Nov 23, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for feedback, advice, 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?

Did you just start blogging and you’re not sure how to get going? Has your blog been dormant for a while but you’d like to give it a jolt of life? Join our free Blogging 101 course (or any of our other offerings at Blogging U.).

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

705 Comments

Comments are closed.

Close Comments

Comments

  1. Hey everyone! I’m a young blogger just getting started and looking for tips on how to reach more people. My blog is about social anxiety and interpersonal relationships in the modern world; I share a lot of my writing on the philosophy and psychology surrounding interpersonal relationships and intend to also write some “How-Tos” and sets of tips on how to interact with people face-to-face (alongside a few narrative posts of my own adventures).

    Ironically, as much as the blog is about meeting people and creating new social relationships, it seems more difficult to build up a readership online. Posts have a tendency to get lost in the noise, so to speak, as so many other people are writing great content as well.

    Any tips on how to grow my readership and get the ball rolling would be greatly appreciated! Also, for those who are interested, here’s the link: https://ananxiousextrovert.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 3 people

    1. The tone and pace are on point. The photos are fantastic as well. One recommendation I have is that instead of putting the whole picture in with the thumb and commenting to “excuse it” you might want to just crop it out so you don’t have to mention it. It makes it look more professional and ensures the mention of the thumb doesn’t distract from the overall post, which was very well done. This is me reaching, though. It really was great overall.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks othradar! I debated a lot about including the thumb and ultimately stuck with it because I wanted as wide of a shot as possible, plus throw in an explanation about fighting for space at tge window. I’ll reconsider now. Thanks for the feedback!

        Like

  3. Hi! I’m Heather from The Other Science Blog. This week I made my second blogcast: http://theotherscienceblog.com/2015/11/21/blogcast-2/
    If anyone has their own blogcast, I would love some feedback or advice. I also wrote about protein-folding:http://theotherscienceblog.com/2015/11/17/protein-folding/ and wrote an open letter to my younger self: http://theotherscienceblog.com/2015/11/15/to-my-younger-self/. Let hear what you think about my work. You can send your blog my way for critiquing!

    Liked by 2 people

  4. The protein folding post is very cool. Easy to follow and incredibly informative. The only critique I would have is the layout, it seems like the actual post takes up too little of the page. There seems to be a good 20% on each side of the page that is completely unused, and on the right hand side there’s a good 10% under the header that’s empty as well. I might just be biased towards wider layouts, but it does seem a tad thin to me.

    That said, great content, it was really easy to follow and interesting throughout.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Hello all! I have exciting news: My geeky food blog Skill Up Skillet is celebrating its first blogversary! I’m hosting my very first giveaway to celebrate! Anyone a Star Wars fan? I’m giving away a Death Star Waffle Maker. If you’re interested in entering feel free to check out the giveaway post here: http://skillupskillet.com/2015/11/17/skill-up-skillet-is-1-year-old-its-giveaway-time/

    In addition to my blogversary I am also but a mere 100 followers away from my first 1,000! It is a very exciting time for me. (How crazy would it be if I got 1,000 by 12/18, the anniversary of my first published recipe?? Geeking out here.)

    Last, November’s Featured Recipe is now live: Legend of Zelda Bombchu Lemon Bars are here for you to enjoy. They even have homemade fruit leather faces, because for once I didn’t feel like throwing a metric butt-ton of food coloring into my cooking. Dear all-natural folks (not that there’s anything wrong with that!), you’re welcome: http://skillupskillet.com/2015/11/19/novembers-featured-recipe-bombchu-lemon-bars/

    Liked by 8 people

      1. Great! I’d love to see a ton of entries when all is said and done. I’m especially enjoying seeing the ideas people have been submitting for recipes for their entry.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. That’s exciting news indeed! Congratulations on reaching that epic milestone! Definitely going to check out some of those recipes (mmm, lembas!)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Sorry, I didn’t see your comment earlier! Thank you! I agree, the Lembas bread is unmissable. Might throw a batch together tomorrow; I’ve got some extra heavy whipping cream around.

        Like

      1. I might’ve just Googled that hashtag. You’re not my former chef coworker who obsessively stalks my blog trying to motivate himself to do something with his life, are you? Yes, I’m kidding.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Very funny. I might be…lol That’s my signature, I guess. Check out my site & see if I’m who you think. #NOTHINGMatters

        Like

      7. Bollocks… psychology abbreviations. This is going to take a while. You should look into having an About page, unless the point is to not have one. That would also make sense, considering the topic.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Good stuff! Really like your commentary. If I had one critique it would be that the blog is kind of all over the place, you mention yourself that it has a “mixture of hard hitting discussions, lighter pieces, and poetry” which is kind of a lot to throw out there.

