Writing.Com 101

Review Requests

Review Requests are the easiest and best way to garner reviews for your items. Review requests are handled in individual members' Reviews tabs. You request a review in another member's Reviews tab, and receive requests from others in your own Reviews tab. For more information, please see "Reviews Tab" .

There are several ways to find a reviewer.

You can visit our Request a Review page to choose a reviewer who does the type of review you want. The Request a Review page is linked under Community in the main navigation at the left. Any members listed on this page have their reviews turned on and are ready to receive requests.

You can also click on Reviewers in the main navigation on the left, and peruse the public reviewing page to find a member's reviews that you like.

You can click on any member's handle menu to see if their Review Request status is ON or OFF, and access a link to their Reviews tab.

You can also visit any member's portfolio and click the Reviews tab at the top of their portfolio.

Once you have found a reviewer, go to their Reviews tab. The member's Request Review status is displayed at the top of the tab, and his or her public reviews are listed below the Request A Review form. Be sure to view the reviewing details provided by the member (you might need to scroll to see all of them), then fill out the Request Review form below.


Set Up Your Reviews Tab
Create your personal reviewing presence within your portfolio by uploading an image and entering information about your reviewing style and preferences. Click on your Reviews tab from within your portfolio, then click on the gear icon at the top right to open the area that allows you to manage your Review Settings and contains the form for the Details which visitors to your portfolio Reviews tab will see.

Choose an access setting for your Reviews tab. Your options include account level restrictions or Group-only membership restrictions.

Set a minimum Gift Point amount to accept Review Requests. The default setting is 900 GPs.

Choose a maximum content rating for your review requests. The default setting is 18+.

Set your maximum number of pending Accept/Decline requests. When you have this many pending requests, your Request Review availability will switch to FULL. The default is 10 requests.

Note that you can switch your Request Review availability to OFF with the Do Not Accept Review Requests option in the Gift Points drop-down menu. Restricting access to your Reviews tab does not remove your profile from the Request a Review page or change the Request Review setting in your handle menu.

Below this area is a form with a cover manage area and various text boxes where you can expand on and detail your reviewing style and preferences to those who may visit your Reviews tab.

Choose an image to decorate this area and make it your own. For directions, please see "Covers" .

To be featured as a reviewer on the Request a Review page, you must fill out the Review Style section of the form in your Reviews tab.

It isn't necessary to fill out every text box. If no text is entered in a text box, then the title of that section will not show up in your Details area.

To encourage members to keep their details in a block of text that will fit in the limited display area, the hard return (end of paragraph, blank line) is not supported in these text boxes. Use WritingML sparingly because it uses up characters, and with caution because it's possible to cause unpredictable results. Note that if your details are long enough to require using a scroll bar, visitors are less likely to see the lower part.

INCOMING REVIEW REQUESTS
Incoming Review Requests are requests that come to you from other members of Writing.Com.

What happens when I receive a review request from a member?
When a member submits a review request to you, you will receive an email notification and the notification will be automatically stored in your Incoming Requests area of your Reviews tab. From this area, you can accept or decline the request, sort and organize your requests and complete your reviews.

How much time do I have to complete an incoming review request?
From the moment the member submits the request, you have three (3) days to either accept or decline the request. If you accept the request, you have seven (7) days to complete the review in order to receive the Gift Points paid by that member. If you decline the request or fail to respond before the expiration, the review request is over and the transaction is ended. You do not receive Gift Points for a request that is declined, ignored or review not completed.

When do I receive Gift Points for a review request?
You will receive your Gift Point payment when you complete the review before the expiration. Check your Incoming Review request area within your Reviews tab to see how much time you have left on each request.

Can I control the content rating of items I wish to review?
Yes, in the Manage Reviews area of your Reviews tab, you can set the maximum content rating for the items you wish to review.

Can I limit the number of Review Requests that I get at one time?
Yes, in the Manage Reviews area of your Reviews tab, you can set the maximum number of pending Accept/Decline requests.

Will my Review Requests always be turned on?
By default, Review Requests are turned ON for everyone, but if you have not logged in within two weeks, the system will automatically flip your Review Request to OFF. If you do not wish to have your Review Requests show as ON, click into your Manage Reviews from your Reviews tab and choose Do not accept review requests. from the minimum Gift Point amount to accept drop-down menu. This will show your Review Requests as OFF until you change it.

If your Review Requests are ON, but you have reached your maximum pending Accept/Decline number, the system will automatically flip your Review Requests to FULL. This shows to the public that you are actively reviewing, but that they should check back later.

