Feb 29, 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?

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!
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  2. I welcome fellow deep thinkers to visit me on my journeys through ecumenical reconciliation, music, China, home-birth, mountain-living parenthood, social justice, the struggle of living a Christian life in a hedonistic world (not preachy, I promise) and poetry. But more so, I’m looking to make long-lasting spiritual and intellectual friendships so we may support each other through the rough and sweet improvisation of life. The latest post is a portrait of a day living on a Tibetan farm. Thank you and many blessings: https://gospelisosceles.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I LOVE your writing! The story telling style bring these adventures to life..I’ve followed your blog and definitely am looking forward to seeing more of your posts. (It’s especially cool that you’re a Christian, as well!) 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  5. please could you check out my first ever post??? would love some feedback, look forward to being able to write as well as you!!!!!!!!!!

    Liked by 3 people

  7. Hello happy Monday people! Experiments with painting, some macro photography, and a reclaimed pallet idea, are the more recent posts. Currently having an exciting art adventure using an unusual item – post up very soon, once I have exhausted all options! Hope to see you soon 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

  9. Hello to you all.

    I’ve taken the time to create a blog simply outlining how it is to live life with depression. I’ve been blogging and using my creative outlet for years, but I’ve only recently tried and tested myself with Word Press.

    I follow back and do my best to read and comment on blog posts as often as I can. I don’t have a job mainly because the depression is heavy, so I normally respond at odd times of the day and night. I do read, however, and I’d like people to express themselves on my posts as well.

    Thank you. 😀

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hello Mr @GottaGetReady, I’ve read a couple of your posts and although you are dealing with a sad subject it is nevertheless interesting reading the very honest accounts of your experience and struggles.
      I love your user name – it speaks of hope to me. Hope for a future free from the immobilising effect of depression.
      Maybe now and again you can write posts on what you imagine a day, or week would look and feel like free from depression – give your creative juice, flair and ability a challenge!
      Best wishes 😃

      Liked by 2 people

  10. Hello guys, My name name Cesar and I am from Venezuela, we are having some difficult times and that is why I decided to give some lidership tips for people around the word, If you want to take a look at it this is my link lidervenezolano.wordpress.com

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Hello! I just started a blog, shabbyequipmentwriter.wordpress.com, to be a home for my writing (whenever you try to submit something to get published, the publisher wants to see a link to your blog, and I’ve never had one!). I would love to receive the advice of others as to how I can improve it.
    One question I know I have right now: how on earth do I get the fonts in each of my posts to be consistent? Even though I have it set to the theme’s default, when I copied and pasted each post into its page, it seems that the font I had written it in carried over. I would like them to be the same, and I hate whatever font it is that Times New Roman converted to!
    Thanks. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. In your post editor, look at the second row of buttons in the toolbar — you’ll see a symbol that looks like a notepad with the letter T on it. Clicking on it will make all pasted text lose its previous formatting. Just keep in mind that not only your font choice will disappear, but also stuff like italics, bold, etc.

      Liked by 1 person

  13. Friend’s, perhaps Roman’s, Possible Countrymen (and women), lend me your ears.

    I’m looking for the views of some fresh eye’s on my photography blog. I shoot mainly street and landscape on a variety of camera’s both digital and film.

    Check it out, let me know what you think. Share the love.

    Here’s a post form today in a long running street photography series;

    Street Photography – Olympus OM-D EM-5; Twenty

    And here’s an opinion piece I wrote recently also;

    Why Landscape photography?

    Liked by 2 people

  14. Hi all, I’m brand new to blogging (I’ve been a pen & paper kind of girl for much of my life). I haven’t done much yet, but would love some feedback on what I have so far: thisauthenticlife.wordpress.com. It’s very white/all text, but I would hate to throw in an image that doesn’t relate in any way, simply to break things up. Any advice for a novice blogger is so very welcome!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I just checked out your most recent post. You’re right – it is very text-ish. Sometimes, that’s okay, but I recommend adding in a photo occasionally. For example, you could include photos of any of the props that you mentioned in the post, such as the ice luge or the canoe. If you don’t have photos of these, maybe any wedding-themed photo would do. You can always go on Flickr and search images licensed as creative commons: this means you can use them for your blog for free as long as you link to the owner. Your theme will look great with photos 🙂

      Another point: it’s always a good idea to watch your paragraph length. You don’t want to confront your readers with a block of text when it could be split up into smaller bits. This is more of an aesthetic thing, and not the end of the world, but maybe worth thinking about.

