May 14, 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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  2. Happy Monday, fellow writers!

    I recently wrote a short story about a dystopian future where individuals are assigned societal roles based solely on brain scans, lightly exploring the ethics of advancing technology without fully understanding long-term consequences. I would appreciate any questions, critiques, or suggestions for improvement. 🙂

    Assignment

    Looking forward to checking out everyone else’s latest posts. 🙂 Cheers!

    Liked by 17 people

    2. Completely agree with this. Logos are all beginning to look the same, and overly simplified. I think the “personality” often says a lot about the brand. Trading the italics, tails on letters, mis-aligned letters, and other forms of flair for boring text is really doing the brands a disservice. We’ll see how long this trend lasts…

      Liked by 2 people

  7. Hi guys! I would appreciate feedback on my relatively new homepage, tmschiel.com – it features my miniature toy photography. Is the visit enjoyable? Is the purpose of the hp clear enough? Foes the navigation work? Thanks in advance for taking the time, visiting, and being my critic!

    Liked by 12 people

      1. Yep, that link worked fine. Took me a bit to find the navigation arrows because the black on dark grey. I can see a ‘noir’ feel is wanted though.

        Liked by 5 people

      3. Thanks very much for your feedback! I considered both like buttons and the follow option and decided against both since this is just a homepage designed to showcase my photography. It is kind of static, so in my eyes, following it did not seem to make sense. Plus there is always my blog http://www.empireoflights.com for interaction…

        Liked by 2 people

    4. Hi, this is such a great idea. I love your creativity. You homepage is easy to navigate, easy menu system, and the pictures stand out in each post which is the most important aspect of your blog. So looks good to me. I left you a comment too.

      Liked by 1 person

      2. If you have a moment and fancy, I would be very grateful if you would check out my blog. Leave a like or comment if you wish, and if it strikes you and you hit ‘follow’, then you will make my day!

        Like

      3. So far, I only had time for skimming – and in spite of you claiming the contrary, I’d say it is very well written! I’ll be back.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Hello, lovely stuff. I have just taken a very enjoyable evening walk through the primrose excellence of your blog. It was a jolly good walk indeed! I left so many comments that I am a little ashamed of myself and feel a bit stalker-ish. I am not though, I promise–ask Novus!

      Liked by 2 people

      3. Thank you 😊. When ever people comment it just inspires and motivates you to write more and write better.

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Good day. I have given my site a complete, top to toe refresh with new category graphics and a whizzy new theme (with a header image I customised too).

    Sadly most of the words are similar to the ones it had before but I’ve rewritten a couple of older posts to justify the update (I have MS and a period of fatigue has made the writing muse harder to get at while it’s here but I managed the tweaking OK I think).

    Anyway, one of my rewrites here, I would be happy to hear if anyone spots any glaring layout or navigation difficulties that I didn’t consider. Thank you.

    https://thebryntinproject.wordpress.com/2018/05/14/separated-by-a-game/

    Liked by 13 people

    1. Your new layout is simple and clean, but I’m concerned about the categories of your menu. In my opinion, “Empty” and “Barrington” don’t really speak for themselves as to what they’ll contain, so I feel people will be less likely to click them. If you don’t want to rename them, at least consider activating the feature where if you hover over the header, text will appear.
      Happy Blogging!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks for that tip on the hover over text… Barrington is a character, my idea was for regular readers of him to be able to find pieces where he appears quickly but I can see what you’re saying too.
        Empty is a little joke… there’s nothing there and never will be… I can’t help it, I’m umm… subversive and nowhere near as funny as I think I am.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Barrington is a longstanding character that some readers like to read specifically so I gave him a category to make him easy to find, I understand that a newbie visitors ‘WTF does that mean?’ is likely…
        Empty is a little joke… it is in my gently subversive nature to muck people about a bit but there is a post entitled Empty that explains it somewhere.
        Thanks for that input though, hover-over text is a good idea I hadn’t thought of.

        Like

      3. Apologies, I thought I’d lost my first reply after my internet bombed out but now after posting again I see there’s two… well three now…
        At least they are saying pretty much the same thing which is good for me.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. My favorite fruit. I’m from the Caribbean and I believe most of our mango variety came with the indentured laborers from India 🇮🇳. We even have a variety called Indian mango.

