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Young Writers Society


Welcome to the Grand Re-opening of YWS



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Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:03 am
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Iggy says...



Seriously, guys?

First, if I had the money, I would totally pay for a pro-account. Not because of the ads, which (thank you Nate) are not pop-ups and are easy to overlook; they aren't even a hassle, to me. No, I would donate because I love YWS, and I know how hard it is for Nate to pay for this all on his own. Remember, this is his money, out of his pocket - with the help of the ad companies, of course.

Second, the mods do have a life outside of YWS, mind you, and Nate is just one man. Plus, he was on vacation, and in my personal opinion, he downright deserved one! Rydia, Snoink, the entire red/green staff - they all have school, work, family, friends. They are here as often as they can be, and sometimes, they need a break or two, y'know. So, if they take a day or two to handle a issue, then so what?

Third, what bugs? I haven't experienced anything wrong with YWS, but that's just me. If you find a problem with the site, then report a bug and wait. Someone will handle the issue, rest assured, but keep in mind that that might take a while. I'm not sure who the techs of YWS are, but they will get to it. As long as YWS is accessable and working somewhat, then I, for one, am content.

Fourth, why are we attacking Nate? The guy just got back from vacation and probably has a crapload of personal/work-related stuff to deal with, as well as unpacking and visiting his family. Yet he manages to find some time to finish the grand re-opening of YWS. Cut him some slack! That is an amazing feat, even for someone as kick-ass as Nate.

Like he said, if you don't like it, then don't donate. Simple as that. It's entirely optional and an up-to-you situation. If this is a big issue for you and it is something you cannot overlook, then maybe you should relocate to a different site, because this is a great thing for some of us and the negative feedback isn't helping our celebration.
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Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:04 am
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Nightshade says...



Reason, have you heard of Kickstarter? It's a site where people can contribute money to developing projects. Most projects have some sort of tiered reward system for different sizes of donation. Here's an example. If you look at that page, you'll see that the $25 donation gets you 4 emails and a handwritten postcard thank you note. If we're going to look at that as a business transaction or service, that's an absolute rip-off, yet people still donate because they don't see it as a service, but as a way to contribute to something that is valuable to them. The YWS pro accounts are no different. YWS took me from a kid who hadn't written anything since elementary school to someone who is considering going to grad school for English. It taught me more about writing and gave me more valuable connections than I've found in tens of thousands of dollars worth of college classes. I could give YWS everything in my bank account (although that's not saying a whole lot) and still not come close to repaying the "services" I've received. I'd like to donate because it's amazing to me that this resource is available to anyone who wants it for free, and I want to keep that going so people can continue to share the experience.

I think a lot of why you're receiving such frustrated responses is because it's kind of perplexing why you'd criticize a system which is completely positive for everyone involved and in no way affects those who don't wish to participate. I think people just don't see the motive in trying to break down something that makes other people happy and doesn't harm you or anyone else in any way.

Side note: I can't actually find where I can donate. If I'm just missing it somewhere in my searching, can someone point me in the right direction?
  





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Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:13 am
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Nate says...



Thank you guys, but I'd like to just keep looking forward. Not everyone is going to agree, and sometimes disagreement leads to frustration.

In any case, right now I'm working on bringing WFP back online, but I hope to have the pro-accounts in place tonight as well. The big hang-up is I'm being perhaps overly ambitious; in the past, I simply had it set up so that people donated through Paypal and then I added the pro-account manually. Instead, I'm trying to make the whole process automatic, which is easy when you know how. But, I don't know how! So it involves learning a lot about the Paypal API first.

Once that's set up, I'll put up the free bookmark form tomorrow. And please, please sign up for a free bookmark! :)
  





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Thu Mar 28, 2013 3:33 am
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Snoink says...



YAY! I was hoping to have a chance to donate to the site! :)

Nate>> Are you going to do what you did last time and make the layout a bit more sparkly? I always thought that the layout of the YWS pro-accounts was more gorgeous than the non-paid accounts (though, I think that I've never told you this?)

Also, can we get for multiple bookmarks? I am getting a couple of people books for their birthdays, and I would love to stick a YWS bookmark in their book.

And PFFT. You weren't working while going on an amazing hike in Africa? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF. Just sayin'. ;)
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

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Thu Mar 28, 2013 4:16 am
Nate says...



