Nov 13, 2017 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Where WordPress bloggers support each other with 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 more information about custom domains, advanced design options, and other enhancements for your blog? Find the WordPress.com plan that’s right for you.

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.

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.

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.

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  1. Hello Bloggers!

    This is just a little note to acknowledge and say thanks for all of the support and constructive criticism that comes from this Pool. Just recently I passed 500 followers on my blog – and I’ve been overwhelmed by the level of positive engagement from across the blogging community – thank you!

    https://dynamicstasis.blog/

    If anyone is interested – my blog tends to discuss the benefit of creativity and beauty (in art, photography, architecture, music) in ordinary situations; and how it can make all of our lives just a little bit better.

    Liked by 38 people

    2. Your blog deserves the HUGE milestone because it’s quite awesome and fun to look through!!! I always know when I have the chance to pop in I wish I had longer. 🙂

      Liked by 9 people

      4. Hi there,
        I think ‘following’ the page is just done by clicking a ‘follow’ tab which appears on the bottom of the screen if you’re scrolling up. If that doesn’t work let me know and I’ll try something else.
        JB

        Like

    8. Congrats on the huge hill you’ve climbed. I hope to be there one day. I want to help motivate people to change from unhealthy eating to healthy eating with Keto. I’m just starting my journey and will blog about it a couple times a week. 40ishlifechanger

      Liked by 4 people

  2. Happy Monday everyone!

    Hope everyone has had a good day so far! This week in my Travel & Lifestyle blog I have taken you with me and showed you my stay at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi (a 7-star hotel in the capital of the United Arab Emirates!). You can find this post on the link below.

    https://josiearana.com/2017/11/13/emirates-palace-abu-dhabi/

    This post is a great way for you to see a beautiful staple of the UAE culture and a beautiful tourist attraction! I was very lucky to be able to stay there for the weekend and had such a great time! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the blog post.

    Looking forward to talking to you guys and reading some of your posts too!

    Liked by 26 people

    5. Am the only one in my family who’s yet to go to any part of the UAE and it’s driving me nuts!

      Almost everyone who’s been there tells me they loved Abu Dhabi more than Dubai, so I might start there when it’s my turn 😄

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Haha! Guess it’s your turn to go now! It’s definitely a personal take, some people prefer one or the other. I personally think with Dubai a lot of people don’t really see the real parts of Dubai and tend to brush it off as quite superficial. If you do go make sure to go to Old Dubai!

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Happy Monday Everyone,

    I am having trouble deciding if I need a newsletter or not and what I should be writing in it. I signed up for a newsletter that was recommended to me and a few weeks into using it, I kind of feel like I am spamming people. Do you find newsletters to be helpful? What should I be writing in my newsletters? Here is a link to my blog to get a feel of what I write about: https://kelciemakespatterns.com/category/blog/. I will typically write in my newsletter the things I wrote on my blog that week. Is that what newsletters typically are?

    Liked by 13 people

    1. Mailing lists are good because you will always own your audience. It’s okay to direct people to content on your blog. Some people also provide some behind the scenes through their newsletter. Many bloggers / authors / podcasters feel that a mailing list is critical if you want to monetize your endeavor. Whatever you choose, good luck!

      Liked by 8 people

      1. Thanks for the advice. I kind of stopped the newsletter for a little bit but I think I am going to start it up again. I really like the behind the scenes idea. It makes it feel less spammy to me.

        Liked by 5 people

    2. Hi Kelcie,
      Yes and no. I use mine to talk about what happened on my blog in addition to personal happenings I don’t share in my blog posts. I started the newsletter so I could be more in touch with my readers or share things that don’t warrant a whole post. I am mimicking newsletters I receive from other blogs I like. 🙂

      Liked by 7 people

      1. Do you use a free newsletter or one that you pay for? I was recommended Mad Mimi but have since found out that when I reach 500 subscribers I will have to pay a certain amount of money a month and I don’t feel like at that point my blog will be making enough money to warrant having to pay for a newsletter.

        Liked by 4 people

    3. That’s a good question. I tend to get fed up with newsletters after a fairly short length of time, but I happily follow bloggers I enjoy reading for years. I just prefer the more relaxed, thoughtful nature of blog posts – it’s like having a conversation with a dear friend. The newsletters I read for longest tend to highlight links to different articles – a bit like a news roundup.

      Liked by 10 people

      2. They don’t have to be, but you’re right to be concerned. I don’t like being automatically sent newsletters without expressly signing up and would unsubscribe if it seemed the only point of writing was to sell me something I didn’t want or need. But if I like a product, I am happy to be sent a discount for it – I think most people are.

