Jul 17, 2017 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Where bloggers come together to give each other feedback and advice.

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

The Community Pool is for peer feedback and advice. Looking for more specific information? Check out some of these resources:

Tap into the wisdom of The Daily Post blogging community and leave your question here in the comments. Others can then click through and offer input either on your site, or in the comments here (feel free to indicate which you’d prefer).

Looking for free, self-guided courses to help you get started with your blog (or revive a dormant one)? Check out our current offerings at Blogging U.

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

  • While you’re not required to, we encourage everyone who requests feedback to also reply to at least one or two other bloggers who need some help. Spread the love!
  • The Community Pool comments section can get quite big — and starting duplicate threads doesn’t help. Thanks for not posting the same question more than once, as well as for not starting numerous threads in a single Pool.
  • If you’re looking for quality feedback, be as specific as you can. Questions about a particular post tend to draw more comments than ones about entire blogs. Questions about specific design elements are more likely to be answered than ones asking for general layout advice.
  • We discourage leaving links without a more substantive message or question. These are often overlooked by other bloggers, and we frequently remove them to make the comment reading experience smoother. Also note that including multiple links in your comment might automatically put it in the moderation queue, which will delay its publication.
  • Please keep all comments civil and constructive. The idea is to have fun — it’s a pool, after all!
  • To keep from losing your place in the comment thread while you visit others’ blogs, right-click on a link to open it in a new tab or window.
  • If you haven’t looked at our Commenting Guidelines in a while, now might be a good time.
  • No running on the deck.

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.

Show Comments

1,559 Comments

Comments are closed.

Close Comments

Comments

  1. Another week, another post by me… this one is first that went with standard schedule of 8:00 on Monday that I’ll try to stick with from now on. Post is relevant to what we are doing here in Community Pool, it’s about the value of groups:

    http://howtoaddict.com/choose-belong-fight-others-depression-targets-no-one-around/

    I’ve missed you guys last week and am hoping for better response this week. Looking forward to your comments and feedback… and if anyone has a question relating to self-improvement – let me know!

    Liked by 29 people

    1. Great post! Making a choice to get away from the people who are unhealthy for us is difficult but so important. Side note — do you find you get much traffic between 8-9? I usually post some time between 9 and 10am.

      Liked by 9 people

      1. Yeah – if things are not working between two individuals separation is easy way out. And sometimes it’s that you are unhealthy for someone else… often hard to tell the difference.

        As for traffic – my blog is terrible when it comes to number of views. I’m still at like <200 a month ;). So, posting at 8:00 on Monday has more to do with my self improvement. It started with writing once a week, now I'm at Monday @ 8:00. If I manage to stay on that threadmill I'll probably add another time and topic (like Thursday @ 8:00). For now I'm not looking into optimizing time from traffic perspective because I don't have any 😉

        Liked by 3 people

      1. It’s hard to be rational when you suffer… luckily in today’s world more and more people are able to help others… like you guys are helping me here with comments and feedback ;). Enjoy your day!

        Like

    4. I can relate to that post, I once isolated myself and it took maybe a year to get back on track and feeling good again. Thanks for sharing!

      Liked by 5 people

      1. The main problem for me is that isolation is pretty useful if you are surrounded by bad crowd. And I don’t mean bad in a _bad_ way… more like – incompatible. If you are looking to study, party goers are pretty bad company. If you are looking to party, well… ;).

        Glad to hear it’s getting better for you – keep it up!

        Like

    6. It’s true we do need people around, regardless. Still, I need to isolate myself from time to time to recharge. I’ve been in the position of giving to leeches, but more often I’m in a position when I give to someone who stops giving in return, not because of malice, but because their life changes. Our paths cross less until they don’t cross anymore. That is just a consequence of our imperfect lives. Might be an important point to address too. For those who have anxiety and depression issues, it is an important reality of life to come to grips with. Good, short post.

      Just Laugh,
      CJ
      https://hauntingachingwonder.wordpress.com/

      Liked by 4 people

      1. Yeah – I understand that part too well… just it’s hard to expand to all viewpoints in somewhat short posts I write.

        I picture any kind of giving to others as giving food. If you have plenty of food – you’ll be able to give and not hold back. But too many people get into situation where they give all their food and then no-one is feeding them back in return. Made easy for me to understand group depression when I saw it that way. And made it easier to understand my own frustrations.

        Like

    7. The post was good though I feel like you could said more. It is easy to say everyone needs groups. Back it up with stories, yours or someone else’s story you borrowed.

