Aug 3, 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!
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    1. Opps…I hit send before I was done… My blog is sporadic at the beginning because I was busy working. I’m a pet sitter/dog walker. I recently discovered the dark side to my line of work “Compassion Fatigue”. That’s what this particular blog is about. I have to get the words and the stories out of my head so they will stop harassing me. Comments are welcome. I’m not looking for any input about design/layout because it’s not the important part of what I’m doing. I just want to share my stories, good and bad, and just take away the power the beast in my head has right now. Read the blog and you’ll understand.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Well, I’ll say that the first line there was a solid hook! I’d like to read your blog but the link keeps taking me to my own drafts page.

        Liked by 1 person

  5. Hey everyone! April from The Honest Root here! I blog about changing my shopping habits to be more sustainable, and review products, shops, and talk about issues I run in to along the way.
    I want to expand my reader base and gain more followers. Hoping you guys can give me some pointers!
    Also I would love a critique on my layout and appearance! Thanks!
    http://www.thehonestroot.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I had a quick look through your blog and I already love it. It feels incredibly personal, the use of emotes in your writing makes it so much fun to read. Your blog seems like your own wall for sharing your thoughts, experiences and creativity! Keep up the great work!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Suzie! What a great (and really positive) post. I think it’s important that we take a step back every once in a while and acknowledge the good things going on in our lives. I enjoy doing many of these things as well! I’m so glad things are going better for you now. Keep up the good work and I look forward to more of your positive posts!

      Also, if you have a chance, stop by my blog and tell me what you think. Thank you in advance ❤ (www.hairysituationz.wordpress.com)

      Liked by 2 people

  10. Hi everyone. My blogs tend to run longer than many others I have seen, therefore there is more time in between them. I just published my 50th one and would appreciate any feedback. I am thinking it is time for a layout change so any thoughts on that are appreciated. The premise, or hook of my blog is still meaningful to me, so even if I slow down and don’t push myself as much, I plan to keep the concept going.

    Soundtrack Of A Photograph, Part 19

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Hi everyone, I write an art blog sharing mostly my own work but also featured artists from time to time. I’ve recently made some changes to the layout and style of my blog and have started an art project, if you have a moment please check it out – https://jgloverfineart.wordpress.com/ – It will be greatly appreciated and I’m willing to offer feedback on your blogs in return, thanks, JGlover.

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    1. Hi there, I found your post about your work room really interesting, and I must say, I loved your work station. It’s great that you can just close the doors and take a step back. I did feel that perhaps the post was a little long in sight of the topic. I felt it would have been better to focus in on a couple of things and tell us their story, instead of listing off everything. Overall though, it was well written and very readable.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for taking the time to look and read, I appreciate that feedback and it’s a very valid point that you’ve made, just got a bit carried away I guess haha.

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      6. I really like your blog, the posts are captivating and written masterfully, I really enjoy your use of metaphors and poetry as well. Good luck with your novel I hope it goes well!

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      8. Haha I didn’t read every post you’ve published just the top four or five and I guess I do read fairly fast, just wish I could write or draw at the speed my mind works at.

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      10. I’m glad I’m not the only one that happens to, and using my phone to type is a disaster my comments are probably full of mistakes. I suppose our physical ability was just never meant to keep up with our mental powers.

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      12. That’s very true, there wouldn’t be much challenge if everything just tumbled from the mind onto the page in a perfect form, he struggle is often the cause with the creativity being the effect. Working under pressure and to deadlines always helps me to produce better work.

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      13. I tend to find that as well, which is why I’ve been pushing myself with my manuscript. I’ve only managed a 1000 words tonight because my attention has been on the community pool, but that’s still something. If I have a deadline it helps me to sit down and get on with stuff since I know I can’t put off 80,000 words until the night before.

        What sort of artwork do you produce predominately may I ask?

