Dec 1, 2013 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Community Pool

The Community Pool is for those of you looking for input, whether on post ideas, writing, blog design and layout, or anything else. If you have a post, page, or idea you want to bounce off someone, leave a comment. Your fellow bloggers can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

Read on for the ground rules and to leave a comment . .

  • You’ll get the best feedback if you can be as specific as possible about what you’d like people to respond to or where you’re struggling.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. We’re here to help and support one another, not to beat anyone down.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • 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.
  • No running on the deck.

Photo by t_a_i_s.

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    1. Hey Adshayah, I really like your blog! The posts are fun and exciting to read and your pictures are great! Are you the photographer? It seems like you and your friends have a great writing career ahead of you! Keep it up!

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      1. Thank you so much. I just wanted to know is there any ideas you have a post on??? I can write about a lot of things. If you want a specific post I can make a specific post….e.g. Taylor Swift, overcoming your fears, why we make mistakes

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    2. A few thoughts:

      1- The header is extremely hard to read because of the yellow text against the yellow/red background. I’d change the text color to something that will stand out.

      2- Your header menu is easy to miss against that background unless you’re looking for it. So is mine, BTW. Since I like my background image (and yours), I’d try adding the pages widget prominently on the sidebar.

      3- It might not be ridiculous to suggest changing the name of your blog to “Adshayah Blog” It would eliminate the stray ‘s on the second line of your header.

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      1. Ok, thank you….I’ll try and make a few adjustments. I knew something had to be done. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, When I’m done, I’ll let you know.

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    3. Hi–I read through a few of your posts. From my understanding you are younger, early high school maybe? I’m now 20 years old, and I enjoyed reading your blog because it reminded me of how I would write in my journals when I was younger. I think you should just keep writing and allow your blog to mature as you. However, I think you could come up with a more interesting title–you sound like a spunky girl, so let it show!

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      1. I’m actually only 11 years old, I love to blog and it’s so interesting. Some intentions of mine are to capture the audience’s attention. Yeah….I don’t really want to change the title into something really crazy.

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      2. For someone who is so young I must commend you on being so focused! Keep up the good work, you really do have a nice blog! But like a previous blogger noted I would change some of the header’s colors so they can stand out more. Good luck to you!

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      4. Maybe something meaningful to you? One of my favorite blogs is Cupcakes and Cashmere–and the name fits it perfectly. I named mine plot twist, because those are the parts of life/stories that I like the most. It doesn’t have to be wild, but I am under the impression you are an outgoing person and you can spice it up just like you if you want!!! But definitely think all of your changes over before you make them, so you stay true to yourself.

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      5. I will. Thank you for the kind efforts of giving me some suggestions. Now, if you were to read a post and say wow what would the topic be about?

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      2. Parameters. Make rules – draw a box – have a voice a theme a …reason for writing the blog… feel free to break it and shake that up…but I want to know… WHY are you writing this and WHY do I want to read it.

        Know this. Define it. It can only be a Win/Win.

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    5. Hi: My fav quote of yours, “If you’re a perfectionist, you’re an alien. If you make mistakes you’re human.” It reminded me of when I was your age and read a line of Thoreau’s poem, “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.” Amazing, that at such a young age, there is something that tells you these lines will guide you. Maybe an idea for your blog is to invite others to tell which quote has helped to guide them and where they were when it first captured their attention. P.S. I like the “spicy” background color & no shame in using your own name! I’m knew at this, but I do know what I like!

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      2. Wow, thank you. This is a really kind comment. I love quotes…..today I’ll try and think of some more. Yup, these lines are what I have learned from wisdom, friends and life. You know life is a rollercoaster…has its ups and downs. I will do the quote idea you have thought of. Thank you!!! Also, the reason for the spicy background is because Christmas is nearby, gotta have spirit. Am I not right?

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    6. Hi Adshayah, greetings from down under! Just discovered your blog, really like it, full of positive vibes which is what I’m about too. You’ve got some great content, I especially like the 5 L’s to life, words to live by. If i have one teeny-weeny criticism, your menu is a touch hard to read for me. Other than that I dig the style and color choices, very fresh and fun.

