Writing.Com 101

Writing.Com is the online destination for anyone interested in writing, writers, reading or readers! Whether you're a casual writer looking for a place to try out your creativity, or a professional writer looking to build your online portfolio, Writing.Com is for you!

Writing.Com users are given the tools to express themselves and flaunt their talent to the rest of the world. We allow writers of all levels to get a feel for their own style and how readers react to it. Unlike other sites that selectively post only the pieces they like, you add your literary items in real time to your Writing.Com online portfolio. For more information, please read: "About Writing.Com" .

The Writing.Com website works the best and runs the fastest when viewed using Google Chrome. This helps to ensure that there will be few, if any, Java, Javscript or HTML errors. We also recommend Mozilla Firefox a try. If you are running Microsoft Internet Explorer, please be sure you are using the most current version.

Download Google Chrome  

Download Mozilla Firefox  

Download Microsoft Internet Explorer  

Download browser toolbars  

There is no email address for sending your writing. Writing.Com is different than most other online publishing sites; you have the ability to upload your own work and have it displayed immediately within your portfolio. When you signup for your Writing.Com account, we immediately create your online portfolio for you. Please read: How To Create an Item.

Please read: "Close Your Writing.Com Account" 

Clicking on a portfolio icon next to a user's handle will open their portfolio for your viewing. Please read: "Portfolio Icons" .

Community Recognition is an overall summary of a member's presence within the Writing.Com community. Recognitions are calculated by adding together the numbers of referred members, review recognitions, qualified merit badges, qualified Awardicons, and Bonus Recognitions. Please read: "Community Recognition" .

Please read: "Promotion to Preferred Author" .

Please read: "Promotion to Moderator" .

Please read: "Authorized Secondary Accounts (ASA)" .

Writing.Com offers four levels of paid memberships: Basic, Upgraded, Premium and Premium Plus. Please read: "Free and Paid Membership Benefits"  and "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .

Please read: "When Your Paid Membership Expires" .

No, you do not have to pay. A free membership is always available to you. Please read: "When Your Paid Membership Expires" .

Please read: "Increase Your Paid Membership Level" .

For the fastest response, Writing.Com accepts online payments through PayPal; PayPal can process credit card and eCheck payments. Countries that do not allow use of Paypal must mail their payment by check or international money order in US currency.

Writing.Com accepts mailed payments of checks and money orders. Please remember all payments MUST be made in US currency. Complete instructions for facilitating either online or mailed payments are included in our shop's order form. Please see: "The Writing.Com Shop" .

All orders for Paid Memberships and Gift Points paid through PayPal should be completed instantly after submitting your payment. PayPal's servers will confirm the payment to our servers and your order will be processed right away. On rare occasion, PayPal's system does have a problem that results in a delay for order processing. In these cases, we try to correct the problem within 24 hours.

Please note that if you mailed a payment to Writing.Com, we will process your order once we have received and processed your payment. The time for us to receive an order is wholly dependent on the US Postal Service, but processing your payment once received takes only a few hours. Members should expect a 4 to 7 business day wait from the time their payment is mailed to us. Please see: "The Writing.Com Shop" .

All orders for Writing.Com products such as t-shirts, pens, clipboards and mugs will be processed and shipped within 2 to 4 weeks. We strive to ship all orders sooner, but can not guarantee a faster time. Orders for locations within the US are sent via US Priority Mail and are generally received within 1 week of being shipped. Orders to overseas locations can take much longer; they are dependent on the postal service in that location.

Please note that if you mailed a payment to Writing.Com, we will process your order and ship your product within 2 to 4 weeks of having received and processed your payment. The time for us to receive an order is wholly dependent on the US Postal Service. Please see: "The Writing.Com Shop" .

If you have ordered a product or service from Writing.Com and have not received it within the time specifications listed above, please visit and post in "Technical Support Forum" . Please be sure to include specific information include: The date you made your order, information on what you ordered and how you payed for the order.

Your portfolio is where all the work you add to Writing.Com is stored. Any items you create will be kept in your online portfolio. Please read: "Overview of Your Portfolio" .

There are a few ways to gain exposure for your Writing.Com portfolio and items within it. The most popular authors on the site have become so by sharing their public portfolio URL with their friends, family and associates. Adding your portfolio URL to your email signature, instant message profile and using it in other community sites will surely help you float to the top! Please read: "Tell a Friend (No Longer Available)"  and "BidClick System: Sponsored Items, Links & Genres" .

The small pictures that you see on many of the portfolios around Writing.Com are called costumicons and are automatically included with any Premium Membership level. Please read: "Costumicons"  and "Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .

Please read: "Item Types and Their Uses" .

Please read: "How To Create an Item" .

Open the "Edit" window from your item's tools (either from within your portfolio or within the item itself) to change or update your item. Please read: "How To Create an Item"  to get started.

Please read: "How To Upload Writing" .

Please read: "Static Item" .

To add chapters to your new interactive story, click on the View tool in your portfolio below the interactive story. On the following page, click "Click Here To Enter This Story". This will bring you to the first page of your new story. You will be asked to add a new chapter; this will be the first chapter. Fill it in, submit it and you are on your way! Please read: "Interactive Story" .

