The American Critic :: User Guide

About

"...the Sun enters the palace and the privy alike and is not polluted thereby. We raise not a Capitol or Pyramid to the pride of man, but a Holy Temple in his mind on the model of the Universe, which model we imitate. For whatsoever deserves to exist deserves to be known, and knowledge is the image of Existence. Now the mean and the splendid alike exist..." — Francis Bacon, Novum Oranum

Welcome to TAC-- Novum Oranum

The American Critic® (TAC) is a nexus where users become authors and critics of media-enhanced articles. TAC users deliver discussion on many subjects, including the latest news, politics, business, philosophy, and entertainment. User profiles and a colleague system are used to enhance social networking, and all articles are posted as permalinks, permitting external reference.

Using The American Critic (TAC)

Quick Answers:

How do I critique an article?
How do I rate an article, and what does that do?
How do I submit an article?
Can I use content and images that may be copyrighted when submitting an article?
How is content moderated?
How is popularity ranked?
What is Author/Critic Prolificacy?

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TAC's Home Page is divided into five main sections:

Menu Bar
Featured Articles
Categories
My Account

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Site Credits

Menu Bar

The menu bar provides the following links necessary to navigating the various sections of TAC:

Home
Users
Articles
Critiques
Search
Contact Us
Register
Submit an Article

(Note: The appearance of these menu bar options depending on registration status.)

Home

This link will return the user to the main screen, the hompage. The Home page can also be reached by clicking on the site banner, which is located at the top of each Web page. The homepage contains four types of features, the menu bar, and legal information, such as the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, which can be found at the bottom of the page.

Users

This screen displays a variety of user information, which can be sorted via the "View" drop-down menu:

Author/Critic: Username

Biography: An excerpt of a user's biography, as found on his or her profile page

Last Visit: The date of last login (*This information can be hidden via My Account/Edit Profile)

Total Stars: The total amount of stars received for all articles ever posted

Articles: The amount of articles posted

Critiques: The amount of critiques posted

Recent Article: The date and title of the user's most recently published article

Recent Critique: The date and an excerpts of the user's most recently published critique

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Articles

This screen displays a variety of published-article information, which can be sorted via the "View" drop-down menu:

Title: The title of the article

Published: The date published

Last Viewed: The date last viewed by a logged-in user

Rating: A graphic depiction of the average amount of stars given to the article

Author: Username and avatar

Articles: The amount of articles posted

Critiques: The amount of critiques posted

Last Login: The date of the author's last login (*This information can be hidden via My Account/Edit Profile)

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Critiques

This screen displays a variety of published-critique information, which can be sorted via the "View" drop-down menu:

Submitted: The date the critique was published

Excerpt: The beginning text of the critique

Article: The article the critique is focused on

Last Viewed: The date last viewed by a logged-in user

Critic: The user that made the critique

Articles: The amount of articles posted

Critiques: The amount of critiques posted

Last Login: The date of the critic's last login (*This information can be hidden via My Account/Edit Profile)

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Search

This link loads the search page, which may be used to located articles, critiques, and authors using a variety of options.

Contact Us

This link allows users to e-mail TAC any questions, comments, or concerns that they may have. For requests to have an article featured, users should message TACMAN, using the TAC messaging system.

Register

Registering is a very simple process that requires inputting your desired username, password, and e-mail address, and that's it. After clicking the submit button, you gain full access to TAC, instantly, and do not need to verify your e-mail address for 10 days after registering. We call this approach hassle-free.

Submit an Article

This link is only visible to registered users, and when clicked, it loads the article submission page. There are a few steps to posting an article:

Title: This field will determine the title of your article, which cannot be changed once the article is submitted. The title will also determine the permalink (Web link) to your article, which you can share with your friends or embed in other Web sites.

Body: This field contains all of your body text, in other words, the content of your article. BBCode is supported, and you can mouse over the icons to see what each does. For example, you may embed media and adjust formatting. Additionally, you may copy and paste text from an MS Word or similar document source, though if you do this, be sure to verify that the text is "clean" while viewing it in the preview mode. Clean text is free from symbols or markings that may be computer generated when pasting text from one interface to another. Remember, edit your work thoroughly to ensure the best presentation possible!

Note: If you have quoted material from a source other than your own, such as a Web site, be sure to credit the source, and be sure to place "quotation marks" around the material that you have copied and adding the source in parenthesis.

Example: "Four people were killed and several injured after an explosion Wednesday at a chemical plant sent a thick plume of smoke over a section of Jacksonville" (CNN.COM).

Properly crediting sources is necessary to avoid plagiarism, which is the act of presenting someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.

BBCode Buttons: These buttons allow authors to edit text styles and embed images, videos, and Web links to their article content. The "BBCode" link located beneath the article body text field reveals additional information along with formatting options not present in the button selections.

Categories: This section determines the categories in which an article will be displayed. You may select up to two.

Website References: These fields allow Web links to be entered so that they will display as hyperlinks, accompanied by the description provided, once the article is posted. Adding a Website reference is a good way to make sure you are giving credit to a necessary source and avoiding plagiarism. Reference links are also a great way to point to another TAC article, perhaps your former treatise on a topic.