      I’m a writer as well – currently putting the finishing touches on my first book. And if you dig music, I’m also a composer, you can find my stuff at http://www.reverbnation.com/thenathancarlsonproject 🙂 keep up the good work!

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      1. Thank you so much….I’m all about positive vibes….the bad part is something to get rid of. I know the menu is hard to read but you can’t really change the colour so there’s not much I can do. The design and colours are supposed to be fresh and fun.

        What’s your book about it??? Any chance it’s getting published??? I would love to read it. I just saw the website. Amazing work. I love the way it’s so neat and the music seems neat. Thank you for the inspiration and be sure to comment and follow.
        Sincerely,
        Adshayah

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      2. It’s a book of poetry, and I’m going down the self-publishing road. Cheers for checking out the music, there’ll be a new record out in Feb. next year, if you join the mailing list at reverbnation you’ll be able to download new material before anyone else 🙂 thanks again mate and keep up the good work!

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      3. Ok…..same to you. KEEP UP YOUR AMAZING MUSIC. Follow your heart….it’ll lead you. Also, I will definitely join the mailing list. Cool…..amazing.

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    7. Hey Adshayah, you are this young writing talent I’ve just discovered. Keep up the good work. Since you were asking around for topics, I’d suggest one. Being a scientist myself, i always love to know how young people perceive science. You say that, you see yourself looking for cancer cures in 20 years from now. tell me what motivates you to do this and spread the passion for science amongst other readers 🙂

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      1. Oh my gosh…..that’s such a good topic. Thank you, thank you. Definitely. I would love to do that….call it Spread the Love of Science. Yup, totally……I’m definitely going to do that. Thank you for the idea.

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  3. Hello community! I would love for folks to take a look and comment on my blog. Im lost as to how to generate more traffic to it from the outside world, any suggestions would be amazingly helpful. Also any comments on my photography or writing critiques will help me grow enormously in this blogsphere!

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    1. I like the layout of the blog, how all of the pictures are aligned and once you click on it, it will take you to the post. My only suggestion is to increase the font size. Good luck with everything!

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    2. I suspect your metatags are too specific/long. It might be worth a try to use single words for most of your tags instead of phrases. Easier for search engines to match your tags with what someone is looking for. See if that helps.

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      1. Thank you! Thats excellent advice. My initial posts had one word tags and then i was told to use phrases. lets see if a combo of the two will help!

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    3. This blog captured my attention. I liked the way the posts, to get to them you have to click the pics. Also, the subtitle really make you think. Maybe to capture the audience’s attention, write about something everyone can relate to. E.g. fears and the world….maybe imagination or creativity. Use tags so they can find it easier.

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  4. This is one of my flash-fictions from a sequence that use the same characters. I’m looking for feedback on what people think of the characters and the stories. It would also be really useful to hear what people have to say about the blog’s layout.

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    1. About your layout:

      It feels like the top half is really dark and the bottom half is empty when I first click on the blog. The nice header image is overshadowed by that header menu; there’s very little contrast between the two and they’re right up against each other. Would your theme allow you to move the header menu to the sidebar or change its color?

      Another possible solution would be to change the really light gray background color to something that compliments the dark half more effectively.

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    2. AH – I have an issue with continuity with keeping Flash Fwd’s/ Backwards …and the concept of two characters discussing a story involving other characters …sometimes what makes sense to me – may not flow for the reader that counts. ( lol, you know, the one OUTside my head. Look fwd to reading.

