Feb 15, 2016 / Community Pool

Community Pool

The place for feedback, advice, and blogging camaraderie.

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?

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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).

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    1. There were a lot of big words – too many for me after a long day at work. But the sentiment and metaphors were beautifully written. I hope the forest you have yet to explore is a light, joyful experience for you.

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Hi – your blog looks beautiful. The layout is very pleasing to the eye.

      I can see what Pots of Tea is getting at, though – you choose a lot of Latinate words and ornate language, when simpler Anglo Saxon might get your readers closer to what you’re thinking and feeling. It depends on what you are trying to achieve.
      Your English sounds quite formal and formal language can have a distancing effect on readers, especially native speaking readers.

      All best wishes
      Elaine

      Liked by 4 people

      2. Thank you, Chua Han Au. I think you’re lucky because your enthusiasm and intelligence shine through in your writing. All the words you use are part of your personal ‘word hoard’ and you’ve built up a rich treasury of language. None of it’s ‘wrong’ but if you add some straightforward Anglo Saxon words to the mix, all your words will shine more brightly.

        Bigger words aren’t always better words. (Though sometimes they’re the perfect words). I’ve never taught English in Sinagapore, but I have a feeling that formal English is the version that’s taught and valued. Now that you’re speaking to a worldwide audience, you’ll reach their hearts more easily if you speak their version of the language, with your own Latinate words mixed in, because that’s your voice. Getting that mix right will be the interesting part. I’d find modern writers that you enjoy and read a lot. The ‘newer’ powerful English will take up residence in your mind and enrich your personal word hoard.

        Lots of luck with your blog

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Omg, thank you so much for your detailed and heartfelt advice. I am saving this as memory. And yes I will work on my language diligently!

        I wish you all the best in helping others grasp the English language! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      4. Think of it as taking a holiday in different versions of English. Enjoy the sunshine, notice the local customs, try the foreign food and then come home to your own personal English, refreshed and full of inspiration and ideas.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. Great writing. But definitely consider the other responses about you vocabulary choices. Unfortunately the average reading level of a high school gratuate in the US is somewhere around 7th or 8th grade. (Hence one eeason for Common Core in schools.) You don’t want to lose your readers by using too many college words. Using high level words at a frequent rate prevents your readers from being able to decipher unknown words through context clues because they don’t understand the other words you used. But don’t stop including them altogether. People should be able to expand their vocabulary by reading what others write. But I have been plagued by nightmares in the past and I could relate… Which is also important to readers.

      Liked by 3 people

    6. Pots of Tea has a valid point, although I must say you have an impeccable vocabulary which is more suitable to an appropriate audience.

      I think blogging is more about contemporary, the more conversational, style of writing – which people can find more palatable and relatable at the same time.

      Even then, with your usage of ornate language, you are getting quite a bit of attention. I wouldn’t dare say you should mould your diction, in fact you should continue writing where your heart and mind lead you to, but I would recommend that given the command of the language you have you might find it useful to write in various styles and kinds of diction.

      You have a philosophical mind, and you know clearly how to get ideas across, trying various styles will probably give you a wider audience, and those who might be getting too scared will follow your more conversational pieces keenly and in time will be curious to read more of your ‘serious’ stuff.

      You have got me as a follower of your great blog, and I would be grateful if you can provide me your expert opinion on topics, style and diction of my own pieces at http://www.cognitivebackyard.com

      Cheers!

      Liked by 1 person

    7. For me, your words were nostalgic. In my mind, I was back in my teen years revisiting mental pathways similar to those you put to words. Many years have passed since then and I tend to think forward. It is the rare piece of writing that takes me back. Thank you for the journey. My writing at this point in life is for a completely different purpose, a set of short leadership thoughts: http://gracelead.co I wish you the best with your writing and growth as a person.

