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News Entry Date: 3/25/2014 12:18pm

Please sign up for the new Facebook group ThePoeticLink v2.0 -I am working on gathering support for the new system but need everyone's help in networking and contacting old friends. Funding this project is going to take a lot. I am planning to take a full year off of work to work which would allow me to do the TPL redesign full-time. https://www.facebook.com/groups/283293021826773/ If we get enough people backing my idea, I will initiate a KickStarter project for this.

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News Entry Date: 6/28/2008 11:05pm

Well it's been a long time since I updated the news. I figured tonight was a good night to write something because I just finished a very large site move. I was more or less forced to purchase a new server lease with a new company because the old server company that I was with was going to be upping their prices dramatically. I apologize for the duration of the upgrade with regard to the main TPL site. The forum was up after just 2 days but the main site took me much longer to bring up. Anyway we're here and everything appears to be running smoothly. :) Several people wrote to me asking if they could help by paying for some services or something ...to that extent I will say if you'd like to donate toward the site, you may go to http://OUPower.com (my other site) and use the donation link there. It will all go to the same place in the end. So we're in a much better place now, this server is great and I now have some new development tools in place to help me start working on my dream of one day deploying TPL2. Yes that dream is far from dead. It just may take me much longer than I ever anticipated. LOL -Chris

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News Entry Date: 3/27/2005 10:50pm

Hi guys! There's just a few days left in March to make a poem submission. The current top poet prize is $49.26 but grows with every submission credit purchased during the month. You have 4 more days from the time this was written, to push that prize pool up higher. I was hoping that we could hit a top prize of $100 this month ...that would have been very nice, so let's see if we can't improve on that number, shall we? I'm doing my best to drum up activity and get things going once again, so if you have not visited us in a while, please make a point to stop back in and submit a poem. I'm also working hard on the new TPL v2 (version 2) code. I'm testing, re-testing and re-writing everything. The new code is going to be much easier to maintain and will allow me to add features much easier then before. My goal is to get activity levels up considerably on the current site so that when we're ready to start testing version 2 ...we have a LOT of people to help me in the testing phase. Please come and join us on the Discussion Boards and let your voice be heard: http://ThePoeticLink.com/phpBB2/ I look forward to seeing you all on The Poetic Link! That's all for now :)

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News Entry Date: 3/9/2005 12:29am

Hello Everyone, Now that I have finally finished switching over to PayPal for all of my financial processing needs on The Poetic Link, I would like to start once again offering CASH REWARDS on the site. Due to financial difficulties directly associated with my old method of processing payments, I was forced to turn these Cash Prizes off for the past few months. Now that the issue has been resolved I'd like to turn our Cash Prizes back on again! :) -How's that for good news? :) Let's see how much money we can generate this month... shall we? For my part, I will write a script which will show (in REAL TIME) just how much money will be coming back to the members as Cash Prizes this month. The number will go up every time someone purchases Submission Credits. It will be just like the State Lottery where you see the prize getting bigger and bigger. I have always given back to the site, a huge percentage of the monthly profits. That has and always will be my operating rule by which I abide. With the addition of this script, you'll now be able to see the prize money grow throughout the month. I hope this will encourage you to join the fun once again. Just so you know, we've only received $10.45 in Submission Credit Purchases this month. The amount is a bit odd because of processing fees that are taken off before the money reaches TPL. But I'm extremely happy with these much lower fees for PayPal now that we've switched to using them. We should see a LOT more in our bottom line (and Cash Prizes) thanks to this change. Please remember that PayPal takes out .30 cents per transaction plus 2.9% ...so please buy larger lots of Submission Credits instead of just 1 at a time if you are able to do so. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things are proceeding slowly but very well on the new version of The Poetic Link (v2). Just so everyone knows, v2 stands for Version 2. This is going to be an entire system rewrite and not just an update to the existing system. I'm taking my time because I want to make sure it's done properly this time around. :) I am still working on the project plan so I have not yet started to code any of the new modules, but I will let you know as soon as that happens. Once the new coding has begun I'm going to need beta testers to volunteer for testing of the new system and its functionality. There are going to be a LOT of wonderful and new things built into The Poetic Link v2. Many of the improvements are going to be centered upon giving you much better control of your work along with an active revision process. I'm still hammering out the details of just what the new site will be like so I encourage you all to join the new Discussion Boards and read the newly Proposed revisions for yourself. I am very close to releasing Revision 4 which is going to be vastly different from the current Revision 3 which you will find on the Discussion Board now. Many of the changes between Revision 3 and the coming Revision 4 proposal were because I got some excellent feedback from our user-base. I depend on feedback from each of you when it comes to trying to understand what everyone is looking for in the new site. If you don't communicate your wishes or concerns, you will miss out on being part of something amazing here. How many other poetry sites do you know of where you are actually invited to be a part of the design process for that site? If you find another one, let me know! :) The link to the new discussion boards is: http://thepoeticlink.com/phpBB2/ -All discussions pertaining to the new site design will be done through the new Discussion Boards so please use this forum rather then e-mailing me. When you enter the new Discussion Boards, please be sure to read the forum at the very top, the one titled Very Important Information, PLEASE READ! That's about it for tonight. I hope this newsletter finds you all in good health and in good spirits. I'm looking forward to a TPL revival so let's see what magic we can bring about. Please contact your old TPL friends to share the good news with them! Feel free to forward this newsletter on to them if you like.

