Hi Charles,
Nice to meet you. Can you send me the Word document and answer the following questions:
- Are you using a PC or a Mac?
- What browser are you using.
Email the document to snasisi (at) thenextbigwriter.com.
Thanks,
Sol
776 2014-12-05 00:33:08
Re: Copy from Word does not work (17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)
777 2014-12-04 22:53:58
Re: a real Home button (4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Is anyone having trouble with this on mobile?
778 2014-12-04 22:46:14
Re: Copy from Word does not work (17 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Basic)
Copy from Word into editor as instructed looks okay (except font and size), but view public content (unpublished and published) has errors such as placing an italized word on the next line by itself as a new paragraph.
What are the details? Send me a link to the content you are referring to.
Sol
779 2014-12-04 16:40:47
Topic: Novel and Poetry Types are going bye-bye (2 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Tomorrow, if testing goes well, we are going to consolidate Novels into Books and Poetry will all be classified as Poems.
Novels are a subset of books so this change makes sense and expands what users can post. We accidentally launched the site with two poetry-related categories and now need to move them into one.
These changes will further simplify the homepage and the site.
This should have no impact on your content but we are testing it today to make sure that is the case.
Sol
780 2014-12-04 14:23:47
Re: New Enhancements Released (10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Thanks Sol! This is definitely a step in the right direction! However, I'm a little confused by new novel v. new book and new poem v. new poetry. I suspect the "new book" people just clicked on that when most of them meant novel. It seems to me you could combine the two. Same with new poem and poetry, unless there really is a difference I'm unaware of.
You are correct. Poem and Poetry is a mistake. All Poems are going to be moved to Poems and Poetry deleted. The same will be done for Novels, which will be moved into Books.
We're also going to increase the size of the images. We've received some feedback that they are a bit too small.
Sol
781 2014-12-04 03:20:57
Re: Novel vs. Book (3 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Sol, Thanks and that makes sense. Another question. I just posted a new chapter to my work under the Premium Group. I started to include one of the Connection Groups, but found that the posting cost went from 4.08 to over 40. Is that possible?
If the Connection Group is a point group than that makes sense. To move into that group, you will also need to pay for all of the previous chapters since this group requires that points be paid to that specific group before content can be posted. Free groups don't require any additional credit to add content.
782 2014-12-04 02:15:23
Re: Novel vs. Book (3 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
All novels are books but not all books are novels.
Books can be non-fiction, collections of poetry, how-to-manuals, or anything that is collected together under one title.
Novels are generally involved, detailed stories that have a beginning and an end.
783 2014-12-03 19:20:06
Re: Site Bugs (217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Wilma bailey wrote:
I have a poem "Drought" which I originally published in Free Verse Poets group and the TNBW Free group. Today I revised the Publish Setup to also publish the poem on the Premium group. This was successful. But now the Poem appears twice in my Portfolio. Is this a bug? Seems to me it is.
Sol replied:
This does sound like a bug. So, you didn't actually enter the poem twice but instead simply added the Premium group? If that's the case, you shouldn't have two versions of the poem. I'll try testing this a bit more.
Wilma Bailey replies: I didn't enter the poem twice but simply added the Premium group. I was later advised to delete the one that was added.
Yes, sounds like a bug. I am looking into it.
784 2014-12-03 19:16:07
Topic: New Enhancements Released (10 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
We released several changes to the site today based on your feedback.
The first is a prominent change to how the homepage now displays new content to review. The feedback we received on the homepage was that the images were way too big and you liked the way the old site listed new writing by type. So, we have done that. It still needs a bit of work, but this is the general idea. If it looks terrible, you may need to clear the cache on your device. To do this on a non-Mac computer or laptop, press the ctrl and F5 keys simultaneously. On Macs or iPads, etc. you should just have to refresh the page. I'm still working on the correct combination for Android devices.
The second change is that we made some tweaks to the replay boxes on in-line and regular reviews to hopefully resolve issues iPad users have been having. Let us know if leaving comments is any better.
Lastly, we modified the code a bit so that your points totals on the homepage are updated across devices.
Thanks.
Sol
785 2014-12-03 18:39:01
Re: Old Site is Up (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
If I want to delete my novels from the old site will that in any way affect the new?
No, no connection.
Also, the one thing that was nice about the old site was the ability to see, roughly, how many views each chapter of my novels had
You can see this. On the portoflio page, there is a tab labeled Statistics. The visits is only from the new site but all of the other stats were imported from the old one.
786 2014-12-03 15:19:18
Re: Site Bugs (217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
My home page (mobile) is almost two weeks behind the points page, a 23-point discrepency.
Yes, we are working on this.
787 2014-12-03 14:02:39
Re: TNBW Classes (6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I'll have more details shortly.
We're also still working on details for the Strongest Start in regards to participating countries. It has to do with the contest regulations of each country.
Sol
788 2014-12-02 21:46:42
Re: Status (4 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I noticed that the novels I have looked at have a status listed at the top of the initial page. I have seen listings that say Draft, 1st Draft, 2nd Draft, and Finished.
