FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS For Answers to questions you do not find below please read our Users Agreement(click here!) DO I NEED TO BE A MEMBER TO READ? TO POST? To read on WPF.com's forums, you DO NOT have to be a member. The forums are open to everyone and anyone who wishes to read. In order to post, however, you are required to have a PUBLIC username and password. A separate PRIVATE username and password are required for the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum. Entry there is barred unless you have a private username and password, even for reading. A PUBLIC membership is all that's required to post on our site and a PUBLIC membership will give you access to all public forums (essentially, everything at Wild except the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum). HOW DO I ACCESS THE ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ (Adult Content) FORUM? Because ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ contains material that may not be suitable for younger viewers, this forum is password protected. To obtain a password, you must be 18 years of age or older. Go to this page to request a ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ password. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PUBLIC AND A PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP? When you ask for membership at WPF.com, you are NOT asking for entrance to the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum. Like all the other forums, the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum is essentially open to everyone as long as they are 18 or older. However, you must apply and be approved for a PRIVATE membership to read and post there. To reiterate, PUBLIC membership will give you access to all public forums and a PRIVATE membership will give you access to all public forums plus the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum. If you are over 18 and may at some time want to access ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~, we recommend you choose a PRIVATE membership from the start. WHY IS MEMBERSHIP REQUIRED? We have had some difficulties in the past with a completely open forum. Anonymous users were abusing our boards. Hence, administration decided to have a members only forum. If you are interested, you can join now! WHAT ARE MEMBERSHIP LEVELS AND WHAT DO THEY MEAN? There are six levels of membership at Wild Poetry Forum. The levels of membership are based on the number of posts, as participation at Wild counts for more than mere longevity. The system keeps track of the number of posts and automatically advances the membership level when the posts reach a certain number. The membership levels and the number of posts required for each are as follows: New Member: 1-50 posts Member: 51-100 posts Valued Member: 101-300 posts Intermediate Member: 301-1000 posts Advanced Member: 1001-2500 posts Senior Member: 2501+ posts When you post something at Wild, your membership level will be listed below your name on the left-hand side of the post. If you are unfamiliar with a particular username, being able to see the member's membership level is a convenient way of knowing whether he/she is new to Wild or has been a long-term part of our community. WHICH FORUM SHOULD I POST IN? The three main posting forums are ~SUBLUXATION~ (Workshop), ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~ (Light Critique), and ~BIOFEEDBACK~ (Heavy Critique). When we put them together, we imagined them running in a sort of progression. Here was our vision: ~SUBLUXATION~ – We designed this forum mainly for BEGINNERS. If you are new to writing or new to the internet writing forum experience, this is where you should begin. You will find tips on proper critiquing techniques in there as well as much needed support as you attempt your first poems and wobble about on untried poetic feet. This forum is also useful for intermediate and advanced poets when they are attempting to learn some new form or are just not certain whether a particular poem is working, either linguistically, thematically, or structurally. If you or your poem need special, gentle attention, please post in ~SUBLUXATION~. Kathy Paupore is our head moderator in that forum and she is well versed in offering just the type of support and guidance necessary in the situations outlined above. She is a published professional, and her specialty is working with new and/or blocked writers. When and if you make revisions to the work you’ve posted, just go into the edit function and post the revision(s) over the original. Work posted in ~SUBLUXATION~ is considered work-in-progress and is NOT considered for Poem of the Week and the IBPC. We suggest that when you feel comfortable that the poem has reached its best revision, that you re-post it in ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~, the next step in your writing journey. ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~ – We designed this forum mainly with the INTERMEDIATE poet in mind. If you have been writing for a while or have been participating in online writing forums (either WPF or one of our neighbors) and feel you know a good deal about poetic structure, you should feel very comfortable in ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~. This forum is also for those who only wish general comments and minor suggestions on their work, no matter what their skill level. We also intended this forum for those authors who are NOT interested in pursuing publication, who are comfortable writing in their own particular style as a hobby or creative/emotional outlet without regard for publication. M is the head moderator for this forum and has been working in this particular kind of forum for nine years. Work posted in ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~ is considered nearly final work that the authors intend to display for admiration, more than assistance with the writing process. When and if you make revisions to the work you’ve posted, just go into the edit function and post the revision(s) over the original. Work posted here IS considered for Poem of the Week and the IBPC. There is no need to repost your poems in any other forum for attention. As a matter of fact, we consider this double-posting and frown on that as it eats up precious server space unnecessarily. ~BIOFEEDBACK~ – We designed this forum mainly for our ADVANCED poets and for the published PROS. This is our toughest forum. You will be expected to have a good deal of writing and/or online writing forum experience under your belt. You will not be coddled here, but neither will you be flamed. Your work will, however, be subjected to intense scrutiny on all poetic fronts – language, form, theme, construction, etc. You will receive lots of line-by-line discussion and suggestions for improvement. You may even be told that the poem itself does not work from a content standpoint and that you should go back to the drawing board. This is the forum that will most likely turn you into a published professional if that is your goal or assist you in taking your work to the next level if you’ve already been published. We expect commentors in this forum to give detailed crits. If you are unaware of what constitutes a detailed critique, then this forum is NOT for you. We ask that authors post at least two DETAILED crits on other’s work for every poem of their own they post. When and if you make revisions to the work you’ve posted, just go into the edit function and post the revision(s) over the original. Lisa Cohen is our head moderator for this forum and she has a good deal of experience in this area. She is also a published professional, so her talents and guidance will prove quite valuable to you. Work posted here IS considered for Poem of the Week and the IBPC, so again, there is no need to repost the work in some other forum for attention. Do remember our rules against double-posting. So, as you can see, we have changed our structure and our goals somewhat when we changed to this new forum plan. There is NO MAIN poetry forum at WPF, no forum that will garner you more attention than any other. There is simply a PROGRESSION of forums to take you through your poetic journeys. If you are new to us or to writing, start in ~SUBLUXATION~, move to ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~, and finally enter ~BIOFEEDBACK~. Once you are comfortable, you can move back and forth among the forums depending on what you want to accomplish with each specific poem. Sometimes you will be totally lost on a poem (~SUBLUXATION~), only want general comments (~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~), or want detailed and thorough assistance to bring a piece to best/final for publication (~BIOFEEDBACK~). We have tried to design WPF to address all kinds of different authors at many stages of growth and development. Adhering to these guidelines on where to post should improve your poetic experience here at WPF enormously. The other Forums at WPF are specialty forums and are pretty much self-explanatory. Just read the brief intro information at the top of each of these forums and you will know what should be posted there. WHAT ARE THE POSTING LIMITS? There have been several questions asked about the limit allowed on posting in the forums. We are happy to inform you that as of May 2000 there is no longer a limit on the amount of posting. Please bear in mind though that less is more. If you post numerous poems back to back in a given day, do not expect numerous responses. It has been our experience that when that happens, most people will generally comment under one or two pieces and leave the rest. It has also been our experience that the more comments you make under other people's works the more comments you will generally receive. It is a reciprocal arrangement. The administration recommends that you post no more than one poem per day to allow readers the chance to appreciate each individual posting. Posting at least two comments for every poem you post is also a good general guideline. WHAT IS EXPECTED OF ME WHEN I COMMENT ON SOMEONE'S WORK? Please remember that you will receive from WPF exactly what you put into it. Generic comments like "This is a great poem" or "I loved this poem" are not very useful to the authors. When you comment, attempt as much as possible to make your comments targetted and valuable. Point to what you did or did not like specifically. Keep your comments focused on the poem, not the poet. If you have never critiqued in the past or you are unsure of how to critique here at WPF, please click on the