Writing.Com 101

Authorized Secondary Accounts (ASA)

Writing.Com allows each member with an Upgraded Membership or above to create up to two authorized secondary accounts (ASA) for the purpose of keeping some of his or her writing and site activities anonymous. In order to create an ASA, a member must have a primary paid membership. The system verifies the primary account is current before it allows the member to log into the ASA.

All Authorized Secondary Accounts must also maintain a paid membership of Upgraded or above. https://www.writing.com/main/my_account/action/settings

How Does It Work?
An Authorized Secondary Account mostly functions as any normal account would. To use it, one logs into it as they would with any normal account. A member can only use one account at a time--that is, the member must log out of one account before logging into the other. The features on the account, size of its portfolio, and countless other properties are determined by the level of paid membership the ASA has, just like with any primary account.

These important points apply to all ASAs:

ASAs are intended as an anonymous venue for our writers.
ASAs will be denoted with a "2nd" account portfolio icon.
ASAs may not rate or review.
ASAs may communicate through any other means within Writing.Com.
ASAs may not use costumicons at any time.
ASAs will be Registered Users or Registered Authors and will not be promoted.
ASAs must maintain an Upgraded membership or better.
ASAs may not be used to deceive, bash or attack other members.
ASAs may not be used for any other generally evil purpose.
ASAs are limited to two per member.
ASAs may not have secondary accounts of their own.

Please note: The true identities of ASA owners are known only to site staff.

There are a number of great uses for secondary accounts:

Experiment with other writing styles and formats and keep them in a second, anonymous portfolio.
Keep more personal writings separate from your mainstream portfolio.
Teachers and other educators using Writing.Com for their classes can keep their own writing separate and anonymous to their students who also use the site.
Be an anonymous angel who can communicate with those you help.

To start an ASA, visit your My Account page and click on the Create an Authorized Secondary Account link. Follow the instructions listed; the entire process should take only a few minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I have more than one secondary account?
Yes. At this time, all members are limited to two secondary accounts.

Do I have to use Gift Points to pay for the initial membership of my ASA?
Yes. To make the process simpler, you must use Gift Points to pay for the initial Upgraded (or higher) membership at the time of the ASA's creation.

Can I use any means to renew my ASA's paid membership?
Yes. After your ASA has been created, you can log into it and use the Our Store area to renew your membership with any payment method we support.

I didn't get to set a password when creating my ASA. Why not?
When creating your ASA, the system automatically sets its password to the password of your primary account. Once you log into your ASA, you can change the password anytime you like.

Can my secondary account use a costumicon?
No. Each secondary account will have the "2nd" portfolio icon to ensure that all members can easily distinguish secondary accounts,

What are the differences between primary and secondary accounts?
Aside from the "2nd" portfolio icon and the inability to rate or review from secondary accounts, there are no other major differences.

What happens if I let the paid membership on my ASA lapse?
Maintaining a paid membership is a requirement of maintaining a secondary account. If the paid membership on your secondary account expires, you will not be able to use the account. To use it again, you will need to reinstate your paid membership. The policies described in "When Your Paid Membership Expires..."  apply to any and all accounts.

What happens if my paid membership on my primary account lapses?
The actions described in "When Your Paid Membership Expires..."  again apply to the primary account. However, since the system will be unable to verify the primary account is current, you will be unable to log into your secondary account. All your documents in that secondary account will still remain active, but you will not have access to work on them; you would, however, be able to view them as a visitor based on the access restrictions placed on each item.

For example, if you are viewing as a guest on the site (logged out), you will be able to view all documents with access to everyone, but not any item restricted to Registered Authors or Above. If you are viewing as your primary account (logged in) and that account is a Registered Author, you will be able to view all documents with access to everyone, as well as any item restricted to Registered Authors or Above.

Once the paid membership for the primary account has been reinstated, you will again be able to log into the secondary account. If the primary account is abandoned and at the end of the grace period is deleted for inactivity, you will never be able to access the secondary account, which will continue to exist until that membership lapses and the grace period expires.

Can I change my ASA's username?
Yes, you can change your ASA's username through our normal Change My Username tool. Log into your ASA and visit your My Account page, and click on the link Change My Username. Follow the instructions provided, and keep in mind, there is a cost for this action.

What about previously authorized and created secondary accounts?
There are still a few authorized secondary accounts that were created before these current guidelines were set. All secondary accounts that were approved and created before August 2004 are grandfathered and will be left as is with the rules already agreed to for those accounts. We reserve the right to convert these previously authorized secondary accounts to our new ASA system at some time in the future.

Is there an example ASA to look at?
Yes: Example ASA .

Do I have to keep the identity of my secondary account anonymous?
No. Writing.Com provides the facility to be anonymous, but we do realize that Members will brew up plenty of ways to use ASAs and not all of those reasons will require anonymity. You are free to share the identity of your own accounts with as many or as few people as you'd like.1

Recommended Reading

1. Free and Paid Membership Benefits
2. Support Writing.Com

Footnotes
1  Written by Diane , JACE and The StoryMistress