Jan 29, 2018 / 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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  3. Hi I think I’ve made things a bit difficult by having two sites. I started blogging at the beginning of the month deciding to stop drinking alcohol and writing about my experience of this. As I really enjoyed writing I then decided to start a new blog about life in general, my observations etc and feel good muses. My question is: should I keep both and write about the different subjects in each? Or is it possible to put my content on my original blog onto my new one?
    Original https://igniteyoursparkle.wordpress.com/
    New site https://sunshineraindropsandteainthegarden.com/
    I would really value people’s opinions and whether they are ok. Thank you so much.

    Like

    1. Hi unsettledstudent. I think that as a first post, it’s absolutely fine. I’m only a beginner myself, so take what I say with a grain of salt! You are certainly passionate about your topic, which is a big plus, for me.

      I get the feeling that you are a student and that you are very unhappy about it. To be entirely honest, I think the post would read better if you told the reader I little about yourself; rather than speaking in general terms. At the moment, you sound like someone with a political opinion- which is good, but if you make it personal, it will be even better.

      Just from reading your post, I couldn’t be absolutely sure if you are a student (as your name “unsettledstudent” would suggest) or if you decided not to go to college. Get my drift? I hope this is of some help! Sahara.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you very much for taking the time to comment on my post, and yes it really did help, I certainly will take your advice on board. I am not in college yet but I have to choose what I want to do for the next few years of my life.
        Once again thank you very much!

        Liked by 2 people

  7. Hey guys! I recently posted a personal story about cancer treatment and osteoporosis. I’m a sixth form student thinking of applying to medicine, I would greatly appreciate some feedback 🙂
    rosesmedicaljournal.wordpress.com

    Liked by 4 people

    1. HI Maria

      I find the text a bit small and using the full width of the screen makes for a lot of back and forth with the head to read it. If you could increase it slightly and add some white space to the left and right, I think that would make for easier reading. For me anyway.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Here I am sitting beside a nice fire – it is -15 Celsius outside after all – and thinking of spring. And you are in the midst of summer. Just looking at your post warmed me up. Some lovely shots. A pano of the beach would be nice too. Lucky you.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I’m glad you like it! Summer is definitely in full effect in Melbourne with our 30 degree days the past week.
        And thanks for the suggestion – ill definitely do that next time

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Hi widowcranky, I like the layout of your site, you have given me a few ideas for my own sidebar. I find the green background very bright and would choose something else myself. I had also heard of “The Shape of Water” and was wondering what it was about. You have made me decide to watch it.

      Liked by 3 people

  14. Hello Everyone

    I have just started my blog and posted my fifth post today. I played around with a few themes and have created some static pages, added some tags that I show in a widget. This is a lot of fun.

    My fifth post is at https://wilfredyoung.com/2018/01/29/john-crowe/

    I realise my site has limited appeal given the subject – if you call my 6000 person family tree limited – I’m sure there are a lot of relatives out there who will be interested!

    Anyway, I have a question. When I see my posts listed in the reader, the images are cropped and only show the middle section. Is there a way to change this so that the most important part of an image is showing? I have not generated thumbnails for them and just post the full image. Would thumbnails help? Or is this something you can’t control?

    Thanks everyone.
    Mike

    Liked by 7 people

    1. Hi Mike, I think the pictures crop dependent on the size of the picture you use. Personally I have learnt to live with it, and I just try to make the excerpt of writing that the readers see in that view catchy enough to catch a little bit of attention (I admit art isn’t everyone’s cup of tea either). I haven’t found a way to make the cropped picture intelligent enough to show the most interesting part of the picture, except for making the original image smaller. Maybe there is someone cleverer than me out there that can give us both some advice 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    1. Hey, your blog is nicely laid out and very quick easy articles to read. As an art blogger myself, I would just say, maybe an explaination of what you consider to be contemporary art is, would go down really well. Good luck with your blog 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

  23. Hi Everyone! I started the blog not to long ago and I’m mainly focusing on writing about Asian things and entertainment/literature. I switched the featured image on my homepage and I changed the lay out to purple. Does anyone else think the purple may be too harsh and I should stick to a white background, despite it going well with the photo? Then the white text in the photo looks kind of ugly but I’m not sure how to change it yet without digging into the HTML code. Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!
    https://inasianspaces.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Personally I love the color : ) but I had something similar at one point lol you can also do something like I wound up doing if you are worried about it – with my layout I now have a colored ‘border’ and a white background where the content is. It’s a nice way to bring the color in without being overbearing

      Liked by 2 people

  25. Hi everyone,

    I have just started blogging again after a long absence. Changed the Theme on my blog but not sure if it is okay. Have posted a few poems, stories & photos in the search for my muse. My own fault b=for being away for so long, but I really miss engaging with comments.

    Liked by 6 people

  26. Hey guys and I have been dying for some feedback on my most recent posts! I love all the followers im getting and I cant thank you all enough for getting me close to 40 followers! But I really need you guys to tell me which of my posts you like the best and why. Thanks so much if you can do so! I love you all and have an awesome rest of your week!

    Liked by 5 people