Mar 5, 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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    1. WordPress is a really supportive community. By sharing your stories, you’ll help others who are in a similar situation. One way to connect with others is to tag your posts with a few simple words. I couldn’t see if you are already tagging – if so, just keep doing what you’re doing! I would always recommend new bloggers to do at least one or two of the Blogging U courses that Ben mentions above. They really help you find your feet.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. It’s very hard being a single parent, you’re doing so much already, don’t beat yourself up because you can’t do everything! None of us can and it’s good for your kids to learn about limitations!!

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Hi everyone!
    New mommy here blogging about mental health, trauma, and my cutie

    I’d appreciate you stopping by. Leave me a note and I’ll come visit!

    sunflowertreehouse.wordpress.com

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Hey guys! I’m running on a bit of a tight schedule but I thought I’d just leave my latest post here! It’s a Versatile Blogger Award and I’m looking for nominations so if anyone would like to be nominated, let me know and I shall add you to my list!

    https://nonalcoholicstudent.wordpress.com/2018/03/05/versatile-blogger-award-3/

    As always, I’m happy to check out other blogs too and any follows will be returned! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

  15. Hi everyone!
    How are all of you wonderful bloggers?

    What is your happy place? Reading or writing? Singing or dancing? Sleeping? Going to the gym? Eating?
    This is my latest post, it’s a poem about our choices, which ultimately shape our happy place!

    ~Your happy place?

    Check it out and let me know about the feedback!

    Also, feel free to check out more posts on my blog! Its mostly poetry, I like expressing feelings in the form of poetry, and there are some writeups, photography by me and hopefully new stuff coming soon!

    I’d love to know about your feedback, and I’ll be glad to check out your blogs too! Always ready to read everyone’s lovely work!
    Happy Blogging!
    Let’s talk then:))

    Keep Smiling,
    Shruti Ohri :))

    Liked by 5 people

  16. Hey!
    I have started a new project called rediscovering portugal. At first I was doing it more for myself but I have recently decided to share and ask for some feedback, its the best way to improve. So I gave it a makeover and thought I’d ask anyone who might be willing spear a few minutes to check it out!

    Here’s the last post:

    Convento de Cristo, Tomar

    Thank you for your time!

    Liked by 5 people

  19. I’d like to invite everyone to come by and check out my weekly poem, “Same Old Love Song.” I wrote this poem within the last few weeks. Yeah, it’s new. I’m not sure what I’m trying to say, if anything at all. There’s probably things to take away from the poem, but I’m sure it applies to all of us, myself included. Comments and feedback are always welcome, and please leave them in the comments section of the post page, and click the like button on the post page. If you like what you see, feel free to browse around, and follow along so you don’t miss anything as I post several times a week. Thanks in advance.
    Drew

    Same Old Love Song

    Liked by 3 people

  21. Hello everyone, it’s nice to get back here again.
    I’m thinking of overhauling my blog, probably takeout a premium package and re-design things to generally freshen it all up.
    it started as a motorcycle travel blog, but has sort of “wandered” a bit!
    I’d love to hear your views and advice.
    Thanks in anticipation.
    Dookes

    https://hogriderdookes.wordpress.com

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Enjoyed perusing on your blog. I think it would help to draw people if you gave the aesthetic side of things some tlc.
      I don’t think you necessarily need to pay money for a premium package or theme though, there’s loads of really nice free themes, you just may need to do a little more work and learning to get them to look the way you want.
      I guess it’s just a matter of what your priorities are- pay for something easier, or pay in the time you spend learning for the free ones. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. You’ve put your finger on exactly what I’ve been thinking. Having an engineering mind I tend to see things in straight lines and actually find the visual stuff really hard; strangely though I don’t have that problem with photography!
        I have a secret weapon though, a very gifted friend who does web design. Hopefully between us we can make the blog thing better!
        Thanks for your very constructive comments.
        Dookes

        Liked by 2 people

    2. I know nothing about how to do the “fiddle farty stuff”. I can barely spell html but you’ve got lots to read and that’s what I like! My husband has a 1976 Honda 750 CBK that he’s restored after 30 years of sitting forgotten in the barn. He’d really enjoy reading about your trips too.

      Like

  22. Hello everyone! Any architects out there ? Or anybody interested in design ?

    My blog is all about architecture. From the mini know hows of buikding to interiors to maybr even art !

