Jun 20, 2016 / Community Pool

Community Pool

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

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).

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To help us make the Community Pool a productive space for discussion, here are some tips 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!
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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.

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      1. I really like your latest piece! It’s a mix of trying to stay in touch with reality, at the same time wanting to go back to the fantasy world where everything is what we wanted. I followed you and look forward for more interesting pieces from your creative mind. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    6. Hey Nima! (I’m guessing that’s your name from your Twitter account LOL) I just checked out your site. Layout was awesome but the best feature about it all?

      YOUR WRITING!

      If I can write like you, damn. Pigs will fly lol but anyway, my point is your ability to convey what you think AND feel into written form is something hard to accomplish and you did with FLYING colors!

      Just awesome. Keep up the good work!

      Your pal,
      Benjamin

      Liked by 3 people

    7. I read some of your posts and I absolutely loved them. The way you write in a flow that captivates the reader and when it ends, it’s like ‘whyyyy?? I want more of it’ Absolutely in love with your write ups. Keep up the good work!

      Liked by 1 person

    17. Very impressive work, it is nice to see someone put in some actual effort into writing. Most posts I see these days are good, but reflect the little amount of effort that the author has put in. Keep up the good work.

      PS: Do read our blog post about this place in India.

      Orchha

      Like

    20. You haven’t been writing your blog long and you have this really nice flow! I wish I was like that! Also, I love how simple your design is on your blog, clean looking and not “busy” with design 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Hey Everyone,
    A couple of weeks ago I put a forum on my blog. Well I just realized yesterday that the forum did not allow you to put pictures on it so I had to install a plug-in for it to work. I was wondering if it actually worked and if you are able to post not only pictures but also videos on it? Also, any advice you have to improve the forum would be greatly appreciated. Last time I posted about this on community pool a lot of people said to make the font bigger on the forum but, as I am not that good at computers, I don’t know how to enlarge topic titles. Is it possible to change the font size on titles?
    Thanks
    http://ellieslittleadventure.com/?page_id=731

    Liked by 4 people

    1. It’s possible to change anything on a website! I’m not 100% sure if a self-hosted site can adjust fonts via the Customizer, but if not, you can adjust your fonts by adding some code to your theme’s files. Detail on that are here, but if this seems beyond you, there’s a support forum for self-hosted WordPress users at wordpress.org where you can find helpful folks:
      https://codex.wordpress.org/Playing_With_Fonts

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for the reply. I don’t really know how to mess with the code and, in the past, I usually give on altering the code out of frustration but I am going to try to give it a try this time.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I used to run a forum but it wasn’t installed on a blog but rather, has a separate site of its own lol so I wouldn’t really know much about this. I prefer it that way as well, less messy imo. There’s two way that I know of on how to make this happen, if you are considering on making a separate site for the forum. It’s easier and I’ll tell you why down below.

      Method One, is to use an external party forum host which sets up forums for you really quickly and easily like “Zetaboards” or “Invisionfree” boards (Works like wordpress, it hosts your forum like how wordpress hosts your blog).

      Google them, I’m sure you’d be able to find them. You can create forums just by clicking a few stuff but like wordpress, they will host it for you so you’d still have the domain being “www..zetaboards.com” Or something along this line.

      Method Two, you gotta go to your hosting site via cPanel, if I recall correctly, install PhpBB or any other forum host of your choice and work from there. Obviously this one is more confusing and I’m assuming you’ve never done this before (On my first attempt to manually start a forum, it took awhile lol) so if you really got time and are patient, get your host to guide you. They’ve got 24/7 help service on standby. I used BlueHost in the past. Real helpful staff they’ve got btw. Solved my problems everytime I go to them 😀

      Anywho, would you like a review on your blog/site as well or just this issue on the forum?

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks for the response. I have BlueHost and I never thought to ask them for help so I might have to do that. As for a review on my blog/site, I am always looking to improve and I am sure I could really benefit from constructive criticism so if you don’t mind go for it.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Alright, I’ll go right ahead then 😉

        For starters, I love the idea of your forum. In fact, its what I planned to do lol! But I had to close it down because I didn’t have the time to manage it and lots of people find it a hassle to go to a new site just to access a forum where they got to register to gain access to so instead, I made a FaceBook Community Page to allow members to interact over there.
        http://www.facebook.com/projectbiy/

        I’ve set it on maintenance mode but if you want, you can take a look at my forum here:
        http://projectbiyforum.doubleyourpresence.com/index.php

        In my opinion, in this day and age, it’d be nice to have a forum set up where you can categorize things but for me personally, I felt that there is no such need to be THAT organized (Perhaps our goals and needs are different?) hence I deemed a Community page on facebook is a better option.