      Plus you mentioned the era of distractions and entertainment but that doesn’t mean those don’t help. They do, but those are subjective.

      Food for thought I guess.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I kinda try to keep these posts general… am actually thinking of starting new weekly series in which I go with concrete examples and link to other people’s blogs. Did a post like that last week regarding my conversation with Yoly: http://howtoaddict.com/handle-faking-feelings-sake-others/

        As for distractions – I’m pretty confident they objectively don’t help. Entertainment – sure, in moderation everything is good. But I would say 80%+ of us is too entertained and too distracted to focus onto living meaningfully. And when you are living your days without deeper meaning it’s easy to just start stumbling through life and stop truly caring.

        Food for thought – definitely 😉 Keep it up with giving it – I’ll gladly participate! 😉

        Liked by 1 person

    8. I have to say I think the piece is really well thought out, composed, and effective in delivering its message. I might take a look at the piece for typos, misspelled words, and a few minor grammar mistakes, but all-in-all, the piece is very well done. Nice Job!

      I recently published “What Happened To Our Kids Summer Vacation” and felt pretty good about it. I was surprised by how poorly the piece was received. I’d love some honest feedback on the piece so that I may improve it and do better next time.
      Thanks!

      https://perfectlyimperfect32com.blog/2017/05/29/what-happened-to-our-kids-summer-vacation/

      Liked by 2 people

      1. If I ever get enough traction on my blog, the first thing I’ll do is to hire professional editor. I take care of typos but my writings can definitely use some editing touch. Maybe it’s just that I have so much to say… but my sentences could definitely be shorter. And I need to do away with … Power of habit I guess 😉

        Liked by 1 person

    9. Hi. I’m new to Community Pool. It seems like an excellent place to help not be isolated 🙂

      I really enjoyed your post this week. The part I think you really nailed, that sometimes is not highlighted, is where you said that AT FIRST isolating yourself seems like a good idea.

      You said: “There is no surer way to box yourself into depression then to cut ties with everyone around you. At first it may seem like a great idea, but as time passes you’ll start to realize that you need someone, anyone to share your thoughts with.”

      That really resonated with my experience.

      Thanks for a great post. It seems to me like you’re on the right track with your posts and your blog is primed for helping others.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Well, I hope I’ll see you regularly on my blog then ;).

        And Community Pool is truly great. I love posting here and interacting with people who share the same journey of blogging. And it’s great that crowd seems to be getting bigger. You for sure are welcome addition ;). See you next week!

        Liked by 1 person

    2. My kids often ask me why animals generally don’t live that long. I tell them its to do with genetics. I also think they teach us about love and loss.

      Unless you have giant tortoises. They just live forever !!

      Liked by 6 people

      1. Haha. No tortoises for now.
        And they really do. I read this particular quote – “To you, your animal is a part of your life. To them you are their life itself.” It always becomes a reason I rush home to them. They teach such an important lesson about family.
        Thank you for reading and the comment!
        xx

        Liked by 1 person

    5. I loved having the opportunity to read this! It reminded me of all the dogs I’ve had and I got a little emotional. But it made me smile! I love your storytelling voice. Great blog, too, by the way. Cheers! 💫

      Liked by 3 people

  3. PUBLISHING THE ‘BEST OF YOUR BLOG’ IS AS EASY AS 1-2-3!

    Hello Everybody, Simon from To Cut a Short Story Short here with a recent post, which explains exactly how to go about self-publishing. It’s FAR easier than you may imagine, technology has moved on, such that Amazon can now print one-off paperbacks of a FANTASTIC quality, and it won’t cost you anything either!!

    My article (3500 words) also covers Kindle eBook production and Audiobook creation too. I hope it will be useful to anyone who likes the idea of seeing their work in print!

    https://simonjwood.wordpress.com/2017/07/08/publishing-the-best-of-your-blog-is-as-easy-as-1-2-3/

    Liked by 14 people

      1. That’s interesting. As I mention in the article, you have to go through a ‘tax interview’ to set up the KDP account, but it seemed very straightforward and took me (a non-US citizen) three or four minutes at the most. The financial info. was just copying two numbers off my bank statement which took a minute or two.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Just to add, I found the most challenging part, by far, was getting the paperback format and punctuation to a pro (-ish) standard. That took several hours at least.