      Liked by 1 person

    3. I commented on you mango post! In terms of your blog, I feel like the theme looks half-baked. There’s so much blank black space and then blank blue space. Even your header tab looks empty. Consider trying a new theme until you have posts and categories to fill up the space!
      Happy Blogging!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Hello Everyone,

    I write 5-8 stories a day on my blog, so there is always something new, but I find myself in a rut. I am getting more views every day (which is great) but less people are following me. I think it is great that anyone follows me, but here is why I don’t like being in this rut. I have a collection of short stories that is nearly complete and I am debating about publishing through Amazon or switching over from the free blog site to a paid domain site (more control) and selling my stories through Patreon. Or a 3rd option is to just fold my hand and post my stories on my blog. I read and follow hundreds of blogs, comment, leave likes, etc because I enjoy what they write. I feel like this is just another game where I must not play by the same rules as others (story of my life).

    I am curious if it is my site that is turning people off? I just changed the theme to a more photo based one, hoping it would increase views (which it has–I average 100+ views a day and 3+ posts per view) but I still have less than 50 followers.

    What changes would you recommend?

    https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com

    Liked by 14 people

    1. I think it looks great! I don’t post that often, but I do try to post daily. Sometimes if we are camping away from WiFi I can’t post on Saturdays. I’d just keep doing what your comfortable with!☀️

      Liked by 4 people

    2. You have a really excellent blog in my opinion. Perhaps you just aren’t reaching a broad enough audience. Have you considered participating in flash fiction blogging challenges with other bloggers? That may expose your blog to more viewers. Just an idea!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I participate in a few, but I am always looking for more. I have tons of ideas of my own, but I do love seeing what others can come up with using the same prompt.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Commenting on other blogs here has been my greatest way of finding other bloggers and being found. I also check out other blogs who comment on posts I comment on, it gets a lot of curiosity going 😊

        Liked by 6 people

      6. I feel the same way! I don’t know of any off the top of my head but if I happen to run across some I’ll keep your blog in mind to ping you! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Patience. Even though I’m just under 200 followers (can’t wait to do the thank you post for 200 followers) I am grateful. Most of my followers are WordPressers I picked up my engaging in the pool. As much as I want people to follow and read my posts I enjoy writing for myself. You seem to be consistent so I won’t offer that advice. Best of luck.

      Liked by 3 people

    4. The one thing i learnt in my 3months of blogging journey is “Discover to be discovered”.. Do visit blogs, but a note of appreciation is all that matters. Engaging with the post often gives good results.. Hope this helps. Will come back to your blog to read your posts. I am a new blogger. Glad to meet u😃😃

      Liked by 4 people

      1. I comment more on the ones I really like, but try to leave a like every time. I think “like” at least tells the writer you appreciate their ideas and effort they put into it. A little appreciation goes a very long way. Thanks for reading my community pool post 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

  17. It’s a great day to get wet and take a dip in the pool. Today is going to be one of those days when even my coffee needs coffee.

    I would love if you all check out my post which was published in response to the Daily Post Prompt: Laughter, last week. I would love to get some feedback, which you can leave in the post comments.

    Here is the link, leave your thoughts in the post comments thank you!

    Lethal Dosage

    Liked by 12 people

    2. I’m looking forward to reading this.. although I hope you don’t get me into tears as I’m 5 months pregnant, haha! Also Happy Anniversary! I got married one month ago, I’m sure you’d have advice with such an achievement like 24 years!

      Liked by 2 people

  20. Hello everyone!
    Such wonderful posts by all you wonderful bloggers!

    My blog will bring you to my poems, writeups, photography and much more!
    This is my latest post,
    It’s a poem called – Time Lapse.
    I appreciate all feedback, so feel free to give your views.

    ~ Time Lapse.

    Let’s talk! I’d love to check your blog out, and connect with you!
    Now it’s time to explore rest of the community pool!
    Happy Blogging, you guys!⚓
    Keep Smiling,
    -Shruti Ohri :’))

    Liked by 12 people

    2. Everything is clean and logically laid out and reads well but I would like to see an About page to let me know I’m getting my information from a good and relevantly knowledgeable source.

      Liked by 3 people

  22. Hey guy and girls,

    For anybody that enjoys reading movie reviews of films both new and old then check out my blog if you want to. I’m challenging myself to only watch movies I haven’t seen before and trying to beat last years numbers of 207 movies. So far I’ve watched and reviewed 113 movies with number 114 to be written later today.

    Take care and have a good day!

    http://movieramblingsblog.wordpress.com

    Liked by 12 people

    1. Your blog looks lovely! You’ve done a really good job, not sure why your struggling? but don’t worry just keep doing what your doing 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I love playing around with verses! Even though I tend to favor free verse the most! haha! How did you enjoy writing this style?

      Liked by 4 people

      1. It was fun writing flash fiction, I’m really motivated to write something really fleshed out that tops 1,000 words now.

        Liked by 2 people