new author profile

JD · Post by JD » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:18 pm

What I've just realised though is that it seems I can change another author's bio (if I so wish). For example, when I click on audrabianca's profile and see my photo and bio, if I click on "change image" then it takes me into audrabianca's details. Surely that can't be right??????

grouchy · Post by **grouchy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:22 pm

HA! CC today, the world tomorrow!

Celeste, I'm going to have to hurt you. You should add to your profile "She's also a comedian." (But I do have a hairy back.

)

Oh man, yes, this is definitely going to be fun. I must tell you, Celeste, I thought you probably had a bun and wore pearls, and were about my age (I couldn't figure out the baby part, though), and you had a very serene and kind face, kind of Meryl Streep-ish, which is still true! JD, all I can tell you is you look an awful lot like me. (I had seen Celeste's yesterday.)

And what, pray tell, is a browser's cache and how do I fix it?

grouchy · Post by **grouchy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:26 pm

JD - we were writing at the same time. Yes, I noticed that too, but I don't know if it "takes" - when I tried it on Celeste's (just to see), it did change, but when I came back later it had reverted to the original.

Which, I suppose, is a good thing.

JD · Post by JD » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:32 pm

Yes, that's a good thing (that if you are allowed to change another's profile then it won't save).

I've also tried to clear the cache on my laptop but am still every author on this site!!

Help!

Celeste Stewart · Post by **Celeste Stewart** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:43 pm

Besides, if we could change each other's profiles, imagine how much fun we could have on April 1st!

I'll have to dust off my pearl necklace. I know it's around here somewhere

grouchy · Post by **grouchy** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 5:14 pm

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhh - I get it now. You log out but don't log back in.

Thanks, meryl.

Celeste Stewart · Post by **Celeste Stewart** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 8:11 pm

Suggestions for the Featured Articles part of the Profile page:

1. Can you make it so that the list only shows content that is available for
sale? For example, if you click on some articles, you will be taken to a screen that explains that the article has already been purchased or removed from the site.

2. Can you make it have an option were we can remove the little check mark in all of the boxes automatically (a De-select All button or something)? With thousands of articles submitted over the years, it will take forever to deselect all of them when I already know which five I want to highlight.

Right now it lists every article ever written including those that are long gone....

JD · Post by JD » Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:51 pm

Ed, Constant

What is the idea behind the 'Authors I Recommend' category, please? I'm assuming that it's for us to 'recommend' (to customers in the main) authors they might want to check out at CC. My initial reaction to this is that

1) it's a bit Facebook-ish (i.e. "you've added me to yours, I'll add you to mine"); and

2) I'm not too sure I'd want any customer checking out my profile, to be immediately presented with authors I'm recommending he or she check out (maybe even before perusing my portfolio!). I fully appreciate (and embrace) the concept that we all (including us authors) benefit from sales regardless of which authors are actually securing the sales (and this is probably the idea behind the creation of this category), but if the objective (or part of the objective) of my profile is to encourage a customer to commission me to write for them, it just seems a bit odd that next to my featured articles I'm listing authors he or she should check out (maybe this feature shouldn't be given the same prominence as the 'featured articles' category).

Sorry if I'm sounding a bit paranoid, or have completely misunderstood the role of the author's profile, but I thought I'd throw that in and see what you think.

Thanks.

Jane

Ed · Post by Ed » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:04 pm

I'm sorry, I don't have an answer for this. I wasn't a part of the development process for this feature. Does anyone else share this concern?

Ed

Celeste Stewart · Post by **Celeste Stewart** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:15 pm

JD has a good point. Kind of like how we can't use links in our articles because webmasters want their readers to stay on their site, not go elsewhere. In this case, we want webmasters to browse our portfolios and either buy existing content or hire us to write something for them, not go check out the competition.

I can see where it would be good for linking to your affiliates so at least if they do keep looking, your affiliates will benefit and you'll get a small referral fee.

Fortunately, it looks like we can choose not to recommend others if we don't want to. Making it less prominent sounds like a good idea. More emphasis on Hire Me and less on Hire Them.

J. A. Young · Post by **J. A. Young** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:20 pm

Good points...there are authors I'd be happy to recommend, but for certain subjects. I've come across several writers who appear to be experts in their given field. Perhaps our own profile is not necessarily the place to promote other writers, however. Hadn't really considered this before. If it's set in stone, I can live with it because I'd be happy to list some of my favorites, but there might be something better suited to this space that allows us to showcase our own work a bit more. --JA Young

grouchy · Post by **grouchy** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 3:40 pm

I was getting ready to post the same concerns JD has - besides, I don't know anyone else's writing well enough to recommend them. There are the prominent names, yes, but I sometimes find a really interesting article written by someone I've never encountered before, someone with a lower profile but a great sales record.

Plus it's not too fair to new people.

Plus we are a community, yes, but of independent "contractors." Yes?

JD · Post by JD » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:12 pm

Touching on what grouchy says, I was thinking of something perhaps along the lines of, 'Articles I Recommend' or 'Articles I've Enjoyed Reading' - something like that as opposed to recommending authors. Perhaps in this way it would highlight specific articles which would then lead to an interest in another author... Just a thought.

grouchy · Post by **grouchy** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:21 pm

Brutal honesty here -- I don't even like that idea. Unless I just don't understand the potential benefits.

JD · Post by JD » Fri Jan 11, 2008 4:27 pm

Grouchy

That's only an alternative if we have to stick with it, you know? I don't particularly like it either - purpose-wise, it's still a bit ambiguous, I think. That's why I asked what the idea was behind the 'authors I recommend' category, because if we know that then we can possibly find a way forward that's suitable for both us as authors and the CC team.