Explanations and instructions of all things Writing.Com. |
Writing.Com is the premier online community for writers of all ages and interests. Our mission is to provide an extremely creative environment for writers, offering them hundreds of unique tools and opportunities for inspiration and creation. Whether you are an enthusiastic writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your masterpieces or a casual reader searching for a good story, this is is the website for you! If you’re new to Writing.Com and feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t worry. Almost every member, both new and old, has felt that way at one point or another. Think of your experience here at Writing.Com as though you've moved to a big city. There are streets and avenues that will lead you to new and interesting places. Parks and secluded glens are tucked into corners. Neighborhood cafes, interesting groups of people and special interest clubs pop up at every corner. There is so much to do! You can either find your way around by jumping right in and exploring or you can use a reference guide to learn the ropes as you make your way through the community. 1 This is our reference guide to Writing.Com. Enjoy your explorations!2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Overview of Writing.Com Guests, Members & Memberships Get Started Using Your Writing.Com Portfolio Posting Content On Writing.Com Item Types Item & Writing Tools Reading Rating and Reviewing The Community Navigation Communication News and Announcements Help and Support Contact Us Appendix Search OVERVIEW OF WRITING.COM TOP GUESTS, MEMBERS & MEMBERSHIPS TOP We welcome our guests to Writing.Com, but recommend that everyone sign up for a free account so that he or she may take advantage of the benefits and participate within the community. 1. Register For Your Free Account 2. Free and Paid Membership Benefits a. Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits c. Increase Your Paid Membership Level d. When Your Paid Membership Expires e. RAOK (Random Acts Of Kindness) Group 3. New Members -- Our Newbies 4. Authorized Secondary Accounts (ASA) Recommended Reading a. Premium Plus Members' Handbook GET STARTED TOP Visit our quick start guide to jump right in and explore the site! USING YOUR WRITING.COM PORTFOLIO TOP The Writing.Com portfolio system is one of a kind and extremely beneficial to writers! Each member gets his or her own portfolio, filled from top to bottom with unique tools, innovative concepts and enough space to jump start your creativity. 1. Overview of Your Portfolio 2. The Portfolio Tabs Video: Set Up Your Portfolio Tabs a. "Portfolio" Tab b. Reviews Tab c. Biography Tab d. Notebook Tab e. Blog Tab f. Fans Tab g. Community Tab h. Sliders Tab 3. Portfolio Tools a. Export Your Work From Your Portfolio b. Item Edit Logs c. Transfer an Item To Another Member d. Stats & Info 4. Portfolio Settings a. Portfolio Highlighting b. InkSpot.Com Setup POSTING CONTENT ON WRITING.COM TOP Learn how to easily upload your work on Writing.Com or create something completely new! There are many tools available to our authors to enhance their portfolio and experience within the community. 1. How To Create an Item 2. How To Upload Writing 3. Enhance Your Item With WritingML Video: Linking to an Item 4. Gaining Exposure For Your Items a. BidClick System: Sponsored Items, Links & Genres b. The Shameless "Plug" Page c. Writing Contests @ Writing.Com d. Activities @ Writing.Com e. The Marketplace f. Advertising Published Works Recommended Reading a. Help Us Help YOU! b. Promoting Your Portfolio URL ITEM TYPES TOP Learn about the many different item types you can create on Writing.Com. The possibilities are endless when it comes to creativity and uniqueness! Item Types and Their Uses 1. Static Item a. Create/Edit a Static Item 2. Book a. Create/Edit a Book b. Book Entries c. Manage a Book d. Embedding Photos and Media Files in Books 3. Message Forum a. Create/Edit a Message Forum 4. Group a. Create/Edit a Group b. Group Management c. Group Edit for Items d. Group Leaders and Members e. Access Levels Within Groups f. Group Only Items g. Transfer a Group To Another Member