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    3. Hey Carol! One – you are more of an intellectual and artist than I. Seriously. LOL but if ya want a lil PBR kinda observation, I think the Illustrator/Writer duality is a combination that I am not familiar with! It’s cool! but it’s new to me and I was a little confused and curious… I wanted to know more when I saw the landing page about – Who What Where Why – there was a style and voice that I was looking at… I could tell by the visuals and style presented in the layout – but I was left wanting to know more about it. I was not sure where to look at first to find the writing pieces… so it caused a little bit of a hunt and peck…and I was curious if the stories were all different…related… I wished the snip-its I could see would give me a “Back of the Book” synopsis so I knew where I wanted to start. 🙂

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      3. The site could do with a little more organisation perhaps. You don’t seem to be taking full advantage of categories, and the category cloud doesn’t always have the same benefits as the list or drop-down boxes. An about page might also be a good idea, it gives readers an opportunity to get a good idea of the writers voice.

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      5. Well it took me until a few months back to sort out my categories.
        If I was going to give any advice I’d say pick five or six categories that are broad enough to have everything included somewhere within them. These can then act as parent categories for more specific areas.
        For example I have Short Stories and Flash Fiction as a parent category, an two more sub-categories 100-150 words and 5 sentence fiction. All my short stories and flash fiction are listed if you click on the parent category, but the two sub-categories allow readers to refine their search.
        It also allows me to have a separate area for projects such as Headquarters which is a series of flash-fictions that are interlinked.

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      7. You’re welcome. It’s nice to feel useful, even if I did just realise that I forgot to link in the post I was referring to in the comment into the actually comment at the start…
        No wonder no one was reading it.

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    6. Pretty good writing. But I’m not sure what this means: “Weapons that didn’t have quite the intended effect there were supposed and cities that had vanished overnight.” Murky.

      In one of the other pieces (climbing a cliff), you cram a tad too much exposition into the dialogue, [“I mean it’s not like you’re an active agent anymore…”]. I’d split that paragraph for readability and make the exposition less obtrusive. Adding some realistic conflict might help cover the exposition, too.

      Oh, and I’m revoking your Semicolon Permit until further notice.

      Nice site, tho it took me a while to find the link to the content, craftily disguised as a sketch, because the photos at the top are not links.

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      1. Thank you for the comment, and those photos should be links, I’ll fix them pronto. I’ll take a look at Talk to The Rock in a week or two when my assignments die down.
        Thank you again.

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    7. I love the design of your blog, but the scrolling background image kind of hurts my head. It would probably look better if you made the background “fixed” under Appearance > Background.

      Good luck!

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      1. Well so I just picked one (I’m impatient)…Deep, dark, dumb. I just have a few questions: 1. Is there a stylistic reason you sometimes use proper grammar, capitalization, etc. and sometimes not? I am for breaking the rules, but as a reader I could not discern why those rules had to be broken. 2. Why didn’t you provide more context to the vengeance you were talking about? I related to the part about rehearsing conversations, but I am curious what the impetus for this post was.

        Keep writing! It’s good for the soul. 🙂

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    3. I agree, you really need to get the word out about your blog, it’s hard to get people to check it out on a daily basis but you should, and plus you just got a new follower!

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    4. Curious – why is the blog a secret? or why have you not “shared” it… Is this not sharing it with people you know? or within the public eye ( of strangers)? I’m curious about this as I was a bit guarded with sharing my “blog” with people who knew me. I felt it would filter my voice…

      Interesting growth occurred as I explored these feelings. I was also worried about people, MY people making fun of it, hating it and of course – the writer’s worst fear – thinking it SUCKS. LOL. Silly things…but real feelings.

      What was it for you?

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      1. I haven’t shared it with people I. know I guess I’m not ready to feel that exposed yet and not just about the content, it’s about the way I write too. When I talk, the words stumble around like a new born deer so this isn’t a side of me people have seen. I guess we’re pretty alike though,I’m scared of disapproval too.

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      2. 🙂 I had a newish friend ask me this week for a link to my blog to read it… I was like…oh cool, which kind of post do you want to read… the response I got was, “all of it”

        GULP.

        I felt like I was going to let this person read my diary…it was invasive and yet it was kinda freeing and fun…

        I understand where you are coming from.

