Writing.Com 101

Community Tab

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 Community." 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 sections, which provide you with all the information relevant to about your community involvement.

Account Overview
The top left-hand section 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. Above this image you'll find a line containing your Handle, a small Portfolio icon, an Email icon, and a Favorites icon. Below this image, you will find your current portfolio status level (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 level 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 Anniversaries" .

Membership Info: Below the Established Date is a link that 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, you may or may not be able to view their membership information as they have the option of keeping that info private or making it public. However, you always have the option of gifting them a membership! For more information, please read: "Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .

Wish List: Clicking on the link for Wish List 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 top middle section 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 top right-hand section 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 bottom left-hand section 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 and Achievements" . Below the summary is a View Badge Checklist link which opens your Merit Badge Checklist page.

Merit Badges
The bottom middle section of your Community page is where you'll find a detailed list of your Merit Badges, including who awarded them and when. While the number of badges displayed varies from Portfolio to Portfolio, several of your most recently awarded Merit Badges are listed here. At the bottom of the panel, a View All #### Badges link shows a total count, and can be clicked to view all of your Merit Badges. Additionally, at the very top of the section is a Give a badge (to this member) link, which you can use when you're in the Community tab of another member's portfolio and want a quick and easy way to send them a Merit Badge. If you want to send them a Merit Badge they don't already have, use the View Badge Checklist link under their Merit Badge Summary. For complete information, please read: "Merit Badges and Achievements" .

Awardicons
The bottom right-hand section 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, "Give an award (to a member's item)," 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" .

Recommended Reading

1. Community Recognition
2. Merit Badges and Achievements
3. AwardIcons
4. Wish List
5. Account Anniversaries
6. Portfolio Icons
7. Free and Paid Membership Benefits

Footnotes
1  Written by Jeff