        Take your time to think about that 😉

        Anywho, up next would be the lost of the WP “Like” and “Reblog” button, which is definitely bad cause you’ve lost your ability to connect and share your content with the awesome WP community.

        Plus the fact that without the like button, it’s hard to know whether someone read your post or not because sometimes, we do read them but we just don’t have time to leave a comment! Naturally, from the point of a writer, a like or two may make a difference in your quality and motivation to write as you know how it feels when someone is reading your work or not.

        Honestly, I encountered this issue before in the past with my previous site and I decided to revert it back from BlueHost to WP because the lost function took a lot of toll on my content being shared around.
        My first hand experience is if you got no “Like” Button, that isn’t so bad but if the Reblog button is lost, well, not everyone wants to copy your link and share it manually, that’s all I can say.

        Your site looks neat and pleasant, a little blend at areas but it’s still nice on the eyes so that’s good!

        Content is actually great too! Just that there’s no ‘Like’ button for me to show my appreciation lol! See what I mean on the importance of it?

        Hope my feedback helps bud 🙂

        Your pal,
        Benjamin
        http://www.projectbiy.com

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Hey everyone,

    It’d be great if you could check out my site and let me know what you think. It’s about movies and fims and cinema.

    I’ve been going through another quiet period as “real” life butts its ugly head in, but your feedback (and hopefully compliments) always encourages me to do more!

    https://lightsoverhead.com/

    Thanks in advance,
    Eddy

    Liked by 5 people

    4. Good reviews so far from what I’ve seen! I especially like the post on the Composers for the movies cause as I’ve mentioned in the post’s comment, its usually overlooked by people!

      Your opinions are clearly expressed and the right usage of pictures at right moments make things look even neater. Awesome. And lets not forget about the “Star” rating system for the movies! It just looks really cool 😉

      Site looks organized and proper like how a review site should and since it pleases my eyes during my visit, I’d say its all good bud! Cheers!

      Your pal,
      Benjamin

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Hi there, thanks for stopping by! Means a lot.

        I like the idea of your blog…an online diary filled with real, expressive thoughts. A little work on your back-end stuff like categories and pages, and maybe a touch more editing on each post, and you’ll have a great blog. Keep it up!

        Liked by 2 people

    7. I just went through your blog and I love it! I found myself nodding so many times to the conjuring article about jump scares.
      I also started movie reviews on my blog but it’s nowhere near as detailed. I’m not sure how to balance reviewing a movie and giving spoilers yet. Lol

      Like

      1. Thanks, glad you like it! Yeah, avoiding spoilers can be a difficult art at times… ha

        But it’s cool that you’re branching into different subjects. That’s something I’d like to do on my blog but just feel I don’t have the time.

        Liked by 1 person

    3. Hey laugraeva,
      First, congrats on the transfer! Hope it’s serving you right and well!
      Site looks awesome btw but the lack of like buttons (On both articles and comments!) and reblog button may affect the interaction and ability to share your content in the wordpress community. But if you are sharing your content via other social media tools then its fine!

      As for transferring the followers, I used to “Migrate” my followers via the function in settings though I was using BlueHost, not sure if 1&1 supports it. There’s a tutorial on how to perform the migration of followers in wordpress help/FAQ so you can check it out.

      If all else fails though, ask the help team, they’ve helped me solved my issues ALL THE TIME and have yet to fail me so here’s to hoping they’d solve any problems you’re having yeah? 😉

      If you got more questions, feel free to ask. I’d do my best to assist to the best of my abilities!

      Your pal,
      Benjamin

      Liked by 2 people

    5. I love your blog! Its so nice and I really relate to some of the posts (I’m a university student!) I’d appreciate it if you could give me feedback? xxx

      Liked by 1 person

    2. I love your synopsis of the YA novel. A female protagonist who wants to be a marine biologist? She sounds awesome already, Good luck on it, and one day, I look forward to seeing it on the shelves 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  9. Hey all! Trying to create a community of positivity! Would love it if you guys can check out my site/blog and let me know what you think of it 🙂

    http://www.projectbiy.com

    I will return the favor and review your site for you too so let’s review away!

    Cheers for the raw and awesome community spirit!