      Liked by 1 person

  4. I started my blog 1-1-16. Prior to that I had zero experience with blogs,minimal with computers and writing. I have learned so much since New Years! I have so much to learn! I do 99% of my blog on my I phone. I create my blog on ” notes” on my phone then transfer to my blog. I can’t figure out how to make a paragraph! Can anyone help? Thank you! Let me know if you want me to check out your blog!

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Well, we all make a start some day, so you’ll surely pick up soon. You could always create it as a draft on WP and then publish it when you feel right. Just thought to share it. But most important is what’s convenient for you. Have a great day!

      Liked by 3 people

    2. I also do all of my blogging on my mobile. I downloaded the WordPress App, which simplifies the writing and formatting process, and write my posts directly on there. You can format your paragraphs as you go, save as a draft, revisit it, edit more and even schedule your publishing date if you want. It takes some time just navigating through the site, but you’ll figure it out! Heck, I just figured out a lot last week about formatting my site and I upgraded 3 months ago!! Keep on!

      Liked by 4 people

    1. I kind of skipped the links and went straight to your blog site and looked through. I really like your post on Lazarus, the one about David Bowie. I’ll take a more in – depth look, though. Thanks for sharing.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. Hello!

    My new project called Once Each Day is now one week old 😀
    The project is a simple one, where people can share a sentence about their day. You can choose to do so anonymously or you can be a regular recognised contributor!
    I have had a great response within the first week, but I fear that the submissions are dieing down.

    I would love it if you could take a look at the site and give me your feedback. Or even better submit your own sentence 😀

    https://onceeachday.wordpress.com/

    Liked by 11 people

      1. Great questions. I may have to review some of my pages to offer a better explanation of this.
        If you don’t mind I’d quite like to give you a short answer 🙂
        The idea is that we get a map in time,a sort of screenshot of what was happening in our lives. It’s way to document the world around us, in a short and open way.
        I choose not to offer prompts – though all I ask is that people write about their day. So in that sense I guess the responses should be non fiction, but if you want to work in a metaphor, then the flexibility is there.

        I think the best thing is to not to put up too many rules, and just let people feel free to write.

        What do you think that you’d want from this space?

        Thanks for taking to time to have a look and offer feedback 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Thanks! I got to thinking about the parameters because there are so many outlets where we can write a short bit about our day (FB, Twitter, here) and look back on it. How can you make your site unique, draw people to it? That being said, I love the idea you have and the wording you used to describe it in your response.

        Liked by 3 people

      3. Thanks! And again, great questions. I love how you are making me think about the project with different eyes.
        I guess you’re right about there being many sites that offer an outlet, though I personally feel that this site is more of a fabric of voices combining together to offer a shared space, rather than celebrating the individual.
        That being said, makes me realise the flaw I’ve made by making my own posts different from everyone else’s.
        I’m off to rectify that 🙂

        Liked by 3 people

      2. I love Postscret…it changes every Sunday morning, and some of the secrets are funny, and others are so heartbreaking…I’m glad I could share it with someone!

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Oooh I didn’t realise that it was a WordPress site. Yay, that means I can follow it too. Looks like I have something to look forward to on Sunday Mornings! I may even have to think about sending in a contribution. Thanks for sharing!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. Yes! As a fellow book lover, I can say I’m thrilled to have found your blog! It’s beautiful (very impressive as I’m very new to this) and easy to access and understand. Thanks!

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Your rating system explanation is great. “5 Excellent, hot damn this is a great book and the writer should be knighted” made me smile. As for the post itself, I think you did it well, you gave enough information but not too much (since you were covering several books a full review of each one would have made for a very long post!)

      Liked by 2 people

    5. I really like the way you showcased your reviews. I love reading about people’s views on a particular book and often that is what will nudge me into getting the book for myself. Would you consider maybe doing separate posts with more detailed reviews of each book? I do like this format for a monthly round-up post though.

