Sep 7, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

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

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.
Show Comments

365 Comments

Comments are closed.

Close Comments

Comments

  1. Allo! I’m Leisel from Skill Up Skillet, a weekly updated geeky food blog. If you enjoy any combination of gaming, geek culture, food, and/or sarcasm you’ll probably love me. Guess what? I had a birthday! I made two special posts for the event:
    Pt. 1 – Q&A session: http://skillupskillet.com/2015/09/03/birthday-pt-1-qa/
    Pt. 2 – Portal Cake recipe: http://skillupskillet.com/2015/09/04/portal-cake-is-not-a-lie/
    Due to delays from a leaky kitchen ceiling (Send a boat. Or alcohol. I SO do not get paid enough for this $#!*…) I was a day late with last week’s recipe. I’d be immensely appreciative if you’d take a glance and leave your thoughts! I worked extremely hard on both posts and think you’ll really enjoy it. Let me ask you: do you enjoy cake? Cherries? CHOCOLATE?! Well, what are you waiting for, then? This cake is everything you could dream of and more. Also, homemade whipped cream. Boom.
    Can’t wait to mingle, but for the love of all that’s holy… don’t pee in the Pool!

    Liked by 4 people

      1. I was madder than a wet hen, that’s for sure. For now we’re just not using the tub in the guest bathroom until we can figure out why it happened and afford to fix it. No major loss for now, but really irritating because I’ll have to repaint the ceiling. Oh well!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I am bad with Pinterest but I try REALLY REALLY HARD, okay? …I imagine I sound about 8 years old right now. XD Sounds awesome, I’ll check it out now.

        Like

    1. Really interesting read. It can be really scary when you stop thinking about everyone else and start thinking about yourself. I applaud you darling. Be happy and the real friends will come to you.

      Do you proof read before you post?? It helps to re-read. Still an amazing post and loved the picture at the top of the doll. So true to the way we live right now. Xx

      Liked by 2 people

    3. Writing a passionate but uninformed opinion piece used to do the trick, but now they make you work for it!
      I don’t know if there’s a hack beyond consistently writing great, visibly pleasing content and using lots of appropriate tags.

      The odds are that you, me, and anyone else commenting here will never be on it, so just enjoy writing without the attention and join us in basking in relative obscurity.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. As the page linked to below states, we look for solid writing on a wide variety of topics (as well as great photography, illustration, and more) — but we’re also aware that we’re bound to miss out on thousands of strong posts every single day just by the sheer imbalance between a small team of editors and tens of thousands of posts published daily.

      By the way, I’ve found several fantastic posts to feature on Freshly Pressed here at the Community Pool. So sharing your work here is never a bad idea.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Nice start. Good to see you giving this a try and hopefully the 30 day challenge will give you some good tips and ideas to continue blogging on your own once you’re done…

      Just a small notice – in your tagline there is a typo – On the word It’s you have the ‘ in the wrong place and then Underappreciated should be an e and not an i

      Hope that helps
      All the best
      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hello awesome people.

    I am from Singapore, and this is my blog,”https://deepmarvel.wordpress.com/”.

    I would love some comments and suggestions on my latest post/rant, “Coming to Terms: Regret”. Do follow back, if you are interested, and I will reciprocate back 🙂

    Thanks .

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Hay folks. Got a new post up more aimed at the makeup fans or the newbies. (Sorry guys!) Ant advice would be great.

    However im really wanting some theme ideas. Themes that will show off my photos, and give my blog more of a ‘fashion magazine’ kinda edge. But something thats eye catching. Ive had a lookie and picked some. Kinda want your opinion??

    Im at http://seasonalrose.wordpress.com

    Im more than happy to help back!! Xx

    Liked by 2 people

  11. I’m still looking for a New Name for my blog…..how did you come up with yours??? Do you have suggestions for how you came up with yours? I would like to change mine, which I’ve had for eight years- because a more commercial and more popular 4 year old blog uses it and has the domain name. Thanks for any words of wisdom and feel free to give any other feedback, https://paperjars.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. It took me the entire summer to pick a name! I kept thinking of things I like and what I would be writing about, then mashed them together to create the name “Politicana.” It’s a combination of politics and Americana (somewhat a play off of the Halsey song “New Americana”). I also had a blog for two years that incorporated the title of my favorite movie. Maybe you could incorporate your travel experiences into the new name?