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News Entry Date: 2/21/2005 5:25pm

Hi guys! It's been forever since I added a news update eh? Well there's a LOT of stuff to report so it's about time. First of all... PayPal payments are now the accepted form of payment at TPL. You will NOT be forced to sign up for a PayPal account, if you do not want to... but it will make things much quicker for you, if you do. Please test the new functionality and support your favorite poetry site by buying some submission credits through PayPal now. If you should run into any problems, just e-mail me and I'll fix the issue. You will not have to worry about loosing any money if you hit a bug. -I'll take care of it. Plans are well under-way for many new features in the site re-design so if you are not already a member of the new Discussion Board, please go there (to the forum) and REGISTER today. You should register there with your same User ID as you use here on TPL. Your account is NOT automatically set up on the Discussion boards so you need to do register manually to be able to log in and participate. You can reach the new forums by going to the HELP menu at the top or just link there directly by going to http://ThePoeticLink.com/phpBB2/ TPL is due for a major face-lift ...wouldn't you say? Well the new proposed designs are being discussed daily on the new discussion boards so please sign up there to participate and weigh in with your opinions. I will not be taking private e-mails to discuss the new changes, that will all be done through the new Discussion Boards so use them! :) That's about it for now. Please let your friends know to sign up for the new TPL Discussion boards if they have not already done so.

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News Entry Date: 7/5/2003 7:01pm

Hey guys. I apologize for the 4 days of downtime there but it was very nasty to say the least. Everything should be back up and running now -if you find a problem, just e-mail me. The FeaturePrice.com host went Belly-up ...and I mean Belly Up! So we had to move to a new host. If you're seeing this message that is a good sign. You may still not be able access The Poetic Link for another day because your DNS servers will need time to update. After your DNS server updates you should be able to get to The Poetic Link without a problem. E-mail might still be messed up so if you have something important to tell me, please send it 2 or 3 days in a row, to be sure I get it. We had to restore to a June 30th backup. It was like 11:30pm so that's good. The FeaturePrice people crashed things just hours after I got the last backup so we should only have lost a tiny bit of work. I apologize to those of you who lost submissions or critiques. -I can NOT resurrect critiques so please don't ask :( For now we're on a new host. I am going nuts from all of the crap today so it's time to go watch some fireworks :) I spent the entire day setting up the new server and moving everything over. I hope it is all in place. Again, sorry for the trouble, but we'll get through the gunk someday ...right? :) -Gotta keep your chin up! -Someone very wise once said "Shit Happens." -Was that Forrest Gump? -Oh well... we're not immune so we'll learn to roll with the punches. Happy 4th of July guys :) -Chris

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News Entry Date: 6/20/2003 11:33pm

Hi guys. You haven't seen this many newsletters in a forever :) Oh well, that's what being temporarily unemployed will do to you! At any rate I believe I had a nasty bug in the newsletter and it was only reaching about 1000 people of the 9000 it should have been reaching. I hope that it is fixed now, but we'll see as soon as I hit the big red button. At the end of this newsletter I am going to include the info I wrote in the last one, just so that everyone has the chance to see the important information. Since I am going to try to make a go of things on my own, I am going to be opening up my own Web Developer business. I am going to couple that with the attempt to sign some schools up with TPL, as you will see below and in the newsletter before last. So if you know of anyone in need of Web Developer skills, please let me know. I have the time now. 717-653-9916 or just e-mail me! If I can just generate enough funds to pay the monthly bills, I will stay home and do this stuff full time ...so now's our chance :) --------------------------- last newsletter re-posted --------------------- As I referred to in my last newsletter, I am going to begin my campaign to schools today. If you think that your school would be interested in signing on with The Poetic Link, please let me know. I will be personally going to the local schools in my area to speak with the administrators, but I am open to any schools who wish to sign on. You can give my number to your school administrator if you think that they may be interested in signing up. 717-653-9916 My target is 30 schools signing on for 1,000 credits each. If I am able to achieve this goal, we should have the funds necessary to allow me to devote my full attention to The Poetic Link and not need an outside job. -Wish me luck :) -Chris

