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Well, when I first read all the talk about creating a new forum for every piece of work, I really couldn't understand the need so thought I'd just sit out this particular debate , but then I kept reading different posts about how good it would be and all so I decided to go ahead and jump in. But alas it looks like Sol must've read my mind because he pretty much said everything I was going to say. But I'm gonna go ahead and regurgitate some of it anyway so as to put my vote out there should one be taken.

The problem is not that there is no forum for all this feedback bandied about; the problem is that virtually no one uses the built in forum of the inline review. Not only do most folks not respond to any of the highlighted areas within the text of the piece being reviewed, virtually no other reviewers make additional comments to the ones already made. I've made a few attempts to get some response, but so far nothing has happened so I simply quit leaving additional comments for the most part.

If authors really want more feedback, then pray tell why don't they offer some opinion on all the comments left in the inline review instead of only a few words in the final comment section. You can agree or disagree with what was said or even offer a totally different interpretation. You can question why the reviewer sees things that weren't intended at all or show why you chose to do something a particular way and start a conversation in which others could offer various points of view. In other words, you've got a forum built into the review process just as Sol envisioned and implemented.

I really don't see why Sol would entertain making any changes to the existing forum parameters when the potential for the obvious feedback choice is almost totally ignored.

That's my vote on the long ballot. Take care. Vern

If you post to the Premium group, then everything requires points, so no problem. And the "free" group is being phased out (if not already) so there will be no more zero points. Simplest thing to do until all freebies are gone (if not already) is to post and read from the Premium group. Problem solved. Take care. Vern

I don't think anyone else can see it. I've never seen it on reviews other than mine. And I just checked again; it's not there. Take care. Vern

Congrats! Perhaps some day I  or we all can say we know how you feel; still have my fingers crossed for the last submission. Take care. Vern

Yes, that is correct. I even went back and added "revised" to the title just in case. Thanks. Take care. Vern

Hello, Shear, good thing about the site is that no one can see you shaking in your boots or whatever, so test the waters and you might be surprised at the results. You will find the good, bad, and ugly comes out in reviews and you must decide what is relevant to your vision of the story. We all have opinions like some other anatomical structure, but yours is the most important. We as a community only point you in different directions to explore; that is where you learn and can also teach. Welcome and good luck. Take care. Vern

Crapacetic? Take care. Vern

Oh me, oh my, clickity click, too many clicks. Hmm, just wondering how many clicks folks make to type out their reviews as opposed to the minimal clicks to open a tiny box to read what someone has spent the time clicking, clicking, clicking, in order to help improve the work being reviewed. Let's see, in typing class we did exercises by typing as fast as we could without regard to mistakes, just clicking away. Well if you do that, it is amazing how many clicks one can make - several a second. So I'm guessing that the time to click on a great big highlighted area (even if only one word) is kind of like typing as fast as you can since you don't have to be concerned about making a mistake. Extrapolating, the cumulative time to click on 10, 20, 30 little boxes or so is like maybe a few seconds compared to the say 30 minutes to an hour someone spends clicking to write that review. And the wear and tear on the knuckles is probably proportional too; jeez, I got cramps with that last review, lol. So, yeah, I'm not really impressed with the clickity click objections to inline reviews.

If Sol wants to make all the little boxes open at once or put them on the side, no problem, I'm certainly not adverse to making things easier, but until that time, you have choices folks. Use whichever method works for you, or better yet, use whichever method works for any reviewers you might have. That's my few clicks; well, a whole lot of clicks, but guess what, it didn't really take that long. Take care. Vern

I joined the old site simply to get impartial reactions/reviews of my writing. I learned a lot in the process and continue to learn and hopefully pass on some tidbits here and there.

As to the regular vs inline review: They both are useful of course, but I would disagree with anyone who puts limits on the inline compared with a regular review - quite the opposite is true for me. There is nothing you can do in a regular review which can't be done as well or better in an inline and in less time. The inline offers the capability to comment on any single words, sentences, para, entire story/chapter as well as punctuation and the author knows exactly which unit you are referring to. You can comment on flow, dialogue, characters, plot, or anything else which could be covered in a regular review and do with more ease by not having to type or copy/paste the material you are commenting on. You can go back and edit the comments, or add completely new comments in a separate box should something new occur to you even after you have closed the review. You can comment on other peoples inline reviews and vice versa. You can get responses from the author and respond back and forth to make clarifications should you wish without having to go into a feedback forum or some type messaging system outside the original review.

As for free members not being able to see inline reviews, that should provide at least some minimal incentive to become a premium member once they understand the full potential of the inline review - I think most do not. I don't know if free members receive notification that they have gotten an inline review or not, but if not, they should to let them know they are missing a valuable part of the benefits provided by the site.

If you can't publish without points, the points system does indeed provide the impetus to review others at least until enough points have been accumulated to last your writing lifetime. By that time, many who might have been reluctant reviewers at first have learned to enjoy the review process in itself and will continue to review even if they don't need the points. Although there are those rare individuals who from the start give great reviews without regard to gathering points, for most it is a matter of "you get what you pay for" if for no other reason than the time factor involved and you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.

Take care. Vern

Anywhere within the text it lights up and is clickable; outside the text it does nothing. Guess that would be a text-long defined button, lol. Take care. Vern

Edited to add: Except the "Show Subscribed Topics" which is the longest "button" already, extends slightly beyond the text, but whose counting; I mean, I should be able to hit somewhere in any of them even after a few too many drinks.

All good improvements and the "Show your posts" is a particularly great/useful enhancement. Thanks. Take care. Vern

Actually, it can be done or at least it could be before the word limit was extended (haven't tried it since) because I did it in order to get all my comments in. I simply clicked on the already highlighted area and it produced another comment box. Take care. Vern