h. Creative Group Ideas 5. Interactive Story a. Create/Edit an Interactive Story 6. Audio a. Create/Edit Audio 7. Campfire Creative a. Create/Edit a Campfire Creative b. Manage a Campfire Creative 8. Community Note (cNote) a. Create/Edit a cNote b. Manage a cNote 9. Crossword Puzzle a. Create/Edit a Crossword Puzzle b. Manage a Crossword Puzzle 10. Document a. Create/Edit a Document 11. Folder a. Create/Edit a Folder 12. Image a. Save Image To Your Computer b. Create/Edit an Image c. Image Guidelines and Policies d. Creative Image Ideas e. Writing.Com Images For Your Signature(s) 13. In & Out a. Create/Edit an In & Out 1. Preset In & Out Display Formats 2. Custom In & Out Display Formats 14. Madlib a. Create/Edit a Madlib 15. Photo Album a. Create/Edit a Photo Album b. Manage a Photo Album 16. User Poll a. Create/Edit a User Poll 17. Product Review a. Create/Edit a Product Review 18. Quiz a. Create/Edit a Quiz 19. Shop a. Create/Edit a Shop b. Manage a Shop 20. Survey Form a. Create/Edit a Survey Form b. Manage a Survey Form 21. Web Page a. Create/Edit a Web Page 22. Word Search a. Create/Edit a Word Search ITEM & WRITING TOOLS TOP The tools provided by Writing.Com are one of a kind and extremely useful for customizing your items exactly to your liking! 1. Covers 2. Full Screen Edit 3. Item Aliases 4. Auto-Rewards 5. Edit Points 6. Passkeys 7. Access Restrictions 8. Revision History 9. Item Statistics 10. Submission Tracking System 11. Notepad 12. Ideanary 13. Virtual Dice 14. Macros READING TOP There are thousands of original items to read here; you just have to know where to look! RATING AND REVIEWING TOP An integral part of this writing community, rating and reviewing the items you read is very important and it benefits everyone involved! 1. Reviewing On Writing.Com a. Review Requests b. Guidelines To Great Reviewing c. The Star Rating System 2. The Review Tool a. Creating Review Templates b. Sample Review Templates 3. Public Reviews a. Affiliating Reviews With Groups b. Top Reviewers c. Reviewing Credits 4. Incentives For Reviewing a. The Review Mixer b. Daily Review Rewards c. Public Review Rewards 5. Seeking Reviews a. Rating/Reviewing Preferences b. Please Review Recommended Reading a. How Should I Rate Items on Writing.Com? b. Comment-In-A-Box c. How To Deal With Negative Comments THE COMMUNITY TOP The community is such an integral part of Writing.Com: the people, policies, processes, and exclusive online economy. 1. Portfolio Icons a. Costumicons 2. Recognition Within the Community a. Community Recognition b. Merit Badges and Achievements c. AwardIcons d. Custom Merit Badges and Awardicons e. Account Anniversaries f. Referred Member Tracking g. Promotion to Preferred Author h. Promotion to Moderator i. Request a Deceased Member Be Memorialized 3. Community Activities a. Beta: Trinkets b. WDC Features for NaNoWriMo Participants 4. Gift Points a. How to Use Gift Points at Writing.Com b. How to Acquire Gift Points c. Automatic Gift Points from Writing.Com d. Mining for Gift Points -- No Longer Offered 5. Wish List 6. Who's Online 7. Guidelines and Policies a. Content Rating System (CRS) b. Writing.Com Copyright Policy c. Privacy Policy NAVIGATION TOP Learn your way around Writing.Com. COMMUNICATION TOP From sending an email to replying to a review, understanding the tools available on Writing.Com and how to use them is very important. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS TOP Updates, news and announcements are always posted in the site blog, so be sure to check it periodically so you do not miss a thing! HELP AND SUPPORT TOP Writing.Com staff is readily available and monitoring the website almost 24/7. We interact with our members as much as possible and do our best to answer questions in a very timely manner. Besides staff, there are also many very knowledgeable members who are willing to help out by answering questions or pointing you in the right direction. CONTACT US TOP Have a suggestion or need to report a bug that you found within the system? Contact us and we'll see what we can do. APPENDIX TOP Additional information for our readers. SEARCH TOP Looking for help with something? Try searching: Footnotes |