Lesson 4 Assignment - WritingML

Newbie Nellie can't wait to get started creating all sorts of new items, but she's confused about how to do some of them. Here are her questions for this week.

1) I know it's important to fill in the ‘keywords section’ when I create an item. Why? What can that do for me?

If you want anyone to be able to find your items through the search function, then you need to fill in terms that are appropriate to your item in the keywords section. Simply associating a genre or type to your item will not automatically code them to your item in a search function, you must add them manually as a keyword to have your item show up in a search.

2) There are two different paths you can use to get to the Create a new item. . . page. Explain both paths to me, please. Which one do you prefer? Why?

You can either choose the "Create Item" tab from your Portfolio page, or you can choose "Create" on the left side of any screen on WDC. I almost always click on "Create" on the left side of the screen, as it exists on every page and takes you to the same page the tab in your Portfolio page leads you to - one less click.

3) How can I make it possible for only certain people to access one of my items?

When creating an item (or editing it later), under Access Restrictions, you can choose from a number of options: Make Public, Keep Private, Registered Users and Higher, Registered Authors and Higher, Preferred Authors and Higher, or choose specific Groups and their members that would have access to the item.

4) How many different types of item links are there? Please list them for me.

13 different types
Basic {item
Clean {c-item
Big {b-item
Genre {g-item
Icon {i-item
Time {t-item
Line {l-item
Line Rating {lr-item
Line Time {lt-item
Line Description {ld-item
Rating {r-item
Double Line {dl-item
ID {id-item


5) I just purchased an Upgraded membership so I can have images in my work. How do I create images?

After clicking on either "Create Item" tab or the "Create" link, choose "Image" from under the Upgrade list of item types. Enter general information as you would with any created item. You do need to give the item a name, a description, and enter something in the item body. Then you will have a chance to upload an image from your computer. The image must be no larger than 400 x 400 pixels and a maximum size of 150kbs. You can link one of your portfolio items to the image by entering the item number in the Link to Item ID. You can also determine who can use the image by choosing options in Image Sharing.