      If you’re going for a broad eclectic array of posts then feel free to disregard this advice, because the content is great, but focusing on one thing or giving your blog an “identity” can be useful, as well. Something to consider.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I find myself gearing towards thought provoking discussions but unfortunately it’s a lot of doom and gloom. While I try to give the reader things to consider it is not exactly easy to articulate such discussions on a highly consistent basis, which leads to the inevitable fact of blogging direction. I think after a few more weeks of consistent blogging I’ll have a better idea if I truly want to focus on a particular aspect. Thanks very much for the constructive feedback!!

        Like

    4. Hello,
      I thought your blog was really nice. I enjoyed how simple it looked because it’s not so crazy on the eyes. I really enjoyed your most recent post: “The Page.” Great work. Something I’d suggest is making categories. I see you do poetry, fiction, etc. Perhaps you can make separate categories so that other bloggers can find your work faster. Other than that, I think you’re doing great. Cheers!

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Hey, friends! April from The Honest Root here. I write about sustainable living, fair fashion, safe makeup, etc.
    I’d love it if you could review my latest posts about safe, natural makeup at Sephora and at the Drugstore.
    Sephora: http://thehonestroot.com/2015/11/20/safe-cruelty-free-makeup-at-sephora-the-starter-pack/
    Drugstore: http://thehonestroot.com/2015/11/12/the-safest-drug-store-makeup-brands-to-buy-and-brands-to-avoid/

    Thanks! I’ll return the favour if you like 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Hey there! I love the message of your post. We should just accept people for who they are and learn to forgive them of their past mistakes. The only thing I would change is the position of the picture of Bieber; try centering it. That way, your text won’t be pushed to the right. That’s all! Keep up the good work (: Also, stop by my blog if you have a chance (www.anxieteas.wordpress.com).

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Hi
      Well done on writing your first post.
      The title of tour blog is a little difficult to read in black on a dark background. Maybe try experimenting with a different text colour.
      I totally understand about your comment about not yet knowing much abut yourself but it would be great to add a bit more to your ‘About’ page. Maybe explain why you have started a blog, what you plan to write about etc.
      I hope this helps
      From Debra @ https://cultivatingtime.wordpress.com/

      Liked by 1 person

      1. heyyy SARAA .. I wish if we could plan out a day to rejuvenate together .. I mean all the Good friends on Word Press .. And I Love your Blog .. I LOVE IT …

        Like

      1. I switched over to bluehost & they help guide you through it. It’s still a bit confusing as to how they work together (the .com & .org sites) but I hope to learn more as I go. I also googled moving your followers over. It’s a pretty simple process although with the redesign I’m not completely sure if they are actually there anymore. It is confusing which is why I really wished I had listened when others recommended I start with .org in the beginning 😞 Good luck to you & I can try to help if you have questions along the way.

        Liked by 1 person

  17. Good evening friends! I hope you are all well. My novel is almost finished so if you are a fan of psychological thrillers and you have a spare five minutes to check out my blog and even follow, you would make this writer extremely happy! I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time. Mark
    http://www.markdraycott.com

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Hi Debra, thank you very much indeed for stopping by and for your very positive feedback. It is much appreciated! If you could also ‘follow’ my blog that would be fantastic! I will definitely check yours out in return. Initially my novel will go out as an e book but yes the plan is to follow that up with printed copies. Thanks again! Mark

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Really great thoughts! I might recommend a few once-overs with grammar in mind just to make sure your ideas are coming off as clearly as possible. The content is good, but the editing could use a bit of buffing up. Thanks for the post!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Hey! Welcome to our community (: I just have a few suggestions for you. Be sure to proofread bc I caught a few punctuation errors. Also, try shortening your posts a little bit. The avg reader will only read the first 3 paragraphs and then move on. I hope this helps! Keep up the good work.

      Also, stop by my blog if you get a chance! (www.anxieteas.wordpress.com)

      Liked by 2 people

  22. Hi friends! And early Happy Thanksgiving! mckelodeon of Nerd•ily here with a whole lotta goodness coming your way! I’ve got a whole week of fun, Thanksgiving-themed posts lined up, so hopefully you can stop by and join the fun! Also, I’ve got a special announcement I am making next Monday, so be sure to check that out! Yesterday, Nerd•ily reached 100 followers, and I am absolutely gobsmacked. So, thank you to those who decided to follow my little site. It means a lot to know that people like what I do. 💜
    So, to end on a high note, here is the first Thanksgivjng post I’ve got up on the site: http://nerdilyblog.com/2015/11/23/alibi-mad-libs/
    It should prove to be useful at those uncomfortable family dinners 🙂
    Thanks again!

