Jan 11, 2016 / 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).

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  2. Cheers all! I’m Leisel from geeky food blog Skill Up Skillet. With a new year comes new opportunities, right? In my book, I call these ‘patch notes’. For those who may not be familiar with the blog this is a handy guide to better navigate the site. Would love to get your opinions: http://skillupskillet.com/2016/01/10/a-new-years-announcement-skill-up-skillet-1-2/

    Also, although I’ll be posting fewer recipes for the foreseeable future I refuse to let a good thing die. I’m now accepting guest posts! Do you like geeky stuff? Do you like to cook? Heck, do you like just writing about food? If you’re interested in guest posting opportunities for the New Year check out this link: http://skillupskillet.com/guest-post-for-sus/ (Also, it’s worth laughing at.)

    Will try to be around as much as I can. Have an awesome Monday!

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Powerfully written, and sickening. The only thing I could think to add would be a call to action of some sort, but what could you even say or do?? I don’t have the answers, but I wish I did.

      Liked by 3 people

    3. This is beautiful. There’s lots going on here. I loved all the pictures you used because it brings much depth into the post. Also, it was very insightful because there were things I had no idea about. I really hope things change over there..

      Liked by 2 people

    4. Thank you for presence and work at the Lesbos refugee camp which is remarkable and brave at these times. As far as I am concerned, you don’t need to improve anything. This is alright and all shall be well.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I have a supervisor who likes to waste an entire day looking up random facts just to make a lunch schedule. I’m tempted to give her that link and tell her to suck it up. (Yep, I’m terrible.) Nice.

      Liked by 4 people

    3. Your list is great, but I couldn’t read it in one sitting because of the massive amount of info. My suggestion to you is to serialize it, break it up into individual posts either daily or weekly. I think the info would seem more valuable if you did it that way and your readers would be anticipating the next post:)

      Liked by 3 people

    4. These are definitely very cool facts! I also agree with the other commenters about serializing them. You’d hate to have people not read wonderful content just because it requires too much time and scrolling for one sitting. Very cool idea though!

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Thank you! Yes, I’ve been quite fascinated by the wing walking for a while now. I may have a different opinion when I get up there! Thanks for stopping by 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

  6. Taking my blog on to the radio has been a huge success. Much more than I’d ever dreamed. If you love meeting other bloggers, listening to music then please tune in and get a request played. There’s also a podcast available and I’m really looking for your feedback on how I can make this even more successful than it already is. Thanks! Have a look here for more info http://steve-says.net/2016/01/10/a-huge-sucess-lessons-learned/

    Liked by 3 people

  10. Hey everyone,

    We’ve tried to cut down the length of our posts a little for our travel blog, as we’ve had some feedback that they were a little long, and here’s the most recent:

    Rhode Island, USA

    Any feedback on how it reads would be much appreciated, particularly with regard to whether the length is nice or too long and boring, and of course if you’d like some back just comment a link to your blog below and I’ll do my best to help out.
    A question as well – what are the ‘tags’ you can add actually used for?

    Thanks for the help,
    Alex

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hi Alex! I’m not familiar with your longer posts, but I enjoyed the length of this one, as well as the fact that it was perfectly punctuated by photos.
      Also, the tags can help you find similar content and helps other people find you. If someone searches “travel” in the WordPress reader for example, your post might pop up.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Great post, perfect length and well punctuated with relevant pictures. I have been breaking up my travel posts into segments so the story follows the pictures and yet is not overwhelming with either. I like the factoids you supplied about Newport.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated. I’ve been making an effort to break up the wordy bits a little more of late. Glad you like the little facts as well – B always pokes fun at me for being a bit of a fact nerd, but I like them too…

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Hello! I have a few suggestions:
      Is there a reason you have 2 blogs and one only refers to the other? I would keep one and ditch the other one for clarity. If you have followers on one, you can let them know you’ve changed blogs. Also, I would suggest re-sizing your pics smaller so they are a bit more to scale and look more appealing. Keep it up! I love DIY!!

      Liked by 2 people

  14. Hi! please check out my blog: ofangelsandcherryblossoms.wordpress.com
    I would love some advice and feedback. also, can someone please tell me how to add tags to my posts?

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Cool stuff! You have an interesting writing voice. The one thing I would say is that you mostly just write about writing. Try breaking out and using that voice to write about something you’re passionate about.
      Happy blogging! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    2. When you write a post regardless of what editor you use there is a space for categories and a place for tags, just put them in there separated by a comma, dont use more than 15 in total or WP wont index you, so less is more, but make them relevant.

      Imagine categories as a draw and tags as hanging folders within a draw, so a category may be Music and a Tag may be Radiohead.

      Liked by 3 people

    1. I would suggest following and getting to know other people who write similar topics by leaving meaningful comments on their posts. Also, maybe try promoting on social media. It’s hard to give advice without knowing what you’re currently doing, but WordPress also has some good resources. Hope this helps!

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Thanks Jhaneel. I’ve been working on networking and Meet & Greet events as well as commenting and liking other posts. I have a Twitter account so that helps. Also Flipboard. Hopefully those are good. If you can think of anything else let me know. Thanks again for your advice! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    2. I looked through a number of posts (other thean the ones linked). I like the pictures, little snippets of life and friends it is interesting.

