Jul 24, 2017 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Where bloggers come together to give each other feedback and advice.

Have you just published a new post and are dying for some feedback? Are you redesigning your blog and could use some layout or design advice from your more seasoned peers?

The Community Pool is for peer feedback and advice. Looking for more specific information? Check out some of these resources:

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).

Looking for free, self-guided courses to help you get started with your blog (or revive a dormant one)? Check out our current offerings at Blogging U.

To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips and guidelines you might find useful:

  • 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, as well as for not starting numerous threads in a single Pool.
  • 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. Also note that including multiple links in your comment might automatically put it in the moderation queue, which will delay its publication.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. The idea is to have fun — it’s a pool, after all!
  • 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.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • No running on the deck.

Are you a new blogger looking to share your very first post? We have a special forum for bloggers just like you in our weekly First Friday posts.

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    1. I read Part V which I had to access through your name as the links did not work. For me, Part V was a good read. Your site has several places with placeholder text. It makes it look unfinished. You might want to remove those or fill them with valid text. https://gracelead.co

      Liked by 1 person

  2. I have always wanted to create my own blog after reading so many and relying on reviews before buying products, so I recently started my little creation. I was so pumped the first few days or so because I was getting so many views and a wave of followers (10 on the first day!) but I have been consistently posting new content and promoting it on Instagram, twitter, facebook and Bloglovin and haven’t been getting hardly anyone anymore. I have been making sure to include taglines on each post and all of my social media sharing is on. I guess this is where I have to realize that it takes time and patience in the blogging world to get engaged users😀 I do have to say though, its very motivating to have something to constantly work on and design!

    Liked by 6 people

    3. Hi Denise! You sound like you’re doing everything you’re supposed to, so just give it time and you’ll no doubt build a following. If I could suggest one piece of advice, it would be to make sure all your tags are words and phrases that people would search for. For instance, you have a tag on your most recent post for ‘discontinued items’, but if you click on it, yours is the only post that has that tag. This likely means that very few people are searching for this very specific term. Meanwhile some of your other tags, like ‘reviews’ and ‘tanning’, will appeal to a broader range of people and likely attract more attention. Don’t be afraid to add one or two relevant general tags, like ‘beauty’ (which I see you’ve used on some of your posts), to all of your posts – you are a beauty blogger, after all 🙂 Hope that makes sense!

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Hey everyone, I have published two posts last month, one is a vegan food guide for Paris (if any of you are going there this summer 😉 and the other one my study routine for university. After my exams next week I will publish many more posts so I would be very thankful, if you checked out my posts and post some reviews 🙂 Have a nice day everyone and make the best of it! Marina xxx

    http://minamarini.wordpress.com

    Liked by 4 people

  6. Hello everyone!

    I just added a new post with my personal review of a camera sling strap.

    Review: Joby Pro Sling Strap

    I hope that this provides some useful insight for anyone into photography. Also, feel free to look at my other posts. That’s what it’s there for. 🙂

    Feedback and comments are welcome.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Your pictures are very high quality and I love your writing style. However, would it be possible to make only the post excerpt visible, because that makes it easier to navigate your site.

      Liked by 2 people

      5. Luna
        I had a chance to look at you blog. I like the overall appearance, and I love you voice. Your writing sounds as though you are talking to your friends, and that is great. The only thing I would look out for are little grammar mistakes. If you would like, I can do some proofreading for you.

        -Courtney

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Layla,

      I like the idea of a blog documenting your journey. I usually find those the most interesting. I can’t wait to read more! I like the photo you chose for you header, and I like your writing style. I might change the font you’ve chosen for your titles. The swirly fonts can be difficult to read and become hard on the eyes quickly. I don’t mind it as much in the individual post titles, but it is distracting in the blog title. Otherwise, keep up the good work.

      Courtney
      http://www.ouradventurebook2017.wordpress.com

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi, Courtney. Thanks for the kind words – and for deciding to follow my blog! That was really exciting to me.
        Yes, I can see how the swirly writing might not be the easiest to read – but I really do love it, it’s so fancy! Thank you for your advice on it, though. I did have a look to see if there was anything less swirly that I’d like just as well.
        Well, thanks again, and I will probably have a look at your own blog posts, too!

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Sorry, meant to add a comment with the link above! Please check out my latest post. It’s kind of a feminist piece for women who struggle with the balance between their role as wife and artist!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Decent but a word of advice.