    Your pal,
    Benjamin

    Liked by 5 people

      1. Thanks! So I just checked out your site and Vlogs on YouTube- Seemed like a fun trip 😉

        Your site looks great and your 101 things in 1001 days mission is definitely something to work on. Pretty inspiring if you ask me!

        You obviously aren’t going to be living a life of mediocrity but adventure and I’d definitely look forward to more videos by you. Subscribed btw!

        Your pal,
        Benjamin
        http://www.projectbiy.com

        Liked by 2 people

    2. Just wanna say, if I don’t respond now, I will respond when I get the chance to so if you do review my site, I will review yours back for sure, promise!

      Just wait for me! Got loads of blogs to check out 🙂

      Your pal,
      Benjamin

      Liked by 1 person

    3. Hi Benjamin. Just been to site and had a look through. I liked the layout of your blog (BTW I am using a laptop view for this). Liked your article on being nice – from an ex-nice guy 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thanks! I just did to yours too and jesus christ, we need to collaborate somehow in something lol!

        Perhaps we can write about something together? What do you think bud? Same topic but by different Authors and we link our posts together? 😉

        Doesn’t have to be now if you don’t have the time to (We aren’t all as free as we wish to be lol!) but let me know what you think of this idea first cause I really feel that you definitely got some awesome insights into things which can be shared with the world heh.

        Your pal,
        Benjamin
        http://www.projectbiy.com

        Liked by 2 people

    1. Your photos are great! And I actually liked your approach of showing the lifecycle of the flowers – I’ve never seen anyone else do that. Not too many photos at all.

      Liked by 2 people

  11. Hi guys! I recently wrote a piece that I thought symbolises a “hopeful” feeling but I’ve been getting feedback from friends that this piece is very emotional feel to it. Does this often happen to any of you?

    The link is here if you’re interested: https://ripplesoftruth.wordpress.com/2016/06/15/let-me-love-you/

    I found that words flow better when I put honest emotions into each post, but my writing seems to always have a melancholy niche to it..

    Feel free to check out my latest post:
    https://ripplesoftruth.wordpress.com/2016/06/19/closure/

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Hey we’re theme buddies! Lol, and one of the things I love about poetry is how the same poem can be interpreted in so many different ways to different readers. You never know how your poem will touch or inspire or move someone 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    3. On “Let Me Love You,” I got a hopeful vibe rather than an emotional vibe. I agree with jademwong, people are bound to react to your poems in different ways. Whether we are viewing a work of art, tasting food, or listening to music, we each react in our unique way. https://gracelead.co

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Hey y’all!!!!

    I write short stories that originate somewhere inside the black hole that is my mind. I would love all your thoughts on my stories and I’m always looking for ways to improve. Please do comment, like and follow if you find me worth it!

    Fading Away…

    Liked by 2 people

  13. Hi all,

    I’ve been tinkering with my blog recently, and I think I’m happy with it now, so probably for the last time, any feedback would be much appreciated. I’m particularly interested in knowing if the use of featured images looks ok, and if there are a good number of posts per page.

    My blog is all about the English language, and I like to think it’s quite interesting, so if you haven’t seen it here before and it seems like your thing, click on…

    https://englishlanguagethoughts.com/

    Liked by 4 people

      1. Done :). I’m really glad you like my blog, it’s basically just my daily thoughts, so I’m glad they’re not just interesting to me! I really like yours, you’ve got a great writing style, and the visual style really matches it. I like the idea of a blog without a specific theme, and “reverie” is a fantastic word :).

        Liked by 2 people

  14. Happy Monday WordPress-goers! (Or perhaps, Happy Friday Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve to all of the slightly less enthusiastic humans lol)

    I’ve just posted a poem and would love to hear some feedback (something general, or something specific, it’s up to you. I’d just like to know if this poem resonates with anyone)~> https://jademwong.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/poetry-a-single-teardrop/

    Aside from poetry, I dabble in lots of short stories and Fanfiction, with a gif-tastic touch 😉 Come say hello! I have free pizza for all my visitors 🙂

    Liked by 3 people

      1. I stopped by your blog and I’m still exploring but so far, I’m loving what I see there too! Don’t be surprised to see a notification any minute now that I’ve started following you 😉

        P.S. Thanks for the awesome feedback! I love meeting new people, especially other writers!!

