Dec 21, 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>

The Community Pool is now closed for the holidays! It will reopen (in a new post) on January 4, 2016. Happy new year!

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 everyone.
    Although I’ve been blogging for a few years now I’ve never posted anything here before. I’m a little apprehensive as I can see that I’m in the company of many accomplished bloggers! Anyway, I’ve taken the plunge and decided to stick my head up above the parapet!
    My blog started as a way of recording my road trips around Europe, but has sort of evolved into more of a commentary, in part due to courses like Blogging 101 etc.
    Anyway, I’d love to know what you good people think of it, warts and all!

    https://hogriderdookes.wordpress.com

    Many thanks in advance.

    Dookes

    Liked by 2 people

    5. Very clean and easy to navigate. I love the simple whimsy in your title graphic. I don’t know what it looked like before but this layout is overall enticing.

      Like

  6. Hi friends! I’ve technically been a blogger for a few years, but I still consider myself “new”. I’m trying to narrow down the audience that I’d like to address (if I even need to). I love to write, and I love to share experiences that I’ve had. I don’t mind being “transparent” if learning about some of my experiences will help save others some trouble. My husband and I are youth pastors at a church in Atlanta. We work with teenagers, and have learned so much from them (unfortunately some of those lessons were hard). I’d love some feedback. I’d also love to check out some of your blogs. Thanks, Malika.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I like your blog. I think it is a great start. I like the wimsy of it being about literature and whatever else is on your mind. I imagine a lot of people will be able to relate with that. I think you have a great start.You might think about adding a like button so people can express that they like your post. And you might think about adding a search field and categorizing your posts so those that want to read about the literature part or the other part or a specific point in literature can zoom right there. Good luck with your blog!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Good start with your blog. I am also a travel blogger and love connecting with other people who are bloggers or who like to photograph. as a lesson learned from my own blog you should probably think about starting to categorize your posts now so they don’t get away from you after you have been blogging a while. You can then put these categories on the side of your blog so people like me can sort through them and read what interests them. You might also think about adding an about section so people can learn who you are and where you live and why you are traveling. Happy travels. PS. I would love if you would stop by and check out my travel blog too. Merry Christmas.

      Like

  10. I have just published two very special posts which gives readers a behind-the-scenes background on how we make and publish posts at Dream In Music, so check it out at http://www.j2w7.WordPress.com; Now I plan to write and publish two more posts, as well as share one more link, before I take my much-needed break for the Christmas holidays until I restart again on January 4th, 2016, so be watching for them! Again, the address for D.I.M. is http://www.j2w7.WordPress.com! Merry Christmas!-JW

    Like

  13. Hey y’all! I just had a question. How do y’all get followers for your blogs?? I started my blog back in April and i only have 2 people who regularly read. Will some of you check it out?? I’m a Christian teenager, and I absolutely love to write. Your advice would mean a lot! Thanks!! 💙

    Like

      2. Thanks for sharing you’ve now gained yourself a flare follower you write about very meaningful things and it’s clear you are passionate about the world and what does on it in. Always good to read a blog from
        Someone who is a fun believer in God as opposed to someone who is questioning/denying his existence.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I have had the best luck with following and interacting with a lot of other bloggers. In other words if you connect with them on their blogs they will follow you and support you on yours. I would also recommend that you search out and find others who blog about similar things. This will give an added chance that they will connect with you. And lastly, a lot of people recommend that sharing your posts on social media helps elevate readership. I haven’t done a lot of that so I cannot independently verify. Good luck on your blog.

      Liked by 2 people

    3. I can’t speak for everyone, but I get followers by interacting with others, posting links where welcomed and being an active member of the community. In terms of writing, I write posts that I think many will like to read and have things to say about, but that’s just me. Blogging takes time and dedication, so just stick with it and like what you write about!
      I did check out your blog and I think you should make an about page and use widgets to make your blog more user-friendly and engaging.
      Happy Blogging!