        Liked by 1 person

      14. It certainly helps otherwise things get put off continuously and that’s never a productive course of action. So far I’ve spent a couple of years in college so I’ve had to work with the briefs they have gave me, but now that I’m moving in my own direction it’s narrative art I’m striking for. British myth and legend ultimately and a bit of fantasy art as well. I really enjoy the traditional/classical style paintings so I’m self teaching for a similar approach to that. What about you with your novel, what genre does it fall under?

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      15. FANTASY! Haha, I knew I liked you. That’s really awesome and British mythology is a great topic. There’s so much of it and so much of it that people don’t know. I’m a bit of a history geek and myths and legend are something of an obsession.

        Liked by 1 person

      16. Brilliant haha, yeah me too and it is definitely something of an obsession, there’s just so much material to work with. Most classical art was based around Greek or Roman myth, there’s not been an awful lot done on the British isles so it feels like new ground.

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      18. I normally gather information online from various sources, usually starting with a Google search, also books are a great help; I recently got a great book about different tellings of the Arthurian legend and it also mentions some other myths and legends from Britain. How about you?

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      19. Books predominately. I’ve a complete hoarder or the things and I’ve got a small collection on mythology and legends from Britian to Mexico. I bought myself a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead a couple of years back. It’s A3 with translations.

        Liked by 1 person

      20. Brilliant that sounds like a treasure itself, I must admit I much prefer books to online as far as research goes, I desperately need a bigger bookshelf though I seem to acquire a new book every time I leave the house haha. One thing is for certain though, it’s better to hoard books than the typical rubbish most people collect.

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      22. Haha, I’m just books and art supplies, got enough to see me through a fair few artworks as well so that’s handy. History, Fiction, Fantasy and reference and that’s me summed up book wise.

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      23. You’ve got to love history. I’m hoping to do a masters in medieval history in a few years.
        If you would like, I’d be more than happy to feature some of your artwork in a post. What I’ve seen on your site looks good and you might have seen on Writing and Works that I love shouting about other creative people.

        Liked by 1 person

      24. That would be excellent, the Medieval era is such an interesting time and would be an appealing degree course without a doubt.

        That would be great and I appreciate you asking, is there any of the works in particular that you liked?

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      26. Thank you, Romans 12:12. The project I’m doing at the moment is Lord of the Rings and will be producing an oil painting as the final piece if all goes well, it’s new ground for me using oils.

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      28. Definitely, oil is the medium I want to work with predominantly in the future so all the practice I can get with it is a blessing really.

        So have you wrote a novel before or will this be your first one?

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      29. First one, though I have two others that I started and sort of moved away from. I have an online series called Headquarters but that got pushed into the background by Darkened Daughter. I’m hoping to get back to it soon though. I’ve been working on flash fiction and poetry predominantly for the past two years.

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      30. Sounds fair enough, Darkened Daughter will be the big one and sounds like it’s worth focusing on fully, I don’t suppose one can afford to have a divided mind when undertaking the writing of a novel. It is an admirable step to take, I’ve considered it in the past and done loads of planning but just never had the heart to pursue it.

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      31. I think you have to have the drive or it all just fizzles out. Your passion is in your artwork so that will be where you excel best, just as mine is in Darkened Daughter and my writing.

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      32. For sure, it just took me a while to find my path, I’d never look back now and get the best of both worlds in some respects as I can tell stories through art. It’s a good feeling to know your niche and pursue it, the next step is mastering the craft and turning it into a career.

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    2. Hi Josh and Carol — I’m really glad to see you each found another blogger to share thoughts and ideas with, but in the future, thanks for taking these types of conversations to your own blog(s). This comment section is enormous as it is, so I’d love to keep discussions more succinct to make navigating through them more manageable for everyone else.
      Thanks for your cooperation!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. It certainly reads like an opening, but I think you’ve put far too much attention into setting the scene. The first two paragraphs practically drowned me in colours, and didn’t really give me a clear idea of where it was I was meant to be. I like the undercurrent to it but my advise would be to strip it back. I’d also suggest playing around with sentence structure. Now I may be wrong, but you seemed to be trying to create this calm, beautiful paradise that suddenly explodes with action. The shorter sentences would be better used near the end to correspond with this sudden change of tempo.
      Hopefully this doesn’t sound too harsh. I know it can feel like crap to have someone say that your work isn’t really their cup of tea, but I still hope I’ve said something useful. Best of luck.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. I’m really glad to hear that, it’s nice to know I didn’t come across as just plain insulting. If you want to rework it and have me take a second look just let me know. Or if not, I don’t mind. I know how hard it can be to find people to critique work openly and give feedback on improvements.

