%%USERNAME%%    %%ACCWORDS%% %%ONOFF%% |
 Announcements pertaining to Writing.Com! |
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| Greetings Members! Introducing four great new Writing.Com Products and three new product sets. Show off your support for your favorite online writing community! And don't forget, Gift Points are on sale until Friday, 5/12/2006.  Four New Writing.Com Branded Products! We're excited to announce that the following new Writing.Com branded products have been added to Our Store:  Writing.Com Yellow HighlightersThe Writing.Com yellow highlighter is perfect for showcasing those words you want to showcase. The bright yellow ink is sure to demand attention! Writing.Com Red SharpiesUse your red Writing.Com Sharpie pen to circle those errors, correct your mistakes, or edit someone else's! Permanent, fast-drying acid-free ink is ACMI certified non-toxic standard red Sharpie ink. Writing.Com Wooden PencilsWriting.Com pencils have a rubber eraser with brass ferrule and lead filament enclosed in a natural wood case. "Writing.Com" is printed in large black logo letters on the side. Writing.Com Stress RelieversStressed out about your writing or bored with homework? Grab your Writing.Com squeezie and relieve your tension! Ideal for writers, readers, nerds, and novices, this handheld device should be kept at all desks and workstations for easy squeezing. Three new Product Sets have been added toward the bottom of the Store. Sets are grouped together, discounted and easy to order! Our sets include: The "Fill My PenHolder" Set The "Writing Kit" Set The "Just For Fun" SetPlease remember that your purchase of Writing.Com's products supports our community and allows us to continue to grow and improve. Visit 'Our Store' to purchase any of Writing.Com's products or services. http://www.Writing.Com/main/store We sincerely thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress  andThe StoryMaster  |
 Happy Spring Members!  Read through this announcement to learn about the amazing enhancements to our cNotes, a new Membership Information tool, and much more! :: The New Writing.Com Cap! :: Writing.Com's new Vintage Washed Caps are now in stock in our store. They're stylish, 100% cotton and very comfortable... Order your cap today! http://www.Writing.Com/main/store :: Send cNotes Off-site! :: Great news! Now you can send Writing.Com cNotes to anyone with an email address! This means you can send cNotes to all of your family and friends. Anyone can receive a cNote, whether they have a Writing.Com account or not! If you send a cNote to someone off-site, no Writing.Com account is needed to view it. Your recipient is sent an email with a link to view the cNote you sent; they just click on the link to open their cNote. For a limited time, Writing.Com is waiving its 250 Gift Point fee for all cNotes sent to off-site email addresses. This fee is automatically deducted and the deduction is shown on the confirmation page. Remember, cNote owners have their own fees and these are not waived. Community Notes (cNotes) are individual e-cards designed by Upgraded Members and above with varying themes, images, wording and prices. To browse the available cNotes, click the cNotes link at the top of each page or visit the list by clicking below: http://www.writing.com/main/list_items/num_type/2200 :: My Sent cNotes / My Received cNotes! :: We've added a new My cNotes area where members can view their most recent sent and received cNotes. Located within your My Places pull down menu, My cNotes gives you access to view the cNotes you've sent and received. :: New 'Membership Info' Link :: Gifting paid memberships to your fellow Writing.Com members is now easier than ever with the new Membership Info pop-up! This new informational tool is linked from within each member's portfolio to the left of their BioBlock. Once open, you can view a member's current Paid Membership expiration date(s) and easily gift them a new membership or an extension of their current level. To keep your Paid Membership type and expiration private, visit your My Account page then click "Change Preferences". Set the "Paid Membership Information Privacy" setting to Private and click "Submit Changes". You can go directly to your Change Preference page by visiting the following link: http://www.writing.com/main/my_account.php?action=ea_form&type=preferences :: Reply To IMs Faster! :: We've added a new built-in reply area to Instant Messages (IMs). Now when you receive an IM, you can quickly reply without opening a new reply window. Not only does this make it easier to remember what you're replying to, but it also makes conversations much more convenient. :: Reminder: Visit Our New Chat System :: A few weeks ago, Writing.Com re-opened our chat system for testing. With the testing of this recently purchased software going well, we wanted to make sure everyone knew where they could find Chat. It's linked under your Site Tools pull down menu as "Launch Chat" and linked as Chat, next to IM just below all of the pull down menus. The ability to use the Writing.Com chatroom is reserved for those members with an Upgraded Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits"  Thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress andThe StoryMaster |
| Hello Members! Log into your Writing.Com account on Thursday, April 20th, 2006 and you'll automatically earn 1,000 Gift Points! Thanks for your support and Write On, ~~ SM * Please note: Login Gift Points are automatically awarded just after Midnight on the day of login... So when you login April 20th, you'll receive your Gift Points around 12:30am, April 21st. Receipt of login Gift Points can be confirmed on your My Gift Points page. |