      On the outdoor ones though I would like to see a location of where the pics were taken, maybe even a small map if possible on the post so people (especially in the UK like me) can relate more to where the pics are being taken.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Good stuff! You have some interesting insights on the nature of blogging. You’ve got some cool stuff. Compiling it all in the One Shots was a good move. The only criticism I have is that there isn’t quite something to unite all the posts other than your voice, but I really don’t think that that’s a big problem.
      Happy blogging! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi Andrew, thanks for sharing your opinion. To be honest, I’ve never really narrowed down on what the USA of my blog should be – so I just decided to skip that step! For now. 😀

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I think your blog entry is genious. It is one of the best I have found off of this site. The title is compelling. The writing is splendid. Captivating from beginning to end. I gave you a follow. It looks like you have some interesting stuff. Thanks for sharing. I like your theme btw. I like how you have everything layed out. Easy to understand what your blog is about and how to find everything.

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Hello,

    I’ve just published a post of a cute hamster – trust me its cute.
    https://potsoftea.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/i-dont-normally-like-creatures-that-much-but-this-is-an-exception/
    The question I have is this, what do you think of posting/sharing stock images? There was noone to attribute the picture to, because it’s free to use, but I still felt like I had to say that it’s not my picture.
    How do you feel about using stock images and then getting likes for it? Is it right to get likes for someone else’s work? Or can I just feel like the likes are people ‘liking’ that I’m sharing something good?

    How do you share guilt free?

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I think so long as you’ve tried to find someone to credit it to if possible, and you’re not passing it off as your own (as in by saying you didn’t take it, like you did on the post), then no worries. Guilt free.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I think it is totally fine as long as you give credit to who took the photo! It makes the blog so much more interesting with photos. But it might be considered offensive if they were used without noting where it came from. Good question!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks!

        So what would you say if it was on StockSnap.io , where you can download things for free and don’t have to give credit at all? Would you still say you got it from StockSnap, or just say nothing at all?

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Good question. I would be interested in knowing what other poolers think. But, I would err on the side of mentioning it perhaps in the caption so it isnt terribly obvious but it is there nonetheless. What do others think?

        Liked by 2 people

    3. I don’t think the issue is whether to share a share-able and copyright-free picture, but why are you posting it (rhetorical question)? What is your purpose? Are you adding value to it with information and using the picture to illustrate your point? Is your point “THIS IS CUTE”? Is that what your blog is about? Just things to think about when you post. It is cute!!

      Liked by 2 people

    4. You raise a good point. Who do we attribute the image to? I do a lot about pop culture, so I’ll include a movie poster, and I wonder about citing it.
      The only thing I might suggest in tracking down whose image it is, is maybe do a reverse google image search? That would be my best guess, and even that would take a while if the image gets circulated a lot.

      Liked by 2 people

  25. Hi there, I’ve been blogging paleo/primally inspired recipes on paleowithcream.com for nearly 18 months. I have a lot of followers who are mostly via Facebook and am keen to get some feedback on how I can get more blog followers and how I can improve my posts to get more comments and interaction. My lastest post is

    Banana & Plum Loaf

    Many thanks in advance.
    Wendy

    Liked by 6 people

    1. Your posts look like they’re written well- that’s half the battle, at least it is to me. Start engaging with other blogs. Follow. Leave thoughtful comments. Network. Go to link parties and meet n’ greets. People will repay the favor. Personally, I’m part of several FB groups and they have built up my blog a lot.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Your blog is just awesome! The layout really suits the main theme of your blog. I loved all the pictures especially the most recent post. It looks absolutely delicious! I like how you put the recipe out there for everyone too. You’re doing a great job! Keep it up!

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hello,
      I found your blog quite compelling. I loved your writing and your thought processes. I can tell you’re very introspective which is a great trait to have. Keep writing and don’t stop. I think you’re doing great. The only thing I’d suggest is if you made an About page so that viewers can connect with your writing more and know who you are personally. Other than that, keep it up! Cheers 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  27. Hello everyone! I run a blog about pop culture called Pop Cultural Studies (found here: https://popculturalstudies.wordpress.com/) and today I completed a post looking at Doctor Who as a part of the horror genre (found here: https://popculturalstudies.wordpress.com/2016/01/11/moffats-monsters-the-horror-genre-of-doctor-whos-steven-moffat/ ). I could use some feedback on the post or the site itself, and I would appreciate your help.
    Happy blogging! 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Love it! I’m obsessed with pop culture, so this was right up my alley.

      I thought your notion of Doctor Who as a horror genre was well executed. I’ve always thought that the show was a bit creepy, especially David Tennant’s last episodes as the Doctor (“Silence in the Library” and “Waters of Mars” especially). Very interesting to read. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

      Liked by 2 people

    4. I really like this post – nice layout, good length, useful info… I was going to try add some more helpful feedback, but can’t think of anything I’d do any differently so will just stick with saying good work.

      Congrats on the first semester results too, it’s always great to see all your hard work paying off

      Liked by 2 people

  30. Hello bloggers…. welcome to http://www.salorocks.wordpress.com : Know Your World
    A blog which will give you a different perspective of the same world because what I express is just my view for world which may be different from what you think as. I write what I feel and what i experienced through poems, paintings, articles and short write ups . Reading my blog will surely will make you think in a different way about the same world. As my tagline says
    The Same World but A Different Perspective..

    Liked by 4 people