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    1. Hi Emily,
      I really like your post — some food for thought: You may want to avoid known phrases like “fixed my eyes on” and instead use simpler, direct verbs like “saw.” You also may want to consider replacing some adjectives with action verbs (so, instead of “inky black night” maybe “the city lights shone against the sky, diamonds against coal”). Pare anything unnecessary — it will increase the intensity of what’s left.

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    2. Emily – ( smile ) you have a gift for weaving words into pictures. The voice to me sounds like one of a writer and a thinker and an observer scribbling furiously to get down all of these simple moments with the words that you felt while living them. My observation was that there was a voice but the message was an after effect to the description…and not the description as a backbone to your message. You write beautifully. The advice that I have taken that has assisted me, is to continue to write from my heart out…and then edit … and move some things around, so that someone else can read the passage…and be able to see IN.
      🙂

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      3. I like that you have records of your friends conversations–my friends and I joke about making millions if we had a collective twitter or talk show or something….but I wish that you rounded out your thoughts. “What does it all mean to you?” is what I am asking myself. Draw me into a deeper meaning about friendship and romance and being young and wild.

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      5. For example, the post about getting waxes. After the facepalm…what happened? What were you thinking about as you were driving home that day? Why was that moment so compelling you had to blog about it? But show me why, don’t tell me.

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      6. ROFL -well when it comes to waxes, I won’t SHOW why ( I don’t have THAT kinda blog) 🙂 but I totally see what you are getting at – that final look as to why the story was being told to begin with… I can’t believe I missed that element. Humility of a writer I guess, I didn’t think anyone would want to read what I was thinking… LOL but hello, I’m blogging about it.

        🙂 great point. Thank you.

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      7. Fair point, fair point–I didn’t compute “waxing” and “show the reader.” Ooops!!!! But give me a little descriptive paragraph at the end. Make sure the reader knows why it was worth their while and keep writing!

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    1. 1. It doesn’t seem like the shade of red in the title and the little speech bubbles you have on your main page match. I know that’s very particular, but I feel like they should match.
      2. Is there anyway to divide up the columns of text you have on your main page. I think all of the categories are fine, but when I was reading the top post, my eyes got “confused” with all of the “thoughts from Miko” text next to it. If there is a way to add maybe a .5 inch more bit of space to clearly delineate the page for your readers, that would be great!
      3. I liked your about me page–gave me a better sense as who you are as an author
      4. I like how under “My Blog” and “My Writings” you have the drop down tab, but maybe you should consider using the “read more” feature on your longer posts. I was just scrolling through and I was uncertain if I had missed the start of a new post or not because they were long.
      5. All in all, I think you have a vision of what you want, so don’t compromise it!

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    2. On the whole, I like it. Especially the header.

      The only thing I’d consider changing is the sidebar layout. With both a left and right sidebar, the blog looks really busy until the sidebar contents end; when that happens, a narrow column of text is surrounded by a sea of white. So, I’d probably go with a single-sidebar layout (using the right sidebar to balance out the red on your blog title) if it ends up looking good.

      If you’re really fond of the double-sidebar layout, perhaps you could change that white background color to the gray in your header menu; that would at least solve the sea of white problem, though you’d lose some of the red-white contrast.

      Like

    3. At a glance – I would suggest that visually there is too much going on on the sidebars …I would pick whatever the reader needs/ or what would market the blog best – and go from there trimming it down. Ya might want to add a link to every blog that takes to you a widget page with options to follow/stalk/read/save..ect…ect…

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    1. Okay so this is what I would say…You obviously chose a niche “science and technology,” but as someone who knows very little about science and technology, I think they way you broach your topics is too narrow. If it were up to me, I would always include some sort of a short explanation of the topic/technology you are reviewing. As a reader, it would make me more comfortable when I got to the links to the articles you posted or reading your opinion because I would simply be less ignorant. I hope that makes sense!

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      1. Right, I can see what you mean. So far I’ve tended to write my opinions and formulate them into posts as soon as I hear about things. I’ve been meaning to try and encompass those who aren’t familiar with the things I write about as well as those who are, but I can see how I’ve been neglecting to do that in some of my posts. Thanks for your feedback!