Snoink ->> Haha, don't know about the sparkly. In the past, the only difference in layout was the replacement of the ad with a header image because otherwise, you just saw a big blank space.

With the current YWS, replacing the ad with a header image wouldn't really work. So what I was thinking instead was to get rid of the space between the top bar and the main content area; that is, the space where the large logo and the ad currently go.
  





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Thu Mar 28, 2013 1:52 pm
Rydia says...



I think I was really pesky about this last time, but is there a way to have the YWS pro account and still have an 'adds on' option?

Obviously not an urgent thing so one to put on the back-burner. But I like feeling that my being on the site helps pay for it and donating money.
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Thu Mar 28, 2013 2:28 pm
reason says...



ShadowVyper wrote:Running a website is expensive.


Seeing how Nate runs this on his own, the only cost in running this site would be hosting. Nate, do feel free to correct me if I'm wrong here.

Nate wrote:the money YWS earns from advertising goes right back into hosting costs.


I already contribute to YWS by not having ad blocker plus on.

ShadowVyper wrote:He could give you nothing.


Reading my previous posts, you will see I support the donations option in which nothing is offered in return -my issue lies with the re-introduction of pro-accounts. The reasons for that can be found in my previous posts.

ShadowVyper wrote:I think you complaining about it is ridiculous


You may have noticed I ignored a bulk of your post since it is primarily composed of opinion. In specific, the fact you believe my complaining is ridiculous. I have clearly stated these are concerns, but there's no use in discussing your perception seeing how to you my concerns are nothing more than a list of complaints. To that, I say you are entitled to your opinions. Although when trying to communicate with someone who has beliefs that differ from your own, it is best not to diminish them otherwise it's near impossible to ever see eye to eye -as someone once told me: protip.

Ignorance wrote:No, I would donate because I love YWS, and I know how hard it is for Nate to pay for this all on his own. Remember, this is his money, out of his pocket - with the help of the ad companies, of course.


You would donate because you love YWS. I am voicing my concern because I love YWS. Now I have been questioning it. I never anticipated such a reaction from an overall friendly community.

Also, Ignorance. I never disregarded all the work and effort that both Nate and the staff have put into this. Furthermore, it wasn't a few days of silence in the Report a site bug thread -but a month. I do believe Cadi replied with an alternative method and telling us that Nate would be gone for a week or two on a trip. I typically don't post in the thread if I see someone has posted the issue already.


Ignorance wrote:Fourth, why are we attacking Nate?


I am stating my concerns. I wonder how many times I've had to clarify that.

Ignorance wrote:If this is a big issue for you and it is something you cannot overlook, then maybe you should relocate to a different site, because this is a great thing for some of us and the negative feedback isn't helping our celebration.


Nate has already suggested that I leave this site. Again, this is your opinion. What you call negative feedback, I consider it as concerns with the desire to be constructive.

Nightshade wrote:If we're going to look at that as a business transaction or service, that's an absolute rip-off, yet people still donate because they don't see it as a service, but as a way to contribute to something that is valuable to them.


I read the link and see nothing wrong with it. They offer professional dialogue of their progress through the emails and clearly defined what they will offer -how they will do this, and so on. My previous posts were frustrated from the silence of which we are not experiencing. Nate's most recent posts about writerpad and his progress is exactly what I wanted: a post from the source stated something is being done, the progress, and a note that it may take twenty fours to work for everyone.

I am glad that YWS has been such a great asset to you. I've met some pretty awesome people here and did something I've never done before -which is share my work with someone other than my special person.


Nightshade wrote:I think a lot of why you're receiving such frustrated responses is because it's kind of perplexing why you'd criticize a system which is completely positive for everyone involved and in no way affects those who don't wish to participate. I think people just don't see the motive in trying to break down something that makes other people happy and doesn't harm you or anyone else in any way.


I am not trying to break down something here. I am merely stating my concern in the hopes that it will be taken as constructive feedback.

Nate wrote:Thank you guys, but I'd like to just keep looking forward. Not everyone is going to agree, and sometimes disagreement leads to frustration.


Nate, thank you. Despite my concerns, I do appreciate the work you've put into YWS. It is regretful that you may have possible experienced frustration with the: "I give up post."

It is most glorious that you haven't given up: however, if you do give up. I would love to make it clear that I would be willing to take the site off your hands for $600 USD. You should know by now that I'm of my word. I did send you my real name and phone number. You know how to contact me if you should ever desire to do so.
  