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Very thoughtful perspective from such a young mind. Good luck with your exams & applications. Seems to me, you would be a good follow. Happy blogging! #NOTHINGMatters

      Liked by 1 person

  24. Hello, ladies & gents. I’m reaching the 2nd week of my blog, & I would love to get some feedback. I made the mistake of trying to jump right in & I’m starting to think I could’ve use those blogging classes. I’m already signed up for the next class. For now, here’s my last post. I greatly appreciate any input, good or bad. Thanks in advance & happy blogging. https:// weknownothing2015.wordpress.com/apologies-acceptance

    Liked by 1 person

    2. Hi have you done an ‘About’ page. If you have, I can’t see it easily on your blog. i would suggest you do this to give readers a sense of what your blog is about and who you are as a blogger. I hope this helps from Debra @https://cultivatingtime.wordpress.com/

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hello Debra. Thanks for the input. I do, but I’m still learning how to work the widgets. If you have any more advice, like how to use the about me widget, it’d be greatly appreciated. Either way, thanks again & Happy Blogging. Heading over to check out your site. Maybe figure it out from there. #NOTHINGMatters

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Hey all! I’m in the process of streamlining my blog more towards the travel genre, focusing on the travels I go on to follow my soccer teams around the globe, along with a smattering of things around DC, when I’m home. I’m interested in feedback on my writing style, and thoughts on post style. Too many photos? I’m not overly concerned about layout right now, as I am going to be transferring to self-hosting and a new theme come new year’s, but what would you be interested in reading about for a few pillar posts?

    Thanks!

    http://melissaindc.me

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Thanks! I think there is a fine line between too few photos and a photo dump. I’ve created a portfolio page where I can post all the photos I want to share per trip, where posts have a curated selection.

        I’m thinking of switching to BlueHost, but still reseraching.

        Like

      2. I’ve heard a lot of buzz about BlueHost. I’m also considering self hosting, but I haven’t started the researching process yet. Do you have a FB for your blog- that also is a great place for more photos.

        Like

    2. konnichiwa, your blogs are really cool, you have plenty of pictures, but you might need to check about having some of the pics since some were a bit too big

      Like

    3. Maybe this is just my opinion, but with a topic like cats, you totally have an opportunity to include more than 1 cat picture, especially since we know that the internet is loaded with them!

      Like

  27. If anyone can take a second to check out https://freshouttapress.wordpress.com/ I’m at a point where I don’t know what else I should really do besides post. If you have any suggestions, ideas, or whatever the case may be. I’d very much appreciate it. If anyone needs help with feedback, a opinion, or anything I can help with then I’ll try my best to help. Happy blogging(:
    Fresh Outta Press is my blogs name by the way.

    Liked by 3 people

      1. I plan on it! I know a header image and a some photos occasionally with my post would give it the more alive feel I think it lacks. I just haven’t been able to find any that I could use without being worried I was stealing it. Copyright and all that. Haha. The 2 I have planned will be on Thanksgiving though! Count on it. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Well I have 2 I took myself that I actually am going to post, I don’t take many photos. Haha. But I’m trying to figure out how to use my Flickr account to make mine but I have a Windows Phone and they are sooooo limited app wise. So the app doesn’t seem to be able to on my phone. Smh

        Like

      1. I never actually tried to write a poem, like I criticize anything I make constantly, so I guess I should say that’s the first poem I was serious about and completed? But thank you. The other post are blogging lessons, personal insights, and me rambling. Haha. Kinda like now.

        Like

      2. that is alright, I found a blogger called cokikay, the poems on that blog are amazing, you should checl it out soon

        Like

    3. Hi
      I would agree, images would really improve the look of your blog. if you are worried abut copyright, take your own photos and use them. There are places to get images that you can use without copyright – just look for them on line. Either that or just credit the image to the sure where you found it.
      I would also suggest you work on your ‘About’ page so readers can get idea about the focus of your blog and you as the blogger.
      I hope this helps from Debra @ https://cultivatingtime.wordpress.com/

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I will do! Any certain places you’d suggest? I know I need a header and some post pictures in the future. But what about the sidebar? Or a slideshow? I don’t know where all they’d stand out the best, but it is very helpful and very appreciated! I plan on working on the About Fresh Press page and I was thinking of doing a separate page About Me. One for my blog, the other for me? But I’m hesitant! Thank you again!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Will do! Thank you, for the links and information. I wasn’t sure about going and adding to old content but now I’m off to do it tonight! I’m about to check your blog out now. 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  28. Hi everyone,
    I’ve just published a post about creative writing and would love some feedback on it. It’s mainly focused on how I have learnt to write freely without overthinking, something which my natural desire to edit usually prevents. I not only hope that you find it enjoyable to read, but you also feel inspired to write spontaneously more often.

    https://infinitedaydreamer.wordpress.com/2015/11/23/write-first-think-second/

    Thank you 🙂

    Liked by 3 people