Writing.Com 101

Edit Points

Edit Points (EPs) are an innovative, totally unique, and extremely powerful way to gain detailed feedback about your work. They are small, clickable numbers which may be placed at various points within your Static Item. Once EPs are placed within your item on Writing.Com, your readers simply click on any EP (~#~) to launch a small pop-up window. This window allows them to add any notes, comments, or precise edits for that particular EP position within the item. The item's owner (or group) can then review, in various display formats, the feedback provided by all the reviewers.

How to Add Edit Points to an Item
In order to use EPs within a Static Item, you must first create your item. After you have created it, click to Edit this item. You will now find the Edit Point Control Area within the Static Item's edit screen. This is the tool that places EPs into an Item.

You will notice that there are several Edit Point placement locations available:

Line Breaks: places EPs at the end of the line breaks
Sentences: places EPs at the end of sentences
Most Punctuation: places EPs after most punctuation
Right Aligned After Breaks: places EPs to the right after breaks

How to Add More or Reposition Edit Points within an Item
Once you have turned on the Edit Points for a particular item, "EP" WritingML tags are implanted into the Item's main body area. When adding EPs, the Item's owner can review, move, or remove any EPs that have been implanted by the system. If you wish to add EPs by hand, the ML tag is {ep:#}, where # is replaced by a number, but you still need to turn on the EP feature first in order for those tags to work. NOTE: Remember to "Save and Edit" the Item after correcting placement of, adding more, or turning on the EPs. If you do not save, the EPs will not be stored and the time spent configuring them will be lost.

How to View Edit Points within an Item
To view the comments left by readers, the author of the item may click View EP data, which is found at the top of the item's body. This will display all feedback left by the readers. Each comment will be displayed next to its corresponding EP number.

How to Remove Edit Points from an Item
After Edit Points have been turned on within an Item, they can be easily removed and turned off by clicking the appropriate link from within the Edit Point control area within an item's edit screen. NOTE: Remember to "Save and Edit" the Item after turning EPs off. If you do not save, the EP changes will not be stored.

Group Edit Access and Edit Points
Giving Group edit access to an item with Edit Points will allow members of the Group (who have the appropriate Group level) to view the data collected by the EPs. At this time, only an Item's owner may clear data from individual EPs.

Edit Point Limitations by Membership Level
Due to the system resources required by Edit Points, Writing.Com imposes limitations on the use of them. Each Membership level has a maximum number of items that may contain EPs and each item is limited to a maximum number of EPs within it. The following restrictions apply for the use of EPs:

         Free Membership
                   1 item with EPs
                   10 EPs per item
Basic Membership
                   2 Items with EPs
                   25 EPs per Item
Upgraded Membership
                   10 Items with EPs
                   100 EPs per Item
Premium Membership
                   25 Items with EPs
                   1,000 EPs per Item
Premium Plus Membership
                   75 Items with EPs
                   1,000 EPs per Item

Frequently Asked Questions

If I clear the Edit Points from an item or delete an item that has EPs, will that item be removed from the count of my items that are using EPs?
Yes. Once you are done with EPs in an item, they can be removed and you will be able to use EPs in another item.

My Items with Edit Points get less reviews and ratings because people forget after they've added comments with Edit Points. What can I do?
EPs are intended as a tool for garnering extensive, detailed, and very specific feedback on your items. They should only be used in Items where micro-editing is desired and you are not concerned with the numerical rating status of the item.

How do I know when comments have been added at my Edit Points?
You will receive an email shortly after midnight that lists any changes or additions made to your EPs during the previous day. In addition, you can always access complete information about all of your EPs through My Edit Points under "My Account" in the navigation under the Writing.Com logo.

Do the Edit Point numbers need to begin at 1 and appear in ascending order within my item?
This is the most logical format, and the EP numbers will initially appear this way, but you can then number your EPs any way you wish. You can even use the same number at two different EPs, but in that case, anything written at one EP will automatically be written at the other EP(s) with the same number.

I still do not understand Edit Points. Where can I get more help?
If you still do not understand EPs after reading through the explanations and experimenting with them, please visit: "Technical Support Forum" .

Recommended Reading

1. Static Item
2. Create/Edit a Static Item
3. Free and Paid Membership Benefits