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    2. I rather like dipping in and out of science blogs, and you have a very interesting writing style but I don’t think there is enough of you in the posts. I also agree with Emily Myers point on further explanation being needed in places.

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      3. ‘Dislike’ wasn’t my first choice of word either, but I couldn’t think of any other suitable antonyms of ‘prefer’. So far the blog has partly been a place for me to post about things I’ve read about, as a place for myself to keep track of them, and to share with others. I’m sort of turning the self notes into articles as I go, so I’ll try and work on that in future posts.

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  10. I would really like to create a better index on my blog – http://culturallife.wordpress.com. At the moment, I don’t really have much of a system. I have a dropdown list of categories (books, movies, culture, food, life etc) on the right-hand side of my blog. But it is difficult to find previous posts and I would like to create a better layout in general, especially in terms of an index. Does anyone have some helpful tips on this topic?

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    2. I would like to read your Freshly Pressed Post, but i can’t find it… maybe change the link on the widget in your sidebar so it links to your post rather than the WordPress Freshly pressed page?

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      2. Thank you 🙂

        If the Widget is an image, right down the bottom of the ‘edit widget’ page you can change the ‘Link URL’ to the one above. That should fix it, let me know if you need more step by step help xx

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      3. Great post! I had a very similar experience with my husband, he had very difficult chest surgery and he was in theatre for 7 hours. I waited 12 hours from saying goodbye to seeing him again, i could hardly breathe with fear by the time he came back. Thankfully he is completely recovered now 🙂 Was your mum ok?

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      4. Thank you! She was okay although it took a long while for her to recover (she had been seriously ill for about a year before she had the surgery). The one-year anniversary of her transplant is coming up this month. Christmas will be much happier this year! 🙂

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      5. Phew 🙂
        Very relieved that you still have her. Its incredible how intense and long lasting the trauma of that experience is, it took me a good few years to recover from it, it was utterly terrifying!
        Have a very wonderful Christmas xxx

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    1. Two thoughts:

      1- That yellow color on your header is impossible to read. Especially the smaller text. Try something darker.

      2- That’s a neat background image, but not as a background image. Problem is, we can’t see enough of it to make out what it is. Since so little of the image is visible, it almost looks more like an abstract pattern than like women. If I were you, I’d change the background image.

      However…

      I looked at the whole image and it’s really good. Maybe you could design a custom header that incorporates it. It speaks to your blog’s content and it would be more effective if seen whole.

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    2. 1. I like the color yellow you chose for the blog title, but it is harder to read your byline underneath it in the same yellow because it is in a smaller font. Maybe change it to the peachy color for the links to your various pages to other readers with bad eyesight can read it easier?
      2. LOVE YOUR TOPIC. We need more blogs like this.
      3. I don’t know how advanced you are with videos and all that (I’m horrible), but I was expecting to see a video of you performing your spoken word poetry on that page. If you have the means, time, and tech savy to make a video, I would love it!
      4. Have you considered making various categories to have along the top…maybe one for hair (that was the most obvious one to me), role models, etc? As an “outsider” I think it would make it easier for other women to navigate your blog and sample your opinions and really get to know you as an author.

      I hope that was helpful!

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    1. I think the look is clean and easy to read. Good use of visual and sidebar/ widgets. I might suggest putting some more parts of your opinion/ experience/ personal story/ into the pieces. I know it’s about sports and not something “touchy-feely” but… if I wanted stats I could read the paper… people are reading your blog… I think they might want to hear more from you. I did notice your Thanksgiving blog bordered on a little personal look at your family’s love of football. That was great.

      If you would like to give me your take on my blog, I’d love to hear your thoughts as well.
      http://tequillatudes.wordpress.com/

      Like

  13. Well, these images generated less response/interest from the WordPress community this week then I figured they would. I thought they were pretty cool images. There are seven, I posted one every day over the past week, figuring I’d generate some “likes” and cool comments, but that never happened? Maybe folks participating in this Community Pool will have some feedback for me? Visit the link below and let me know what you think.

    http://emeraldstudiophoto.com/

    Peace

    ~V

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    1. Too many tags. Tags plus categories for a single post can’t go over 15 or else it won’t show up in the WP Reader. That’s probably why you got so little reaction.

