Message Board

Betas and Brit-picking

Traffic is picking up on the forum boards!

Authors, if you are in need of a beta or want to ask a Brit-picking question, don't forget to check the forum boards.  We already have a few volunteers ready to help. 

To All Authors and Reviewers

I woke up this morning to find an author had responded to one of my reviews.  I was on my palm pilot, which is this tiny little screen, and I had to page down to find the review I had left... and got annoyed because it is difficult sometimes to see names in tables... I hate it when I get annoyed at something on my own site. 
 

So... it finally dawned on me that I could make it so that when an author receives a review, the e-mail link would take you to a page that displayed only that review.  

Similarly, when a reviewer gets notice that the author responded, the link would take you directly to that review/response.

I am hoping that it is a pleasant surprise.  I just spent the last hour working out the little aesthetics, so it should look nice and work properly.

 ~notsosaintly

Site Statistics

As we near the New Year, and enter the 9th month of existence for The Petulant Poetess (yes, it will be 9 months as of the first week of 2006), I wanted to tell you all how thankful I am that all of you are here. Not to get all mushy or anything, but all of you make this site what it is. From each and every author (we currently have 120), to every single member (1638 of those; over 100 gained in the last five days) to all who haven't registered yet who visit and read the K(G) and T(PG) stories on the site. As I write this, I have 66 people currently reading on the site, and earlier today that number had jumped as high as 87. I am continually in awe.

I wanted to share with you some statistics. My host counts unique hits every month, meaning that one IP address counts as one hit no matter how many times that person visits the site. I, for example, count as one hit in this area, even though I log over 1000 hits per month. Of course, some people's IP addresses change due to being on dialup, but that, I have discovered through a little research, is becoming rarer.

In April when I first began, I received 2,217 unique hits (115,239 total hits). This month, with two days yet to go, I am just 12 shy of 5,400 unique hits (565,206 total hits). This is just the monthly statistics that get put back to 0 at the beginning of the month. Just in case you are interested, for the entire year of 2005, we have 35,987 unique hits (3,083,470 total) and have almost quadrupled the bandwidth usage since April (don't worry, I have tons of badwidth to use).

It is all of you that make this so worth it. At times it is a little frightening when I look at all these numbers, but your interest is what makes me smile, and it will be your continued interest that will be my strength in the upcoming year. Thank you.

BEWARE

The past few days I have been receiving a slew of e-mail from some Very Bad People trying to pose as someone from thepetulantpoetess.com.  They are trying different versions using mail@, support@, info@, etc. but have not succeeded in tricking me yet.

Note: They have NOT infiltrated my domain, and they do NOT have access to any e-mail addresses here.  But... just in case... I am warning you.  The only e-mails you will receive should be the ones you have always been getting, alerting you to stories, reviews, responses to reviews, and news items. IF you receive anything else (and we do not have a personal exchange going), and IF there are any attachments, delete the e-mail right away. 

The kind of e-mail I have been receiving, I have been told by the support tech crew can be faked easily as coming from my domain through Outlook (you can alter the reply-to field).  The subject lines have been 'Account Alert,' 'Notice of Suspension,' and others claiming they are from McAfee and telling me they have news of a virus.  Too bad they don't know I'm the only one who sends e-mail from my domain. 

When in doubt, don't open the e-mail.  If you have a question or concern, e-mail me.  You can contact me easily through the help page. 

 ~Your Headmistress

Happy Christmas 2 All!

We just wanted to send our happy wishes out to all of you and hope that your holidays are enjoyable!

The story movement in queue may be be slow for the next couple of days, as we have things to do with our families. Fear not, though, we'll get to them as soon as we can.


SEASON'S GREETINGS!

Writer's Resources

Attention: All Writers!

My next project is to complete the Writer's Resource area, and I have made a few useful additions.  As sections are completed, they will become active in the menu, so you will be aware which ones are either finished or being worked on.  Please, have a look.

I want to make a request of all writers, whether you publish here or not.  I am beginning a personal project having to do with spelling, punctuation and grammar.  If anyone has ever wondered about something and found references to be vague, I want you to contact me and let me know.  There is now an easy e-mail form you can link to through the Writer's Resource page, and I will be contacted immediately.  No need to open your e-mail client.  I have a couple of reliable and reputable references, and am in the process of acquiring more.  I will research and answer your question, and you will be helping me with my personal goal as well.

Thank you!! 

News Items

All Members:

If you wish to be notified when a news item is posted here, please go to your Edit Personal Information page and check the appropriate box.

I know the news area may not be the first thing you check, and in fact, it may be forgotten at times. So I have decided to provide e-mail notification so that you may keep up-to-date with important things happening on The Petulant Poetess.

Thank you!

Member Search

... notsosaintly wanders into the library, sleepily nursing her morning coffee, and finds a cozy chair by the fire. Looking up, she notices that the library is bustling with activity: people searching for something to read; authors dropping off new stories amidst the stares and smiles of their fans; readers strewn on sofas, chairs, poufs, and even some happily lounging on the floor. With a satisfied sigh, notsosaintly sips her coffee and settles in, hoping to get some reading done after a little work. Across the room, a reader smiles and waves, and notsosaintly returns the greeting, totally content. ...

Before I begin my day, I just wanted to let you know there is a Member Search area on the Members page. You can search on full or partial names, a list will be displayed, and you can link directly to the member's profile. Hope you enjoy.

Server Outage

I just wanted to inform everyone that there was a server outage between 6:30 pm and 11:00 pm PST tonight (12/12/05).   Apparently my host was trying to upgrade the security on their servers and had an "issue"  (their word, not mine).  Just so everyone knows... nothing was wrong with your computer, and I didn't take off for that deserted island (with Internet access) that I keep threatening to run away to.  LOL 

Thank you.  I appreciate everyone hanging in there.

Submission Rules

The Submission Rules have been updated and clarified.  Please, all authors have a look.  The Submission Rules are now appearing when one adds a story, so there should be no confusion.  Thank you!