Apr 27, 2015 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for advice, feedback, and friendly blogging conversation.

Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/redjar/8402178817">redjar</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(CC BY-SA 2.0)</a>

Have you just published a new post and are dying for some feedback? Did you recently start your blog and could use some layout or design advice from your more seasoned peers?

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).

To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips you might find useful:

TIP: 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.

  • 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!
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  1. Happy Monday everyone. I’ve had a revamp of my weekly playlist post and gave my vlog format a makeover. I’d really love to know what you think of it https://youtu.be/yQJ4B4o13Vs it only lasts seven minutes and once I’m rich and famous I’ll give you a thousand pounds for every minute you watch 🙂 cheers!

    Liked by 6 people

    2. Hi Steve! I watched your playlist, and you better hold up your offer once you’ve become wealthy and famous. 😉 Anyway, nice choices, I adore Sia! I’m not sure how you used to vlog, but I really like what you’re doing now, especially since you have have the album cover in the background. In your description below you should also consider adding the times where you talk about each one. I know that helps for some viewers that want to jump back to a certain segment of the video. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I love the Overlay project and your blog in general: the pictures, your writing style and the atmosphere.

        Like

    3. I like that you put the title of your post on a relevant photo. I have trouble reading centered text though. Left-justified text is much easier to read and comprehend. I have to tell you I think your subtitle needs a period after “I captured.” I’m a writing teacher, so whether I read a blog or not is often influenced by that first impression.

      I like the content of your Hermione post and the idea that you learned lessons from a supporting character. I would have liked to see more specific examples to illustrate the things you learned from Hermione. I like the ones you’ve got there. It’s a compliment that I wanted to see more!

      Liked by 2 people

    4. Let me just say I love your header, the “o”s as lens are clever. In terms of layout and design, it’s easy to navigate and looks great! And I read your post about Hermione and that was really creative. Your Hollywood post is also insightful but probably not easy for some readers to connect with. Keep up the good work!

      Liked by 1 person

    7. Michelle, you have the pleasure and the pain of having a site that is art-centered and stylish. The pleasure is that you get to pour so much more goodness (visually and stylish language) than someone with a blog about fixing small engines. It also means that you must always be crafting and molding the site to keep your content fresh.
      Your photos are the centerpiece (obviously) and they are delightful! Consider now the standard template and how it might best complement your unique style. It might mean that in the months to come, you consider a wordpress.org site to give you greater flexibility over the visual content of your menus and widgets, adjusting their visual appeal to further immerse your readers in your world. I love the heavy black-and-white and I would not lose that look. It’s a great site, Michelle. Keep chipping away at style.

      Liked by 3 people

    8. Hy Michelle
      I’ve had a look at the Hermione article and really liked it! Also, the layout of your blog is beautiful so I followed right away. Just some input about the Hermione text: the pictures are lovely, but the explanations are maybe a little short. I would’ve liked them to be slightly more elaborated. But thanks for the lovely article!

      Liked by 1 person

    9. Hi Michelle, read your Hollywood post and it’s really cool – one suggestion perhaps on how to make it relate more to your audience is to take a lesson you have learnt from the show and then add it to something from your own life that backs it up – So in the show we saw this lesson learned which reminds me of the time i [story] – cos then people are relating to your story and seeing how what you’ve learned can apply to them.

      Nice work
      love brett fish

      Liked by 1 person

    3. That was really inspirational, thanks for sharing your thoughts. I also love your layout, very minimalistic and doesn’t take away from your writing. I really enjoyed reading the post about the 4 things you wished you knew prior to blogging, they were spot on and great tips for new bloggers!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you! I’m glad you found it inspiring. I was thinking about changing my theme as I was unsure about this one, so thanks for sharing your thoughts on it! I’m gonna go check out your blog now 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    4. Nice stuff Sherina, thanks for sharing – i like the way you unpack the idea and invite the reader into their own experience of what you are saying – i would maybe stick something in comments – the ” function on your tab bar – which indents a paragraph or line, or add maybe one other graphic or quote earlier on in your piece to break up the words a little bit more, but on the whole it really is good.