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News Entry Date: 6/19/2003 9:56am

Hi guys. I just wanted to let you know that the May awards were sent out yesterday. As I referred to in my last newsletter, I am going to begin my campaign to schools today. If you think that your school would be interested in signing on with The Poetic Link, please let me know. I will be personally going to the local schools in my area to speak with the administrators, but I am open to any schools who wish to sign on. You can give my number to your school administrator if you think that they may be interested in signing up. 717-653-9916 My target is 30 schools signing on for 1,000 credits each. If I am able to achieve this goal, we should have the funds necessary to allow me to devote my full attention to The Poetic Link and not need an outside job. -Wish me luck :) -Chris

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News Entry Date: 6/11/2003 9:28pm

Hi guys, I just wanted to let you know that I am between jobs at the moment. I have been searching my soul for what it is that I wanted to do. -Go back to work for another company, or try to make TPL support my family. The reality of trying to make TPL support my family is merely a matter of exposure and spreading the word to others. Now that I have got the time I could always do those new upgrades that I talked about so often ...but I need the financial backing to do this. So I don't have very long to decide and in all likely-hood I would have a hard time ramping up finances so quickly... but I figured I would put the information out to everyone since you never know how fate works. There is one way that I can think of making this work. The time is right, because school is just letting out for the summer all over the US. I often thought that if we could get The Poetic Link into schools (high school and universities), it would be a trend that would grow and grow. Teachers would have a valuable tool at their disposal and it would allow them to literally sit back and watch as the site did the work ranking their students. My idea was that if I could offer packages of 1,000 credits to schools, then they could use those credits as they saw fit. The administrator could receive the 1000 credits. They would in turn distribute the credits to the english and literature teachers who would in turn distribute the credits to their students as necessary. Students would create accounts on TPL and submit their work and critique others. Teachers could monitor student progress by quickly scanning the winner's list whenever they like. If I could secure 20 to 30 school agreements in this manner it would easily mean the success of my dream to do TPL fulltime! -I don't know how many of you are on school boards or how many of you might have some pull with schools in your area, but I figured it couldn't hurt to throw the idea out there. The contract would state that this first year would operate with the existing infrastructure, but that the following year would introduce all new code and functionality which would enable a HUGE amount of control for the teachers and administrators of the schools. They would be able to see statistics for all sorts of things, they could lock down information or make things private in any way that they saw fit. In all there would be a total rewrite of TPL so that the schools could have all sorts of wonderful controls and features. The upside to it would be that normal users would receive many wonderful benefits as well. With the time to do TPL without any other job obligations, the sky is the limit. I hope you can see where this could go. So I'm asking you for help, but I'm offering the possibility that we could take literature on the web to a whole new level. -Let's see if we can make a go of it... what do you think? Can we work together on this guys? Please print this newsletter and talk to your schools. TPL has been here over 4 years now. It survived the recession, it survived all sorts of web hosting problems. I believe that the time may just be right for us to finally take that next step in TPL's evolution. -Chris 717-653-9916

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News Entry Date: 5/29/2003 9:15am

Hi guys, I just wanted to let everyone know that things are going well for The Poetic Link. I had to reduce the prizes a few months back, to conserve cash but we are ever so slowly making steady progress. The reserves were down to about 200 dollars, but I sold some stuff on e-bay and that added about 350 to the account. We are up to about 750 right now, so at least the funds are being maintained. I just want everyone to know that I have no intention of going anywhere and still have high hopes that some day soon, I can do this full time. -I keep waiting for someone to remember TPL in their Will *grin* ...then we'd be all set! On a more serious note, I have begun writing a book. I figured I would tap some of you for knowledge or perhaps even contacts in the publishing world. Writing books professionally is something I know nothing about. If any of you have editors or publishers that you know and trust, please let me know. I may need one some day in the not so distant future. I have a long way to go, but I am sure that finding an editor and publisher for a book/novel is difficult so I might as well start looking now. I hope that everyone has a wonderful summer. Get outside and enjoy some time with your families! As always, my thoughts are with you. -Buy some submission credits, invite some old friends here and have a good time. That's what life is all about. Here are some links you may want to use: Submission Credit Purchases: http://ThePoeticLink.com/pl/buy_credits.php3 Donations: http://ThePoeticLink.com/sales/donations Anthology & T-Shirt Purchases: http://ThePoeticLink.com/sales All my best, -Chris

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