        Liked by 1 person

      3. I appreciate the offer. I’ll revisit this and run it by you. I’m not making a living on this but getting something worth publishing is what I’m after. I really appreciate feedback.

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      4. It’s very difficult to make a living out of writing. I’m thirty thousands words into a novel and can only boost of a few short stories being featured online. If you’re going to write, do it because it makes you feel like nothing else. I should send sparks down your fingertips, it should make your mind burn with ideas and sometimes, sometimes it should be like you’re hitting your head against a brick wall. Either way, it should always be something you couldn’t imagine not doing.

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      6. My advise would be to get everything you can down on paper then to put it to one side for a week or so. That way you can come back with a clear mind. I know from personal experience that writing at that stage can leave you feeling really exhilarated, and you miss stuff in your own writing because of that haze.

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  13. Hi! My name is Aarti. I like to write about subtle aspects of life that I’ve observed and which I find appealing!
    In order to pursue my passion for writing I started my blog (http://aartimtendulkar.wordpress.com). I’ve been blogging for a year and a half now. I would like to hone my writing skills.
    I would love to receive feedback from all my fellow bloggers! So please do check out my blog! Looking forward to hearing from you!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hello Aarti 🙂

      I really like your header picture, the colours in the kaleidoscope are beautiful!

      A couple of suggestions – your ‘about’ section would be better as a page rather than a post so that it doesn’t get lost (although of our linked to it from the about button this should still be ok).

      Also, I’d maybe add a ‘read more’ button within your posts to make scrolling navigation easier and perhaps break up your content with some more paragraphs (this is the teacher comment coming out in me, sorry!). A long section of text often turns people off, so either extra paragraphs or perhaps slot in images to break it up.

      Hope this helps. Please feel free to return any suggestions!

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      3. You’re welcome and thanks for stopping by mine and following 🙂 The ‘read more’ is on the task bar when writing a post (next to where you can change to bold/italic or add a link). The icon looks a little like a sandwich with a dotted line running through it! But if you hover over the icon with your curser, it will show what each one does.

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    2. Hi, Aarti! I love your blog and am now following it. I agree with Haylee that your “About Me” should be a separate page – that would make it stand out more.

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  14. Hey all! Need help with REAL life? Or is your life so awesome that you have pearls of wisdom that should be shared with the world? I just started a blog all about sharing my little trinkets of knowledge and would love to see yours as well as any feedback! Let’s build a following together!

    Liked by 1 person

  16. can you please visit, i’ve started this blog to run away from the stress of engineering. i’m 18 and I know I can do more if you will help me. a little criticism would help. thanks! thisisnotpassion.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Hello everyone! I hope you all are doing great (: I’ve recently started a new blog and would love if you all could take a look at it an give me some feedback. I’d really appreciate it! I will do the same in return. Thank you ❤ (www.hairysituationz.wordpress.com)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi there!
      I stopped by your blog, looks like you’re using the same theme as me (Sobe) so bonus points for that! I’ve customised my colours slightly differently though.

      A couple of suggestions : Add ‘read more’ to your longer posts to make scrolling to other posts easier (this is from your hairstyle trends post in particular) and also perhaps set up the mobile option (go to settings, general, mobile I believe) – it gives the theme a cleaner look of viewing from a mobile device which so many people do.

      Hope this helps 🙂 Feel free to give any suggestions back on mine!

