Cia

Since members stated not having enough time to write was an issue for not participating in quarterly anthologies, but still wanted four themes total to write about each year, there are dual themes for each of the anthology events that happen in 2018. That means two different anthology categories are made live at the same time. Sure, we could just post links to the anthology categories in the announcement, but why do two different links to the anthology categories alone instead of just one link to the already existing blog post that explains what the anthologies are, thanks all the people who put in hard work to help make them happen on the site, and lists all the stories with links? Besides, those links to the categories would visually appear just like the link to the blog post would. 
 
To avoid downgrading the site's content rating, we don't want to duplicate content on the site, so it doesn't make sense to post the identical information in the announcement, so that's why just the link to the blog was added to bring more attention to the event as a whole. And hopefully more attention will translate to the next anthology, since it doesn't seem like having six months to write for one or both themes really helped increase the number of authors who had the time/inclination to enter a story in the event. 
 
Also, as with most websites, the title of a blog post is the link to the content itself. You don't have to click on the banner, then the blog post's title. All you have to do is click on the blog title in the announcement, just like you click on the title of a story or the title of a forum topic, etc... If you pay attention, you'll note that the old style of underlined/different colored link titles has changed and it's more common to see embedded text links that change color when you scroll over them to indicate they are a link. That is a drawback to those using touchscreens or adaptive technology, I agree, but we don't control the format the links now appear as on the forums as that is an IP Board feature.
 
 

If you make a small image that fits more than one picture on your profile banner, sure. But the one image on your profile is your banner, which is an overall 848x121ppi size. If you wish to share other pictures on the site, we do have a Gallery that you can add images to. This is primarily for images needed for story art, character inspiration, etc... All this information and more about customizing your profile and setting up gallery albums can be found in the FAQ through the Help tab in the red menu bar. 

Just because visual directions often help, here is how you can check the issues and disable/download/fix drivers that relate to black screen issues in Windows 8: http://www.windowswally.com/how-to-fix-graphics-driver-update-causing-black-screen-error-in-windows-8/
 
And here are a lot of links and options to screen issues fixes in Windows 10: https://www.drivethelife.com/windows-10/fix-display-video-graphics-problems-after-windows-10-update.html

Well, just think about what you described. Are they both in a similar place in their life and maturity? Clearly, if they grew up together, then yes, that would make them in a like-age group. 10 and 11 year olds can't do anything graphic, but  you said they were just friends to start of with anyhow And16 is the age of consent in most US states anyway. Sexual content would not be restricted.
 
You can always send me these kinds of story-specific questions via PM, btw.  

Okay, let's address this in an orderly fashion so I can be sure I cover everything. 
 
1) Yes, I can include alt-text in newsletter images. I will try that next week and you can PM me if you have any issues with it. 
2) Yes, I can include alt-text titles in images I post on the forums for games. I've just edited the image for the White Elephant game, if you'd like to check that. I will pass this along to site staff to ask them to do so for any posts they make as well. 
3) We will check what sort of features the site has for places like site banners, signatures, etc... 
4) User-generated content: I will include information in the faq topics where relevant about adding images suggesting people change the title to describe the image where that feature is allowed, but trying to require that take far too much moderation time to scan for new images added and contact members who don't know how to do this. 

Past issue, no longer relevant. Just giving this an answer to move it off the top of the page. 

We don't have a specific volunteer to do that. If someone notices it, they can let us know like you have done with this topic, and when a staff member has time we will try to get them fixed. Posting the link is very helpful, thanks! 

I think the person who asked that question on the other site is confused. You don't have to get a copyright in order to publish a manuscript into an eBook, and I've never even seen a contest that required it. You 'own' the copyright of anything you personally and solely create, and most websites or contests put the onus on the person by saying that by posting/entering you're agreeing that you have the rights or permissions to do that because you hold the copyright or a release of copyright. Then, if any question about ownership comes up,  you're the one left responsible if it comes out that you were lying. If you want to PROVE it, however, it's best to visit your country's website that governs copyright and look for the specific type of content and what you must do. In the US it's basically a form and a relatively low fee. It mostly comes in handy if you have to deal with plagiarists who are stealing money from you on a sale site like Amazon because they're more likely to pull your content if they don't think you own the right to publish it and furnishing a purchased copyright is the easiest way to prove ownership. 
 
That's why we come down so hard on plagiarists here. We want it publicly stated that they lied about what they said they created because it's not just a morally bankrupt action but a potentially legally liable one as well. 

Yes, Word is actually the preferred editor to copy text from to use in GA's text box. If you want the best visual result for the chapter, don't use fancy formatting as mentioned. In fact, it's best to use the option to remove formatting that will appear below the text editor as a clickable option once you've pasted in your text. That strips out indents and hidden formatting you might not see. It does also strip out italics and bold, so you have to place those back into the text if you have them, but as that is 'special formatting' in writing and shouldn't be used excessively anyway. 

Can't Stop Reading 

I believe you're seeing posts because you're part of the club, so of course it would track and show you the activity of an area you have 'permissions' for because that's the purpose of the All Activity option. Even if it says "All Activity" you're not seeing everything that happens all over the site. For instance, members wouldn't be aware of the post I made to alert site staff to my new schedule coming up for my job starting on the 30th, but my status update talking about it would show up for general members. That's because of where I made the posts and who is and isn't allowed to see those areas/features of the site. 
 