Example:
URL #1: http://theamericancritic.com/articles/NORML_Fixed
Description: My previous article on NORML can be found here, but some of my opinions have changed since then.

Attachments: These fields allow attachments, such as images, PDF files, Word Docs and more, to be uploaded so that they will become available, accompanied by the description provided, to viewers.

Note: If images are uploaded, they will automatically display to the right side of your article. If your article is a reference to a news story or another Web publication and you wish to display the same image being used by the source, be sure to credit that Web site by inputting the URL in the description field. Properly crediting sources is necessary to avoid plagiarism, which is the act of presenting someone's words or ideas as if they were your own.

Example:
File #1: t1home_bush3_tues_ap.jpg
Description: (CNN.COM)

Moderation

The American Critic wants to foster an environment for maximizing discursive dialogue; however, there are some forms of dialogue that obstruct this kind of discussion. We will not tolerate the following:

Hate language: This includes racial slurs, threats, and other deliberately insensitive and verbally abusive language.

Explicit content: This includes pornography and other content deemed inappropriate.

Disclosure of private information: Information deemed private may include social security numbers, driver's license numbers, credit card or bank information.

Spam: Spam refers to solicitations of all types as well as other contributions not related or tangible to the topic.

Plagiarism: Presenting someone's words or ideas as if they were your own. We all make references. So just add "quotations marks" or a simple citation to indicate where the quoted material was taken from. In the example below, you will notice the CNN was the source.

Example: "Four people were killed and several injured after an explosion Wednesday at a chemical plant sent a thick plume of smoke over a section of Jacksonville" (CNN.COM).

When content warrants moderation and is removed, the user will receive an explanation via TAC's messaging system and is welcome to request further information.

Posting a critique

The American Critic wants to foster an environment for maximizing discursive dialogue, and posting a critique of an article is a great way to do this. A critique is essentially a comment being made to the author or other critics of a particular article. Critiques support BBCode, and you can mouse over the editing icons to learn what they do. After entering a critique into the Comment box, you may select the "make this critique anonymous" box to hide your identity. The "Follow critique" box will be checked by default. Uncheck it if you do not wish to receive e-mail notifications when new critiques are made.

Rating an article

In addition to critiquing an article, you may rate it using the star system. Click furthest to the right will assign a five-star rating to the article, which is the most favorable. You may overwrite your previous rating indefinitely by simply clicking the star scale again. Your rating will be used in determining popularity rankings for the article and author.

Popularity

There are two types of popularity:

Article Popularity is determined by the total stars received per article. For example, if a user click the star icon for a five-star rating, the article receives 5 points; one point per star.

Note: Users may click on the star icon more than once. Each new click will overwrite the user's previous rating. The highest rating that can be earned is denoted when all five stars are highlighted. TAC's rating system will count each star as one point. When multiple articles have the same amount of points, the article with the most unique views will be designated more popular.

Author Popularity is determined by the sum of all stars received by all articles submitted by an author.

Features

There are four types of features present on the homepage:

Featured Articles: TAC's home page contains two Featured Articles. These articles are chosen by TACMAN to be featured, and all articles submitted are subject to being featured. A user may request that his or her article be featured by simply messaging TACMAN. There is no determined length of time that any given article is to be featured for. Articles may also be featured intermittently.

TACMAN's Corner: This is where TACMAN, the site's mascot, makes announcements or offers commentary.

Featured Member: The Featured Member feature presents interviews of selected TAC users.

New Articles/Critiques: The center panels, New Articles and New Critiques, are automatically populated features the flush out the most recent site activity.

Categories

At the bottom of the Home page, TAC's article categories are presented along with the number of articles per each. Articles may appear in up to two categories if designated by the author during the article submission process.You may click on a category to view all articles within.

My Account

This link is only available to registered members, and it appears in the upper-right corner of the homepage near your avatar. Once clicked, your personal profile page displays all of the information that you have inputted and elected to be displayed. With the exception of the links located on the right-hand side of the page, what you see here is what other members will also see if they choose to look at your profile.

On the bottom of the page is the "View my history link," which when clicked, allows you along with other TAC users to view your article and critique contributions. Note: You may elect to hide your history via the Edit Profile link.

On the right-hand side of the page, the following links appear:

Edit Profile: This link brings you to your profile's control settings. You may do all of the following:
Change password
Upload avatar (profile display image)
Add your Web or blog site for other users to visit
Add a quote to follow all of your critiques
Input personal information and demographic data
Adjust your privacy settings
Subscribe or unsubscribe from the newsletter

My Colleagues: The link brings you to your My Colleagues page. Colleagues may be one-sided or mutual. Adding a user as a colleague is a great way to keep track of them or show your interest in his or her contributions; likewise, users may add you as a colleague. If both parties accept each other as colleagues, then the status becomes mutual and will be displayed on your profile page for other users to see.

My Messages: This link is a quick link to your personal mailbox, where you may send and receive private messages. The Send Message link is used to send other TAC users a private message. To find an addressee, simply type the first letter, or more, of the addressee's username in the "To:" field. All related usernames will appear for you to select from. Note: Only one user may be addressed at a time.

Credits

Graphics by:

The American Critic logo design by RenderOvernight

Trosset Creative

Themes by:

Programming by:

Icons by: