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).

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.
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  • 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. Hi guys!

    I’ve been kind of stuck lately trying to find new blog post ideas. I looked back at my former posts and realized that one of my favorite kind of posts are the ones where I share my point of view on a topic by sharing my own life experience.

    I’d greatly appreciate if you could have a look at my blog posts here : https://thehighheeledpapergirl.wordpress.com/category/opinion/ and perhaps give me some ideas. Warning: most of the posts classified in this category are at least one year old and have not been edited therefore there might be some grammatical mistakes.

    I will gladly return the favor!

    All the best,

    Giulia

    Liked by 3 people

  2. Hey everyone I have a fitness blog called kayciasailsmanfitness.wordpress.com. Please check it out and let me know what you think and I’ll do the same. Thanks !! 😊

    Liked by 3 people

    1. It’s a simple blog and that’s a good thing, But at the footer part, you have three columns showing the same thing. That does not really look cool to me. If it’s intentional then it’s okay.
      Left a comment on your blog.
      Happy blogging:)

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Hello! I’ve got a kayak blog that isn’t getting a whole lot of trips right now because it’s winter. Because of this my blog posts are much less frequent because I’m afraid that my followers won’t like posts like this http://kayakyrstin.com/2016/01/06/using-kayaking-to-show-difference-between-religion-and-spirituality/ when they started following with posts like this http://kayakyrstin.com/2015/09/17/san-juan-island-day-3-lime-kiln-and-friends-for-dinner/. Thoughts?

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hello,
      I can definitely see why you feel that way. I think it’s creative that you’re trying to use kayak more metaphorically then what it’s literally used for. But I do believe people tend to be more attracted by the adventurous aspects of your kayaking adventures.
      Perhaps, what you can do is broaden your blog. So instead of making it specifically and strictly about kayaking (since it will limit the kind of content you can put up due to weather/climate/etc) you can generalize a theme for your blog. That way you can make a category for your kayaking adventures, but also make a category for more personal things. Also, you won’t have to stretch yourself trying to find creative ways to put up content in relation to kayaking. I hope this helped. I wish you the best of luck!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I like John’s suggestion. Another possibility is that you could write posts about your kayaking equipment (what brand of kayak you like best, reviews of different paddles, etc.) or highlight some of your older posts that show some of your favorite trips. You could put up polls for your readers to share their favorite equipment or kayaking location, etc.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi Natasha,
      I really enjoyed reading this post. Sometimes I feel insecure about my ability to be artist. Not just specifically painting/drawing/etc, but artist in other aspects like music and photography. So this post was definitely encouraging to me to keep trying. I visited your official site and I think you’re quite the talented artist. Your artwork is great! Keep up the great work. You’ve got yourself another follower 🙂 Cheers!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Wow, that felt good to receive, thank you John! I really am relieved people are finding it helpful. Sometimes it’s hard to know when you are writing something off the cuff. I prefer to help, not hinder 😉

        Thank you and best of luck with all your artistic practices. Being multi-modal like that is a great way to keep your creativity fresh and constantly evolving. Cheers!

        Liked by 2 people

  6. Hello all! I’ve tried doing this blogging thing many times before but always get stuck by trying to just blog about one thing when I have a ton of things I’m interested in. So I started just an Art blog with all of the various different kinds of projects I work on. There’s also some writing and short story type things. I’d love some feedback on the best way to set a multi themed blog up!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I’m a newbie at this too but this is what I have in my head to do with mine as well. have a layout that shows the heading of your different posts. with catchy pix too. so at a glance any visitor can feel the theme. Or maybe one of the widgets that allow you pin up a variety of your posts by the side. Then again am not an expert. But i think i’ll try taking this advice myself. Lol dsainthatwroteblog.wordpress.com

      Liked by 2 people

  10. I just recently put up a nice list on how to get famous without doing anything to improve the world: http://wp.me/p6ghST-oB I was wondering, does it sound cynical enough? Should I add some more teenager girls with pastel hair, or maybe a dash of self-righteousness on the part of the subjects?

    Liked by 2 people

  12. Hey everyone my name is Iliana and I’m new to this blogging world it’s something I’ve always wanted to get into but I don’t consider myself to be a very good writer so I always let my fear of being criticized hinder me. I would really appreciate it if I can have some pros check out my site and give me some serious feedback I want to have a successful blog with real followers. Thank you for taking the time to help me improve.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Your blog is visually attractive. I’ve never seen that theme before. Can you bring the widgets up from the bottom to the right sidebar? That would make the navigation better I think. Also, be sure to put something into the ABOUT page; many readers check that out. Good job!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. I’m as new as they come (literally only just started my first blog). So I’m still trying to find my way and work things out such as the theme, title etc
    Really all I am asking for at the moment is maybe a few follows or at least a look and some tips along the way 🙂 a bit of mentoring in a way. Hope you like https://misstrac.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I really recommend Blogging 101 (Zero to Hero). The February one is fully subscribed, but it is just great for giving you tips, “how-tos” and support. All the best with your blogging

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Yeah Blogging 101 is a good option. Even Daily Prompts are good options as there you would meet a host of other beginners like you.