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I enjoyed it, but liked Real Power of Poetry even better. On With the Price of Your Soul, I was at first distracted by the punctuation. I had to remind myself that I was reading a poem and not prose. Your poems are highly expressive. Overall, your site is appealing and easy to navigate. https://gracelead.co

      Liked by 3 people

    1. You should add about page. It’s there but nothing written. try to add some pictures ,it gives better visual appeal. also when someone heads to your blog they should get some idea about what blog is all about. hope that helps

      Liked by 1 person

    1. I think your home page is stunning! The photos, the use of white space, and the circles are all so artistic and visually pleasing. A slight suggestion: have you considering including some sort of preview of each post? With just the photo, it’s hard for readers to gauge what each individual post talks about so they might move away from a post that might otherwise be very engaging to them.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Hi! Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and for the feedback! I have been working on that knowing just the photos aren’t enough but the options for that certain theme is quite few. I’ll try some more. I’ll visit your blog now! 🙂 thanks again!

        Liked by 2 people

  19. Hey fellow bloggers, Happy monday!

    I have been experimenting with my first & only blog for six months, writing posts on travel, musings, flash fiction of different genre etc., I wrote a personal post today:
    https://thesilentexplorer.com/2016/06/20/an-addiction-to-renew/

    What do you think?
    I have picked up a lot of tips and advice through the community pool. Any criticism is welcome. (Except criticism on the theme – i love this minimalistic theme 🙂 )

    Liked by 3 people

      2. Definitely a good photo blog you have going!
        Good photos with stories are what people want and you deliver.

        I can see that you’ve been doing this for awhile so nothing for me to give input on and I also understand why you have your followers always coming back 😉

        Keep the photography skill and writing up Arv, you’re gonna do great!

        Your pal,
        Benjamin
        http://www.projectbiy.com

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Thanks Benjamin for all that appreciation and five stars – you surely have taken time to scan and run through entire blog.Appreciate your time and effort.
        Surely it’s a challenge to write something new and with a different perspective. Your words surely help to keep me going. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      4. Npm Arv! As long as you don’t stop, the inspiration will come 😉

        If you got time, I did an episode about finding inspiration and motivation on my podcast, feel free to check it out in this link below or on iTunes and give me a feedback if you do yeah? 🙂
        https://projectbiy.com/2016/05/21/pbiy-podcast-004-how-to-be-motivated-part-1-of-2-how-to-find-inspiration-6-ways-to-go-after-inspiration/

        Keep the spirits up bud! Cheers!

        Your pal,
        Benjamin
        http://www.projectbiy.com

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I think because it is very difficult to read all caps when the words are all interconnected. It felt jarring and a bit uncomfortable to read. I would capitalize only the words that really need it, not all of them. good luck.

      Liked by 2 people

  22. Hi! I’m Anjali.
    I introspect and articulate my thoughts in my posts or sometimes I become a story teller and other times I turn poet. And when I don’t have any inspirational and adrenaline rushing ideas, I randomly rant about anything and everything.
    Recently, I’ve done a post on Roast Yourself Challenge. This challenge is basically a message that instead of judging someone else, when you take a look at yourself, you’ll find that you’re as much flawed as anyone else. The link is as follows – https://eloraquence.wordpress.com/2016/06/17/roast-yourself/
    Do let me know about your thoughts. Also, valuable feedback and suggestions are much appreciated. Thank you!

    Liked by 3 people

      1. Honestly speaking, I had to Google for days to be get an appropriate name for my blog which can signify the basic idea behind it. Finally, I came up with the name Eloraquence, which is portmanteau of the words Aurora and Eloquence, giving the meaning “a fluent writing to influence a new beginning in one’s life”.

        Liked by 2 people

    3. Nice post 🙂 I enjoyed it! Potential suggestion: consider using some images to add more color to your posts. In a post as long as the Roast Yourself one, a singe image is likely enough. Great content!

      Would you be willing to read one of my posts? Click my name and pick whichever one appeals to you most 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

    1. Just checked out your post! I have two suggestions 🙂 One, consider using regular font. Right now, your post is all in italics, which is a little distracting (for me, at least). Also, consider adding photos to your posts. Photos are a great way to add color to your posts and draw in more readers!

      Would you be willing to check out one of my posts? Click on my name and choose one 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I saw the italics and thought “oh she is putting in quotes”, then realized all of the post was italicized. It is not only difficult to read, but most of us see italics and think “quotation” or “emphasis” . It is off-putting. I honestly found I couldn’t read the entire post. My mind kept going off into thoughts of “why is this more important”. I hope this helps.