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I took a few hours one day to google search all of the possibilities and ideas I had for a new name. If I saw that it was a popular name, or the domain already existed, I crossed the name off my list. I came up with the title “Nerdily” because it hadn’t been used, I thought it was unique, and it pertained to what I discuss on my blog (nerdy things in everyday life, pop culture news, etc.). The most important thing I learned from this was to never get discouraged. If someone has a name you want, it probably wasn’t the name for you. You’ll soon find a name you love that sets you apart.
      Hopefully that helps! Good luck!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Excellent ideas- part of my problem is I had this name first, and so think it is the name For Me. This causes some kind of mental block! Alas someone took it. And bought it. Will try to be more open and brainstorm.

        Like

      2. Yeah that’s tough, especially when you like your name and you’re so attached to it. Maybe you can take your name and flip it somehow? Put a new spin on it?

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I want to change the name of my blog for the exact same reason even though I really like it. But I’m giving it some time before choosing another one. I think you should go for something that describes you, not necessarily your blog- something close to you- that way it’ll be both relevant and unique.
      I have a question regarding this too- how long do you think a blog name should be? anyone?

      Like

    4. There is a movie with a character that’s a magician who goes by Frank Cadillac, from Frankenstein and Cadillac cars, his favorite things. I’m still waiting to be inspired for a blog name, I wouldn’t sweat it. For now I’m just promoting my brand so it will be familiar when I have to move sites.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Hi there! My name is Sarah, and I’m a fairly new Millennial blogger. I write about politics and current events with a semi-satirical/sarcastic slant. I’m starting a new weekly segment called “Millennials in the media,” in which I review what is being said about young people in the headlines. I would love some feedback on my first post, because it is fairly rough around the edges. Thanks!

    Millennials in the media: 09/07/15

    Liked by 5 people

    1. If you think that was rough, I’d love to see what happens when you get into your groove. I thought it was an entertaining read, but I’m a fairly sarcastic individual myself.

      Like

  14. Hi. My blog is called The Lucesco and focuses on economic empowerment for all, with a focus on minorities. In my most recent post, I discussed the basics of Budgeting. The goal is to alternate between social/economic injustices and practical applications. Budgeting is the first practical post of this new format I’m playing around with. Please review my posts and let me know what you think.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Great blog. I loved your poem especially. You write really well but I stumbled across a few spell/grammar check errors, nothing major of course. But other than that- great job!

      Liked by 1 person

  18. Hi everyone, why do you listen to music? What would you classify your musical taste as, and do you think it represents you? In my latest post, I discuss what music, especially pop music, is for, and why we listen to it. Would be lovely if you could check it out and tell me what you think!

    Of What Pop Music is For

    Liked by 3 people

  19. I recently did an overhaul of my blog and decided to try my hand at shorter, more succinct posts rather than the longer ones I wrote for almost two years. My latest one is called Searching For E7, and is about my love of maps, set to the soundtrack of the great singer Angelique Kidjo. Would love any feedback. I still plan on making some subtle changes to the menu and categories, but I like the changes.

    Soundtrack Of A Photograph-Searching For E7

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Your writing is phenomenal! I felt like I was tracing along the terrains on a map as I read your post. Great stuff. Love it!
      Your site looks great, too. Very clean and crisp and says exactly what I think you’re trying to evoke. Good work!