        Like

    3. Probably one of the best blog posts I’ve seen here since I’m regular – you explained everything in detail and answered all of the questions I had about self publishing. Great work Simon!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hello there and thank you. High praise indeed! I aimed to report on everything I’d learnt through my own experience, giving enough information for readers to try it themselves, but without getting bogged down in too much detail. I’m very pleased to read that you think I succeeded!
        Thanks also for your comment on my blog, which I just responded to.

        Like

      1. Hi there, and thanks for looking through the article. I learnt how to publish an eBook and paperback through the Kindle Storyteller competition, using the longest story on my blog (7500 words). I entered mainly to learn about the self-publishing process. Afterwards I found I had enough short stories to make a substantial book so went through the process again, finding it quite a bit easier with less time pressure. Of course I had no idea how (relatively) easy it was, and was knocked out by the high-quality production of the finished book, and the freedom one has in designing and marketing it. So I just wanted to share my experience with others to give everyone a real chance to see their work in print!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Hello Eliza, as I mention in a reply below, I wasn’t thinking about it either, it just came up out of the blue and within two weeks I had two books published!!

        Once you are aware of the definite possibility though, all options are open! Thanks for commenting.

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi, thank you, and I’m pleased you liked the layout of the article. I’d like to think that someone, somewhere might get a book published from following the advice therein!

        Like

    2. Hello Ida, I haven’t written anything over a few thousand words so can’t really comment on your process although it sounds like an effective solution. Coincidentally I’ve got a book right in front of me now that recommends making scene cards and laying them out around a room. He seems to be talking about hundreds though!

      Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’ve read so many writers singing the praises of Scrivener. I’ve looked at it but it seems very complex for my wants. However, it’s a way to keep track of all scenes, characters etc. etc. and I know a lot of novelists use it. Also, it’s not expensive.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Oh, I’m Scrivener’s number one fan; I use it whenever I want to write something over 10k. I find it awesome to organize my story as I write it, for example to rearrange the order in which things happen, but like any software, it has its limitations: I can’t customize the cork board as much as I’d like, and a computer screen (or two, in my case) is sometimes too small for me to display everything I want to see at once. However, I have a big enough blank wall where I can paste all my paper scene cards if need be. I also feel like paper provides more freedom for the particular task of scribbling notes on scene cards. Besides, I work long hours on the computer, so working on paper once in a while is much welcome. ^_^

        Thank you for your comment and happy writing!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Hi Ida,
        Thank you for your informative reply about the limitations of Scrivener. It sounds like you are pretty familiar with it. One thing I’d be very interested to know is if it allows you to have headings for different chapters in a book. That seems to be a limitation with my word processor. You have to have the same header, and page margins, throughout the whole document. In my book To Cut a Short Story Short: 111 Little Stories, I’d have preferred to have had the left header as the book title and the right header as the story title, but it wasn’t possible. So in a subsequent edition I’d like to change that.

        It’s also interesting to read about your preference for paper scene cards stuck on a wall. I can see that has the advantage of being able to see everything at a glance. I guess at some future stage I might well work on a novel so will definitely bear your suggestions in mind. The best of luck with your rewrite!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Hum, I don’t think the header thing would be possible in Scrivener. Actually, when I’m at the formatting stage I’ll most likely switch to Word, which I find superior to Scrivener for that purpose. I do believe what you want to do is possible in MS Word though. Like, there are default headers for odd pages or even pages only, and normally you can change those inside the same document (like, when you change short stories) by adding a section break in the following manner:
        http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/microsoft-office/accommodate-different-headers-and-footers-in-a-word-document/

        What word processor are you using?

        Thanks a lot and best of luck to you too!

        Like

      4. Hi, I’m using Mac Pages ’09. I had a quick look at your link and see that Word works the same way as Pages in that respect. You have to create sections and then you can set a separate header and footer for that section. I’m pretty sure I can do that with Pages, as I created a separate section for the prelims and used a lower case roman numeral footer for the pagination within it.

        The problem is with 111 stories, I’d have to create over 111 sections and that’s just too complex. I wondered if Scrivener had an easier way. Oh well … 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

    4. Oh gosh, Ida, this is insanely GENIUS to edit! I’m floored by the simplicity of it. I do believe I need to try this the next time I’ve got a larger piece to edit. It’s right up my ally. Thanks a lot for sharing and cheers to the rest of your blogging!! 😁💫

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I’m glad you like it! Indeed, it’s so simple I wonder why I hadn’t thought of it before. But then, it’s fairly normal I hadn’t considering it’s the first time I need to use such a method. My mistake was to go about editing a novel like it was a short story.