    I just posted for the first time !

    https://architectingabout.wordpress.com/2018/03/04/the-journey-begins/

    Feel free to give me any suggestions regarding the content and ideas ! I am also looking forward to doing a collaboration and also finding fellow architects and architecture bloggers. So if you are an architect / interested in architecture or even know anybody who has an architecture blog, kindly mention them or yourself here in this thread so i can check out your blog too ! 😀

    Liked by 5 people

    3. Does Landscape architecture count? 🙂
      I have the same concern – how to get people to look at the whole site not just the post. That is probably always going to be a challenge. I love the illustrations on your first post and the bold, vibrant colors.

      Like

      2. Thank you Griffin! Yes definitely, even landscape architecture counts ! And yes , to get people to go through the whole blog is always gona be a challenge in the beginning

        Like

    1. How do you keep up with your daily posting schedule plus have a kid and go to school? Seriously, that’s crazy, how do you do it??

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Hey Ella, well it’s challenging. I post every other week, so on weekends I do my blog posts for the week, so during the week I can do homework. My husband has the weekend shift so I am not constantly being interrupted while writing. Taking online tests can be hard during the week because they are timed so I have to wait for my son to be asleep to take them! It’s a balancing act in the end, and you have to be flexible and plan for things not going on schedule haha

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Hi I’ve just had a look at your blog and I love your style and set up. Im forever looking for mumbloggers to follow. I’m just starting out in the hope it will help my recovery in mental illness. lots of love x

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Actually I tried changing my display name to “Diary of a commom girl” but i think that is creating a confusion amoung people here….because at the beginning I simply called my site “Stylograph”…so i changed it back to “Stylograph” again 😅😅😅😅

        Liked by 1 person

  25. Once again, I have a question for the blogging community. We all want ways to grow our blog and get more eyes on the content we post. I’ve been thinking about using Instagram, YouTube, perhaps both to grow viewership. Is this a good idea? Do any of my fellow bloggers do this? Have you had any success? I don’t have a personal Instagram, or YouTube, but I discuss how I’d use them to promote my blog. Come by and join the discussion. I’d love to hear opinions. Comments and feedback are always welcome, and please leave them in the comments section of the post page, and click the like button on the post page. If you like what you see, feel free to browse around, and follow along so you don’t miss anything as I post several times a week. Thanks in advance.
    Drew

    Using Instagram & YouTube to Promote Your Blog – Do You & Should I?

    Liked by 6 people

    1. I couldn’t find your post on alternative promotion tools Drew, but I have mixed feelings about mixing my media and at the moment I don’t do it!
      I did find you “Atlantic City” post and really liked it, great writing.
      Dookes

      Like

    2. Definitely something to think about! I left a comment with my thoughts on the matter on the post:)

      Like

    4. I tried leaving a comment on your blog but when I hit the ‘submit’ button I was presented with a page at https://drewmartinwrites.wordpress.com/wp-comments-post.php that was blank… I don’t think my comment went through 😦

      Here’s what I tried to say:
      “Hard to comment. I’ve never used instagram. I do have a youtube account but the thought had never occurred to me to try to use it to promote my blog… the two seem too disparate, to me.”

      Liked by 1 person

    5. I definitely think so. I’m growing my following from scratch (my family and friends are unaware), so social media is my only means of bringing in views and I’ve had a fair amount of success, considering my blog is less than a week old. Try it, I’d say.

      Liked by 2 people

    1. A thought-provoking and perceptive piece. Could do with another run-through for typos, eg “One the one hand”, “a character close Tommy”, ” The writer’s [sic] were making”.

      Like

    1. Good post, very informative. The only comment I can find to make is a really pedantic one:
      “Basics of DIYing – Mod Podge and it’s uses”
      should be
      “Basics of DIYing – Mod Podge and its uses”

      “It’s” is a contraction, and always means “it is”. The possessive form is “its”. The reason it’s confusing is because it’s an exception to the general rule that apostrophe-s indicates possession.

      Like

      1. Oh, thank you for that. I hadn’t ever considered the link color being hard to read, but I can definitely see how it is. Do you know how to change the link color? Mine just happens automatically

        Like

    1. Clear post that’s easy to understand. Maybe an idea for a future post- I would be interested in learning how to be strategic with your gravatar to get the most traffic, etc. What kind of picture should we use in the icon, is linking to one website more effective than several, how long should a bio be…

      Liked by 1 person