      I enjoyed your post! 🙂

      Would you be willing to read one of mine, too?

      https://natalieschriefer.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/how-ballroom-dancing-redefined-femininity-for-me-anyway/

      Liked by 2 people

    2. As hard as it might be to find a relating image, pictures are important to break up the text, as you know. In your most recent post, you mention working at weddings, so adding a picture of a wedding you worked at or something will be nice. Or even just some clipart pic somewhat related to the subject to draw the eyes in.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. hehe thank you for your feedback =.I appreciate it and yes, i will love to read your post and by confusing grammatical structure? please highlight it..thank you..:) lemme read yours now..btw will you manage to read all of my posts??

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I read one of your washi tape DIYs. All three of the projects were very cute. My only suggestion – check your grammar. For example, “Now you can difference which pen/pencil is yours!” should be, “Now you can tell which pen/pencil is yours!” Grammar is a little thing but it makes a big difference in how seriously people take your work.

      Great post! 🙂

      Would you be interested in reviewing one of my posts?

      https://natalieschriefer.wordpress.com/2015/12/04/gettin-crafty-how-to-add-rhinestones-to-a-dress/

      Liked by 2 people

    1. I read your post on Copenhagen. You arranged the photos and the text very well – there weren’t too many photos, the pictures were well-placed, etc. Awesome! Your blog sounds like it came right out of a travel guide.

      If you’re looking to spice things up a little, consider adding more personal information, or fun anecdotes. From reading this piece, I don’t feel like I learned that much about you as a person. (For example, did you like the roller coasters or the more timid rides better? Etc.)

      Would you be willing to read one of my posts as well?

      https://natalieschriefer.wordpress.com/2015/12/31/travelling/

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you so so much for taking the time to look at my blog, I really appreciate the feedback. I will definitely try to personalise the travel section more. Will look at your blog now!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. If you want an example of a popular travel blogger, try Niall Doherty. Though not all of his posts are about travel, his style is to mix his travel memoirs in with more personalized stories. He’s quite sarcastic and leads a pretty crazy life, and I don’t think you need to go as far as he does (unless you want to). But just a little info about you will help foster a personal connection with your audience 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I looked at your intro posts and your about page. I think you should add more info to the about page – right now, it’s very short and doesn’t tell me very much about either of the people running the blog. You may also want to consider adding photos — you’ll be more likely to connect with your audience if they can see you. However, if you’re uncomfortable with this, I understand. 🙂

      Would you be willing to look at one of my posts?

      Questioning Gender Neutrality

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Hey Natalie. thank you gor your valuable feedback. I will definitely add more to my about page. at the moment I am not comfortable with putting up our pictures. I am about to read your post. 🙂 have a lovely evening.

        Liked by 1 person

  20. Hello, everyone! My blog teaches people to take control of their time and money and spend both wisely. I post pieces on developing extra income, such as this one: http://thriftyguardian.com/2016/02/22/additional-income-streams/

    I would love your feedback on that post, but also just my site in general – does it look professional? If you were looking to hire a finance coach or time strategist, would my posts help prove to you that I’m an expert in the area?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I really like your site design – it’s colorful but also professional, which is a fantastic combination. 🙂 I think your breakdowns of each survey site are good, and I think you did a good job of staying away from things that sound like a scam or clickbait. In finance, that’s a big thing. Clickbait (which is sensationalized, misleading titles) would be a major turn-off for me in looking to hire someone.

      Would you be willing to look at one of my posts?

      https://natalieschriefer.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/the-summer-of-book-reviews-or-how-goodreads-helped-my-writing/

      Liked by 1 person

  21. Help – Categories . . .
    I’m sure I will be redirected if I am not supposed to ask this here. I am revamping my blog. I am in the middle of an attempting to add/remove categories, I see them clearly under WordPress Admin/Categories – but they are not showing up on my published pages. Help 🙂 ???

