. hahaha, well you get those people who just want to be mean because you are a happy go lucky girl and you don’t need that criticism there is nothing constructive about it. It only breaks one’s spirit.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. The alphabetical description is wonderfully creative and quirky. I’ve been looking through your blog and I’m impressed with your honesty–the Vulnerability series especially. The layout looks great: it’s easy to navigate, which is always the trickiest thing to clean up. Great work!

      Liked by 1 person

  30. I recently started a blog for college that will chronicle my adventure through school and help out my fellow freshmen by saying: ” in the same boat. I’m going through the same stuff and this is how I’m dealing with it!”

    I have two questions, one specific and one general.

    The first is on my homepage I am using excerpts instead of whole posts since it was driving me up the wall. Should the excerpts be longer? Is there any way to make this look better?

    The second is how can I grow this blog outside of my core group of friends? It’s not necessary to know me as a person to get something from my blog. My goal is for my blog to be a resource that any freshman can go to in their time of need.

    Thank you so much, my blog is here: clemsonfroshblog.com.

    -Cody

    Like

    1. Hi Cody, Your blog is a great idea. The sidebar navigation is a good step: it cleans up the format so it’s easy to landscape the site.

      I would encourage you to highlight the heading a little bit more with bigger type or a more impressive font. It’ll look more professional and be easier to read/understand.

      In response to your first question: the excerpts are fine. You don’t want to overload the reader at first. In response to your second, gaining an audience involves a lot of work. First, put your posts all over the damn web–social media market yourself like crazy. Hashtags, comments, posts, whatever–just link like crazy back to your blog. It’s also a lot of “helping others” kind of stuff, just like what I’m doing right now. Engaging in the blogging community is the best way to get your blog out there. I’d recommend going through these comments and responding to a few, then checking out sites and liking/commenting/sharing. People want to help those who help them!

      You can see my blog at http://ourmillennialmind.com/ for a few ideas. Let me know what you think! -Grace

      Liked by 1 person