Apr 2, 2018 / Community Pool

Community Pool

Where WordPress bloggers support each other with feedback and advice.

Note: The Community Pool will be closed for maintenance between April 9-16. See you back on April 23!

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 more information about custom domains, advanced design options, and other enhancements for your blog? Find the WordPress.com plan that’s right for you.

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.

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.

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.

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  1. Hello to all the readers and writers out here!

    On my blog, you’ll find my poems, articles, collaborations, bookish stuff, and much more!

    Some moments deserve to be treasured forever. Some moments make me want to live them again. I recently wrote a poem which talks about such wonderful moments. I would be glad to know what you think about it!

    Here’s the link to it:

    This Moment

    Hope you like it!

    With love,
    Meher

    Liked by 47 people

  2. “What is the definition of procrastination?
    … I’ll tell you later…”

    Ha, get it?

    Hi, community poolers! Most recently I wrote a blog post just to get the ball rolling. This post is different from my others as its main purpose is to literally get me back into blogging regularly.

    I’ve fallen off the blogging wagon for a couple of months due to traveling (and it’s harder to write while traveling than it sounds). I wonder if any of you have had similar experiences? Would love to connect. 🙂

    http://www.iwinta.com/2018/03/28/blogging-post-to-get-ball-rolling/

    Feedback very welcome!

    Liked by 40 people

    5. I found in the beginning I struggled to post regularly, but using the app to write and schedule posts really helped me be consistent.

      Liked by 7 people

    6. Hi again, I’m using my phone to type which is not always easy as I risk typos. I may have mistakenly mentioned in a comment to your post that I “can’t understand the difficulty juggling things.” Meant to say I CAN understand the difficulties… Sorry for the misunderstanding.

      Liked by 2 people

    9. Unfortunately, I’m not a travel blog, YET! Hope one day I can take so much time to experience the world and blog about it. However, I do stay really busy and finding time to be consistent with my blog is hard.

      I normally start a draft blog when something comes to mind even if it is just a tittle. This helps me come back and write as time permits. Then, I just finish what inspires me and schedule the post. Not sure if this helps.

      Welcome back!

      Liked by 2 people

    12. I’m new to the Community Pool conversation. Do comments posted in the WordPress Reader also get posted to your blog? I ask because I went in to read your new post and saw one comment there, but lots in my Reader.

      When I comment on posts in the Community Pool, should I comment in the Reader or on the blogger’s blog?

      I liked your lead to your post, acknowledging you’d been gone. Once I clicked through, the photo made me want to learn more about Vietnam. And read what you have to say about it. Thanks!

      Liked by 2 people

      1. I’m not sure if I understood your question correctly, so feel free to correct me if I did not.
        Comments that you post here (in the Community Pool) stay in the Community Pool, which is why it’s so important to leave the comments and Likes on people’s blogs.
        In order to write comments in the Reader, you have to be following that specific blog. Those comments DO post to their sites.
        Does that answer it?

        Liked by 2 people

      2. You did answer it. So good job deciphering my question!

        I assume that same protocol applies on the First Friday queries, i.e. if I’m checking out a new blogger and want my comments to show up on their blog, I need to go to their blog. Otherwise, any comments I make on the First Friday “feed” (terminology! Ack!) stays on the feed.

        Your answer makes sense. Thanks so much for answering it.

        Liked by 2 people

    15. Hey Winta

      It’s good you’re getting back into the swing of things. As for blogging consistently I try not to make it a focus but rather focus on posting when I feel like to, which is often thankfully, so I can produce the best content and not force myself to. Let the writer’s lust come naturally I say!

      Liked by 2 people

    17. Hi Winta. The initial blog post is very well written, and makes me want to read more about your travels. 2.5 months in Viet Nam sounds incredible. I loved the picture that accompanied your post. I hope you get back into a regular schedule of posting!

      Liked by 2 people

    18. Hi,

      I do a lot of travelling, but as I only began this blog in January, July will be the first time I will be managing a blog whilst doing so. Thinking ahead, I imagine I will use the schedule function. As I only post once a week, it shouldn’t be too difficult to put enough together for a month away. I know from the past that with the busyness of travelling, I barely get enough time to keep a travel journal, let alone blog posts, plus in July I will be going to some far-out places, camping in the African wilderness/ deserts, so I very much doubt chances of WIFI.

      I hope you had a wonderful time on your travels, Vietnam is an incredible place from the random stacks of Halong Bay to the war stories of Cu Chi Tunnels. I was lucky enough to stay with one of the hill tribes there for a short while. I got completely wellied on the tribe chief’s suspect-looking moonshine :O

      I loved your post about the driving. Yes, they drive quite crazy at times! Did you see some of the ways people transported goods on top of their mopeds? Got some epic pictures whilst there, one guy had three fat, fully-grown pigs tied on top of one another, alive! It was comedy and complete cruelty all at once!

