May 21, 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. Namastey WordPress community ! What’s going on ? My name is Tanya . And I love to write short poems about Everything that comes to my heart and mind. My latest poem is about the heartbreaking life of a little Syrian girl . My poem is fictional but the reality is darker than this. 💔
    Here’s a link .
    “I was just 5 💔”

    I was just 5….💔

    Liked by 13 people

    1. Your blog looks awesome – definitely going to follow.
      Although I found your font quite small and difficult to read, if your able to increase slightly?

      Like

    1. I always enjoy reading posts that deal with the meta-issues of blogging. One of the biggies does deal with anonymous vs not or somewhere in the middle. Between your picture and last name, given today’s big data world, I’m guessing you’re now pretty public. I’ve dabbled on this issue and decided to stick with anon for now. And I really appreciate how you approached the topic. Thanks.

      Like

    3. I’ve always been someone what anonymous too. I started out just using my last name because it was also my nickname but now I use my first initial and last name too, though no one knows my face. I kind of like being anonymous because I feel safe, but I often wonder if it is affecting my blogging because some people may think I’m fake or not authentic and not want to get to know me. I don’t think I’m ready to go all out yet, but maybe one day.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I loved your post!! The outfits are super cute and you wore them really well. You better thank your photographer because those pictures look amazing!!

      Like

      1. Thankyou so much! And my mom clicks all my pictures and I am ever so thankful to her! She will be really glad to hear your words of appreciation! Thanks a ton from her side as well. 💜

        Like

    3. I am not into fashion myself, but was intrigued bu the term ‘Atheleisure’ and had a look at your blog. I LOVE the look and feel you created! Well done & keep it up! 😀

      Like

    1. Looking good.
      Perhaps the navigation… as your posts increase, it might be difficult to find older posts if we have to scroll from newest to oldest..

      Liked by 2 people

    2. bck142 is right
      I had set up a blog in a similar format to you. It looked like a great long reel of stories and poems. The more you post onto your site the more easy it needs to be to navigate.
      Now I am just a newbie blogger too. I changed my theme to something closer to what I was looking for. I decided to have a static home page with a list of my posts (a bit like a contents page)…Then I was shown how to use widgets and menus. Once you start trying these functions it is quite exciting to see how much improvement you can make to your site. It makes it a pleasure for people to peruse your posts and whatever looks appealing to them.
      Other bloggers have advised me to use the WordPress tutorials, which I do intend to do when I have the time. There is so much potential.
      Your posts are lovely to read. Next step is polishing up the site so that it is easier for people to use.
      Hope that makes sense.
      Caramel

      Like

  9. Happy Monday! It’s a Holiday Monday here in Canada-land- which makes it extra lovely!

    My most recent piece is a look into life as a mom- I let you into one of our more stressful mornings.

    “Wake Up Mommy!”

    You will find my blog is a mix of topics- so if Motherhood pieces aren’t your thing- I have several to choose from…Mental Health, Travel, Book Recommendations, my Creative Writing etc… Would love to hear from you- and connect. 🙂

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Looking good, but given the size of the images you might want to consider letting them occupy a line(centre alignment) instead of having the text wrap around its side.

      Like

      1. Thanks for taking a look. This was the first post where I added images within the text and I think your are totally right. I should either make the images smaller or not use wrap around text.

        Liked by 1 person

    2. I personally like your text wrapping around the images! I don’t normally find blogs that do it so it’s nice to see something different, plus i think it works with your font. 🙂
      I think on your home page you should have your posts shown as an excerpt as a new visitor to your blog you end up scrolling for ages to get a glimpse of your posts.
      Layout wise you could also add some widgets to your home page to fill up your sidebar maybe?
      Otherwise I think your blog looked really nice and is really easy to navigate around 🙂

      Like

      1. Oh good! I tweaked the design a little this afternoon to try and make the text wrap work and I’ll take your affirmation as a go!
        God you are so right about the endless scroll. I was just wondering if I could do something about that. I need to explore this widget thing more.
        Thanks alot for the helpful advice!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Your welcome! No worries just wanted you to know that I liked the text wrap! ☺️
        It should be in your appearance > Home page settings if you haven’t found it 😊
        You’ll always be learning and discovering new things with blogging, I’ve been here for nearly a year and I’m still researching how to add things to my blog 🙈
        People mentioned last Monday that they couldn’t see a “like” button on my posts so I was trying to figure out how to add one but I found out I can’t as I’m self-hosted! Always learning!
        Your so welcome! ☺️

        Liked by 1 person

  18. Hello! My blog is my teenage diary from the 90s/00s and it’s nice to get someone else to share bits of their hopefully equally cringeworthy diaries from years gone by. I’ve managed to persuade a few people but they’re fairly rare occurrences.