      Keep on
      love brett fish

      One post i’d love for you to check out on my blog is this one called ‘Magic Words’ – https://brettfish.wordpress.com/2015/04/22/tandem-post-magic-words

      i am part of a group of bloggers who have been trying out this thing called Tandem Blogging where 6 of us were given the same topic [Magic Words] and could write whatever we wanted – so incredible seeing all the different interpretations that came out of that with the different personalities owning it in their own ways… we have just finished a series of that and the new one starts tomorrow but with 9 bloggers so going to be a crazy lot to read and catch up on but again what a great opportunity – hope you enjoy.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks, Brett! This was one of my longer posts and no images struck me right away so I chose not to include them; you’re right about the indents though! Thanks for sharing your blog, I will check it out right now! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    5. Nice post. I know I’ve lost focus in the past or have given up easily and I am sure I will do it again, not being afraid to make the mistakes too is also crucial.

      Liked by 2 people

  4. Hello everyone, happy Monday!

    It’s been a week of change for me this week. I’ve changed my theme up to try to make it look cleaner and written in a slightly longer style with my poetry just to change it up a bit. If you have any thoughts on either I’d love to hear them. As always, happy to check out any specific questions you have for me if you leave a comment as well ☺

    Among The Ruins

    Thanks a million, as always,
    Ben

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I like that theme, it is one I have used before on another blog and I like the font and cleanness of it all. I sadly cannot comment on the poetry, I struggle with understanding poetry.

      You have an about page too which is a good bonus.

      Like

  8. Hey everyone,
    Today I was wondering if I could have feedback on one of my old article. It is on “Are Citizens of the World Succeeding in Lessening Global Poverty.” Need negative or posotive feedback on it for effective construction. Helpful advice is also highly appriciated on the post. Here the link:
    https://effectivethoughts.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/are-citizens-of-the-world-succeeding-in-lessening-global-poverty
    Plus, yesterday I posted a quote of J.K. Rowling about unity. It was very attractive for me. Here is the link where you may find the quote:
    https://effectivethoughts.wordpress.com/2015/04/26/j-k-rowling
    Thank You!

    Liked by 2 people

      1. I think I fixed it. Thank you. I wonder how many people I’ve missed out on reaching because of this. I appreciate you taking the time to tell me. Please let me know if you are able to view now. Thank you for your interest!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Sorry Jennifer – it still doesn’t work. I should have been more clear. If you click on pictures nothing happens but I think that’s normal. When I click on your name I get an error message. Try it and see what happens.

      Like

  10. Hello everyone!

    I commented here for the first time last week, and I discovered some great blogs in the process. So here I am, asking for any sort of criticism again. I also changed my these from Editor so I’d like to know if that wa s agood decision or not. I’d also love discovering more blogs, especially poetry.

    Here’s mine, it’s mostly poetry:
    ascintillaofthoughts.wordpress.com

    Thanks and have a nice day!

    Liked by 3 people

    2. I looked at some of your writing, and it’s beautiful! A good many of your posts have pictures, which is great since I know a lot of readers enjoy photography with writing. On your bottom header you should consider adding maybe one more widget, like a tags cloud, so visitors and readers can see your main focus (like what type of poetry, e.g emotions, nature).

      Liked by 1 person

    3. I love your theme, it’s gorgeous (it almost reminds me of tumblr)! You made a good choice since it displays the photography in your blog really nicely. And the story you painted was short but made an impact. Loved it!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. No I have a few wordpress followers as well. That is strange I will look into it and let you know. Thank you for your interest.

        Like

  14. Would love feedback on both my blogs that I keep. The first one is my thought dumping ground. I write about everything and anything in regards to family, love, and other life’s mishaps.
    You can find it here
    https://kildanlove.wordpress.com/

    the second one is a cute dog blog written in the POV of my Chihuahua/Italian Greyhound mix Bella. She chronicles her awesome doggy life.
    You can find that one here
    https://apawfectlife.wordpress.com

    Take a gander and look at both and tell me what you think.

    Happy blogging and thanks in advance.

    Liked by 2 people

      2. I was quite surprised to see it not mentioned, since Icelandic is such a tough language. Thank you so much for that input!