      Liked by 1 person

  21. hi guys ,
    I publish blogs daily and I think they are pretty good, they have some DIY , they are funny and I’m sure everyone would like my blogs.PLEASE, check them out and also subscribe so that you can keep up with my posts.Also I would like some feedbacks , so …there you go https://ilincapanait.wordpress.com/

    Like

  22. Greeting you wonderful bloggers,
    It’s been a very long time since I participated in the Community Pool and I feel privileged to be back. I have to admit, I have been waiting for this opportunity as I tend to harbor an unresolved query. The answer to which I’m hoping to find here.
    I’ve been blogging for two years now and there are certain pieces of my work that have shifted way below in my timeline, because obviously they were published a long time back. They are all considered to be some of my best works and I’d like to display them on my HOME PAGE. I’d like to fix them there so that whenever people visit my site, they get to read them, without disturbing the latest post\.
    Is there any particular theme in WordPress that gives me the freedom to do that?

    All suggestions are welcomed. 🙂

    -Aakansha.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I wish I could help you with your particular question but I’m not sure either. It makes sense for you to do that particularly if you feel they are some of your best work. I know I have ones that I fear have become lost, which are my favorites. One idea that springs to mind is, how about making another menu choice on your home page for ‘My Favorite Blogs’ or something of that nature? Right there with Short Stories, Poetry, etc that you have now.If some of those blogs are multi-category, why not just add one for your favorites. Just a thought, sorry I don’t have a specific answer. I am however glad to have come across your blog, which I will now follow and delve into deeper. You have some good well written thoughts I want to read more of.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That’s actually a very very good idea. Honestly speaking, I didn’t think of that at all. I have searched the options and I don’t think there’s really a solid solution to this problem. So I’m just going to use your idea and make a separate category.
        Thank you so much. You’re a life savior.

        Thank you so much for stopping by and giving me a chance to come across your blog too. I’m on my way to exploring it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      2. My pleasure! I need to sit down and make some more menu options for mine, as I just decided to do an overhaul and chose a new layout recently (the same as yours actually!) 🙂

        Like

    1. I really liked your post! I am always a fan of real-life posts with pictures. It’s always nice to switch things up, too. It sounds like recipes are your thing – so it’s great that you focus on that. However, posting something “different” once in a while is always recommended. It challenges you and keeps your readers interested! Have a great weekend.

      Liked by 1 person

  25. Hi everyone
    I just started blogging recently and I’m still trying to get the hang of it feedbacks are appreciated, I blog on fashion and random stuffs but mostly fashion. Thank you HolmaB.wordpress.com

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Just had a lookie at your blog. Its looking really good. Your humor and personality is there, and i have to admit i had a laugh reading them.
      A little advice, proof read. It always helps. Im still working on it too. You will get more into your writing groove with time. Also play about with themes. Sone themes will be alot better for your type of blog. But overall brilliant read. Looking forward to reading more.

      Kira xx

      http://seasonalrose.wordpress.com

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yea i realised that too, the way it sounds in one’s head is different when written will work on that as for the themes I will experiment with some and see which suits me. Thanks for the tips appreciate it.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Wow. That was an intense read. Very intense. But an eye opener. Very honest and emotional piece of writing. Dont change your writing style!!!!

      Moving on. Your writing style is brilliant. You get your emotions and feeling across perfectly. Your layout is on point.
      Are you sure your a newish blogger? You sound like you have been doing this for years.

      Any tips? Not really, you have everything there. The style, the emotion and the heart. Keep being honest.

      Kira xx

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much! That’s really kind of you, yes this is my first time getting my words down. I guess trauma and emotion brings it out – sadly.
        Thanks for the support xx

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Seriously!!?? Thats shocking. Keep it up though. Your writing style and use of emotion is brilliant. I got so angry reading it then upset and confused. Beautifully written. Emotion is always the best writing tool. I shall continue to support your work and you. Xx

        Like

  29. Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Evening Swimmers!
    Just wanted to say hi to all of you, hope you are having a great labor day weekend and a happy Monday!
    Nothing too special going on over in The Hood, but take a stroll on by if you want to. I shared a few posts over the weekend!
    Cheers and no splashing, we have drinks in our hands! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  30. Hello everyone! I am a somewhat new blogger who would enjoy any and all feedback! I run a semi beauty, semi thoughts blog on all things teenager. I hope you can all take a peek and let me know what you think!

    Liked by 2 people