The red banner at the top of the page

by Lorraine Swoboda
16th September 2015

Not a question, just a piece of info. At the top of the page, there are various tabs which, if clicked on, reveal a lot more than you may think. Worth a look.

Also, there's an icon for the Bloomsbury Group on your screen, bottom right. Click on that and it takes you to their web page, which has details of who they are and where they are worldwide, as well as ads for their books.

There's more to this site than just the Community, but as is so often the case, most of us will never look beyond the forum. Look up!

Lorraine

Replies

@ Toni Marshall, who posted:

"I'm not at all being spiteful. I'm suggesting that we should be warm and friendly.

"As for thumbs down, you're taking that a touch too seriously. I do think it's a touch unfair to post an "information piece" clearly aimed at someone who has recently asked a question. Perhaps I have misunderstood the tone of the comment, but to me it does come across quite severe.

"There have been many occasion, I've decided not to get involved because I don't wish to read replies. Particularly ones that use angry CAPITALS to highlight certain words."

a) WHY do so many bloggers assume that capital letters are "shouting", "aggressive", or "angry"?! To get this out of the way. On a website dedicated to writers and artists, but which does not provide us with the tools of boldface, underlining, varying fonts / colours, or italics, capital letters are the ONLY tool we are left with to emphasise words. In most cases, no anger is intended. (In mine, certainly not.)

b) On a website dedicated to writers and artists, a thumbs down MUST be understood to mean "Warning! Comment less than neutral in quality or relevance" or possibly "[In my opinion] this comment is not worth reading". To be able to write ""As for thumbs down, you're taking that a touch too seriously", one would have to be either seriously ingenuous or a cynical distorter of the facts, a spin doctor.

c) Thumbs downs USED to be used very sparingly on this site. They USED to mean something.

d) I never named any names with my comment: "Now, who could have done that? Looks like spite to me." If your comment is a confession, the rest of this post belongs to you. If not, not.

e) I have GREAT difficulty in understanding how it was "warm and friendly" to thumb down EACH of Jimmy's comments on this thread: one of which was an innocuous explanation of an earlier sentence, posted in order to remove ambiguity from the original; the other 2 were "warm and friendly" pats on the back to 2 fellow members.

f) Lorraine consistently is helpful, generous, warm, and friendly. To jump to the conclusion that she was picking at an earlier questioner shows a severe lack of observational skills.

g) If the last 2 points don't apply to you, they shouldn't bother you. If they do, may I only advise you - in reference to your nostalgia for bygone days of warmth and friendliness - to study that old saying about pots calling kettles black?

Whoever gave Jimmy those thumbs down, I repeat that [it seems to me that] it was an act of spite.

p.s. This comment wasn't written for spite. I was just brought up to defend my friends (WHEN they're in the right).

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Wilhelmina
Lyre
330 points
Developing your craft
Wilhelmina Lyre
17/09/2015

My post was there to provide a piece of information - an answer, too, to many people who ask for guidance on certain matters which they could find in the red tabs as well as asking the forum members. It merely points out an alternative or additional source.

It was in no way intended as sarcasm or reprimand or anything else harsh - merely pointing out that there is a whole section of the site that is often overlooked. 'Worth a look' - is that harsh? It was not intended to belittle anyone, nor was it pointed any any specific person.

'I suspect, if another member posted a "piece of information" within the Q&A section, they would receive scathing responses informing them this is a Q&A section only.'

As for any suggestion that I receive special treatment - why on earth would I? I'm just another contributor like anyone else.

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Lorraine
Swoboda
1105 points
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Lorraine Swoboda
17/09/2015

I'm not at all being spiteful. I'm suggesting that we should be warm and friendly.

As for thumbs down, you're taking that a touch too seriously. I do think it's a touch unfair to post an "information peice" clearly aimed at someone who has recently asked a question. Perhaps I have misunderstood the tone of the comment, but to me it does come across quite severe.

There have been many occasion, I've decided not to get involved because I don't wish to read replies. Particularly ones that use angry CAPITALS to highlight certain words.

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Toni
Marshall
270 points
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Toni Marshall
17/09/2015