      Liked by 3 people

    20. I did laugh at your procrastination joke 😂 2.5 months of travel gives you memories, experience and inspiration that you can’t get from sitting at home doing your usual routine so I commend you for taking a break and exploring the world 😊

      Liked by 3 people

  3. Hi everyone! I hope y’all had a great weekend. Whew! I can’t believe it’s already April. This week I’m posting about books I’m looking forward to read this month, and all these books I’ve chosen will be released for this month of April. If you have time, please visit my blog and check out my new post and leave a comment. Here’s the direct link to my recent post: https://anaskiesbookishmusings.wordpress.com/2018/04/02/april-2018-book-release-i-want/

    Liked by 31 people

    2. I’m happy how you didn’t let us know much about the story so as to ruin it, and yet had an intriguing synopsis. Great job! Eagerly waiting to read one of those books. PS – I’m a fantasy junky, too!❤️

      Liked by 4 people

  4. Hi WordPress family!

    Here’s your guide to all-things Israel ~ what things should you know before embarking on your trip to this beautiful country?
     https://wanderingtravelr.com/2018/04/01/15-things-you-need-to-know-before-traveling-to-israel/

    Enjoy! And I hope you have a lovely day 💛

    Liked by 23 people

    1. I’d love to read on this intriguing topic, but the hyperlink isn’t really appearing. Maybe you should try to paste the link again, or watch for any spaces in between the URL.
      🙂

      Liked by 3 people

      2. Oh, yes! I certainly found it Very interesting. Especially the questions at the airport. XD That must’ve felt so….. Peculiar. I read about Israel being a haunt for vegetarians, but this actually helped much more. I really want to go there, now. Actually, I want to go everywhere, depending upon what I read last. 😀
        Oh, it must feel great to travel. I wish I could travel so freely. I will, though. Soon. 🙂
        Loved your blog, btw. If you want cheap things and know haggling thoroughly, you *must* visit India. Just a leaving tip. 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Those questions definitely felt peculiar to me 😂 And you should for sure visit!
        One day I hope to visit India ~ it sounds like such a beautiful country (though my haggling skills are a solid 0/10 soooo that may not work for me haha)

        Liked by 2 people

    2. I enjoyed your post, it includes some really useful travel tips! Advice wise, I would just recommend numbering your tips to help with readability 🙂

      Liked by 3 people

  5. Lovers of life, hello!

    I’m sure you’ve all heard about the #DeleteFacebook movement. And many of you probably wanted to join in as much as I did. But it isn’t easy, is it? I found Facebook too useful a tool. So I found an alternative to channel my rage against them without having to live with their services. And I wrote about it here;
searchingforelsewhere.com/2018/04/02/forgetfacebook-is-the-new-deletefacebook-3-mins-read/

    I haven’t had much time to edit it, but please do let me know if it’s worth a read.

    Much Love, 

    NavSam

    Liked by 23 people

    2. I enjoyed your post and also left a comment 🙂 If I had any advice, it would be to add some imagery to make the post more engaging 👍

      Liked by 2 people

  7. Hello new fellow bloggers, and welcome to the First Community Pool of this month.
    After sometime I wrote this post, I was angry with someone and the words came to me, word by word finally forming unimaginable sentences. Lol

    https://finallyunchained.blog/2018/04/02/the-raven-haired-girl/

    Also a bonus point- those who are on instagram follow me here, will follow you too , it truly is a great opportunity to interact with so many new people  – pia.majumdar

    Also a thought for the day- would you like you, if you met you? What you think?

    Liked by 24 people

  8. Another Monday, another pool day. How was your weekend? Hope it was grand!! 😄

    I have a language blog, specifically a British England language blog, where I pretend to be a dictionary AND creative all in one post. Pretty fancy, right? Well, if it hasn’t grabbed your attention yet perhaps the tidbit about an American writing about British vernacular will. I tend to like writing flash fiction and poems. Please feel free to stop in and say hello!

    https://britwitblog.wordpress.com

    Can’t wait to read more posts! Have a great rest of your week.

    Best,
    Kelsey

    Liked by 25 people

    3. Until today I didn’t know anyone else knew the name “Herkimer” existed. I narrowly missed being named that very thing, courtesy of a loving older brother.

      Liked by 2 people

  12. Hello Beautiful People!

    Snow again in Ohio…ick. Surely the melt must be permanent soon, right?

    I wrote a post last week about taking a few days off work, and how this should make me happy, but it doesn’t (sadly, I am back at my job today). The post is titled “Headed Home” https://collectivecogitations.wordpress.com/2018/03/27/im-heading-home/.

    I want to know if any of you have made a big life or career change, and how that affected you and your loved ones. I’m currently going through a difficult time. I accept that I’m not happy with my current life, but I’m unsure of how to change this.