What is the minimum length I can review?
The minimum length for a Review Request is 250 characters. If you have accepted a review request and your review is less than 250 characters, the system will give you an error and an opportunity to include more information in your review. Note that the real-time character counter shown before the review is sent can be slightly off and is not the counter that is used to determine whether the review is long enough; going at least a little over 250 characters will ensure that the review is actually long enough. Remember, 250 is the minimum and this is a small amount to be required. If someone is requesting a review from you, they are looking for a good, thorough review that is probably longer than the system's minimum.

What types of items can I review?
Members can submit requests with item ID numbers for their items and with entry ID numbers for their individual book entries. Members may only request reviews for items they own.

I completed a request for a review of a Book item, but it is still in my queue and I haven't received payment. Why?
A review request for a Book item can be made two ways:

If the review request specifies the book by item number, the review must be sent from the book's main page.

If the review request specifies an entry in the book, the review must be sent from that specific entry's page.

If the review request has not processed, then you didn't send it from the right page. If the review request has not already expired, this is how to fix it:

Go back to the review request in your Reviews tab and open the book from whatever link was there.
At the bottom of that page, you should still see a Review Box.
Copy the review (or enough of it to count for the 250 characters) and paste to that Review Box.
Add a note about why so the person understands: Previous requested review was sent from the wrong page.
Re-send the review from that page. It can be sent private rather than public.
The review request should then process.

OUTGOING REVIEW REQUESTS
Outgoing Review Requests are requests that you make to other members of Writing.Com so that your own items are reviewed.

What happens when I request a review from a member?
When you submit a review request to another member, that member receives an email notification of your request and the Gift Points that you have agreed to pay him or her are removed from your account and put into "Review Request Escrow" . That means the Gift Points are held until the review is completed within the time allotted. If the review is completed within the time allotted (three days to accept, seven days to complete), the Gift Points are then transferred to the reviewer and the transaction is complete. If the review is not completed before the request expires, the Gift Points are returned to you.

What happens if my request for a review is not accepted within three days?
If the request is not accepted within three days, the request expires and the Gift Points are returned to you.

What happens if my request is accepted, but the review is not completed within seven days?
If the request is accepted within three days, but not completed within the seven days immediately following, the request expires and the Gift Points are returned to you.

When can I expect my requested review?
From the moment you make a review request to a member, that member has three days to accept the review request and seven days to complete it. This is the maximum length of time a review request may take. If a reviewer accepts your request immediately, it's possible that your request could be completed within a day or even an hour!

How do I find reviewers?
The quickest way to find reviewers is to click the Reviews link in the navigation to the left and visit our public reviewing page. Peruse the most current public reviews that have been sent on Writing.Com and find a review style or effort that you appreciate. You can also peruse the various links provided at the top of the public reviewing page, including most credited and most active reviewers. Click the member's handle to access the Request Reviews link from the drop-down menu. If the member's Request Reviews are ON, click to be automatically taken to the member's Reviews tab, where you can fill out their Request Review form.

Also note when you are reading items on Writing.Com, if you find a style of writing that you appreciate, you can fill out that member's Review Request form and have them review your item.

Can I request reviews of any item type?
Yes, review requests can be made for your items and individual book entries. You must own the item or book entries. Just use the item's ID number or the Book entry's ID number in the Review Request form.

What if I don't like the review I receive?
Unless the reviewer has sent a blatantly abusive review or cheated the system in some way, Writing.Com will not get involved in disputes over whether a review is "good" or not. Many reviews are very thorough and critical, but sometimes taken the wrong way. We will not be a judge of whether members feel a review was worth the Gift Points that were paid. We advise everyone using the Request Review system to look over the member's Reviews tab, read the information he or she has provided to you in the Reviews tab header in its entirety (use the scroll bar if present), peruse the Public Reviews that have been given, then decide if that member is someone to whom you would like to make a request. Remember, the point of a good review is to have differing opinions of and feedback from your readers. Not everyone will give you the same thoughts and this is a great thing. While you might not agree with everything a reviewer has to say about your work, appreciate each review you request and receive the feedback with an open mind. You may see your writing improve immensely!

How will I know if my request has been completed?
You will receive the normal email notification that a review has been received. You can also keep track of review requests you've made using your Outgoing Requests area of your Reviews tab.

What happens with my review request if I have an AutoReward set on my item?
The two systems are independent. If the AutoReward and the review request are both active when the reviewer completes the review, the reviewer will be paid the GPs for the review request plus the GPs from the AutoReward. 1

Recommended Reading

1. Reviews Tab
2. Reviewing On Writing.Com
3. Seeking Reviews

Footnotes
1  Updated by northernwrites; written by The StoryMistress