Writing.Com 101

Covers

Covers are images that are used for various presentation areas within your portfolio and are a wonderful way to really make your space on Writing.Com creative and unique to you. Dress up your portfolio tab headers and add a cover to any item in your portfolio and you'll soon see that this small touch of visual art will do wonders when showcasing your writing.

All members can use covers on any of their portfolio tabs, and can use stock covers on their items.

Your Portfolio cover is displayed on the Authors page and is displayed in miniature along with your userlink when you participate within the community, including your newsfeed and forum posts. The default Portfolio cover is diagonal beige stripes.

The file size limit for any cover is 100Kb, the maximum dimensions are 400 pixels by 400 pixels and GIF, JPEG and PNG formats are accepted. Square photos work best in the square display area. Rectangular photos will leave part of the display area blank.

The covers of all the portfolio tabs -- Portfolio, Reviews, Biography, and Notebook -- must adhere to an E-rating and follow the same guidelines and copyright rules as Image items. For more info, please see "Image Guidelines and Policies" .

How do I change the cover image in my Portfolio tab header?
The cover in the Portfolio tab header is shown to the left of the Bio Block and accompanies the portfolio icon (suitcase image or CostumIcon). It is displayed as a 300 x 300 pixel square, but we allow a maximum of 400 x 400 file size to be uploaded. If the image you upload is larger than 300 x 300 pixels, the system will automatically shrink it to fit into the allotted size. It will not crop your image. If the image is not square, part of the display area will be left blank.

To change your portfolio cover, click Edit Bio under your handle in the navigation menu under the Writing.Com logo, or click Portfolio/Portfolio in the navigation menu under the Writing.Com logo to go to your portfolio and then click the gear icon in the upper right corner to open the Manage Portfolio Header area. Near the upper left corner, click on the camera icon or Change This Cover to open the Cover Edit lightbox. [Note that an active pop-up blocker can prevent the lightbox from opening.]

Set Your Cover Image.

    The first box allows you to upload or drag and drop a JPG, GIF or PNG file.

    The second box allows you to enter an Item ID number to use the uploaded cover image of that item or the image in an existing Image item. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the Item ID number directly. If the item does not belong to you, it must be set to allow sharing that includes you. If the Image item does not belong to you, the image must be set to allow sharing that includes you. The sharing status is not checked until the Store Cover Update operation. This option does not allow you to share the cover of an item that uses a Stock Cover or that uses a cover from another item.

    The third box allows you to enter a Stock Cover ID number. Click on Stock Cover to open the Stock Covers page. Find the cover you want, click on it to load the number and the cover preview into the Cover Edit lightbox. If your browser does not support clicking to load the cover, copy the cover ID number above the cover you want and paste it into the third text box in the lightbox; the cover ID number consists of a capital C followed by six digits: C######. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the cover ID number directly. Close the Stock Covers page.

When you have finished setting up your Cover image, click Done to return to the Manage Portfolio Header area, and click Store Cover Update to save the change.

Remove a Cover: To remove a cover from your portfolio header, return to the Cover Edit lightbox and check the box to remove it, click Done to return to the Manage Portfolio Header area, and click Store Cover Update to save the change.

Pending additional programming, if you have tried an invalid cover operation and you see an ID number in the Cover Edit lightbox that you cannot clear, try adding a Stock Cover to the tab instead, after which you should be able to use the regular procedure to delete the cover.

How do I change the cover image in my Reviews, Biography, or Notebook tab header?
The covers in these tabs are displayed at a slightly smaller size than the Portfolio tab cover. The system automatically shrinks the cover image to fit into the display area. It will not crop your image. If the image is not square, part of the display area will be left blank.

To change the cover in one of these tabs, click Portfolio in the navigation menu under the Writing.Com logo, and Reviews, Biography, or Notebook to go to that tab, and then click the gear icon in the upper right corner to open its Manage Tab Header area. On the left side, click on the camera icon or Change This Cover to open the Cover Edit lightbox. [Note that an active pop-up blocker can prevent the lightbox from opening.]

Set Your Cover Image.

    The first box allows you to upload or drag and drop a JPG, GIF or PNG file.

    The second box allows you to enter an Item ID number to use the uploaded cover image of that item or the image in an existing Image item. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the Item ID number directly. If the item does not belong to you, it must be set to allow sharing that includes you. If the Image item does not belong to you, the image must be set to allow sharing that includes you. The sharing status is not checked until the Store Cover Update operation. This option does not allow you to share the cover of an item that uses a Stock Cover or that uses a cover from another item.

    The third box allows you to enter a Stock Cover ID number. Click on Stock Cover to open the Stock Covers page. Find the cover you want, click on it to load the number and the cover preview into the Cover Edit lightbox. If your browser does not support clicking to load the cover, copy the cover ID number above the cover you want and paste it into the third text box in the lightbox; the cover ID number consists of a capital C followed by six digits: C######. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the cover ID number directly. Close the Stock Covers page.