I think some content was accidentally imported with the status set to Finished. So, for old content I wouldn't pay too much attention to it.
Sol
789 2014-12-02 21:23:15
Re: Site Bugs (217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Found another possible bug Sol. In my points history page it says I should have 6.5 (which I accumulated through reviews I posted last night). Now, on my main page it says I only have 2.95. Any idea where my missing points went?
We're still tweaking this. The homepage sometimes doesn't update right away. This is the reason. The points history page is the accurate reading.
790 2014-12-02 21:21:58
Re: Site Bugs (217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
This has happened to me twice now---I publish a new chapter of my novel Sister Margaret's One Big Lie and it doesn't ever show up on the list as new content to review. Ugh!
Never mind --it showed up about 15 minutes later. It didn't the first time however.
It can sometimes take 15 minutes for something to appear on the homepage. If you check the Read - Groups page that shows the content much faster. It will show up there first, so you can check there, and then after a few minutes it will appear on the homepage.
791 2014-12-02 21:01:40
Re: Optimal Chapter length? (13 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
...I assume we still have a 5000 word limit here.
FYI - there is no longer a word limit.
792 2014-12-02 20:40:30
Re: Category list (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Jack, I've created a group to (hopefully) make communicating in the old fashion a bit easier. Take a peek at the OLD FORUMS GROUP
I see the problem you are having with your homepage. No wonder you have had such a hard time on the new site. It is almost impossible to use iwthout a functioning homepage. You've been trying to access the old homepage. Just go to www.thenextbigwriter.com. Make sure you don't boomark the old address..
793 2014-12-02 17:04:10
Re: Tablet editing frustration (28 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Where is it? Am I finding a different page? Are there two pages alike except that one has the reply/no-reply indicators and the other doesn't? Am I in a twisty maze of little web pages and one of them is not like the other?
This column does not show on mobile due to space constraints. You are not going crazy 
. We can try to put it back but we are trying to make mobile a bit slimmed down because of the screen size.
794 2014-12-02 17:02:14
Re: Tablet editing frustration (28 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Sol, I'm sure I posted specifics on this issue the first few days or so after the new site went up, with specific issues. As I recall, you said you'd be addressing them. However, after seeing this post, I thought I'd reiterate:
1. Cursor jumping to the top in the panes, whether in reviews or forums, is an ongoing issue. My cursor bounces to the top, or off the edge of the bottom.
2. Scrolling is also a continuing problem.
Did you have this problem on the old site with your iPad or with the forums? Do you have it on any other sites when you fill in a text box? We're troubleshooting this now.
Thanks,
Sol
795 2014-12-02 14:53:03
Topic: TNBW Classes (6 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I wanted to announce that we'll shortly be opening up our online writing university, unofficially dubbed TNBW Classes. The goal is to provide writers with a variety of high quality online writing classes from outstanding teachers. The first class will be taught by former agent Anita Mumm.
http://www.anitamumm.com/about-me/
Anita's class will be entitled:
Your Strongest Start:
How to Hook an Agent—Or Any Reader—With Your Opening Pages
The class is scheduled to begin mid-January. More details to come but if you are interested, let me know. Space will be limited. As an aside, it dovetails nicely with the Strongest Start Novel Competition which will also be launching in January.
This is the first of many classes and programs we are planning in the new year.
Best,
Sol
796 2014-12-02 00:03:17
Re: Give/take points for all groups? (1 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Here's how it works. If you create a No point group, it means that the group does not require points to be posted in it. But, if content is posted to a group that requires points, and then also posted to your group, it will still pay points. Once points are paid once, they are attached to the content, regardless of where it is posted.
So if you choose the group to be free:
Points are not required to post but content posted to another group that requires points will still pay points.
If you choose to make your group require points:
You will need to pay points specifically to that group in order to post in it. If you want to post to two groups that require points, you will need to pay points x 2.
Sol
797 2014-12-01 19:02:02
Re: Category list (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
Got it. You're not getting the scroll bar. Okay. And you are still having problems with the Connections page?
798 2014-12-01 18:17:51
Re: Category list (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
They should all be there without having to click All. I see Thrillers. I do think they need to be alphabetized though.
799 2014-12-01 17:45:18
Re: Category list (9 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
The list exists. If you go to Read and Groups or Connections content there are a series of search boxes above the results. You can use them to search by type, genre, and group.
Sol
800 2014-12-01 02:52:28
Re: Site Bugs (217 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)
I have a poem "Drought" which I originally published in Free Verse Poets group and the TNBW Free group. Today I revised the Publish Setup to also publish the poem on the Premium group. This was successful. But now the Poem appears twice in my Portfolio. Is this a bug? Seems to me it is.
This does sound like a bug. So, you didn't actually enter the poem twice but instead simply added the Premium group? If that's the case, you shouldn't have two versions of the poem. I'll try testing this a bit more.