| Happy Spring, Members We've added a few new features to make your Writing.Com time more productive. We hope you enjoy them! :: Message Forums: "Fast Reply" :: Replying in message forums is now faster than ever! At the bottom of every forum post, you'll now find a built-in reply form. Simply scroll to the bottom of the post, type in your message, and hit reply - you're done! This eliminates the loading of an entire extra page. The ability to use Forum Fast Reply is reserved for those members with a Basic Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" :: Email: "Fast Reply" :: Email replies can be sent much quicker with our new Fast Reply feature for email. Similar to the Fast Reply in Forums, just scroll to the bottom of your email, type your email, and hit send from either above or below the text box. Once your reply has been sent, move or delete the email right from the same screen. Fast Reply can be easily Enabled and Disabled right from the "Fast Reply" bar now found at the bottom of any email message. Note that use of Email Fast Reply is reserved for those members with a Premium Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" :: WritingML for Newsletter Archives! :: With our new Newsletter Archive system comes a new WritingML tag to reference it. The new {NL:} tag has three different functions: Linking to an archived Newsletter:{NL:####}  "For Authors Newsletter (February 15, 2006)" ... where #### is the ID number of the newsletter, now found within the black title bar at the top of the newsletter when viewed in the archives. Linking to a Newsletter Editor's Archive:{NL:USERNAME} "The Writing.Com Newsletter Archives" ... where USERNAME is a Newsletter Editor. Linking to the complete Newsletter Archives:{NL:archives} "The Writing.Com Newsletter Archives" Remember: You can always access the Newsletter Archives from the Newsletters area of your "Member Tools" pull down menu. :: Better Full Screen Edit! :: An upgrade to Full Screen Edit now allows you to change the editor's size. Expand it to a true full screen or just make it a little bigger or smaller; it's up to you! Simply click and drag the window's corner to your preferred size, just like you would with any browser window. The ability to use Full Screen Edit is reserved for those members with a Premium Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" :: Reminder: Spring Costumicons! :: costumicon subscriptions are now available for purchase! This subscription will last through noon on April 19th, 2006, making this one of our longest subscription periods ever in the history of costumicons! You can subscribe to this costumicon subscription from your "My Gift Points" or your "My Account" area... Or click this link: http://www.Writing.com/main/my_account/action/ea_form/type/costumicon Remember: costumicons make great gifts!  To gift a subscription, head to you My Gifts Points page:http://www.Writing.Com/main/my_gifts#spend Thank you for your support! :: Reminder: Visit Our New Chat System :: A few weeks ago, Writing.Com re-opened our chat system for testing. With the testing of this recently purchased software going well, we wanted to make sure everyone knew where they could find Chat. It's linked under your Member Tools pull down menu as "Launch Chat". The ability to use the Writing.Com chatroom is reserved for those members with an Upgraded Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" Thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress andThe StoryMaster |
 Happy Spring Members!  Spring fever is in the air, even if the weather won't cooperate, so we're opening Spring Costumicons and our new chatroom! Read more for details... :: Spring Costumicons! :: costumicon subscriptions are now available for purchase! This subscription will last through noon on April 19th, 2006, making this one of our longest subscription periods ever in the history of costumicons! You can subscribe to this costumicon subscription from your "My Gift Points" or your "My Account" area... Or click this link: http://www.Writing.com/main/my_account/action/ea_form/type/costumicon Remember: costumicons make great gifts! To gift a subscription, head to you My Gifts Points page:http://www.Writing.Com/main/my_gifts#spend Thank you for your support! :: Have You Found Our New Chat Yet? :: A few weeks ago, Writing.Com re-opened our chat system for testing. With the testing of this recently purchased software going well, we wanted to make sure everyone knew where they could find Chat. It's linked under your Member Tools pull down menu as "Launch Chat". With our chat software, members have the ability to create and moderator their own chatrooms within the system. This makes it a great tool for groups and can be used for anything from meetings, open discussions, moderated discussions or even hosted events! Chat is also a great way to meet fellow writers and engage in some real time conversations with your existing Writing.Com friends. When you have a few minutes to spare, stop in and see who's around! The ability to use the Writing.Com chatroom is reserved for those members with an Upgraded Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" :: Reminder: Introducing 'In Print' :: In Print is a new system that allows our Writing.Com members to show off their published work. Members may list up to six of their publications by entering the ISBN numbers of their books, as well as a short In Print bio section. Member can setup their In Print area from the "My In Print" link under the "Author Tools" pull down menu. Once set, a new Support This Author section will be added to the left hand column of their item pages. Here are some examples: "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor Looking for a new book? The In Print section supports the authors of Writing.Com, so check here first! A complete listing of Writing.Com's authors In Print can be found under the "Item Jumps" pull down menu as Authors In Print, or directly at: http://www.Writing.Com/main/authors/action/in_print The ability to set up an 'In Print' section is reserved for those members with an Upgraded Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" Thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress andThe StoryMaster |