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Thu Mar 28, 2013 5:19 pm
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Iggy says...



reason wrote:Nate, thank you. Despite my concerns, I do appreciate the work you've put into YWS. It is regretful that you may have possible experienced frustration with the: "I give up post."

It is most glorious that you haven't given up: however, if you do give up. I would love to make it clear that I would be willing to take the site off your hands for $600 USD. You should know by now that I'm of my word. I did send you my real name and phone number. You know how to contact me if you should ever desire to do so.


Whoa, whoa. When he said:

Nate wrote: I give up.


He was talking about this. About the pro-accounts, and all this arguing. By no means is he giving up on YWS. Nope. Nu-uh. He wouldn't give up after all this hard work, after the years he's put into this.

I refuse to believe that.
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Fri Mar 29, 2013 1:19 am
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Snoink says...



reason>> It's okay to let it go! :) Don't worry! Nate's not going to leave YWS forever in an overly dramatic huff. He just wants to stop arguing with you. You're going to have different opinions... it's okay! You really don't have to donate if you don't want to. It's just a feature that Nate put on (reluctantly) because we begged him to do so. See, we wanted to fling money to him. If you don't want to do this, this is totally cool! But, personally speaking, I want to fling money on him and have begged him FOR YEARS to do this, so I can't tell you how awesome pro-accounts are, especially now that I have a real job. Seriously. Our conversations are a little bit like this:

Spoiler! :
Me: OMG. DONATIONS WOULD BE SUCH A GOOD IDEA. THAT WAY, I CAN FLING MONEY AT YOU.

Nate: But... I don't want to have people fling money at me unless they're getting something special from it.

Me: I DON'T CARE. LET ME FLING MONEY AT YOU.

Nate: But... well... maybe I'll have an Amazon Associates link.

Me: YAY! *spendspendspend*

Nate: Oh, j/k, it's not there anymore.

Me: AHHHH. I MUST DONATE.

Nate: ...oh, all right. I'll introduce pro-accounts.

Me: ...what's this?

Nate: Well. Um. It'll remove ads...

Me: ...Okay.

Nate: ...and you can donate YWS by doing so. Maybe...

Me: 8D


SEE? This is AWESOME. This is a feature that I and a bunch of other members have been begging Nate for FOR YEARS. Don't spoil our victory! :o


ANYWAY. I kind of second Kitty. I have to say, the Google ads have been really good and wonderful as of late and have been giving me good leads for wedding planning. So... it might be nice to have ads be an option!

I mean, if I weren't planning a wedding right now, I would probably want them off. But, darn it, they are so useful right now! :D
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Fri Mar 29, 2013 3:02 am
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Omni says...



Guys, anymore of this stuff, please take it to the PM. If you have anymore debating to do, this is not the place to do. If you have a complaint, once again, not the place. This is a place where all of the new things are to be announced.

So let's start a new leaf on this topic and no more bickering, arguing, complaining, or any of that stuff. If you have something mean to say (Even if you don't think it is, but that it might offend the majority of the people who read it, whatever it may be) please don't post it.

All of this bickering isn't good for the soul XD


So we start over... now.

*Turns around* Oh, that's cool, Nate!
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Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:06 am
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ka67 says...



Oh! A game!? Im so glad I got here recently! I havent missed anything really! :D I cant wait to see all the cool stuff thats going to come up! I haven't seen any bugs...

Never mind about that, still cant wait and I am SOO excited for that mystery game Nate, good luck with everything!!
It's been so long since I've last been on YWS, and I need to get back into it :)
  





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Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:18 am
LadyPurple says...



I wanna know what that game is. I can't wait! I remember the games that used to be here!
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Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:20 am
Snoink says...



Maybe Sanctum? Hmmm...
Ubi caritas est vera, Deus ibi est.

"The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." ~ Richard Bach

Moth and Myth <- My comic! :D
  





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Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:00 am
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Rydia says...



Now announcing there will be a weekend of Easter Egg Hunting! Stay tuned and watch the Writing Gooder blog to find our more!

(Expect the announcement Sunday night after Review Day!)
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Fri Mar 29, 2013 9:16 am
Auxiira says...



Eggs!! Wait, there's a review Day?
You read faster than Usaine Bolt sprints xD - Deanie 2014

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