      Liked by 1 person

  19. To my fellow bloggers, good evening! My name is Mark and I am now over half way through my first psychological thriller novel. Please stop by and join me on this exciting new journey! Each and every one of you counts towards the success of what is about to come. Thank you to all those who are already following and thank you to those who are hopefully about to! It means a lot. Mark

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Hi all! I recently started blogging (more of a hobby than anything else) and would love your feedback. So far my posts have been mostly review related (baby, beauty, gardening, more to come!). I also plan on blogging about my health & fitness journey. I’m a mom who does a lot of research and would love to share my findings. I also love reading similar blogs. Thank you!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Hello! Your blog has a nice clean look to it and loaded easily which is always a bonus.

      One thing I’d say though is about the image credit disclaimer. It was always my assumption that you should only use free commons pictures or credit the site you have used them from, rather than stating in a blanket comment that they aren’t yours, but you will remove if someone has an objection / show they have ownership. I don’t know the answer, it’s such a grey area… Your way saves loads of time though!

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      1. Hi! Thank you for taking a look! I didn’t really know how to address that … Any images I have used have come from sources such as Amazon (products) or from Google images. I would never knowingly use a copyrighted image so that’s why I added the disclaimer. The images I used are similar to what I have seen being used in the same way by other bloggers (even some ‘celebs’) so I wasn’t sure. Thanks again!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. You’re welcome, but like I said I don’t even know what the answer is, it’s all so complicated. Just wouldn’t want someone to be pulled up on it. Perhaps someone else will comment and give a more experienced response! Thanks for following 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  22. Hello everyone! This week I am looking for some feedback on my sidebar. I have a few widgets up, main menu, social media links, a quick logo thingy I made, my top posts, and follow via email sign up, ect.

    I was wondering if you all could take a quick look and let me know if they are in a good order and maybe give me some tips on others I should add.

    Maybe while you’re there read a few posts and let me know what you think.

    Thanks 🙂

    http://zenandpi.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    2. I always find the widget bar difficult to order, but I think yours works well. The whole site has a nice clean feel to it, but you do reference tea, so I might be bias.

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    3. Hi Lisa, I would actually put your ‘About Me’ widget above the social media links, so people could get a quick glance at the blog author in the first look at the page. That’s it for me!

      Love your blog by the way! I’m definitely stealing the #weekendcoffeeshare idea.

      Like

      1. I completely agree but I don’t think I can. This theme had the social media menu kind of built in and the widgets go below the menus. I think I’ll search the forums to see if I can find a way to switch it with this theme. Thank you 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Hi Everybody,
    I recently finished blogging 101, and as a result wrote this post which I published at the very end. Its titled, Truth Be Told: Why I Blog. I felt vulnerable in doing so but I am so glad I did it! I hope it is okay to post here to introduce myself. Any feedback on the actual writing of the post please leave here, otherwise please leave general comments on my blog.

    Truth Be Told: Why I Blog

    Thank you!

    Liked by 2 people

  26. I just started blogging. I realize it will never have a ton of followers just because it’s a personal diary type blog and I don’t really lead an adventurous life. I haven’t written much because it’s only been 3 days now. However, feedback is always welcome on anything and everything.
    https://cew815.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

  29. Hey everyone I posted 2 new photo blogs during the weekend and I would really loved to hear what y’all think about them! I am also working on a new post maybe for tonight or tomorrow!! Please take a look at my page and tell me what y’all think!!

    Thanks!!!

    Liked by 2 people

    2. I’ve done that before, no worries! Very nice blog, and the photos are great. Especially liking the One Time In Nola photos but I will dig deeper to see the rest of your work.

      Like

  30. SOS: I’m in a writing rut! I feel like my content just isn’t fresh anymore, and I’ve noticed a drop off in readership. How do I encourage more comments/feedback/discussion? Or, more generally, how’s my tone and direction? All responses welcome. Thank you!

    Liked by 1 person

    2. According to me, the best way to encourage more activity in your blog is to:
      *post great content
      *comment/feedback/like, etc in other people’s blogs
      *keep the blog nice and simple

      In that order.

      Like