| Hello, Members! This announcement is packed full of great information, including the introduction of 'In Print' and the announcement of great changes within our newsletter archives, product reviews, message forums and much more! :: Introducing 'In Print' :: In Print is a new system that allows our Writing.Com members to show off their published work. Members may list up to six of their publications by entering the ISBN numbers of their books, as well as a short In Print bio section. Once a member has set up their In Print area, a new Support This Author section will be added to the left hand column of their item pages. Here are some examples: "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor "How I Know A Character Will Work" by VictoriaMcCullough  "Invalid Item" by A Guest Visitor A complete listing of Writing.Com's authors In Print can be found under the "Item Jumps" pull down menu as Authors In Print, or directly at: http://www.Writing.Com/main/authors/action/in_print The ability to set up an 'In Print' section is reserved for those members with an Upgraded Membership or higher. For more information on the benefits of our various paid membership plans, please visit: "Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" :: Newsletter Archives Upgraded :: Writing.Com's Newsletter Archive system has received some major upgrades in 2006. For starters, the system now provides real time archiving of past newsletters. That means that the day after a newsletter is mailed out, it is available from within the Newsletter Archives! Have you ever wanted to find something again that you saw in a newsletter? Now you can use the brand new Search the Archives to sift through the entire archive. Was your item mentioned in a newsletter and you're trying to find where, just enter your Item ID into the search box and click Go! Looking for more newsletters edited by your favorite editors? Just click the More By This Editor when viewing their newsletter and you'll find quick access to their entire newsletter library. And don't forget to take a moment to thank you favorite editors... they always appreciate the feedback! You can access the newsletter archives from the Newsletters area of your "Member Tools" pull down menu... or directly at: http://www.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives :: No More Double Clicks! :: We've begun to implement anti-double clicking code within various areas of Writing.Com. With the new system, as soon as you click the button to submit a new post, item or review, the button is disabled and changed to provide a message that the system is processing your request. This update ensures the button can be clicked only one time, eliminating double posts! :: More By This Reviewer for Product Reviews :: When viewing Product Reviews you'll now find a "More By This Reviewer" link at the top, between the Previous & Next links. Remember that our Product Reviews area is a great place to find your next book, DVD and more! :: Message Forum Suspend & Delete Upgraded :: Messages Forums now allow those who can suspend or delete messages to include a customized message that is automatically sent to the poster whose message is removed. This allows members to communicate better about what led to the removal of the post. :: Don't Forget: Five (5) New Writing.Com Branded Products! :: Writing.Com is pleased to release the following five new branded products: Long Sleeve Chalk & Charcoal Tees Travel Mugs Journal & Pen Sets Sticky Notes "I'd Rather Be Writing" Bumper Stickershttp://www.Writing.Com/main/store :: Reminder: "Preferences" Change :: To keep your Paid Membership type and expiration private, visit your My Account page then click "Change Preferences". Set the "Paid Membership Information Privacy" setting to Private and click "Submit Changes". You can go directly to your Change Preference page by visiting the following link: http://www.writing.com/main/my_account.php?action=ea_form&type=preferences Thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress andThe StoryMaster Originally emailed 3/14/2006. |
| Hello Members! Spring into writing by logging into your Writing.Com account on the first day of Spring, (March 20th, 2006). When you do, you'll automatically earn 1,000 Gift Points!  Thanks for your support and Write On! * Please note: Login Gift Points are automatically awarded just after Midnight on the day of login... So when you login March 20th, you'll receive your Gift Points around 12:30am, March 21st. Receipt of login Gift Points can be confirmed on your My Gift Points page. |