      You are more likely to get visitors if you break your paragraphs down into two/four lines then space then new paragraph. Otherwise nobody will read it because people no longer read in big chunks

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi, i have had to copy your link and paste it in a browser in order to get to your post. I think it is easier if you provide a functional hyperlink (if it working for others, please ignore my comment)

      Liked by 1 person

  18. I started a fitness and health blog which chronicled my lifestyle change. I was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and have now been posting about my experience as I navigate the ups and downs of my experience. My question is, do you recommend continuing on this path using the original blog, or creating a separate blog focusing on my treatment, attitude and experiences related to my diagnosis? The most recent blog post link is:

    The Glass is not Half Full. It is Refillable.

    Thanks in advance.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. First off, I am sending prayers your way! You’ve written two heart felt posts that I just read. Personally, I would chronicle your entire journey in the one post. Maybe you can create Headers for different sections and then the specific posts are organized that way. I would LOVE to see a post on how we comfort friends. I saw a post from a friend once that said, “People care in the beginning, they say they will be there, but then they are not.” THIS IS TOUGH! As a friend to a breast cancer survivor I wasn’t sure what to ask her when I would call. Maybe I called on a day when my friend did not want to discuss treatments and instead wanted to feel normal? Maybe she wanted me to start out with “how did it go.” Hard to know, sometimes conversations were awkward. ONE TIME, not knowing what to do, I sent her a Starbucks gift certificate with a few magazines for her days going to chemotherapy. She liked that. At any rate, would love for you to offer suggestions on how we can help our friends. THINGS you appreciate or find annoying. Wishing you well… strength, peace and love! http://www.brilliantviewpoint.com

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Okay, click the My Site on the left of your screen. Go down to Themes, click that and not Customize. It should take you to a page that has all the things you can do with your theme. Let me know if that helps you.

        Liked by 1 person

  22. Hiya people! So, I started my blog around 3 months ago and I’m still adjusting to how everything works. At first, however, I had no structure, no base, no experience and no real direction. I was posting irregularly and was quite unsure of what I wanted my page to be.
    Now I’m trying to set my self a target of posting a minimum of once a week, I’m also trying to up the visual side of things, as I think I would like it to be more eye catching. It’s a blog which, at the moment, is mainly writing oriented.
    I would much appreciate it if you had a look, any suggestions or tips would be very welcomed!
    https://wordsnotyetpublished.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 5 people

    2. Most would go to your About page first. You have it as a category instead of a page, so the reader would have to click again to read it. Try making it as a page, so it flows better. You can also tell what content we can expect to see from you; like expand on what you say are your ideas and writing. It’s a great About page though.

      Actually, I just noticed all your pages are categories. Since your pages are categories, do you think you should make them as a page with that specific category in there? Sorry I can’t help more or if you don’t understand. I tried the theme you’re using and couldn’t get with it, so I don’t know the in and outs of it.

      I don’t know if you can add widgets, too. Might help. There’s a gap on your homepage also. Other than that, I like your content.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yeah, I’ve started to check up on the technical side of things… still getting the hang of it. I will take a look at it and see what I can do. I like my about page, but I think it is too long. I’m going to have to re-vamp a few things. Thank you for the help though!

        Liked by 1 person

    3. The thought and rose photo are an effective combination. I’m also on a weekly schedule. I don’t write every week though. When I get in a writing mood, I create several posts and then schedule them to publish one per week. This strategy keeps me from stressing when I don’t feel like writing for a week or two 🙂 https://gracelead.co

      Liked by 1 person

  23. Hiya people! So, I started my blog around 3 months ago and I’m still adjusting to how everything works. At first, however, I had no structure, no base, no experience and no real direction. I was posting irregularly and was quite unsure of what I wanted my page to be.
    Now I’m trying to set my self a target of posting a minimum of once a week, I’m also trying to up the visual side of things, as I think I would like it to be more eye catching. It’s a blog which, at the moment, is mainly writing oriented.
    I would much appreciate it if you had a look, any suggestions or tips would be very welcomed!
    https://wordsnotyetpublished.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. I think your content and site is fine, but you don’t have an About Me page to introduce who you are to your viewers. Sorry if I just missed it. You can add a search bar or a dropdown of your categories so people can find what they want easier, too.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. Your blog looks great! I like the modern feel it has, while keeping a respectable presence.

      The topic is not one of my expertise, but the webpage and layout looks great!

      Liked by 1 person