The Community tab in your portfolio is where you can find everything related to your activity within the Writing.Com community. At the top, right-hand corner of your community page, there is a link that says "Manage Your Community Tab." Clicking on this link will expand a box that says, "Who is allowed to access your Community tab?" The default setting is to make your Community tab public and available for everyone to view, but like the privacy settings of the items in your portfolio, you can change this setting to Keep Private, for certain case colors only, or accessible only to a Writing.Com group to which you belong.

The rest of your Community page is organized into six panels, which provide you with all the information relevant to about your community involvement.

Account Overview
The first panel on the top left-hand side of your Community page is where you can find your membership information, including:

Portfolio Case: A large image of your account's portfolio is the most prominent feature of this panel. Below this image, you will find your current portfolio status (Registered Member/Author, Preferred Author, Moderator and so on). For more information on the various portfolio levels, please read: "Portfolio Icons" .

Established Date: Right below your membership title is the date your account was created. This is also known as an account anniversary or, more commonly, an account birthday. This is the date used to calculate your Community Recognition for the number of years you've been a member (you get 5 points for every year you maintain your membership). For more information, please read: "Account Birthdays" .

Membership Info: Below the Established Date is either "Free Membership" or an image representing your paid membership level:


Clicking on this image will open a new window that will tell you when - if it's a paid membership - it expires. In this window, you'll also have the option to renew or upgrade your membership. If you click on this link in another member's portfolio, they have the option of keeping their membership info private or making it public, but you always have the option of gifting them a membership! For more information, please read: "Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .

Wish List: If you click on the link for Wish List, it will open your list of desired items at the Writing.Com Shop. All users can add items that they would like to receive as gifts. In your own port, this page allows you to add or remove items from your own Wish List. In another member's port, this page allows you to see what items (if any) they have added to their Wish List, and you have the option of purchasing one or more of the items for them. For more information, please read: "Wish List" .

Community Recognition
The panel in the top middle of your Community page is where you can find the breakdown of your Community Recognition, the number next to your handle. For complete information on Community Recognition, please read: "Community Recognition" .

Member Activity
The panel on the top right-hand side of your Community page is where you can find the numbers related to your account, including the total quantity of reviews, public reviews, and ratings you've given to Writing.Com items, plus your total number of forum posts, interactive chapters written, and Product Reviews submitted.

Merit Badge Summary
The panel on the bottom left-hand side of your Community page is the place where you can find a tally of all the Merit Badges you've received. Merit Badges are custom-designed to represent a particular trait, specialty skill, or theme, and your Merit Badges in this panel are listed in order from the most number of Merit Badges of each type you've received, to the least. If you click on the image of any Merit Badge, it will open a new page with all the Merit Badges of that type listed in greater detail (who awarded it and when). Clicking on any of those detailed Merit Badges will open a new window with the full details for each badge, including any written inscriptions. For complete information, please read: "Merit Badges" .

Merit Badge
The panel in the bottom middle of your Community page is where you'll find a detail list of your Merit Badges, including who awarded them and when. The ten most recently awarded Merit Badges are listed here, and there's a link at the bottom of the panel to view all of your Merit Badges. Additionally, at the very top of the panel, there's a link to "Give this member a badge," which you can use when you're in the Community tab of another member's portfolio and want a quick and easy way to award them a Merit Badge. For complete information, please read: "Merit Badges" .

Awardicons
The panel on the bottom right-hand side of your Community page is where you'll find your trophy case; a collection of all the Awardicons you've received for your items. Like the Merit Badge Summary immediately to the left, this Awardicons area displays ten Awardicons (in order of highest value to lowest), and there's a link at the bottom of the panel to view all of your Awardicons. Additionally, at the very top of the panel, there's a link to, "Send an item an awardicon," which you can use when you're in the Community tab of another member's portfolio and want a quick and easy way to give them an Awardicon for one of the items in their portfolio.1 For complete information, please read: "Awardicons" .