        Like

    3. Your theme and layout is perfect for a travel blog, it really showcases the photos beautifully. However, it’s totally up to your preference, but I think a blue, green, or even gray color instead of the brown/red color will suit the ambience of your blog better (the cooler tones are more soothing and less earthy in my opinion). This is totally just a suggestion as a reader. And that’s awesome you went to Iceland, the photos look great (really liked how you made the posts as tips for future Iceland travelers)!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Ah, a procrastinator’s guide. Not that it was of any use to a master procrastinator like myself, of course–I procrastinated making dinner by reading your post and then procrastinated this reply by getting up to make dinner. It was procrastination-ception! 😉

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Haha thanks!! It is so nice to see so much procrastination in one place. And yeah, you just made my day by using the word ‘procrastination’ and a reference to Nolan in the same word. Thanks for that too.

        Like

    2. Hi Vineeth! That’s funny, I actually already read your post about The Game of Thrones, and really enjoyed the review when I did. As for the writing post, very straightforward. They’re both great! Overall, the layout and design is nice and works for the text heavy posts. Just keep up the good writing. (And oh man, you totally remind me of my friend. He’s an engineering student and is a cricket fan and loves to play. If you’re also a diehard fan of football/soccer, then you could be twins. XD)

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Well, I’m really surprised to see someone read the Game Of Thrones review, considering my blog has had virtually no hits in the last week. And while I’m not a die-hard football fan, I do follow it!

        And your blog is pretty awesome! Thanks for commenting!!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I think I may have found it through browsing the “books” or maybe “book review” tag, since I usually wander around those. If I don’t directly go onto the blog to read the original post, it doesn’t show up on the stats. So don’t worry, people are reading your stuff! Thanks, Vineeth! I hope to talk books with you sometime! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I liked the procrastinator guide, although listening to music I find doesn’t help me think about a post to write about, unless I want to write a post about the track/album Im listening too and whilst I will have a “review” up soon on an album im not 100% comfortable with it as yet.

      I liked the layout of the blog, I am generally a fan of blogs with white backgrounds anyway, keep up the good work.

      Like

      1. Thanks. I’ve just finished reading your posts, and I like it a lot!

        You know, I love the name of the blog. “Cognitive Reflection”. Sounds too good to stay away from.

        Like

      2. Hi Vineeth, thanks for the comment and the follow. Not sure the blog lives up to the nice name at the moment, but hoping to get back there.

        Liked by 2 people

      4. it ebs and flows. With blogging you are always looking to improve or do something a little different. Or sometimes you fall into a method that when you look back you know isn’t your best.

        Like

      5. But you tried that method. attempting something new. That’s the main reason I blog. I write for myself. I write to try about different things with a method I haven’t explored yet. I really don’t care if what I’m going to write now is the best I’ve written. Because as long I’m trying something new, it doesn’t matter what people think of it. All I do next is to put it out for people to read, and wait for some actual sensible criticism and advice.

        Like

    2. “Your Face” was beautifully written, very nice! Sometimes blogs with a lot of widgets overclutters, but it really works for you. I enjoyed reading your “about” page, it’s cool that you chose a (I think) Japanese inspired pen name. Keep up the great work, Josue! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thank you so much for the praise! I feel honored. 🙂
        I indeed worked hard just to arrange the widgets, and it took me a long time to find the WordPress theme that will suit all my write-ups.
        About my pen name, I am not the person who conceptualized this pen name. Those who made this are my bestfriends, who have been supporting me ever since I began creative writing. The name “Sueju” is an alteration of the famous Korean liquor, soju, and then they combined it with my first name, Josue. On the other hand, “Takeshi” is a Japanese noun for warrior. When “Sueju” and “Takeshi” are combined, a new meaning will surface — it will become “drunken warrior”. My friends did this conceptualization because they thought that my creativity is juiced best whenever I am drunk and lonely. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I like the post! It seems like you’re trying for a more feminine look, but I would suggest making the background a little more softer, maybe even pastel with no stripes. The bold hot pink stripes, takes away from the great posts. And it’ll be easier on the eyes for your visitors/readers. It’s just just a suggestion!