        Liked by 4 people

    4. HI Kelcie, In my humble opinion…. well first I love your set up structure , theme. I too am trying to do something better than the newsletter and or understand what to put in it…. here is the thing sorry but people are overloaded with emails and newsletters. but with that said send out champaniagns with the benefits they get when they come to your site. You give lots of freebies away and info… do a type of newsletter yes with links back to your site updating them and reminding them what their benefits are. 🙂 hope this helps blessings

      Liked by 7 people

    6. I don’t have a lot of time right now with all the things going on in my life with Christmas coming, but one of my main New Years goals for our blog is to work on the email list. We have a lot of Bloglovin and WordPress followers, but only 13 email subscribers. I’m only now starting to understand the importance of an email list. Right now we’re emailing only when we have a new post, but I don’t think I’d consider it spam to increase mailers to up to 3 times per week.

      Liked by 3 people

  5. Hello to all the readers and writers out here!

    I love the way poetry makes me feel. It’s almost like swimming in a world that I am so well-versed with, a world which I know and understand from my heart. Do you write poems too? If you do then, make sure you let me know about them! I would love to read your poems! Also, I would love to get feedbacks on my poems!

    Here’s the link to my recent poem:

    You Know Who You Are

    Tell me what you think about this poem of mine and don’t forget to tell me about your poems!

    Hope you like it!

    With love,

    Meher

    Liked by 15 people

    2. Hey winta, lovely pictures you got there. You angles are lovely and the images are colourful plus that ice cream does look yummy too. I hope this doesn’t make me seem a foodie though!😀

      In between, would love to hear your thought about my last post. Lately have being writing about what affects the economy of a nation; and below is the link to my last post about it.

      NATIONAL ECONOMY: Distribution sector

      What do you think? 😊

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Hello everybody, Simon from To Cut a Short Story Short here with my latest post. This time it’s Red Nose Day, a surprising tale about dolls! Just 550 words. I hope you enjoy it!

    Also, if you interested in joining a 400 word fortnightly story group, please contact me via my blog.

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Also, the ‘best of my blog,’ To Cut a Short Story Short: 111 Little Stories has just been released on audiobook (Nov 7th) and is available on Amazon, Audible and iTunes. It’s narrated by Angus Freathy who has done 15 audiobooks to date. His ‘voices’ really bring the stories to life!

      http://adbl.co/2iUADPx

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Hey beautiful people! I’ve recently wrote a blog reviewing brands and why people aspire to have high end clothing when high street branding is just as good. Would love to hear your opinions. Do you own any high end brands? And when shopping what influences decision to buy? The brand? Price? Or quality?

    I’ll be sure to comment and check out your blog also💃🏿
    https://victoriasbubble.blog/2017/11/12/lets-talk-about-branding-high-end-vs-high-street-fashion/

    Liked by 10 people

    1. It’s an interesting, thought provoking post. I shared a story you reminded me of that had a big effect on the choices I at least try to make when buying anything – even plain white rice.

      Liked by 3 people

  12. Hey everyone! Hope everyone is grand on this Monday!! ☺️

    Over at the Loyal Brit Wit, I️ run a daily word of the day type of blog with new British English words or phrases with original examples I️ lovely refer to as “mini stories!” ❤️ Currently I️ am in the midst of a twelve day series. So mind that when you stop in.

    https://britwitblog.wordpress.com

    I always look forward to finding new blogging buddies on Mondays. Or just stopping in on old ones. This is one of the best communities, isn’t it? 😁

    Thanks so much for dropping by!! 💫

    Liked by 16 people

    1. Hi there!! A very insightful and well written piece. I love travel blogs and usually don’t ask those questions, though I will own up to thinking them the first handful I looked at. Until it hits you that, no, these people are either travelers or like you an expat. I just loooooove looking at the pictures and learning about other people’s experiences!! I am definitely returning to your blog to check out more; your writing style is relate-able and the blog is just overall welcoming and fabulous! 🙂 Thanks for the share!!

      Liked by 4 people

      2. Thanks for taking a peek!
        Those posts are narratives (updates/ descriptions of my blog/ explanations), so I did not think that images are necessary, but I will definitely think about it. Actually, I think I have an idea already. Thanks again!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Hey there! Nice, clean, and simple blog. I always love visiting blogs that are clean and focus on content. I did notice that your social menus do not link to your personal profiles. I assume you haven’t updated them yet or you don’t want to add links to your social profile?

        Liked by 1 person

  17. Hey guys! This week I wrote a #MondayMotivation after long! I talk about speaking up. Have a look : https://aestheticgraphy.wordpress.com/2017/11/13/speak-up/

    My blog doesn’t fit into a particular criteria like “writing” or “photography”. Its an all in one blog, including haiku’s/weekly motivation/quotes/travel/photography and basically my life on a blog. I hope you enjoy reading!

    Do leave links to your blog as I’d like to check it out!

    Have a great week ahead.
    Riya

    Liked by 9 people

    3. It is, as you hoped, entertaining! (I was just quite shocked with that creepy coffee mug as I was scrolling up and it’s 3am here) haha! Love your blog overall and the drawing on your logo too 🌻

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Hello fellow bookworm! We like the same genre. Back in the “olden” days, I also used to read Enid Blyton’s, but really, my first love was the Harry Potter series. I have yet to read the Percy Jackson as I’m more into YA and Sci-fi now. Hoping to read more of your posts! 🌻

      Liked by 4 people