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    1. Three suggestions to contemplate: First, much shorter, many more paragraphs – easier to read. Second, the “latest posts” widget instead of the archives widget. Third, pictures, even just little ones to texture the text. Wikimedia Commons is a good place to find images that help convey your message. And one more possible idea to consider – what if your page were the color of a yellow pad of paper?

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      1. Thank you for suggestion and look at blog. I try to keep my post as small as possible cause some people may only want to read for only a few minutes and move on to something else. I do have my own photos on my computer but I am picky about the look. I will check out Wikimedia Commons also. Thanks a lot!

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    2. Hey! I started at the ABOUT page – and I love the look and tone of your Blog – Check out your ABOUT page again for tiny edits to clarify your powerful message. I noticed a few typos. I’m guilty of this too and am mentioning this as I would appreciate someone telling me.

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      1. Thank you for commenting and reading my blog. I’ve been meaning to change my about page for a while and I never do it. Sometimes I’ll just click on it and start to cringe and then click to another page. That is on the list of the things to do with my blog this week. Thanks for stopping by and following!!!

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      3. I would keep your posts categorized. You can add the category in the post section right before you publish. Perhaps have a related posts to the end of your posts. That helps to receive more views. I thought the post “List of little things” was cool. But what would have made it better is to have actual pictures of your favorite things and why you like those things. Wikimedia Commons was passed on to me by another blogger and they have free pictures that you can use. Reaching out to other bloggers through the community pool is a big asset not to take advantage of. I hardly ever read their post and now I’m going to make my mission to check out their post at least 2-3 times a week. Just by responding to their post today and responding to other bloggers I noticed a big difference in my views for today and I picked up some followers! Oh and one more thing I dont know if I missed the “about” page but I would add that on there also. Good luck!!!!

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  16. Suggested Topic: Ten Vocabulary Words Critical in Communicating Electronically
    Example: Blog (n.) A word-processed essay in response to an electronic cue; (v.) to compose via the ‘Net.’

    did I get it right/write?

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  17. Hello everyone!
    I started my blog on 1st Nov, already posted a lots of post on Recipes, Photography and few daily life writing. I’ve completed my blog theme idea and choose ‘Splendio’ according to my blog name and nature. Please visit and let me know what do you think of theme, posts, photos, widget an etc.
    http://acrazychef.wordpress.com/

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    1. Okay. I looked at your blog, and at first I was confused on how to access previous posts. I think this might be related to the blog theme you picked, and in that case it is a matter of personal preference. I also think you should include categories at the top, so readers can easily find different types of recipes, your creative writing, and your photography.

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    2. Wow, this is a breath-taking blog…..with all your enthusiasm it seems pretty amazing. Some steps to take maybe like another blogger mentioned separate photography, recipies and few daily life writing. Also, it’s really cool. I like the featured posts carousel. I’m a little confused about the recent posts.

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      2. Your Welcome, Okay I don’t understand what you mean by ” Recent post is below the featured posts slide bar, another are beside the Recent post.” It is kind of confusing. May you explain it again.

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    3. Your brownies looked really good!!! And they made want to jump through the screen and grab the whole plate! Like the previous blogger noted I would categorize things to make it easy to get around. Also think about having a section dedicated to your photos as well. I dont know if you have your photos copyrighted but make sure you do, same thing applies with your posts! Good luck!

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      1. Thank you, sound like I should work on my categories. But I didn’t get you, what do you mean by ‘having a section for photos’ which kind of section ? Elaborate please.

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  19. I can’t believe that’s 3 months since I started working in my blog. I’ve had over 4000 views and have 125 gorgeous people following me. Thanks to everyone for your encouragement. Also, big thanks to the Daily Post. If they hadn’t provided the Daily Prompt and Weekly Photo Challenge then I might have given up before I had even started.