        Thank you for your comment!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I find my experience quite similar, so it’s no problem leaving a comment for you! Yes, novels and short stories do require different sets of editing and attentions. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

    1. I love your blog and posts man – so much valuable content… And every week you touch upon something that intriguing: procrastination, organization, sleep. Keep it up!

      Liked by 3 people

    2. Great advice! I love the layout of your blog and the size of your font. It works perfectly for an easy read. I also liked the color of your title. It all looks very sharp and clean 🙂

      Liked by 5 people

    3. I’m going to try some of these because I hate taking sleeping pills for my insomnia. If I don’t sleep enough hours, I wake up so sick in the morning.

      Liked by 1 person

    4. Definitely going to try these! Need to get into a proper regular sleeping pattern which will hopefully stop the 3am wake ups!

      Liked by 3 people

    5. I have always slept soundly, and my secret is eating rice. I can’t digest gluten, because it’s not in our traditional diet, and if I skip rice a few days, sleep suffers. I agree with the exercise bit.

      Liked by 3 people

  6. Hello fellow bloggers!

    I hope you’re all well. I’d love to share this post from my blog with you all:

    The Calanais Stones

    It’s a photo-essay describing an amazing 5,000 year old Neolithic standing stone installation on Lewis, in the Western Islands of Scotland. I’d love to hear what you think!

    Also, if you have any thoughts / comments / advice on the blog generally that would be wonderful, I’m relatively new to this! I tend to write about photography / architecture / art. I suppose I’m interested in searching out examples of ‘ordinary’ beauty – attempting to find a bridge between the everyday and the sublime.

    Thanks so much for reading – I really appreciate your time. JB.

    Liked by 12 people

    1. That is a lovely, description of loss, sad without being indulgent, and from an unusual perspective. I think most of us can identify with the sentiments. Thanks for posting it.

      Like

  9. Hey everybody! Here is this week’s #MondayMotivation where I talk about regret and bring a new perspective to it.
    https://aestheticgraphy.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/regret/

    I also am hosting a five sentence story prompt on my blog which is a great platform for writers, so please join in.
    https://aestheticgraphy.wordpress.com/2017/07/17/five-sentence-story-prompt-5/

    My blog content is very diverse and doesn’t really fit into a particular criteria like “writing” or “photography”. Its an all in one blog, including haiku’s/weekly motivation/quotes/travel/photography and basically my life on a blog. I hope you enjoy reading!

    Do leave links to your blog as I’d like to check it out!

    Have a great week ahead.
    Riya

    Liked by 11 people

    1. Hi Annanya! This sounds like a good idea, but I know it would be so hard for me. I think I’m going to suggest we all do this as a family. I know it will be even harder for my 13-year-old son! I also left a comment on your blog.

      Liked by 2 people

    3. It happened to me one day last year and it was amazing. My phone just froze and I couldn’t resuscitate it. I had a meltdown the first hour but then I took as a gift. I felt free from this virtual world. Everyone at the park was asking me if I was ignoring them because my daughter had a game that day, I told them the truth. My phone froze.

      Liked by 1 person

  11. Hey everyone! I live in Chicago and love to go to electronic concerts. I’ve been updating a quarterly concert calendar and recently published a summer version to my blog. What I’m wondering is, how helpful is this and how can I make it more informative? I’m open to all suggestions. Thanks!

    EDM Concerts Fall 2017

    Liked by 8 people

  12. Hello,
    I started my blog just over a month ago because I got scared of the fact everyone’s going to uni and starting their lives whilst i’m here on a gap year not knowing what I want to do. I thought I love to write and read so why not start a blog and so I got the courage too. I don’t know where this will go but i’m writing about travel, health and food so if you’re willing to give it a read.
    I’d love to hear what people think. Hope you’re having a wonderful day.
    https://strawberrytravelsblog.wordpress.com

    Liked by 19 people

    3. Hey there! I just followed your blog and I’m a big fan of your personal stories. I’m from California and I don’t think you are, but it’s exciting hearing about someone else’s life. I also agree with the other blogger who said your posts would be great on Pinterest.