      Liked by 4 people

      2. AirG, You have a good start. I am really not sure why everyone seems to be using Italics for their basic information though. To me, italics are to enhance a word or phrase, to highlight a quote or sentiment. Photos would be nice., and I noticed that you have a page for them and they are coming soon. I will be happy to go check them out later when you have posted them. Watch you spelling and sentence structure. otherwise quite nice for a beginning blog! keep writing.

        Liked by 2 people

    4. I am amazed that, although you are hard of hearing, you managed to find enough strength to start blogging; I hope that you will do so very well with it, and that it would hopefully reach your new readers. I wish you the very best of luck in your blog, and when you have the chance, please check out mine, which is called Dream In Music, at http://www.j2w7.WordPress.com! With ❤-JW

      Liked by 2 people

  24. Hi, everyone. I’m still working to bring traffic to my blog for Christian millennials, especially those who are single. It’s a naturally niche topic, so the work is slow. Would appreciate any thoughts you have on how my layout strikes your eye.

    Also very helpful would be if anyone happens to know how to 1) address the Chrome kerning issue (character spacing is weird in Chrome) and 2) how to provide easy links to my post Categories.

    Thanks! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    3. That is one very amazing blog! However, my advice to you is that if you really want to show off your writing talents as well as maybe your photo-editing abilities, first you’ve got to write for yourself; That’s how you practice your writing. Hope this will help with your blog, and when you get a chance please be sure to check out mine, Dream In Music, at http://www.j2w7.WordPress.com! Best of luck, with ❤-JW

      Liked by 1 person

  29. Happy Monday Everyone!

    I shared a theory that evolved over an across-the-couch discussion with my friends. This theory talks about “how can we visualize the human interactions. We loving called it “The Theory of Interacting Circles”

    Here is the Link: https://runningmanifesto.wordpress.com/2016/06/20/the-theory-of-interacting-cricles/

    Would love to hear feedback from you guys. Any advice or feedback is hugely appreciated.

    Thanks ! 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Cool article! I enjoyed reading your theory. 🙂 As for feedback, I’d love to hear how your ideas change after you’ve consulted research. As for blogging feedback, I think you had a good setup. Maybe include more diagrams? I personally didn’t feel the need for more, but I’m used to reading these sort of theoretical things. Others may have liked more pictures, but that’s totally your call.

      Would you be willing to check out one of my posts? Click on my name and choose one 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  30. Hello, everyone it’s about to be 2 weeks after starting my blog and i am not much experienced actually not even experience, a bit but i would like if you suggest me about my website, thank you

    Liked by 3 people

    2. Nice Deadpool post 🙂 My suggestion — be careful with grammar. You’ve got a few errors in your post. Not a huge deal, but readers often take good grammar and spelling seriously! You can also add more photos, to add more color.

      Would you be willing to check out one of my posts? Click on my name and choose one 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      2. Hi! 🙂 I’ve looked over a few posts. I’d suggest a few things: one, when it comes to creative writing, fewer adverbs are better (awkwardly, excitedly, happily, etc.). Try using a different verb instead (for example: he said loudly vs. he yelled). Stronger verbs are never bad 🙂

        I’d also recommend you research when to use capital letters, commas, and periods with dialogue tags. You’ve got a couple mistakes, and while that’s not a huge deal, good grammar goes a long way in how professionally people view your work.

        I LOVE your use of images with your stories — great way to connect the pieces and the very visual writing form of blogging 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    3. I saw bloggers commenting about your Deadpool post and I just had to see it for myself. It was so entertaining to read (then again, Deadpool is an entertaining guy ;D) Like Natalie suggested, keep an eye on your grammar and punctuation. It’ll make your posts much easier to read 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

    4. Like everyone else, was drawn in by the promise of a Deadpool post. Was not disappointed! You clearly know your stuff.

      Keep blogging…the more you write, the more blogging experience you’ll accrue.

      Liked by 1 person

    5. Top 10 lists are pretty cool and it’s interesting that you have dedicated a whole blog to them. One suggestion: Try proof-reading your posts for grammar mistakes and typos. I noticed almost all of your paragraphs had run-on sentences. Remember to avoid run-on sentences by ending thoughts with a period instead of a comma. If you want a little extra help with it, I’d suggest downloading the Google Chrome extension “Grammarly.” I use it myself and it’s a real life savor. There’s also a website called Hemmingway Editor that is supposed to be pretty good for editing.

      https://app.grammarly.com/
      http://www.hemingwayapp.com/

      Like