      On a completely different note your pictures are gorgeous! 🙂 I do wish your blog header text was a bit more easy to read though.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hey, thanks for the great feedback. Oh my partner said my header looked a bit weird too – I thought it was his laptop but I guess not, I will definitely give that a re-think! Yeah I’d love to do some more detailed reviews; this might happen this month actually as I’ve been busier so I’ve read less – so less reviews to do and I can dedicate a bit more to them 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    6. This is lovely! I personally love books so this post was pretty interesting and enjoyable for me. After reading this post, I took a look around your other content and I love it! The feel of your blog is definitely appealing. You take great photos! Keep up the great work. As a blogger who share similar interests, I gave you a follow 🙂 If you could give me some feedback on my blog, that would be great!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hey John, thanks for the great feedback, really happy you like my blog. I just took a look at yours and I think your photographs are lovely; there’s something so understated and calm about them – if that makes sense. Anyway, I’ve given you a follow so post more photos please! ^_^

        Liked by 2 people

    7. I don’t get around to reading that often, but I do love to read and whenever I am searching for a book to read I always scan the internet for reviews of books. Then I finish reading the book and I have to look at book reviews again because I have an addiction to book reviews and I want to see what other people thought of the book. I have to say I love this blog idea. Your reviews are the perfect length for a person with a short attention span like me and you do a great job of telling just enough about the book without spoiling any of the details. I will surely have to come back to your blog again.

      Liked by 2 people

  16. Hi fellow bloggers. I have a blog called Misstery blog. I have been blogging just over a month, and have just hit 100 followers today. I blog about many things from ranting to beauty blogs. I have always wanted to be a blogger, so I would love if you could check my blog out! I hope you all like it 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    1. 100 followers in 1 month seems incredible – you should be giving *us* advice. Not that I know anything, I’m not crazy about seeing number of hits on the side. The follow by email widget is nice. I really need to install one of those.

      Liked by 3 people

    4. Well, with over a hundred followers and multiple comments on each post, you are blogging pretty amazingly.

      I have just read your post about stereotyping and really like it especially the part about Donald Trump :). You are very clear in your thoughts and very relatable.

      Although you are doing a great job on your own, I would recommend that you work on formatting of your posts and start words with appropriate upper or lower case letters e.g. using one paragraph spacing only and “I” instead of ‘i” will help look your posts, which are great anyway, aesthetically better too.

      And as you are doing something wonderful with your blog, will you be kind enough to advise me on mine? Its here http://www.cognitivebackyard.com?

      Liked by 2 people

  18. Hi Bloggers – I’m looking for opinions on a personal blog with several completely different subject areas. Running, Substance abuse, and Mental Heath. Do you feel that I need to break these out into separate pages (or separate blogs). Right now they are only segregated by category. It is so hard to get attention, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to to find the content they care about, but I also want to keep the blog clean and simple. Thoughts? http://jefftcann.com/blog/

    Liked by 2 people

    1. they all work in conjunction so I would leave them as act as categories instead of worrying about separate blogs or pages. your posts are excellently written…not so much grammatically correct but heart-rending, soul-searchingly honest. please do not change.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Stephen King tells me that grammar is over-rated. Well, he didn’t tell *me* that, but he has said that before. I do know that some people have trouble getting past that. Other than that, I feel like a have a follow-able blog, but people, but not many people follow this or a previous blog that was much more organized by subject area 😦 Thanks for the feedback – I’m planning on checking out your site now.

        Liked by 2 people

      1. Your is a very cool site! I like the care you put into the photo selection , the quote and the lesson. Your “blog” made me want to know more about you. Like are you current or former clergy? Is there something specific that you do with this insights other than blog them? I wish you had an “about” page with some meat to it. I’d also like to know where you get your photos. – Jeff

        Liked by 3 people

      2. Thanks, Jeff, I wasn’t expecting you to look up my blog 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it.

        I’m not a member of any religion, this is just how I feel and I share it on this site. I also have an Instagram account where I share snippets of thoughts (you may have seen this under the menu).

        Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it. I usually go to: http://creativecommons.org/ for photos.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Hi there Jeff,

      Your categories are currently in the sidebar, and fairly far down the page. How about putting some of them (not all) up into the menu bar at the top? Assuming your theme allows you to do that.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I think this is a good idea – I’ll have to talk to my web-designer (wife) about this. I’d also like to get my categories in order by number of posts rather than the alphabet. THx – Jeff

        Liked by 2 people

  19. Hey everyone! My name is Andrew and I run a pop culture website. I’ve had two posts this past week; a light-hearted one about how silly the Superbowl commercials are ( https://popculturalstudies.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/surrealism-and-sales/ ) and a more serious one about how sibling rivalry has always been a theme in popular and classical culture ( https://popculturalstudies.wordpress.com/2016/02/15/on-fratricide/ )

    I worry about the second one in particular. I don’t make much of a point at the end. I’d appreciate some feedback.
    Thank you! 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

    2. It can vary depending on the content whether it is Twitter, Facebook, or some other means. Overall for me, I have had by far the best results with Facebook because it is increasingly where the most number of people are, not to mention organizations or groups related to fostering in your case.

      Liked by 2 people

    4. Well, the best way to get a blog such as mine out there, besides social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter & Google Plus, is by digitally creating your very own advertisement for your blog, like I sometimes do, and just post it on those social media sites; However way you do it, I hope that this advice helps. PS:Be sure to visit my blog at http://www.j2w7.WordPress.com!-JW

      Liked by 3 people

    1. If you like a post and want to share it with your readers, there are 2 options:
      1. Press it: when you click on this, a link of that post appears in a new post window of your own blog. You can add up your thoughts about the post along with images and more. You can even draft it for later publishing. The person whose post you would share via this option will receive a ping back on his/her post comments, which notify that you have linked that post on your post.
      2. Re-blog: once you click this button on any post you like, then it will be publish directly on your blog. There are no formatting options available in re-blogging though, like press it. Ping back will be received by the person about you sharing the post

      Liked by 3 people

    4. This was awesome! It was very informative and mindful. I loved the quote you used. It’s definitely very motivating. Great job! I think doing a “Monday Motivation” every week is a great idea! I wish you the best of luck 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    3. My only concern is your title. Having it in another language is cool but using the subtitle as the translation (that /is/ the translation, right?) is hard to see, as the subtitle font is really small. I don’t think you can change that without picking a new theme. Is it the worst thing ever? No, but that was what I noticed first on your blog. If your heart is set on that theme, don’t worry about it, I’m probably just overly picky. 😛

      Liked by 2 people

    4. Since your title isn’t in another language now you must have already changed it! I think that you are off to a great start. My suggestion would be that you take Blogging 101 if you haven’t already done it. Not only will you learn a lot and get lots of feedback it is also a good way to meet new bloggers. If you participate actively in the class discussion board you will likely find blogs you want to follow and bloggers that want to follow you. I think your content is good, next step is to get more people to read your blog!

      Participating in community pool, as you did today, is also a good way to meet bloggers.

      Liked by 2 people

  28. Hi Everyone.

    Ever hear a song for the first time and know instantly that it will forever have a special meaning for you? A song to cling to because it resonates for various reasons. My newest post is inspired by that thought and my blog, Soundtrack Of A Photograph connects my own photographs together with the music I love.

    All thoughts welcome!

    The Story

    Liked by 2 people

    1. You give interesting perspectives to the films you review and a personal touch to each one. l enjoyed your reviews, especially the Top 5 ones. The pictures for the blog are high quality, too, and I thought your titles were fun. =) My only suggestion would be to use tags to organize your posts so it’d be easy to pull up just reviews, just Top 5, or other categories if people want to look certain kinds of posts with the click of a button.

      Liked by 3 people