Your story must have at least 3 chapters in order to be listed within the public rankings and listings. Also, Writing.Com reserves the right to remove from public listing any story that is sexual or profane in nature. While we do not monitor all content, we will try to keep public portions of the interactive story area of the site clean. Owners of interactive stories should keep their item rating current to the content being added. Please read: "Interactive Story" .

Your poll must have at least one vote to show up in the listings. Also, don't forget that content that is not correctly rated (E thru XGC) may be removed from public listings. If your poll has at least one vote and is properly rated, then it will show up in the public listings on Writing.Com. Please read: "User Poll" .

Your forum must have at least one message to show up in the listings. Also, don't forget that content that is not correctly rated (E thru XGC) may be removed from public listings. If your forum does have at least one message and has properly rated content, then it will show up in the public listings on Writing.Com. Please read: "Message Forum"  and "Using Message Forums" .

Be sure you have correctly selected a content rating for your item (see: "Content Rating System (CRS)" ). The default content rating that is set when you create an item is "-----"; If you do not set another rating, your story's content rating is considered to be higher than XGC. Therefore, unless you or another user has set their ratings filter to allow ALL content ratings, your item will not show up in public listings. If your content rating is GC or XGC, you will need to set your ratings filter to allow ALL content ratings or you will not be able to see your item in the public listings (see "Options" in "My Account" ) . When searching for your item, be sure you are searching in the correct place. It is best to use the site wide search to look for your item, which is available from the top of any page on Writing.Com.

Please read: "BidClick System: Sponsored Items, Links & Genres" .

Please read: "Access Restrictions" .

Please read: "Writing.Com Copyright Policy" .

Please read: "Enhance Your Item With WritingML" .

Please read: "Folder" .

No, you are not required to use folders. Please read: "Folder" .

Please read: "Folder" .

Please read: "My Favorites and Fans" .

Please read: "My Favorites and Fans" .

Please read: "Content Rating System (CRS)" .

Yes, but note that our filtering system only excludes items based on "Content Rating System (CRS)"  from our public listing pages. It does not affect other areas of the site and will not block any items or pages from being viewed. The rating filter will only remove inappropriate items from being listed on our public listing pages. To change your content rating filters, visit your "Options" tab in your My Account area. Please read: "My Account" .

By default, we do not include items with Non-E intro ratings or GC and higher content ratings within our public listings. If you wish to have this content included in the public listings on our site, you must edit your content rating filter setting by visiting your "Options" tab in your My Account area. Please read: "My Account" .

Please read: "The Star Rating System" .

No, a review cannot be completely deleted. Acknowledging that reviews are the writing of one author to another, Writing.Com does not delete reviews. 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. To hide a review, click "Hide Review" in the details section of the review. Please read: "My Feedback" .

Your browser is probably not accepting our "cookie". A cookie is a small bit of text that our server sends to your browser when you first log in to your account. The cookie, if accepted by your browser, allows our server to track you and your browser as you move throughout the Writing.Com website. With a cookie, you will stay logged into the site for 24 hours, or until you log out.

Without accepting cookies, there is no truly unique identification with which we can keep track of you. Because of this, we can only track a "session" for about 15 minutes of inactivity (sometimes shorter). So if you sit on the create item, forum posting, or other entry page for more than 10 to 15 minutes without an action on the site and without a cookie, the server will lose track of you and will not remember that you logged in.

Check your web browser's help documentation for information on how to be sure that your browser is accepting cookies. Additionally, it is suggested that you "copy" any work in the text area that you type in before you submit it. That way, should the page crash or log you out, then you will be able to paste your writing back in without losing it.

If the problem continues or if you are unable to support cookies in your browser, you should submit your entry every 10 minutes or so, then edit it and add your other additions, still saving every 10 minutes or less. You can also create your items in a text editor or word processor on your computer and then "copy and paste" your work into the Writing.Com website.

Additionally, please use the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Safari. Writing.Com is most compatible with the current versions of these browsers.

You can find statistics within your portfolio on the specified item details line. Here you can see how many times your item has been viewed and how many ratings it has received. You can also see how many times your portfolio has been viewed by looking in your portfolio header under Stats & Info. Please read: "Portfolio" Tab and Item Statistics.

From the My Account navigation menu, go to Account Options. From the Account Options page, click the Change Password link and follow the instructions on that page to complete your password change..

Your Writing.Com account has email service included with it. Anywhere your email address is listed on the site, it will be listed as your username@Writing.Com and will be directed to your Writing.Com mail account. Please read: "Email" .

If your story is interactive, it will be listed on the interactive story listing pages. Every page contains a "Tell-A-Friend" form field on the lower left. You can use this to let your friends know about any new items you create or about your portfolio itself.

In addition, any time you add a chapter to an interactive story, a link to your public portfolio will be placed next to your name on the by-line. If readers like your writing, they are likely to look at more of your work. Consider every chapter addition advertising for your other work! Please read: "Interactive Story"  and "Tell a Friend (No Longer Available)" .

Visit "Technical Support Forum"  or "Non-Technical Support Forum" .