Writing.Com 101

Item Types and Their Uses

Items are the basic building blocks of Writing.Com and your online portfolio. Most forms of interaction with other members of Writing.Com are done through some Item type: post a story or poem for review, create a contest or enter one, participate in a forum, or join a group. Writing.Com provides many item types for its members to create and host. Currently twenty-two different item types are available, and each one is documented individually within the ITEM TYPES   section of Writing.Com 101 . Within this section, the entries for each item type includes its description, examples, uses for them, and specific instructions on how to create and manage these items.

Items provide every member the means to take his or her creativity to new levels. When you have an idea, read over the descriptions of each item type and select the one that fits best. Fill out the creation form that opens, save it, and your new item will be stored in your Writing.Com portfolio and automatically assigned its own unique seven-digit number. This item ID number makes it easy for others to access your item using WritingML item links or the site's search tools. Each item created on Writing.Com also displays a content rating specific to that item's intro section and body contents. For complete information, please see: "Content Rating System (CRS)" .

If you discover that a particular need is available in a higher membership level than you currently have, you might decide to upgrade to that level. For more information about the benefits of each membership level, please see Free and Paid Membership Benefits and Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits .

Item types shown without an icon are available to all members. Some item types are available only to certain levels of paid membership and are clearly marked with one of the icons listed below:1
          ^{Basic       Upgraded       Premium       Premium Plus}

Writing.Com Item Types
 Static Item: Static Items are the most common item type on Writing.Com, and are the online equivalent of printing the work on a sheet of paper. They are for classic non-interactive reading material such as a single article, poem, essay, interview, short story, fiction, non-fiction, etc.
 Book: Book items allow you to group multiple works or a multi-part work in one item. The Book item is like the cover and the work goes in entries which are sections within the book. The six (6) types of books include collections, journals/blogs, novels, novellas, short stories and handbooks.
 Message Forum: Interact with the other members of Writing.Com. Ask questions and open discussions, organize fun activities, or just sit back and read what everyone else has to write.
 Group: Members of the group can share restricted access to items, email the group as a whole, maintain a separate Gift Point balance for the group, and much more. Any Writing.Com member may join a group.
 Interactive Story: "Choose your own ending" stories started by an Author and continued by any Writing.Com member who wishes to participate. At the end of each chapter, readers are given a few plot choices and must choose which direction of the story to follow. When they come to the end of a storyline, it's their turn to add a chapter.
 Audio: Add sound to your novel or post a reading of your poetry or short stories. The Audio Item allows you to upload an audio file from your computer directly into your Writing.Com portfolio.
 Campfire Creative: Campfire items can host up to 25 invited participants. Imagine sitting around a campfire with a group of your friends. The leader of the campfire begins a story that is then passed around the circle as each participant adds a section.
 Community Note (cNote): Create a virtual greeting card which can be sent from one member to another. cNote items are sets of individual e-cards designed by members with varying themes, images, wording and Gift Point prices.
 Crossword Puzzle: Create clues with corresponding answers and let our system build a crossword for you. Choose the layout that you like best and let the members in the community work at solving your crossword. Crosswords are a great accessory item for your newest novel, favorite short story or any other topic you may choose.
 Document: Upload DOC and PDF files directly into your portfolio. Both of these file types provide writers with the most flexibility available in formatting their writing. PDFs and DOCs are also the best files for printing work and the formats with which most agents and publishers prefer to work.
 Folder: Folders are items that group other items together within an author's Writing.Com portfolio. For organization, it may help to keep items of the same genre or item type in the same folder. Other possibilities include grouping items by individual project, novel chapters, creation year, etc.
 Image: Add an illustration to your latest short story, upload the cover of your newest book, include a chart and graph with your feature article or just tag a creative signature to your message posts. The Image item allows you to upload an image file from your computer directly into your Writing.Com portfolio.
 In & Out: In & Outs are an interactive means for lists or rolling stories and will only show up to the last 100 additions made by members who visited before you. Every time a new addition is made, the oldest addition on the page will roll off. It's IN with the new and OUT with the old.
 Madlib: Madlibs are a relaxing, witty diversion from the norm. Authors create a story or situation with missing words and the reader is asked to fill in the blanks. The results can be surprising and hilarious.
 Photo Album: Upload and store multiple photos within a single Photo Album item in your portfolio. Larger in size than regular Image Items, photos can be up to 550x550 and uploaded into the album ten at a time. Photos that are too big are automatically reduced to the maximum allowable size.
 User Poll: Question the Writing.Com member-base with a poll. Provide voters with a short question and up to 9 voting options. In order to vote, the reader must be a member and logged into their account.
 Product Review: Review any product with an ASIN from Amazon.Com. While an excellent writing "exercise" in itself, each Product Review also helps support Writing.Com through our link to buy your reviewed product from Amazon.Com. Writing.Com earns a small commission on any purchases made through these links.
 Quiz: Create graded and weighted quizzes for others to take. Can you put together an informative or challenging test? It's not as easy as it sounds.
 Shop: Writing.Com provides the storefront, and you supply the wares to sell. Create, edit and manage your own shop through your online portfolio just like the rest of your items.
 Survey Form: Provide up to 50 different customized questions to be answered by members of Writing.Com. Survey Forms are perfect for doing in-depth research for a paper, soliciting a detailed review for your latest Item and much more.
 Web Page: Create your very own web presence with Writing.Com Web Pages. Post a detailed biography, upload your resume, or display your favorite item in your choice of format. This is the only item type where WritingML and HTML work seamlessly together.
 Word Search: Have some fun with your readers using this nifty java applet. Pick a topic and choose up to 25 related words for your readers to find. Use characters from your stories, titles from your folders, or just make something up.

Recommended Reading

1. How To Create an Item
2. Free and Paid Membership Benefits

Footnotes
1  Updated by northernwrites; written by JACE