When you have finished setting up your Cover image, click Done to return to the Manage Tab Header area, and click Store Cover Update to save the change.

Remove a Cover: To remove a cover from your Reviews, Biography, or Notebook tab header, return to its Cover Edit lightbox and check the box to remove it, click Done to return to the Manage Tab Header area, and click Store Cover Update to save the change.

Pending additional programming, if you have tried an invalid cover operation and you see an ID number in the Cover Edit lightbox that you cannot clear, try adding a Stock Cover to the tab instead, after which you should be able to use the regular procedure to delete the cover.

How do I add a cover to my item?
When a cover is used on an item, the cover replaces the standard Item Icon for that item type and is shown in site listings, within your portfolio and to the left of the Title/Brief Description in the item's header. Covers must fit within the item's Intro Content Rating and must adhere to the same guidelines as Image Items. For more info, please see "Image Guidelines and Policies" .

To add a cover to any new or current item in your portfolio, open the Create or Edit page for that item. At the upper left corner, click on the camera icon or Add A Cover to open the Cover Edit lightbox. To change an existing cover, click on the camera icon or Change This Cover in the Edit page to open the Cover Edit lightbox. [Note that an active pop-up blocker can prevent the lightbox from opening.]

Set Your Cover Image.

    The first box allows you to upload or drag and drop a JPG, GIF or PNG file.

    The second box allows you to enter an Item ID number to use the uploaded cover image of that item or the image in an existing Image item. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the Item ID number directly. If the item does not belong to you, it must be set to allow sharing that includes you. If the Image item does not belong to you, the image must be set to allow sharing that includes you.The sharing status is not checked until the Store Cover Update operation. This option does not allow you to share the cover of an item that uses a Stock Cover or that uses a cover from another item.

    The third box allows you to enter a Stock Cover ID number. This option is available to all members. Click on Stock Cover to open the Stock Covers page. Find the cover you want, click on it to load the number and the cover preview into the Cover Edit lightbox. If your browser does not support clicking to load the cover, copy the cover ID number above the cover you want and paste it into the third text box in the lightbox; the cover ID number consists of a capital C followed by six digits: C######. If your browser does not support copy/paste, type the cover ID number directly. Close the Stock Covers page.

+ Advanced.  (Click on this heading to open this section; click the heading again to close it.)

    Cover Sharing (˅). Cover sharing applies only to items with uploaded covers and Image items. Stock covers and covers shared from other items cannot be shared. Sharing a cover allows other members to use the same cover for their own portfolio tabs or items, and to display the cover using the item ID number in the image tag. The drop-down menu can be used to share your cover with no other members, all other members, or with members of a selected account level and up, up to your own account level. The default is Do Not Share This Cover. No matter what setting you choose here, you can always use the Item ID option to share this cover with your own items and display the cover using the item ID number in the image tag.

Cover sharing is a dynamic process. This makes it possible for you to change all the shared covers on related items with one cover update. If you change the sharing restrictions for the cover to exclude someone else's item which used the Item ID option to share your cover, the cover of that item will revert to the standard Item Icon.

If an Image item is set to Shareable, the Item ID option allows it to be shared as a cover according to its sharing restrictions.

Cover sharing is not affected by the access restrictions for the item with the uploaded cover or the Image item.

    Position Cover (˅). You may position your cover inside the display area by using the drop-down menu.

When you have finished setting up your Cover image, click Done to return to the Create or Edit page, and when finished with any other changes, scroll down to save the item or complete the edit of the item.

Remove a Cover: To remove a cover from an item, click the cover image to open the Cover Image edit lightbox, click Advanced, check the box to remove the existing cover image, click Done, and then scroll down to complete the edit of the item.

Pending additional programming, if you have tried an invalid cover operation and you see an ID number in the Cover Edit lightbox that you cannot clear, try adding a Stock Cover to the item instead, after which you should be able to use the regular procedure to delete the cover.

My uploaded cover isn't displayed right-side up. How can I fix that?
To change the orientation of the original photo, open the photo in a picture editor either on your own computer or on a site online.

If the picture editor can tell when a photo was not taken in the default orientation and automatically displays the photo right-side up, you may be able to just save the photo with a new file name, and upload to the cover area from the new file.

If that doesn't work, or if the picture editor has display controls that let you change the orientation by hand, use those to display the photo right-side up. For example, if the photo displays with your head pointing left, that indicates it needs one 90-degree turn clockwise. Save the corrected photo with a new file name, and upload to the cover area from the new file.1

Recommended Reading

1. Image Guidelines and Policies
2. Content Rating System (CRS)

Footnotes
1  Updated by northernwrites; written by The StoryMistress