following for helpful information: Critiquing Tips. Also, please check the top of each forum for more specific information about how to comment. WARNING: Any attempts to over-post in order to accumulate the number of posts necessary to participate in the WPF Get Paid for Publishing Program will be monitored. You will be reprimanded and your membership will be subject to review. CAN I POST THE SAME POEM ON MORE THAN ONE FORUM? Please do not post the same poem or other works on more than one forum, unless specifically told it is permitted by Admin. That is called "Double-Posting." WPF cannot afford the extra space this takes. Web space costs money. If we (admin and/or monitors) find a work that has been double-posted, all of them, including comments, will be deleted except for the first/original post regardless of the forum the original is displayed in. If this offense is repeated, ALL of your posts will be deleted. By ALL we mean the "offending posts" and you will be asked to refrain from posting that particular piece again. If this becomes a continuous pattern for you, you will be suspended from posting anything at WPF for a period not less than 1 (one) month. To further clarify, posting a "rewrite" or altered piece is NOT considered "Double-Posting". WHAT IS ADMIN'S PICK FOR POEM OF THE WEEK? Since the establishment of Wild Poetry Forum in November of 1998, we have selected one poem each week from all the work posted on the eligible forums within Wild (~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~, ~BIOFEEDBACK~, ~ASANAS~) to receive a special honor called Poem of the Week. Poems posted in ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~, ~BALANCING QI~, and ~SUBLUXATION~ are NOT eligible. In addition to this poem, several others are noted as Honorable Mentions. The Poem of the Week and Honorable Mentions are then showcased on the Hall of Fame page and archived. An announcement is made notifying the members of the winners of these honors each week. The Poem of the Week winners are also the candidates from which three selections are made at the end of each month for submission into the IBPC. If you'd rather your poems NOT be eligible for recognition, whether that be for Poem of the Week, Honorable Mention or IBPC consideration, all you need to do is notify administration of your wishes by writing adminwpf@wildpoetryforum.com. We will honor those wishes and exclude your work when we make our selections. WHAT IS THE IBPC? IBPC, which is short for the InterBoard Poetry Competition, is a cooperative of many different forums and poetry boards. It is an ongoing monthly competition among these boards that encourages interaction and community building while showcasing the best talent of participating boards. When you post work on Wild Poetry Forum in the above-named eligible forums, you are automatically eligible for the IBPC. Wild selects three poems from our Poem of the Week winners each month to submit into the IBPC. These selections are combined with the selections from all the other participating boards and sent to the IBPC judge(s) (author’s names and the boards the poems were originally posted on are stripped off to make the judging fair and unbiased). Each month, first, second and third place winners are chosen along with a number of honorable mentions. Those winning poems are featured on the IBPC board as well as the main discussion forums of all of the other boards. If you would like more information about the IBPC and how this competition works, please click on the following link: IBPC There you will find all the rules as well as the current month’s winners. An archive to past winners is also available. HOW IS A POEM SELECTED FOR POEM OF THE WEEK / IBPC? WPF does not have a nomination process like they do at some of the other participating boards. Our Poem of the Week winners are the group from which our IBPC submissions are selected. And the Poem of the Week winners are determined by a moderator vote. Each week, the moderators are asked to vote on Poem of the Week along with a number of Honorable Mentions. Those votes go to Admin, usually by 9:00 p.m. each Sunday. After compiling those votes, final decisions are made about Poem of the Week and the Honorable Mentions. These poems are posted in the Hall of Fame and an announcement is made on ~ESSENTIAL OILS~ (General Discussion) each week. Every month at the end of the month, we have at least four and sometimes five Poem of the Week winners (depending on how many weeks there have been in that month). The staff then takes those four or five Poem of the Week winners and hones it down to just three selections. Those three selections (that's the number we are allowed to enter each month) then go on to the IBPC. If your poem wins Poem of the Week, you will be sent an e-mail detailing all this and asking your permission for the poem to be submitted into the IBPC. As stated, there is no nomination process; however, members are invited to nominate poem(s) they believe are deserving of Poem of the Week honors simply by writing to Admin at adminwpf@wildpoetryforum.com. We definitely will take member votes into consideration as selections are made. But remember -- you must write to us by Sunday of any given week. Your votes can include any poem(s) posted in ~CREATIVE VISUALIZATION~, ~BIOFEEDBACK~, and ~ASANAS~ during the prior week. All other forums at Wild are ineligible for Poem of the Week/IBPC consideration. WHAT ABOUT IMAGES AND HTML? The current image limit is 75kb. HTML is allowed as the forum script permits. This is so that you may display your poem as you would like it to be viewed, with special features like bolding and italics. HTML for these forums is a bit different than most are accustomed to. Formatting instructions are available on the left hand navigation bar in a link entitled "Formatting" under the "Documentation" heading. Also, ~INTUITIVE HEALING~ (Test and Practice Forum) is available for you to doodle in while you learn formatting and other special WPF features. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "ADULT CONTENT?" It’s rather difficult to explain with nice easy answers. We wish we could write down some handy-dandy rules that would be a snap to understand and always applicable in every case. Like no four-letter words, no sex scenes, no this, no that, no the other thing. But it's not that simple. Instead of specific "rules," we have general guidelines. If it's written specifically to arouse and titillate, and it has no other focus, it's erotica and belongs in the ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~ forum. We can all identify that. In the public forums, we have no restrictions against four-letter words or strong language. We do allow oblique references to sexuality/sensuality in the public forums. And granted, after that it gets kind of sticky. In the case of less clear-cut issues, admin and the staff try to judge based on how the adult content is handled in the context of the piece. Is the poem trying to make a political/social point? Or is it just using references to sex/sexual parts in a gratuitous fashion? Sex for sex's sake? How explicit is it? Is it just a breast or a thigh? Or are we seeing penises and vaginas floating by? Another kind of guideline we use is television. Would it play on major TV networks before 9:00 p.m.? If so, then we let it remain on the public boards. If it's only for late night or pay TV, we ask the author to post it in ~THERAPEUTIC TOUCH~. We choose to make these decisions on a case-by-case basis. When there is some question about a piece, every member of the staff gets to take a look and come to his/her own conclusions. Then we discuss it back and forth and admin usually sides with the majority of the staff. We STRONGLY encourage authors to send us the piece by private e-mail if the author has doubts about the poem’s suitability for the public boards. We will be more than happy to review the work, and to inform the author about the most suitable forum at Wild for that particular piece. We are always available for questions by writing to moderators@wildpoetryforum.com or adminwpf@wildpoetryforum.com. So, if there are questions, write to us first before posting. That is much less difficult (for us and the author) than having to move a piece after it’s been posted. WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY POSTING PRIVILEGES? Please understand that the ability to post here is not a right but a gift from us to you, and that our monitors are NOT paid to help keep things running smoothly. Any amount of time they spend here to help you, answer your questions, mop up wayward posts, and yes, reprimand you is generously volunteered and they should be treated with the respect they deserve. BESIDES POSTING AND COMMENTING ON POEMS, ARE THERE ANY OTHER SPECIAL FEATURES AT WPF? Yes, we have attempted to make WPF a very full resource for writers of all levels. Here is some brief information about other programs at Wild that may be of interest to you: WPF Weekly Creativity Challenge Program The Weekly Creativity Challenge Program can be found in the ~BALANCING QI~ forum. For more information, click on this link:WPF Weekly Creativity Challenge If you are new to writing, you might be frightened at first to try to compete. However, please remember that this program is less a competition than a learning tool. If you put aside fears about competing and not being skilled enough, you will find that the Creativity Challenges offer you a chance to write poems and learn new techniques you never would have thought of or run across. Consider them more a classroom of sorts. We certainly welcome less experienced poets who are attempting to learn. You will not be ridiculed or chastized. You will grow as a poet. Please do check out all of the expired Challenges in our ~ELECTROMAGNETISM~ (Archive) forum to see how fun and educational they can be. Click on this link: Archived WPF Weekly Creativity Challenges Even though these Challenges are closed, please do consider giving them a try. You can then post the results in any of our critique forums and receive comments and additional help. WPF Workshop Exercise Program The same thoughts apply to our Workshop Exercises. The Workshop Exercise Program can be found in the ~SUBLUXATION~ forum. These exercises are designed for beginning poets who wish to learn and more experienced poets who would like to add to their poetic repertoire. There is no competitive aspect to the Exercises as there is to the Challenges. Please consider joining in the fun and feel free to play with abandon. Again, consider them a classroom, not a courtroom where