      Liked by 2 people

    2. I enjoyed reading this early! Wanted to give you a reply in here. I like your story voice; it’s a nice flow and tone for the audience. Thanks for sharing! 💫

      Liked by 2 people

      1. That’s one way to look at it 😊yes, books do give options but the essence of the post was, no one can help you if you can’t help yourself.
        Thank you! I’ll definitely check your blog out 😊

        Liked by 3 people

  16. Hi everyone! Crazy what happened last week with the late comment section lolol

    Anyway, I’m here to promote a short story I wrote a few days ago! I like lifestyle blogging, but I think more people should write some fiction. Everyone has a crazy idea and I wanna read it!

    Short story “Sinus Pain” is here: http://wp.me/p8eD4m-xs

    Thank you so much!

    Liked by 5 people

    3. This is fantastic! Even though it was a letter written to your future self, there are aspects of it that can relate universally to anyone who reads it. Thanks for sharing!

      If you’d like to check out my latest post, it’s about my recent experience visiting my childhood home- your post was about the future and mine is about the past! 🙂
      Link below!

      https://alovelysomethingblog.wordpress.com/2017/07/16/a-surprise-visit-to-my-childhood-home/

      Liked by 3 people

  18. Hi

    Never really having written before, other than teenage musings, I turned my hand to it a few weeks ago and am enjoying it immensely.

    My blog is here if you fancy taking a peek. Hopefull stuff to make you laugh and the odd thing to make you cry.

    https://afterwards.blog

    What I’m really after though is links to spaces like ‘the daily prompt’ where I can have a crack at the challenges out there.

    Any help would be much appreciated .

    Thanks

    Michael

    Liked by 8 people

    2. I’m getting major theme envy! It was a very insightful post, I can rarely relate to the daily prompt! Maybe create some external drama to keep you busy 😉

      Like

    6. I love the look of your blog. And the topic. Moving out of our comfort zone is very necessary for every individual. To grow, and to make space for growth. All the best in your endeavours.

      Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi there! Welcome back after your long break! Did you enjoy writing the fragmented stories? It seems like an intriguing concept to attempt. I enjoyed reading them! And I like the design of your blog: very classic. Happy blogging! 💫

      Like

    1. Hi there! I like that you have such a variety of content available for your audience to choose from as it’s more open. I quite liked it! And I sincerely liked your layout. 🙂 Would you mind if I made a tiny suggestion? It’s more of a personal thing than anything wrong with your blog. With your menu button, it got a little tedious scrolling through all of your content options. I loved how you’ve labeled the categories; however, have you thought perhaps of making a separate link on the menu button for Books and TV shows etc? Does that make sense? It’s only a suggestion. Feel free to keep doing what works best for you. Thanks for sharing and happy blogging! 💫

      Liked by 2 people

      1. Thank you a lot for your feedback! I’m happy to see you liked my blog. I’ll keep in mind what you told me and see what I can do. Happy blogging as well!

        Liked by 1 person

      1. I’m so glad your post was fun and I didn’t have to spend time thinking of a ‘nice’ reply! I have to wait to watch the episode, my friends get annoyed if I watch it without them 😭. Thanks for checking me out, I loved what you whipped out in return 😉

        Like

    1. Hey there! What an awesome blog post this is! I’m not sure what had me more drawn in: your writing style or the pictures! I feel like I have a handful of other places I’d rather travel to first, but from your post and honesty I think I need to bump Budapest higher up on my priorities list. 😄 Thank you for sharing and happy blogging!! 💫

      Like

    2. Budapest is somewhere on my list (as everyone’s as even you said haha), so really enjoyed reading this.

      Love: The pictures, writing, and summary at the bottom.
      Feedback (Maybe): split up the writing into sections maybe, easier to read and would make me stay reading as I tend to skim read (but that’s just me haha) 🙂 X

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Hi Sherry, many thanks for reading glad you liked it 😁. Cheers for the feedback I think formatting is a bit of a weak spot for me or rather something I need to nail down. ( As I also tend to slim read, I should know better! Aha) Thank you for reading 😁

        Liked by 1 person

  28. Nasmaste amazing bloggers!
    It’s been a while since I’ve been active but the past week has been as happening as the good ol’ days!
    Recently I wrote a short tale which I love to do, I’d really love to know your honest feedback on it, constructive criticism is welcome!

    Moonshine is a lady Brock met. Can you help him decipher who she was and where he can find her again? He’d surely appreciate it!

    Moonshine Mystery

    Have a great week, y’all 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Nice post! I think you made some good points, especially number one. I started my music blog a week ago, and even though I am just getting started, I feel like I am sharing something worthwhile. Thanks for sharing

      Liked by 2 people