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      1. You just list the titles of the books and link each one to the particular posts you want. I did that for five of my posts on the page “Best posts” on my site (in the top menu, the red ribbon). When you are creating the list, use the links button in the toolbar – hover over each of the buttons and you will find the create links button.

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      2. If you’re going to list a large number of books, you might check out Goodreads, which is set up to do exactly that, including displaying the covers, automatically. You can link from your blog to your Goodreads page, and vice versa.

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    2. Sanchita, since you have so many posts, you might want to increase the number of recent posts on your Recent Posts widget. I have mine up to 15. Gives people a chance to pick and choose what reviews they wish to read.

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  21. I just recently started a blog to house mostly creative writing. I’m looking for feedback on how I can structure it better (making it easier for people to browse parts of a story for ex.), and just general writing improvements such as grammar. I’m fairly rusty.

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    2. You need to include categories firstly, especially if you’re doing a story in a series of posts.
      ‘Betrayal’ could be its own category perhaps, it would make navigation easier. I had the same issue with organisation when I started my creative writing blog.
      http://www.caroljforrester.wordpress.com
      I still mess about with the layout now and again but I think I’ve got the organisation down now.

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    3. Aphotic – Maybe draft a post, preview it, and then leave it in draft overnight. Read it the next day. You’ll probably want to change a few things. Leave it in draft and re-read it the next day. Make more changes if needed, then publish. Pretty soon you’ll feel less rusty with the grammar. The more you publish, the better you’ll get. We all get rusty if we don’t exercise. (Source: writing degree, experience )

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    2. In relation to #2, I am sorry to report that the humor did not translate for me. Too many local references to brands, shows, towns that I am unfamiliar with because, well, they’re not over here on this side of the pond. Also I am sorry about those obnoxious Californians you had to kill with a trowel – we Americans actually did not invent paper.

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    4. The humor sort of translates, since the jocular tone doesn’t depend on jokes and is subtle, compared to, say, exploding scotsmen wielding bagpipes. Some of the terms will be unfamiliar to Americans. We don’t wear singlets here, to the best of my knowledge. At least, if we do, we call them something completely different.

      I fully agree regarding tattoos. I even dislike wearing articles of apparel with company names thereon. There was time, in the antediluvian days of my birth, that such items were given away for a dollar and six boxtops from Sugar-Frosted Cocoa Bombs. Now, they want me to pay a substantial pile of geetus to display their advertising all over town. No way!

      I’ve subscribed to Autocar and owned three British-made cars. Thus I’m not a complete novice in Brit-speak, and can swear in same quite fluently, particularly at the mere mention of the words “Lucas Electrical.”

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  23. Just wondering if anyone’s got suggestions. I know the blog is kind of boring but I sort of like it, but if people think the color scheme is too bland I might change it. Also: how do you think the widgets sidebar looks?
    Thanks!
    pleasexcusemyvagina.wordpress.com

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    1. I think your writing is strong enough that you should get stronger colors. Also, pink polka dots don’t convey “feminism” too much. As for the widgets, you might want to move the welcome, follow, and recent posts up top. Over time, play with the order of widgets until you’re satisfied. I notice they do make a difference to how people respond to a blog. Keep working with the design until it matches the strength and passion of the topics you are writing about.

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      2. That’s a toughie, I don’t know which, but I know they exist. Maybe just changing the colors on your current theme would be less work than looking into every theme?

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  24. My input for creating a blog is writing. I called myself a writer when I was in fifth grade. But, realized it is a little hard to create a story. So, I can write whatever my opinions are, and see does it sound like I’m telling you a story.

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  25. In my BLUES BLUES BLUES blog (deep delta blues) ~ I’ve added my Photos and Blues vids … would you like more commentary, pictures or music? thanks 🙂

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  27. Hi everybody!It is pretty amazing just how wonderful WP is.However I’d like you guys to take a look at my blog and website.I’m pretty new to this but I appreciate blogging.Please,please,let me have any suggestions that can impact and perfect my site.Thanks guys.

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