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Digital Passions
Poetry Magazine
New Features
Passions has undergone a lot of changes in the past ten years, er, I mean, weeks (well, it
*seems* longer), but that certainly doesn't mean we're ready to become stagnant just yet.
I'd like to tell you about a few of the new changes that have already happened, will
happen in the next week, or are just really good ideas that have been passed along to me.
As always, I welcome your comments (depend on them would probably be closer to the truth).
Write and let me know which ones of these you think are worth pursuing.
 A "comments" field has
now been added to the Votes form. We're getting a LOT more votes than we ever have before,
across a very wide spectrum of tastes, and most of those are now coming in with some very
interesting remarks. (And, no, I'm not going to tell you who's ahead right now!) I'm not
sure how to implement it yet, but within the next few weeks I'd like to add a new section
to each poem so the poets and visitors can read what others have said about the work.
Almost from the beginning,
Passions has had two forums where visitors could post live messages, and almost from the
beginning, those have gone largely unused. The first forum, called "Feelings,"
was meant for the visitors to simply discuss the poetry, while "Critic's Corner"
was their opportunity to beat us up a little. But poetry readers don't seem to be as
vociferous as poetry writers, so the first forum has seen little use, and we must be
writing *really* great poetry because the second has never seen a single post. I'd like to
keep "Feelings" for those few who do have a voice, but I think the second forum
should be rededicated to poets. The question is, should it be for exploring great debates
(what is the meaning of True Love, for example, or the differences between free form and
metered poetry), for posting poetry we'd like help or suggestions with, or for something
else entirely? Should non-writing visitors be allowed to read and post, read only, or not
allowed entrance? Give me some ideas...
On a related note, I
eavesdropped on Michael and PoetDevine not too long ago and heard them (unknowingly) echo
an earlier suggestion from Sage. Is it time for Passions to incorporate a chat room into
the family? The idea would be to post a weekly schedule of specific times when certain
people would be on-line and ready to chat. We could set up an hour or two a week for the
poets to discuss the great issues of life live, without the need to check a forum every
few hours. Those poets who were willing could commit to an hour when they'd be available
to chat with visitors and answer that always asked "Where do you get your
inspiration" question. We might even invite well-known poets (always ready to help
promote their latest book) to hold court occasionally. What do you think? Who would be
willing to participate? Write me!
I should have know it would
happen. Within six hours of posting the new greeting cards, I received the first (of
several) requests for wallpaper and screen savers. Ask, my friends, and thou shalt
receive. It's not on any menu, but those who now subscribe to Digital Passions (and of
course those already subscribed) can now download "some" wallpaper at
http://netpoets.com/wallpaper - which brings us to the next, and perhaps most exciting
potential change:
The suggestion came from a
visitor, but it really pertains mostly to our poets. Few poets expect to make any money
from their poetry, and none of us would ever write strictly for a buck or two. But
wouldn't it be nice? The idea is to put together a CD of about 20 wallpapers, and maybe
screen savers, and offer them for sale on the web site. Each and every poet on the CD
would divide the profits evenly. On a per-poem, per-poet basis we're not talking a lot of
money. But if we sold a hundred a week? Or a thousand? Personally, I think it would be
wonderful if our resident poets could actually make some money from their hard work. It
might give them time to write more! And there are strong indications our visitors might
really appreciate it. If you're interested in participating, visit The Poet's Section and
if you can think of any ideas to make this even better, by all means write me!
What, you don't think that's
enough new ideas? Okay, I have one more for you then, though it really has little to do
with the Passions web site and more to do with our growing family of poetic friends. I'd
like everyone to stand up for a moment, please. Now, I'd like you all to give a loud round
of applause to Nancy Ness for cluing me into this amazing software. It's called ICQ and
maybe you've heard of it. Been around for a while. But unless you've actually used it, you
have no idea what you're missing. It's like instant (but controlled!) communication with
everyone you know on the Internet. You download the software at
http://www.icq.com/download and then install it. It runs in the background while you're
on-line and lets you know when someone on "your list" is also on-line. You can
chat, exchange files, and even point them to a new URL you think they'd enjoy. It's really
amazing stuff. For those who'd like to join the party, my logon is rcarnell, my email is
rcarnell@voyager.net (one way to find people), and my ICQ number is 2968650 (not really
necessary, but what the heck). Hope to *talk* to you soon... (And thanks again, Nance!)
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