Just as a confirmation, I'm part of the Writer's Circle so I can see those posts, but I haven't yet joined The Pit, and I can't see a single post from the pit while I browse the 'All Activity list', no matter how far I go back (even as a staff member). I know Myr would have started a welcome/purpose of The Pit topic in there. 

We don't recommend trying to post at story to GA Stories via a mobile device. It tends to screw up the chapter text  formatting, including the spacing. 

That's because what you want doesn't exist, and I'm having a hard time getting that across clearly. Previously, the comments weren't integrated with chapters. You had to click on a link below the chapter to get the comments area to leave one for the author. The system would allow you to use a drop menu to jump to specific chapters to view the reviews, or you could view all comments in order sequence of newest to oldest. However, that isn't possible with comments because of the way the system is integrated now allowing for a conversation that is more than just a single post written by a reader and a reply by the author. Now anyone can comment and discuss with each other and post more than once, directly below the chapter, so the comments area really acts as a story/chapter thread like a topic. This integration allowing for greater interaction between fans and the author and fans is more valuable than a list of all the comments in sequential order (especially since they might not make sense if you have people replying to someone else out of order). 
 
The only way to see the comments on your story is to go to the area below the list of chapters to access story reviews on completed works or the comments that appear directly below chapter text. There's no other place they can be accessed and viewed where authors can reply to readers. And, while the Activity Stream for 'Newest Comments on My Stories/Chapters' only shows the newest comment per story or chapter, on the far right side of the story or chapter title that appears in that list there's a speech bubble with the number of total comments on the story or chapter. Clicking on that icon and number will actually take you right to the comments on that story or chapter. Or you can click on the chapter title and it takes you to the top of that chapter, you scroll down to the comments area at the end of the text. 

I'm not sure how you disabled it, but I was able to turn it back on for you through the system controls, so you should be able to find it and send/receive messages again.  

Hey all! Quick question to those with broken signatures: Did you have the image(s) in your signature posted in GA's gallery and use that link to add the picture?
 
There was a reorganization of the site gallery and doing that typically changes the information in the url link. You might find things such as images used in forum posts or your signature now have a broken link because that URL is different in regards to the path for the gallery > album > member album, etc... You'll still have the image available in the gallery, but you'll have to go to it and copy the new link and replace the broken one in your signature.
 
Sorry!!

There is no delete for a story. You must contact a site staff member (typically me, unless I'm completely unreachable for some reason) via PM and ask them to delete it. I typically ask for 1) a reason and 2) a link to the story or chapter that needs to be deleted. I hate to accidentally screw something up, so giving me a link makes sure that I don't mistake what you want deleted because once it is done, it cannot be undone. You also lose all likes and comments from that content you have deleted, as an fyi.

So, if you look at the Forums, you'll notice that the different topics are in bold if new content has been posted to them since you last accessed it. The same goes for any forums with new content (either posts or new topics). You can click on the blue button with the thought bubbles (this will be updated later, so the image may change, but the circle is to the left of the forum title) and that will mark the entire forum as 'read'. When in a forum, you can also use the 'Mark Forum Read' link right next to the 'Start New Topic' button at the top of each forum to do the same thing, which simply removes the bolded titles showing new content.
 
GA Stories doesn't have the same integration with bolding the titles for new content posting, so marking the entire site read wouldn't have any effect that I can think of on that. 

@frosenblum Simply go to the story you're following, click on the blue following button to bring up the drop menu with the following options, then click on the red button in the lower right corner that says unfollow.

This is a bug or some sort of software issue that we're looking into as the site is being worked on. There should be a Stories button. Bear with us.

At this time that's not a sidebar option we have on the main forum page. Whether or not we add it, or can, isn't something we're looking at right at this moment. You can easily follow the blogs you enjoy and make that an activity stream you can see at a glance, or have sent to you on a daily or weekly basis, however.

The notifications you receive via email wouldn't be dependent on the browser your use, they would be dependent on your notification settings. Some browsers work better than others, and Edge isn't fully compatible with the software we have, but that typically affects authors more than readers/members. However, I believe there are still glitches with the notification system and that is what has been causing issues. This upgrade is ongoing, and with the work week beginning again, fixes will take some time so we're asking that everyone be patient.

Validating a story is a moderator option that can override the moderation queue for new authors on a specific story. Please don't use it, since you shouldn't be able to see it.

Per Myr, 1 hour ago, in the Bug Reports! topic:
It's hard to see exactly what you mean in regards to what you did/didn't do when replying to a story's comments because you didn't share the links to the story/chapter so we can see them. It is also very helpful if you add in what device you are using, what browser you are using, etc... when you share any issues you're having.

The tag cloud isn't on the main Stories page right now, and the search features aren't currently all available during the ongoing upgrade, but one of the options when using the 'Advanced Search' (available in the Browse options in the right sidebar) includes the different tags available on the site, so you will be able to filter stories by tags that way.

Best Size for Profile Banner/Promoted Author Banner: 848x121
   **Please be aware of the profile name and information that appears on the left side of the banner area. We don't have an exact size to create a buffer zone, but you can easily see, if you check my profile banner, how that appears on an updated banner.
 
   **Promoted authors may change the banners on each story from the default Author banner they have on their profile above their author bio and on the Author tab. We are going to work with promoted authors, as much as possible, to correct the distortion of their smaller author banner to either make them larger or create new ones, but that won't occur until after we're finished with all the technical aspects of the upgrade and ironed out bugs.