    Let me know how your leap into the unknown changed you for the better, or for the worse.

    Thank you 😊

    -CC

    Liked by 15 people

    1. My husband was laid off a year ago, and it prompted my to start my blog. My content was really dependent on me getting out to experience positive things, and it has been such a positive change for me!

      Liked by 4 people

      2. Good luck, it’s you can recognize what’s wrong, knowing that is half the battle sometimes.

        Like

    2. I’ve made several major changes in my life…and so glad for each decision as it has lead me to happiness. Not to say that I’m staying put now….nothing stays the same forever!

      Liked by 1 person

      2. The only sacrifice is giving up what feels “comfortable” to seek out a new adventure and find a newer and hopefully better version of you!! Not to say it’s all butterflies and rainbows all the time, but typically there’s always a reason for each experience.

        Like

    3. Howdy state-neighbor 🙂 I’m going to try to come back and give a comment on your blog as well, but wanted to at least drop a thought here. I’ve been in a two-year process of learning to accept a completely different path than what I was planning/anticipating for post-college, so the inquiry you posted here really resonated with me. The first year was nooot good but it’s been a slow and steady chipping away at what I really want.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. Thank you for commenting! Post college isn’t working out for me either! I wouldn’t say I ended up where I planned, but nonetheless, it’s driven me to therapy, and a lot of venting on this blog. But, I am trying to start being more proactive about it, rather than reactive.

        Liked by 2 people

  13. Hi everyone, I was recently nominated for the sunshine award twice but I made it into one blog post. Hope you enjoy my responses and questions 😁https://wp.me/p9eZP9-3G

    Liked by 19 people

  15. Hello wonderful souls!
    It’s been ages since I was active on the community pool or even WordPress and I’m really glad to have come back to this lovely place.🌸

    It really makes me happy to see and read all these amazing blogs and get to meet new people! I’d really love if you review and/or help me with my new blog which focuses on an ugly truth of our society.

    Thanks in advance! Have a great week ahead.❤️
    http://thehonestfabler.com/society-wrath/

    Liked by 21 people

  16. Hi fellow bloggers!

    Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read my most recent post—very much appreciated, as is your feedback!!

    Tomorrow morning I will be checking out lots of sites posted here and providing what I hope will be useful feedback for your posts, (I have other commitments tonight—boo!!!). I promise I will get back to comments etc. as soon as I can!

    https://thisdoorisalarmed.wordpress.com/2018/04/01/9-power-prose-and-play-scripts

    Liked by 16 people

    5. Your work is simply exquisite! Will definitely be coming back to check out more when I have the time. Thank you so much for sharing! ~Kelsey 😁

      Liked by 1 person

    4. People of the world—hello! If you’re reading my comment and you’ve somehow skipped reading the britchy one you’re missing out. Her stuff is GOLD! 😂♥️🌸

      Liked by 1 person

  22. Happy National Poetry Month!

    I’m so excited to push my creative boundaries with the inspiration of this month! My blog remains solely poetic, for now. I would greatly appreciate any feedback from the friendly pool on my latest piece “Fossils for New Feet.” Feel free to browse my other poems if you please. Have an amazing Monday everyone!😊

    Fossils for New Feet

    Liked by 17 people

      1. Looking forward to connecting with you! While the 7 Habits is my absolute favourite, I have other books that I recommend too and also looking forward to seeing suggestions from your blog 😄

        Liked by 1 person

    3. I left you a more detailed comment inside, Claire; but what a privilege it was to read your post! Can’t wait to come back and read more! ~Kelsey 😁

      Liked by 2 people

  27. Well, here we go again-Another month of pure blogging fun; I have just published a few posts in the past few days, as well as the ones that I have just posted today! And also: I have just started another giveaway, and this time it is for my newest eBook, “MAKING THE PERFECT BLOG”… If you would like to enter my giveaway, just go to the link here: https://www.amazon.com/ga/p/0b32bf416a49847c?ref_=pe_1771210_134854370 Otherwise, stay tuned, because there’s gonna be a whole lot of blogging fun to come here at KALEIDOSCOPE at http://www.j2w7.wordpress.com! (Oh, and a Happy Easter Monday to those of you who are living in Canada, too!)-JW 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  28. In and Out of Patterns – A closet full of Myself!

    “Our humanity rests upon a series of learned behaviors, woven together into patterns that are infinitely fragile and never directly inherited.”

    -Margaret Mead

    Don’t we feel at times that each individual we meet is somewhere playing a role assigned to him? As if he is following a script handed to him with no scope for creativity or open-endedness.

    Early childhood experiences leave a repetitive patterns of existence. The individual views the outer world through a fixed window of his past experiences.

    Lets get under our skin and take a tour of what these patterns could mean to us and how they affect our perception of reality.

    Do give your views and feedback!

    Happy intellecting❤🍻

    Liked by 12 people