      Like

    1. I enjoyed it and thought it was very perceptive. You know the way to go! From a few years further down the line, and as a person who enjoys meeting older people, I would just add this.

      I changed my life one day by freeing myself from ideas that were holding me back by looking at my 80 year old grandma and telling myself ‘Life is long – too long to live all those days looking backwards’.

      And you probably know this, but most people never really age much inside, though the outward changes makes it seem as if they do.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Just another comments – when you click on a post on your blog to read it and want to look for others, it’s not easy to find them. You might take a look at enabling the tag cloud widget or recent posts or related posts. I’d also consider adding your blog’s Home page next to About on the main menu bar.

      Like

  22. We have been blogging for about 10 months- in the last 6/8 months we publish something daily. I have several contributors on our blog. I am not really sure if I am tagging correctly? I know I tag no more than 15 key words but is their any direction on effective tagging strategies? Any help is greatly appreciative. Also what about setting up categories or tabs by the different contributors? Is that easy?

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Hello! I know there’s a less than 15 tag rule among the community, and I know many bloggers that believe the more tagging the better. However, I usually tag 6 keywords at the most so it doesn’t clutter the categories. Usually the most important words that sums up the post the best. Also, make sure to use broad words to tag, such as “religion” and “God” instead of “The Holy One.” Just because few people use those tags, and even few bloggers browse those. That may have been really confusing the way I suggested it, hoped it helped!

      Liked by 4 people

    1. Grief is a topic we rarely talk about…so it is a really important contribution when someone is going through it. Transition…leaving the season of grief, how a little bit of light contrasts the darkness of grief -since it is springtime!

      Liked by 2 people

    2. Maybe write a fun review on a book, movie, or some form of entertainment. Or whatever inspires you, maybe a personal experience post or even something mundane as walking your pet at the park and seeing something worth writing about. Hope this helped the writer’s/blogger’s block!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I like the layout of your blog. And great writing. I’m not into the same books you write about, but I enjoyed looking around. And I love that your shelves have room for even more great books!

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I am biased, but consider humor. It might even be therapeutic to not shy away from that which drives you to write about grief. The humor might sound a little dark or sarcastic, but I always believe that writing should benefit the author as much as their readers. It’s not a guaranteed good idea, but merely a suggestion. You might make yourself laugh.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes. I love humor as well. When I am with other bereaved parents we laugh about stuff that others might think way off-color. Perhaps sharing my dark humor would help others understand grief better. Thank you.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Kathleen, I relate and know a little (only a little) of what you have experienced. I said goodbye to my sister fourteen years ago now. I know the importance of digging smiles from the rubble. Thanks for the reblog! Glad to have you aboard.

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Your theme choice is rather stark and cold. It sends a very clear frigid vibe especially with the very tiny typeface, the stark whiteness, the wintery scene for the banner, the lack of any color at all….Your writing is self-reflective, honest, readable. CHIN UP. How about a little makeover and the words will be surrounded by warmth and the initial vibe will be more receptive and warm. – Ret

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I think your writing is fine. Besides, to connect with readers its more of interaction and discussion than the actual writing or posts (some posts are meant to be stark depending on the subject, such a talking about hurt or grief). I also agree with Ret, I think the theme, especially the header image is a bit melancholy. I would suggest adding some vibrant and maybe happy colors in your next layout (like a light yellow, blues, greens, etc) if you do decide to change. Maybe even choose a theme that has widgets that can link to your social media or other platforms you can interact with your readers. Hope this was somewhat helpful!

      Liked by 3 people

    1. I really liked how you presented your thoughts. You obviously put some time into the idea and made some valid points. I used to be one of those people that would judge art (I’m speaking of the literal sense of art like paintings and sculptures) solely by whether it made sense. So I used to hate abstract and even modern art. However, I recently took an art appreciation/education class, and have learned so much about symbolism and reason behind some of the famous art in which I once trashed. But like you mentioned, there’s still a lot of art that doesn’t seem to have logic behind it, but it still possesses a unique beauty. Really cool post!

