Dec 14, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

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

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.
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  1. Hello, I’m new in wordpress and I am still confused about the difference between menus and widgets and how to use them. Can someone please help me with this? And please come visit my blog if you’re free. I write random things there. 🙂 eritzerella.wordpress.com

    Thank you!

    Like

    1. The widgets including things like images that when clicked go to certain pages, twitter feeds, etc (cool stuff basically). Whereas the menus are just that, a list of links.
      Typically people have a menu across the top of the screen (Homepage, about etc), and a list of widgets down the side (Follow this page, twitter feed etc), check out my blog and you can see the difference!

      Like

  3. Happy E-Mass to all bloggers. Am about to start new year with blog knowledge this time round. I dint have enough consept but i have gain alot of knowledge and am now with an idea of blogger’s.
    Thankyou

    Like

  5. Hello everyone,
    I just switched my blog from public to private, and I changed the search engine settings to private too. But some of my posts are still able to be found on Google. Does anyone know how I would be able to get them removed? Is this something I can do on WordPress, or do I need to report it with the search engines?
    Thank you in advance!

    Like

    1. One way to kill the search engines ability to find you posts is to update them, and change the ‘slug’ (Found under ‘More options’ on left hand side when editing/ updating.
      This will change the physical web address and might prevent the links saved by good from working, as the address will point to a page that isn’t there any more!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. When you change the search engine setting, the change takes some time to take effect. It also doesn’t control the search engine’s ability to produce search results based on previous indexing of your site, made prior to the setting change. That said, even if a post is found via Google, nobody could access it on your site now that it’s set to private.

      The previous commenter’s idea of changing slugs is worth a try as well, though, once again, it won’t have an immediate effect on previously-indexed posts; it’ll just make their URLs no longer functional.

      Like

  6. I am a teenage blogger that has been blogging since August (this is my first blog!). I would really like some advice and constructive criticism for how to improve at blogging and English writing in general! Thank you very much for your time 🙂
    -fibit

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Good morrow to all!
    Just checking in to invite you all to check out my blog (Including complimentary daily riddles!).
    Any feedback on content/ layout/ how can I be so bad at writing/ anything at all would be much appreciated!
    Also, if anyway could spare some wisdom on how to increase traffic flow to my blog that would be useful, as it feels like I have hit a wall in terms of attracting people!
    Have a lovely day!

    Like

    1. I’ve found that the more you like, comment on, and follow other blogs, the more other bloggers will interact with you. It has helped me get more likes and follows, but my blog still didn’t have very many comments. That’s something I would definitely like help improving, too.

      Like

    2. Have you considered taking the blogging 101 course? I think it is starting on January 4th. Its a great way to meet other bloggers, find blogs that you want to follow, and gain new followers.

      Like

  13. Hi all!
    It’s been about 4 months of blogging and loving it but I really need some feedback. So please if can spare 5 min check it out and let me know what you think. Thank you in advance
    http://www.sebdani.com
    I’ll be happy to check your blog too. 😊

    Like

    1. Hi Seb! I have just checked out your blog and really like the layout. Your homepage is really eye-catching and the photo stream adds extra visual interest. I also like that your posts have a common theme, are easy to read and are really positive. Will enjoy reading from now on!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I enjoyed reading your posts particularly the travel guide. It is scandalous that you got bitten by 3 mosquitoes with no spray on hand! Your writing is witty and had me wishing for more. I look forward to your future posts 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  15. Hi there everyone! I just started using WordPress for a new blog I’m starting. To be brief, I like to drink alcohol a quite a bit, enough that I have a desire to make it one of my hobbies. However, that could easily be a slippery slope into drunkenness or alcoholism, so I want to have a creative motivation as an outlet for part of the attention I give to my enjoyment of spirits.

    So, in my blog Ethanol, I’m going to make observations about the things that I drink. How they taste, smell, look, if they go to the head quickly or slowly, etc. Feedback on ones writing is always good, but the rest of the blog is up for assessment as well.

    Check it out at https://ethanol.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

  18. Hello Blogging Buddies!
    I changed the look of my blog. I changed themes to Sobe and I added a static front page to greet my visitors. I have never used a static front page before. I’m not sure if it is difficult to find my actual blog. If you have a moment, please take a look at the redesign and let me know what you think. Thank you and Happy Holidays!

    Like

  21. Here’s a post from the travel website I have been working with for my Mother. I wish to make it more of a site that leads to travel aspirations and how one with less means or money but a simple dream can maybe achieve it. Kindly give feedback if the tone of this post directs to the same or not. I am very much a rookie at blogging for myself, would really love to hear honest and very critiqued feedback. Thank you.

    http://ultimateworldtravel.com/2015/10/27/discover-yourself-in-bali/

    Like

  22. Hello everyone! My blog is wordndwhimsy.wordpress.com

    I started the blog a couple of months ago and have really loved exploring different themes in my articles. However, I was wondering if people think this makes it too unfocussed. I enjoy reading blogs with a running theme, and realise that my blog very much lives up to its name and the articles are perhaps unconnected other than by my writing style. Do you think it would help to find an umbrella point that can cover all pieces? Do you prefer the more serious topic discussions or more “whimsical” pieces and do they fit together?

    Also, as I write more posts, the right hand side of my homepage is becoming more full of blank space as you scroll down – do you think I should consider changing my theme since I now have more pieces? Do blank spaces make it look less considered?

    Thank you for your time, hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas! Anna

    Like

    1. I personally enjoy reading blogs with a specific goal or theme. I checked out your blog and I do not think that it looks less considered. However, since you enjoy whimsy, perhaps a theme with more color would be appropriate and more eye catching.

      Like

      1. thank you, I appreciate the advice! will take this into consideration for future posts and possibly modify my theme 🙂 I look forward to reading your blog also!

        Like

    2. Your writing is lovely and has an insight beyond your years. Personally I find the diversity in topics intriguing. It is always interesting to get a peek at different shades of a writer’s personality.

      As for the blank spaces on the side, you could use that real estate to put up some more widgets. Or if that feels too cluttered, you could try what I have done with mine. I have limited the visible posts to a maximum of 5. This is just enough for viewers to get a taste of your content while not being overwhelming. It also makes for much better mobile viewing as your widgets will appear at the bottom and not get lost in page after page of posts.

      Like

      1. Thank you so much for such kind words, it’s very encouraging! And great, practical advice – I think I’m going to look into changing the appearance of my cover page and will take your advice on limiting the number of posts! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  23. Hi I’m a newb to blogging and am writing about love, lust and my personal journey towards being open to sharing partners in the bedroom. I have next to no views and was hoping this was a good place to start! please take a quick peek at my writing!! desiressealed.wordpress.com

    Like

  27. Hi everyone. I’m Amelia and I blog at http://www.flyridewander.com. Mainly I write about my travels but I include a journal, recipes, anything really. I am about to embark on my next adventure in the new year and have been making changes to my blog to accompany me in my move half way across the world.

    However, for some reason my pages (about, contact, FAQs in the bottom left) keep popping up with a warning page. Does anyone know how to edit this so there it’s a warning page? It says something like unsafe page.

    Thanks for the help and a very merry Christmas to all!

    Peace and love
    Amelia Jayne
    http://Www.flyridewander.com

    Like

    1. Hi Amelia! I don’t know how to stop the warning from popping up. But I know how to bypass it. If you are using Google Chrome simply type ‘danger’ without the quotes. I guess the problem is with the certificate of the site. Browsers cannot verify the authenticity of the site or something.

      Like