Happy Holidays, Members!

We're proud to release the following 37 new holiday emoticons!
Thanks for all of your requests and suggestions!


dreidel =
gingerbread =
menorah =
santahat =
snowman =
stardavid =
xmastree =

candycaneR =
candycaneG =

stockingB =
stockingG =
stockingR =
stockingV =

ornament1B =
ornament1G =
ornament1R =
ornament1S =
ornament1V =
ornament1Y =

ornament2B =
ornament2G =
ornament2R =
ornament2S =
ornament2V =
ornament2Y =

ornament3B =
ornament3G =
ornament3R =
ornament3S =
ornament3V =
ornament3Y =

ornament4B =
ornament4G =
ornament4R =
ornament4S =
ornament4V =
ornament4Y =

PLUS:
quill =
pencil =

And since we know you want a "writing" emoticon, {e:writing} gets you the


Thanks The StoryMistress !


Enjoy!
~~SM


 

The following winners for the October 2009 running of "Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest"  were chosen from the 28 entries submitted. Each entry was judged based on the criteria provided in "Quotation Inspiration: Official Contest" . Congratulations to the following three winners:

First Place - "Maizie"   by Milhaud
Second Place - "Soul Mates"   by Hyperiongate
Third Place - "Muse"   by Mara♣Packing to Move...

Thanks to everyone who entered. I know the judges enjoyed the entries quite a bit this round.

"Short Shots: Official Contest"  is the contest this month and there is $175 in Writing.Com gift points up for grabs so start writing!

~Diane


 

Hello Members,

Back in August, I had posted "Some advance warning..."  where I introduced that we'd be updating the review system to allow members to review individual entries/chapters within Book Items. I'm pleased to say that this update is now in place for official testing by the membership!

Members can now review the book item as a whole along with each individual chapter. Each review given to a different part of the book (or the book as a whole) is eligible to receive any Gift Point auto-reward set for the item.

The number of ratings on a book item will be the total of all ratings given to it and the average rating will be the same cumulation. If you come upon a book item that you've previously rated/reviewed, you should now be able to go back and review the individual chapters.

(Note: All members with Book Items that offer auto-rewards have been sent an email notifying them about this change to the review system. Anyone wishing to alter their Gift Point auto-rewards based on the update should do so as soon as possible.)

A reminder this is a BETA posting announcement, which means this is still in testing and development. We appreciate all bug reports, feature enhancements, general opinions, etc. It is helpful if you post them there and provide links to any examples you'd like to share.


Thanks!
~~SM


 

Greetings,

It was noted recently that there used to be a means for an author to delete a review of their work, but in our recent update to include the {review} ML, the delete review link got lost. Given this, it seems the appropriate time to re-name and re-introduce that links as Hide Review.

Acknowledging that reviews are the writing of one author to another, quite some time ago Writing.Com stopped deleting reviews from the system when an author clicked to delete the review. Instead, the reviews are hidden from author's feedback list and, if the review is public, it is removed from the public review listings. The review itself, however, remains in the sender's "Sent" feedback and still counts towards their overall review numbers.

Thus, "Hide Review" now takes the place of the out-dated "Delete Review" link.

Please note that public reviews that have been hidden can still be access via a direct WritingML link using the new {review} ML tag.

Review On,
~~SM

 

Thanks for your patience today throughout our many, many changes to the Writing.Com header. We hope that the current layout that we now have will help our newer members find their way around a little easier. This might even make some new areas pop out to our elder members who never knew they were there!

If you find something missing from there that you may have used before, please refer to the "Things To Do & Read" button within the left-side navigation. Every activity is listed there and you will find every single item type available on Writing.Com in one easy place.

We've also returned the "My Favorites" button into the top navigation. We're done for today, but don't be surprised if we do a bit more tweaking to this area.

Thanks for all your feedback today. We appreciate it!

-SMs

 

Greets,

You'll note we've made some changes to the header layout. They include:
- Moving the search (with a bigger text box) to the top right
- The sponsored item to the top left
- Moving the 4 top button down and rewording them

Please feel free to provide feedback by commenting on this post.

Best wishes,
~~SM


 

Greetings Members,

I'm interested in getting together some people who would be both interested in and capable of creating video tutorials on how to use Writing.Com. I'm hoping we have some people who have some experience in using those screen-video-capture software packages that record your screen and your mouse movements, allowing one to create such tutorials...

If you have any interest and experience, please hop over to:

1615515

Video Tutorial Discussion  [13+] A forum to discuss the creation of video tutorials for Writing.Com. By: The StoryMaster

Thanks and write on!
~~SM
 

Hello Everyone,

Good luck to everyone participating in this year's NanoWrimo. This post is just a reminder of the activities and tools available to you here on Writing.Com.


NanoGroups
"National Novel Writing Month (NanoWrimo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing November 1. The goal is to write a 175-page (50,000-word) novel by midnight, November 30." ~~ NanoWrimo.Org

For those participating in this month-long writing challenge, Writing.Com hopes to provide you with the tools, support and inspiration you need to succeed!

If you're interested in joining a NanoWrimo group here on Writing.Com, here's a few:

          "The NaNoWriMists 2009"  [E] by Barmymoo
    Are you taking part in NaNoWriMo this year? Join our group and take part in our contest!

          "NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon Group"  [E] by SoCalScribe
    NaNoWriMo Write-A-Thon list of Writers, Sponsors and Teams

          "NaNoWriMo Plus"  [13+] by Dawn♥Embers
    A group for those that like NaNoWriMo but want to work on already started projects.


My NanoCounter
You can keep track of your Nano word count in the left hand column of all your WDC pages. Once activated, just click the count to update it at any time! When you're done with Nano, to make it go away, set the count to 0!

Everyone can use the NanoCounter. We encourage you to turn it on and get involved! But... You can only activate your NanoCounter using the following link. It will set the word count to 1 word so the counter shows on your pages.
          http://Writing.Com/main/my_account/action/update_nano/nanocnt/1


View the Nano'er List
Those who've got their NanoCounter turned on will have a link to View the Nano'er List. This is a complete list those members actively involved in the Nano. For each Nano'er, the list shows the word count written so far, words left to write and a percent complete.

Anyone can view the nano'er listing here:
          http://www.writing.com/main/authors/action/nano


The WDC NanoLounge

We've setup a place to chat about all things Nano. Share your stories, progress, problems, groups, forums, links and more! We've linked the lounge from the top of the Nano Authors list... and it's linked right below this:

1491696

The WDC NanoLounge  [13+] A nano place to chat about NanoWrimo 2009! By: The StoryMaster

NanoWrimo Merit Badges
Don't forget about our two Nano Merit Badges. They're in the Badge Shop under the General section:  Nano Participant  and  Nano Winner

Merit Badges are great ways to mark occassions and acknowledge accomplishments within Writing.Com. The Merit Badge Shop can be found under the Gift Point Tools navigation menu... or access it directly at:
          http://Writing.Com/main/badges


Best wishes,
~~SM