      For advice; I will suggest you to write anything and read everything. It will take a while but you will automatically start improving

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I liked your blog. Very simple layout which is good because it’s clean and neat. I enjoyed the contents as well. I’m also a Christian and I found your posts to be very well written and encouraging/challenging. The only thing I’d suggest is if you made an About page so that viewers can better understand your blog and know who you are more personally. I wish you the best of luck and may we strive to know more of Christ 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  17. Hi Everyone. I was really excited with last weeks feedback to my post. I have now resolved to provide feedback to at least two bloggers every week.
    Below blog is an older post which i thought had a great subject matter. However i wasn’t sure whether my writing did justice. Looking for feedback on my writing. Could i have done better? Kept it more concise? Any feedback is appreciated.

    A view of Nimoo

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I liked what you wrote. However, I found the matter interesting from the third paragraph; the starting was redundant as you spoke of other things.

      A short description of a village which you did not photgraph or can’t explain; that worked! You can try removing the questions like ‘What is so special about that you ask?’ and the post would become more focussed and powerful.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks for the feedback. I think you hit the nail on its head. I was trying to create some anticipation with those first paras. But i myself wasn’t convinced in the first place.

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Hey. I checked out your blog and there are a couple of things.
      Firstly, I am confused to whether the blog is a movie/book/TV show review or is it a blog that tells us why you like the movie or so.
      For a fanatic like me, it seems like its neither because I have read both styles.

      Take your time and figure out what the blog is going to be about, and since the blog is just a month old, it will take some more writing and experience to get there

      PS: Don’t mind the honesty 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for the honest feedback 🙂 It is movies/books/TV shows that I have watched/read and what my thought on it is, etc. I am always open to suggestions on movies and any advice to improve my reviews/thoughts etc.

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Hi. I was a bit confused when i first visited your blog. There was the butterfly effect header as well as a Blissful Blog header. You may want to rectify that.

      I am a big fan of the movies as well. Although i do not write movie reviews. I do use movie quotes in all my blogs. Its my way of making people aware of movies one movie at a time. This is my about us page. https://aquarianbabble.wordpress.com/about/
      You can browse my posts for the movies if you like.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Hi There 🙂 Thanks for the feedback. I have tried to find a way to remove the blissful blog heading, but its part of the theme I’m using. I will def try and remove it 🙂 ok awesome. Will check it out. Thanks 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  19. I usually do not advocate or write on religious or festivities but Jallikattu is a Bull Taming festival allowed in India. I am enraged by the fact that we, the country which lynched people for eating meat just allowed a state to play around with LIVE bulls.

    I am not against festivals or religions; I am just against using animals for celebrations. So I wrote a fictional post about it, trying to capture what the bull might be thinking. I would also appreciate if Indians especially who relate to what i say can check out PETA’s page for the same.

    Jallikattu: Other Side of the Festival

    PETA’s page: http://action.petaindia.com/ea-action/action?ea.client.id=111&ea.campaign.id=36032

    Liked by 3 people

  21. Greetings, fellow bloggers! I love writing about issues which persist in today’s world and affect people. I also write about Feminism, Equality, and articles which question morality and justice. Apart from that, I also like writing reviews, thoughts and personal life.
    I’ve just started a new series called “The Internship diaries” where I write about my experience interning at a magazine. I’d really like to know what you think!
    Thankyou
    https://multilingualshades.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/day-1-i-wrote-two-articles/

    Liked by 2 people

  24. Hey, I’ve just put up my first blog! It’s about my current make-up favourites, feel free to leave any feedback, comments and also follow if you like blogs to do with lifestyle beauty and media 🙂 thanks

    Liked by 2 people

  27. Hello! Looking for feedback on 2 things:

    1). Post titles. I always find myself second-guessing the titles I choose. Can you take a look at my blog & give pointers on how to structure the Titles?

    2). Listicle. My last post is a listicle and the first time I’ve posted something like this. What I want to know is, did I structure it well? Was the content good enough & short enough to hold attention? I used Instagram inserts in this – is that good or should I stick to proper pictures?

    Link to my blog- https://trulysu.wordpress.com
    Link to the listicle- https://trulysu.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/top-10-photos-from-a-time-warp-mughal-india-series/

    Thank you!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Keep the titles as they are, they are good. The list was also good and the idea of embedding instagram images is actually efficient. You just have to copy codes and the website does the rest. So no, do not remove the insta images

      FYI: Brilliant images!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Hello!
      I think the titles are just fine. They’re well structured already. It’s creative and it definitely piques my interest to check them out.
      As for the listicle, I think it’s fine as well. It’s a great way to advertise your Instagram to your WordPress community. It especially helps the fact that your pictures are really amazing. It’ll draw more attention without a doubt.
      You seem to be on the right track haha. I found your blog to be very professional and well organized. Keep it up! You’re doing great 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      2. Well, I have problems with being frequent too, and I’ve made a similar promise to myself. Posting once a week is a good idea, in my opinion. Share it with your closest friends or family so that their expectations might drive you to write. That worked for me. Good luck with your writing journey! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    3. I completely understand your frustration. I also have been experiencing writer’s block for some time now. I don’t know if this will help, but perhaps instead of trying to find a creative inspiration, what if you used a personal emotion experience as an inspiration? A emotional drive to kickstart a new piece? Then just take creative liberties from there. I hope it gets better for you and I wish you the best of luck!

      Liked by 2 people