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your categories do show on your posts when you click on them; not all themes also display categories on your blog page (which is the feed of all your posts).

      Like

  23. Hello, friends! I’ve recently jumped into the blogging world as a way to beef up my portfolio. (I’m a journalism student so the more I write, the better!) My blog is (or will be! I don’t have a ton of content up right now because it’s still pretty new) a mix of things that I’m interested in or that are relevant to me, like college, running, and food, along with different types of writing exercises. I’d totally appreciate it if any of you would like to have a look and give any feedback! Thanks!

    https://thetinyalmond.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I enjoyed going through your blog! The layout is very cute and elegant. I had no trouble navigating around either. As for your writing, I think it’s great. I liked your most recent post about Spring. I felt engaged and you had a very honest tone. So great job! I encourage you to keep writing 🙂 Best wishes to you!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you so much for such thoughtful feedback! I really appreciate it! I’m glad you enjoyed my writing! 🙂 (Also, I checked out your blog, and I have to say that I love it! It’s incredibly pleasing to the eye, the photographs are stunning, your writing is great! Best wishes to you as well!)

        Liked by 2 people

  25. Hi
    I’ve been blogging for a while now but havnt got anywhere with it. I’d appreciate if you checked ltewild.com out and give me feedback so I can improve. Its a lifestyle blog with a few pic me ups about why life is so beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi – first I think you should link your name to your site. I clicked on your name and got a dead link. I think most blog traffic comes from people going to see who you are and getting into your site. Next, I’m not crazy about having a tab called uncategorized, especially since you have one called random. Maybe categorize the uncats as random. Good luck with your blogging. I think you’re hitting your goals with the nice pics and the uplifting snippets. Oh, spelling counts!

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I looked through a lot of the posts on your blog. I think you have really good material there. I think the biggest problems are that you aren’t using categories and tags much.

      I don’t use Uncategorized at all. I always uncheck it.

      You have a lot of categories at the top of your page but many of them are empty. Only have categories that you are going to use and then be sure to categorize your posts.

      People find you through the tags you pick. You can have about 12 tags. If I was going to categorize and tag your “life is a holiday” post I think I would categorize it in your well being category and I would tag it as attitude, psychology, spirituality, spiritual growth, personal growth, optimism, positive thinking, well being.

      I agree with Jeff. Pay more attention to your spelling and also to capitalizing the beginning of all sentences.

      Also we aren’t supposed to use pictures that aren’t ours unless we have permission or that they come from special free photograph sites. Wikimedia Commons is one of the free sites.

      And last, to get more readers, read a lot of blog posts from other bloggers. Make sure you comment on some of their articles since they are much more likely to check out yours if you do!

      So those are my thoughts. As I said in the beginning, I really like your blog. You mainly need to do things to get more readers who become followers!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thankyou you have really good advice. I’ll get on to that straight away. And my photograph I made sure are copyright free.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. There is search option to only show those that are copyright free but you must be carefull as some are hidden for some reason like it has been place on another site without copyright wether it will then be legal to use I do not.

        Liked by 2 people

  28. Hey family,

    6 friends and i have been taking part in something we call a Tandem Blog post where we each get the same title and then write a post in any style we choose inspired by the title – have done a few of these but this series of 4 [with the last one dropping tomorrow] has been my favourite cos people have really dug deep and written some incredible stuff.

    My last piece titled, ‘Too much for you’ is one i’d love you to look at and then if you click through the links to see some of the other pieces that would be great:

    Tandem Post: Too Much For You

    All the best
    love brett fish

    Liked by 1 person

  29. I’m a newbie to the blogging community – and ANY feedback on my blog would be appreciated! 🙂
    It may not necessarily be your first pick as a topic of interest… but I would love to hear some ideas of how to branch out – or what the phrase “RIP Anxiety” first impresses to you!
    Thanks in advance – I look forward to comments!
    XO
    Christopher
    http://www.ripanxiety.com

    Liked by 3 people

    3. Your blog can be helpful to many people. I agree you need to add some widgets so it’s easy for readers to click to follow and keep informed. You may also want to consider a “read more” or theme that allows only the first few lines of a post instead of all the posts in one long scroll. It can be overwhelming to readers.

      Liked by 2 people