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Hey all! I’ve come today to ask about Facebook. I’m new to it, and only have 8 Likes on my blog’s page http://facebook.com/coolbeans4/
    How does one go about finding new pages to like and getting more interactions and getting my voice out there? Like I said, I’m new to FB, so would appreciate any tips. 😛
    Thanks! Happy Blogging and Happy Holidays!

    Like

    1. The theme you chose fits your topic well. I don’t understand the blog name, “Course of Matters.” I wish you would tell something about yourself in addition to your topic on the ABOUT ME page. I like the look of your blog overall. Good luck with it.

      Like

  19. I’d like some feedback please.

    I’m interested in exploring the intersection of quality photography with the classical essay. I’d appreciate any general thoughts as to my current site and specific insights as to how to improve the presentation of photography in my blog.

    I’d also appreciate hearing about any other writers and photographers working the same ground.

    Thanks for your time. http://maktie.com/

    Michael

    Like

  26. Hi all,
    Would love a visit to my two blogs. I’ve just uploaded a new post on each and would appreciate your feedback. Please can you put any comments, likes etc (if so inclined) on the sites themselves. Much obliged. I will wish you all goodnight since it is almost 1pm over here in the UK. And may I take this opportunity to wish you all a wonderful and peaceful seasonal break.
    Love and best wishes,

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Have you looked at mine? If not I’d appreciate you returning the favour of what you are asking me and plse be so kind as to leave a comment or like so that I know you have visited.
        Best wishes with your blogging. 😃

        Like

  28. Hi all,
    I have recently gone through one of the BloggingU courses on branding and focusing my blog on readers a little more. I found it really helpful. In that regard, I would appreciate any feedback about theme, layout, and to ensure that my widgets are working properly. I’ve had a number of people tell me they can’t find my Follow button.

    The course also offered several suggestions and two of them really interested me. The first one is having a recurring event on my blog. I was thinking about having a “Stuff They Never Taught You in College” Thursday or something along those lines. Just a little background: my blog is all about leaving the field of teaching in under 5 years. I want it to be a resource for people who are also considering leaving teaching and I am also using it to track my journey through career change. Any thoughts on that event?

    Another suggestion was having guest bloggers. I would LOVE to hear from other teachers or people who left teaching or even people who are in school to be teachers! I’d like either guest posts or interview questions for people to answer. I don’t really have a regular following yet, so I’m hoping I can find some fellow educators on the Community Pool.

    Finally, I just created a new post on the top 10 moments of my teaching career. I wanted to end 2015 on a positive note. Any and all feedback and constructive criticism is appreciated.

    Phew! Am I done yet? I think so…

    https://leavingteachingsite.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi there.
      I’m not a teacher, but several family members are and for the longest time, I wanted to as well…who knows, maybe I’ll still decide to get into that.
      In terms of your blog, I think you should either switch themes or have less posts on the page because the widgets are really far down and people may not go that far.
      I’d also suggest using pictures to spruce up the black and white page and to expand your About page so people know you better.
      Happy Blogging!

      Like

      1. Thank you for your input. This is where I’ going to sound a little dumb… how would I shorten the number of posts on my page? I completely agree with what you are saying, but I don’t know how to fix it lol. I also agree with you about pictures, but I struggle to find some that would be appropriate or relevant to what I am posting about.

        Like

      1. It’s funny because some people are able to find it, but others cannot. When I open it on my browser, I see the little one that pops up when you scroll through a page. I added a follow widget to the bottom of the page and a sign up by e-mail one as well. I’m thinking I might need to change my theme again, because the only options for widgets are as footers.

        Liked by 1 person

  30. Hi everyone, would you please kindly help me. I would like to hear from you about what you expect to read from a blog about the life of a PhD mom. Is there any categories that you would like to add (please check out the blog: https://nadya.wordpress.com/ ) ? Would you be interested to read my thought process? Or perhaps you would be more interested on how I decorate my work place and organise the logistics of my project stream?

    Like