| Greetings Members! As we all know, spam is a massive problem on the internet. It's especially tough for sites like Writing.Com who provide free email service to all members. Spam companies spend huge amounts of time and money to be sure that their spam messages get through spam filters and into user email accounts. They work tirelessly, day and night, to defeat spam filters and the other counter measures that stop their messages from getting through. From their prespective, if Spam companies can't form email messages that are able to beat spam filters, they're out of a job. Spam is a very high stakes business for them. Over the last 12 months, the problem of spam has become nearly unbareable for many users who's email addresses have been used in the wrong places online. Getting your address listed in a spammer's databases can mean dozens, if not hundreds of spam emails each week. Talking about Spam alone doesn't even consider the wave after wave of new computer viruses. Viruses open email address books of the computers they infect and automatically forward hundreds or thousands of their virus ridden messages all over the globe in mere minutes. Fortunately, there may be a turning of the tide!  Writing.Com has teamed up with IronPort Systems ( http://www.ironport.com/ ) to implement and test the latest spam and virus fighting technology. We began working on this partnership over 6 months ago and just yesterday, we deployed a C-Series Messaging Gateway Appliance with advanced email security capabilities including Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus. This is a separate server housed within our network who's sole purpose is to parse and filter spam before it gets anywhere near your Writing.Com inbox! Unfortunately, it will never be possible to eliminate all spam. However, as our implementation ramps up over the coming weeks, we hope to see a reduction of up to 80%... or more! Please stay tuned for more information as our implementation progresses! ~~SM  ![Merit Badge in Organization
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It is a great achievement to keep writing.com organized and efficient daily. Happy Birthday to writing.com and staff.](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/general-Organization-1150.gif) 
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| Hello Members! We hope your New Year has been creative and successful! As we close out the first month of 2006, we wanted to fill you in on a few important updates to Writing.Com, including new store products, WritingML updates and improvements to surveys. :: Use Gift Points in "Our Store"! :: The ability to use Gift Points to purchase products in Our Store is back! If you'd like to pay with Gift Points, just choose that option in the payment area at the bottom of the store. The system will total your order and convert that into Gift Points! Visit the Our Store link found in the header navigation of each page or click the following link: http://www.Writing.Com/main/store :: Six (6) New Writing.Com Branded Products! :: Writing.Com is pleased to release the following six new branded products: Long Sleeve Chalk & Charcoal Tees Vintage Washed Caps Travel Mugs Journal & Pen Sets Sticky Notes "I'd Rather Be Writing" Bumper StickersVisit the Our Store link found in the header navigation of each page or click the following link: http://www.Writing.Com/main/store :: Image WritingML Tag Upgraded :: The {image:#######} WritingML tag has been upgraded to include additional information about the image when mousing over it. Just place your mouse over an image and its title, Item ID# and brief description will show up. :: Add a "Response Item" To Your Survey Form :: Now you can have your Survey Forms display a Web Page or Static Item of your choice when someone completes them. The uses for this new setting are vast; thank them for their submission, instruct them on what will happen next, or provide any other message you wish! The Response Item must be hosted within your portfolio; it's privacy setting do not matter. The contents of this item will be displayed within the survey and, if multiple survey submissions are allowed, the form will be redisplayed below the response item. :: Reminder: Triple Daily Rewards / Double From The Review Mixer :: Keep reviewing and earn yourself Triple Gift Points! Through January 31st, earn an awesome triple Gift Points from "Daily Review Rewards" and double from"The Review Mixer" . Don't miss this great opportunity to help your fellowmembers, your own writing skills and your Gift Point balance! :: Reminder: "Preferences" Change :: To accomodate the upcoming expansion of Paid Membership information we have changed "Upgrade Expiration List Inclusion" to "Paid Membership Information Privacy" within your My Account -> Change Preferences page. To keep your Paid Membership expiration private, visit your My Account page then click "Change Preferences". Set the "Paid Membership Information Privacy" setting to Private and click "Submit Changes" towards the bottom of the page. You can go directly to your Change Preference page by visiting the following link: http://www.writing.com/main/my_account.php?action=ea_form&type=preferences Thank you for your continued support of Writing.Com! ~~ The StoryMistress andThe StoryMaster |
| Greetings Members, Our mail server fell behind in its email deliveries last night. It is now getting back on track and will be catching up throughout the day. Please note that email will be delayed getting to your inbox for a good portion of the day. This includes, but is not limited to review notifications, gift point receipts, etc. We do not believe any email is or will be lost... just delayed. We sincerely appologize for any inconvenience the mail delay may cause! Thank you, ~~SM ![Merit Badge in Visit WdC 7
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I am thrilled to have been chosen for Third Place!
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