you will be judged. For more information, click on this link: WPF Workshop Exercises Also, feel free to check out the archived Workshop Exercises in ~ELECTROMAGNETISM~. You will find them here:Archived Workshop Exercises BALANCING QI -- Community Involvement Forum If you would like practice writing small poems in short time frames that adhere to a set of guidelines, please investigate BALANCING QI, our Community Involvement Forum. The style and type of poem are dictated by the author of the individual thread. By author of thread we mean the person who started it. Any other member may then add to the poem or contribute a poem to the chain by posting in the thread according to the parameters set by the original author. You will find many different types of poems in this forum, including haiku, cinquain, tanka, limerick, etc. In addition, you can find threads that simply require you to write small free verse poems based on a set of criteria, for instance, a poem that contains six words given to you by the member who posted in that thread prior to you. BALANCING QI is a great place to learn about new forms, and to contribute to a growing thread of poems. You are not required to comment or to critique in this forum, so it’s also a good place if you just want to write and post your creations. There are no posting limits in this forum, except on the Weekly Creativity Challenges (one entry per member per week – see the Creativity Challenge Guidelines for details on this program). For more information, click on this link: BALANCING QI Forum WPF BookShop We have many types of books for sale in the BookShop -- books by our members, books by famous poets, books that teach the skills and techniques of writing, particularly poetry. There are also links to poetry-related DVDs, products, etc. You may investigate our BookShop by clicking on this link: WPF BookShop Please do take the time to browse around in there. The BookShop can be particularly valuable to new writers who are looking for instructions and training in writing poetry. We've done the work for you and found the best books. Now all that's left for you to do is choose some selections and start reading! WPF Library The WPF Library is housed in the ~NATUROPATHY~ forum. We've had some pretty fascinating discussions here at Wild about writing in general. We used to just let them slip off the boards to be lost forever in the Internet ether. Not any more. You will find many writing discussions in our library, from answers to grammar questions to publishing tips. If you have a question about poetry or writing in general, chances are we might have handled it in the past. So please consider a stroll through the library. You never know what important nugget of information you just might stumble across. You may access the library by clicking on this link: WPF Library Please consider all these valuable tools when it comes to improving your poetic skills and learning more about this craft we all practice and love. HOW IS WPF FUNDED? Wild Poetry Forum is a not-for-profit organization. It is funded primarily by its own administrators, and supplemented via private member donations and purchase of products in the WPF BookShop. Membership is free and private donations and BookShop purchases are not a requirement. However, if you wish to donate to WPF you can do so through two options for donating located in the BookShop, one program through PayPal and one through the Amazon Honor System. Although we do very much appreciate simple cash donations, we would prefer that you help WPF through purchases in our BookShop. WPF receives a percentage (about 4%) on everything you purchase there. This includes both the products listed and anything else you purchase through WPF’s link to Amazon. If you choose to help WPF in this fashion, you acquire books and other products you most likely would have purchased anyway, and WPF benefits. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. All money donated or received via member purchases is funneled directly back into WPF and used to fund important member programs. For more information on either donating or purchasing products, click on this link: WPF BookShop WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT PLAGIARISM? We take plagiarism very seriously. PLAGIARISM WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. Should you be caught posting someone else's work as your own without permission, you will be suspended from posting at this site and your membership will be revoked indefinitely. We would also appreciate being notified of any suspected plagiarism on WPF. If you recognize a piece of work, but know it was written by a different author, please alert us at adminwpf@wildpoetryforum.com. The alleged plagiarism will be fully investigated by us. The original author (if that author can be identified and located) will be contacted. WPF maintains close relationships with other poetry boards on the Internet. The Administration of these boards will be notified of the plagiarist's username and IP address. As far as plagiarism is concerned, don't even consider it. Thank you! WPF Administrators We hope you have found this information helpful. Thank you for your attention. If you have any further questions not answered here, please feel free to e-mail us your questions and comments!