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I would suggest changing to a photography theme or layout one day, it would showcase the nice photography on your blog better. It’s also easy navigation for your visitors/readers. And definitely consider adding widgets that link to your other social media platforms, maybe instagram, tumblr, or deviantart, on the sidebar. These are just tentative suggestions, hope this was somewhat helpful!

      Liked by 1 person

  28. Hello, #coffeestained here, a sorta seasoned blogger here on WordPress. I just wanted a few tips on keeping my viewership up. It seems like I get more views the day I post and go on a slow decline until I make a new post. I’ve recently begun posting more frequently but my question is: how often should I be posting? I was posting once a week, but should I be more frequent?

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Are you engaging with other bloggers? Do you visit, read and comment on other people’s posts? that’s the best way to engage with the communuty. Too many don’t bother.

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I find the same on my blog. Someone suggested that for every new post I publish I should also take one archived post and reblog it. It introduces new readers to pieces they may not have seen and keeps me from having to go through a forced creation of two writes in one week. I also made a change in how many posts can be seen before a reader has to click “view More posts”…I had it limited to 5 but I opened it up to an endless scroll and I’m finding more of my older pieces are being found/opened. – Ret

      Like

    3. Even though it’s satisfying as bloggers to know that people are reading your posts, don’t be too concerned with how frequent you post just because of visitor count. There are other ways to achieve traffic: one of the most popular ways is through interaction with your readers and reaching out in the blogophere. Explore the tags, like the posts you actually like, and comment to meet other bloggers. Obviously explore things that interest you and like things you genuine enjoyed reading. As for posting how frequently… I always believe in quality of quantity! So the length of time between posts doesn’t really matter.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. I have experienced the same. Their are a few posts (about bereavement and grief) that repost about every six months. They seems to be reposted and reblogged and I get lots of new readers each time.

      Commenting on other blogs will also bring you traffic. Serious comments. Not just, “I like this so visit my blog.”

      Regular posts help. Like every Monday and Thursday. Or a theme. I post “12 things I am grateful for on the 12th” each month. Turning the date of The Accident into a time of gratitude rather than grief.

      Hope this helps.

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Hey everyone, I’ve thought about joining the discussion here a few times now but have always chickened out. Mostly I am interested in hearing thoughts on layout… It just feels too plain to me and I’m not sure what I could do to change that.

    I’ve enjoyed finding new blogs here in the past so keep posting your links, even if you are afraid to!

    http://www.inpursuitofafamily.wordpress.com

    Liked by 3 people

    1. I love your layout. The most important thing is choosing a theme appropriate to your audience. It feels engaging, welcoming and laid back. It wouldn’t be appropriate for a business blog, but here it feels right.

      Like

    3. Hi and welcome here! I had a look at your blog. I think the theme you chose (Penscratch) fits very well to record your journey and progress (I hope you will be a very happy family soon!!!). The soft colours of your header image are a good choice for your topic. But I think I know what you mean when you say that it looks a little ‘plain’. I have two ideas to offer:
      1) It looks like you usually place a picture at the top of your posts. To create a more uniform look, I would suggest to either select these images as featured images or to crop them so that they always have the same size and display them with full width. If you choose to use featured images, they will be cropped automatically.
      2) One thing that makes Penscratch look a little plain to me is that it is so ’empty’ at the top. I use a very similar theme called sketch and I like the top part and format of the header image in that theme a little better than in Penscratch.
      All the best, I hope you will get tons of ideas from this forum.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Thanks for the ideas! I didn’t know that about the feature image. I like a more uniform look and had been trying to keep images relatively close in size, but using the featured image will be much easier. I’ll also look into the theme you suggested since I agree about the top of the penscratch theme– that is exactly what I didn’t like about it too. And thank you also for your well wishes 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    4. I think the layout is simple but really nice (even soothing)! Your focus is really interesting and obviously very personal and dear to you. Thanks for sharing! (And don’t be shy, we’re all nice on the community pool!)

      Like

    5. I use the same theme and love it, having changed from a previous one. It’s clean and makes the words speak for themselves, which I think is great, since they are very powerful. Glad you posted, always nice to discover new bloggers 🙂

      Like