    This is the page that’s there all the time – https://idstdiaries.com/share-your-own-diary/ – and I could definitely promote it more in my posts but, I was wondering… If you kept a diary, would anything encourage you to share even tiny bits of it (bearing in mind there will be no cash involved!) or would you just rather the ground swallowed you up immediately?!

    Ta!
    Tess x

    Liked by 10 people

    1. What a brilliant idea! It is going to be fun to read your site.
      I don’t think I have any journals left from when I was a teenager. But I am going up to see my parents in three weeks time so I will see if I can find anything.
      I found one of my journals from a few years ago…even that made me cringe. I can guarantee you if I can find any from when I was a teenager…you will laugh your socks off.

      Like

      2. Of course….it will be funny to dig them out. I do remember some of the ridiculous things I did and said as a teenager…hope there is something to bring back for you.

        Like

  19. Hello Community Pool, Two months, 14 subscribers. Any insights? Also, I’ve received 3 emails that say I have a new subscriber, but when I look on the blog subscriber list, they are not listed. Seems like it might be a scammer trying to get me to email them? So far I haven’t contacted them. Do other bloggers have similar experiences? Thanks, R

    Liked by 7 people

    1. I am new to blogging…so my advice might not be the best. But I will pass on the sag advice of my Aunt Anne: Expect nothing, Appreciate everything.
      In other words, don’t worry too much about statistics. Enjoy what you are doing, enjoy writing and producing posts. Then whenever you do get some feedback…appreciate it. Reach out with a thank you.
      I think that most of the people who read a post or like your posts or who choose to follow you have their own blogs. When I have looked at the blog sites of those who have supported me and liked my posts…well let’s say I have humbly realized that they are much more experienced than me and they have beautiful sites. Naturally they will appreciate all the support they receive too though.
      We are all humans…reach out, support others, they are sure to support you. Take ups any tips and suggestions on how to make your blog site more appealing.
      But most of all just enjoy it. At the end of the day there is a reason you are blogging. Keep reminding yourself of that reason.
      You and I are both newbies…lots to learn from other bloggers.

      Liked by 5 people

    2. May I ask…how many posts you have published? I looked at your site, I could not find a list of your posts. But the site is a lovely format and there is a beautiful picture and quote.
      I think using the Daily Post is a great way to reach out to support other bloggers and receive support from them.
      It is like turning up at a party with a bunch of strangers. Deciding to put forth effort to mingle and contribute to the atmosphere and saying “Hey I am here to have a good time and help everyone else here enjoy it too!”

      Like

      2. I have just tried to access your posts again…but was unsuccessful. When I select blog I see that lovely picture and quote from Izaak Walton. Copy and link to an individual post rather than your main home page, let me try again.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. fakeflamenco….as you know I am a newbie….and you and I are using differentry themes. However we are both using menus.
        I still can’t find any of your posts on your site. That is not to say they are not there.
        I learnt this week that any new post I publish is instantly available through reader and my followers will receive a notification…but only if they have adjusted theither settings to receive notifications.
        But the new post is not accessible through my actual site until I go into customizer. ..and assign the post to one of my menus. The post is there….but nobody can access it until I add it to the menu….it is in a kind of limbo.
        Is there any possibility that you have published your posts but not added them to your menu?
        I am just guessing here….trying to figure out why your posts are not visible on your website. Hasome anyone else tried to access your posts through your site?

        Liked by 1 person

    1. I liked your layout and message. Which were both balanced and sensible 🙂 I think people can find some good pointers to live by in your message. I started a blog recently also and I think some of our topics probably overlap. You should check it out and tell me what you think.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you so much and I did the same on your post as well. You have a wonderful flair for writing. 😊

        Like

  27. Hi,

    I’m back from a hiatus and I hope you are all well! At the same time, I hope you all can take a look at my blog!!!

    https:\\munabanana.wordpress.com

    Thank you and have a great week 🙂
    Munabanana

    Liked by 6 people

  28. Hey everyone!
    I am a writer…hope I can change that to “author” someday…but most of my content is centered around writing. I also use a lot of photos and quotes.
    Love it if you’d check my site out and give me some feedback!
    https://booknook867.wordpress.com/
    (My latest post is called Sunday Blues. I have lots of posts, though, so please scroll and click a bit!)

    Liked by 9 people

    1. Your blog looks great! Simple yet intriguing and easy to navigate.
      I prefer to see the excerpt of posts on the home page as when your visiting a blog for the first time your not scrolling and scrolling to see the different kind of posts they write. Otherwise it looks great!

      Liked by 1 person