I just want to say that I really like this forum, and see the potential for it to grow and become something very special. That is why I am taking time to point out a few things. I have ignored them until now. But, for myself and for those members who want this forum to succeed I am taking this opportunity to speak out.

Many new members post stories, poems etc… without taking time to offer up a critique or comment on others work. I think someone mentioned just recently that two or three critiques would be about right before beginning to post your own work.

It looks as if many members have no real desire for anyone else to read their work. Why do I say this? Well first, and most importantly, many are guilty of not taking the time to put their work in any readable format. And those that do this just dump everything into one paragraph and then expect others to read it. I’m sure that even the least educated of members here never did this anywhere else--not even in the third grade.

I know it can be a pain-staking process sometimes to get your work up on the forum. But, no matter how hard it is that should not be used as an excuse for sloping your post and work up on the board as if they do not matter. If you are having problems, you should contact the administrator.

High jacking threads and posting in the wrong area is also starting to become a problem. It is causing the board to become unorganized and hard to find what you are looking for when you visit. Not to mention it is not very impressive to others, who might be considering joining our forum.

If you have any problems or suggestions you should contact the administrator, or post your suggestion in the area provided for in the forum.

Thanks,

Trailer Trash

If anyone has any questions about how to present your work in a forum friendly format, just let me know.

Good stuff TT. I'll stick this.

Just wanted to say I agree.
I read this and thought it was a wise idea.



~Raven.

*agree*

By the way TT...I LOVE your nick!! LOL

I also want to agree with this message. I know that I'm a relative newbie myself but I definitely agree that the point of this forum (at least for me) is to critique the work of others as best as I can and hope for the same in return. I know that the first thing every new member wants to do is go right to the appropriate post - paste in their most recent work and wait to be showered with praise (at least that's what I did :D) I didn't notice the "Crit before you Submit" post until afterwards and then I tried to crit as much work as possible to make up for my (then obvious to me) inexperience. I don't know if there is a better way to inform new members that they should critique 3-4 pieces before they post but it could help a lot.

As for the formatting, I ran into a problem with pasting my work into the post (I tried an attachment at first but I think that caused some problems). When you copy and paste from a word processor you lose a lot of formatting from the original work by doing so. This took a post or two to learn (but I'm not a big forum user so....) Perhaps we could have a welcome post that is a mandatory read before people can start posting??

But even with the problems I still really enjoy this forum. Thanks for setting it up and modding it!!

zb

Hi AK here
I'm glad I read this as I was not aware that it was perhaps polite to offer my own critique on other users work before I submitted anything of my own. Must admit though that I've never really written reviews of other peoples' work so my initial comments may not amount to much at first.

AK Asha

I haven't been here long enough to have found this out, but couldn't there be different groups for different access levels? Maybe not allow anyone to post a story until they have posted at least 5 times in the review forum and then get moved to the level with access to post a new topic. I know I can do that on my forum (and do), and it helps me keep things organized, especially since I do the upgrading once the member has achieved the correct amount of posts!

Actually, you have to post 2 reviews in the Review Room before putting up a story of your own, and while we do advance in member titles along with posts (ie "Senior Member" and whatforth) we don't actually get any special privileges unless we're mods.

I just want to say that I really like this forum, and see the potential for it to grow and become something very special. That is why I am taking time to point out a few things. I have ignored them until now. But, for myself and for those members who want this forum to succeed I am taking this opportunity to speak out.

Many new members post stories, poems etc… without taking time to offer up a critique or comment on others work. I think someone mentioned just recently that two or three critiques would be about right before beginning to post your own work.

It looks as if many members have no real desire for anyone else to read their work. Why do I say this? Well first, and most importantly, many are guilty of not taking the time to put their work in any readable format. And those that do this just dump everything into one paragraph and then expect others to read it. I’m sure that even the least educated of members here never did this anywhere else--not even in the third grade.

I know it can be a pain-staking process sometimes to get your work up on the forum. But, no matter how hard it is that should not be used as an excuse for sloping your post and work up on the board as if they do not matter. If you are having problems, you should contact the administrator.

High jacking threads and posting in the wrong area is also starting to become a problem. It is causing the board to become unorganized and hard to find what you are looking for when you visit. Not to mention it is not very impressive to others, who might be considering joining our forum.

If you have any problems or suggestions you should contact the administrator, or post your suggestion in the area provided for in the forum.

Thanks,

Trailer Trash Of course we want exposure for our work but this is not a one way street. Read and learn from others. If we all concentrate on only our own work, nobody will read it either.

I've had such nasty reply that I will only read. My blog entry's are all gone now. It was a really nice site, but it is not very welcoming. I actually found several very angry members, and of course, am very sad that I can't actually say anything. What is the point.

Unfortunatly, there are a few out there that are nasty and don't give any constructive advice on whatever you happen to post.

But it sucks that it happened to you Funny Bunny. I think I saw a novel or short story? That you had posted and someone hadn't been very nice. And to have this happen reflects badly on the forum. I'm very sorry that this has happened and why on earth were your blogs deleted? What was in them? I mean, some material isn't allowed but...
still, I am sorry that you have had a bad experience. Have you gone to the admin or the moderators about this?

Agree. I still haven't givin my feedback to anyone. I'll go do that.

Please allow me to apologize for posting in the wrong areas.

I treated the forum as any random web site, and scanned its content instead of looking it over thoroughly. The writing issues area was minimized. So, I missed it.

After reading you post I realized my mistake, and understand now that I registered as a member in a community. Out of courtesy, I should have taken the time to review all aspects of the forum before posting.

I am sorry for my carelessness. It will not happen again.