Knowledge Base

When a new user joins Critique Circle they can login straight away but their account is marked as Trial. This means that every critique must be approved by our moderators, you cannot send messages or forum posts and you can only look at a total of 10 stories (some other restrictions may also apply).

An account is upgraded to Registered once a moderator has reviewed the application. This usually happens within a few hours of joining CC.

Welcome aboard! 😀

No, only one account per person is allowed.

If you sign up for an account while you already have one your new application will be rejected.

If you want to start a new account and close your old one please contact the admins.

You can see your overall critique grade on Account Info page, under the Statistics tab. From there you can see how your grade has changed over time.

You cannot, however, see how each of your critiques was rated.

Click on your username on top of the page in the right corner and choose Public profile.

From there you can click on to change your basic information: Primary Info, Details, Information, Privacy and Other settings.

You can customize your profile page like you want.

If you make any changes, click on Submit changes. When you are done, choose

To add your favorite books, click on the Library tab:

On the right side, click on

If you would like to add your favorite CC authors to your profile, go to their profile page (Community: Member List: Search for their username). On top of their profile page is a box on the right side. If you click on Add Favorite you have added them as your favorite CC author.

You can also send this member a message, if you are a premium member you can add the member to your buddy-list or add a note on this members profile page (only visible to you). You can also block this member or look at their forum profile.

Go to your profile page by clicking on your username on top of the page in the right corner and choose Public profile.

Click

If you click somewhere inside the yellow box below, you can change your profile picture by uploading a file from your computer:

Go to your username on the top of the page in the right corner. Click on Preferences.

There, below your profile photo, is your full name. If it is not correct, please write your full name and click on Submit changes.

If you click on the Privacy tab on top of the page, you can change your privacy settings, including Show full name.

When you have chosen your preferences, click on Submit changes.

Go to your username on the top of the page in the right corner. Click Change settings.

This will take you to your Account settings page, where you can edit your Email address and other information at any time.

If you make any changes, click on Submit changes.

Go to your username on top of the page in the right corner. Click Change Settings.

Choose Password where you can change your password.

Go to your username on the top of the page in the right corner. Click on Change Settings.

Choose Email settings.

When you are done choosing your preferences, click on Submit changes.

Go to your username on the top of the page in the right corner. Click on Change Settings.

Choose Profile.

Choose the Privacy tab.

There you can turn on/off the Show activity information. If you make any changes, click on Submit changes.

If it is off, other members won't see any information about your activities on Critique Circle.

The activity information displays an activity level, a list of your stories and critiques, approximately the last time you visited the site and some other information (you can hover over the username of other people to see some of this information).

Note that you might see this information yourself for your account but rest assured, other people will not.

Navigate to the 'Library' under the 'Community' dropdown menu. From there, type in keywords such as the book's title and the name you published it under. Unless your title is outrageously unique it'll save you time to include both the full title and author of the book into the search field.

The bookshelf is linked to Amazon, which means a) You won't have to worry about adding your book to the bookshelf. If it can be found on Amazon you'll be able to find it here. b) Whatever Amazon shows as the information for 'Title' and 'Author' is the same information you'll want to use in your keyword search.

Once you've located your book via the library search you'll need to click on the hyperlink for the book title so you are taken to the physical page for your book (if you see '=search' up in the address bar you are not on the physical page for the book). At the bottom of your book's permanent home on CC you will find a 'click here' link following the question, "Are you the author of this book?" Clicking this link will position your book in the "Books written by CC members" category on the Bookshelf's main page and link you as the author.

You cannot change your username yourself but you can send a request here to do it for you. You are allowed a one-time username change.

Your new username must conform to the naming standards of CC. The restrictions are as follows:

• The first letter is capitalized
• There are no other capitalized letters
• Minimum length is 3 characters
• Maximum length is 10 characters
• No special characters or spaces are allowed
• No other user currently has the username (you should search for the username in the member page first)

If you want to change your username use the button here. It will take the admins up to a day or two to process your request.

First, make sure you have upper cases and lower cases where they should be.  Password is not the same as password.

If you're 100% sure you are spelling things right it's possible that you don't have cookies enabled on your browser.

Go to Tools, Internet Options. Click on Privacy and then on Advanced. Choose to enable all cookies.

This is not the same for all browsers or versions but you should find the cookies in similar areas.

If you still can't log in, send us an email: support@critiquecircle.com

This can be found by clicking into that little "flag" icon (also known as the 'Notification Center') located in the upper-right portion of the page - just above the menu bar.

Once you prompt that drop-down menu you'll find that the last list item shows the number of members currently online.

From there, if you're curious to know exactly who those people are, you can select the button for 'view members' and you'll be provided with a list of names.

If you see a list of members, they can also see your name. If all you see is "Sign in to view list", nobody can see your name - though you can change this instantly by clicking that sign-in link and then clicking the 'submit changes' button at the bottom of the settings page (which you will be automatically redirected to).

If you wish to remain anonymous while logged in you will need to select 'change settings' from the drop-down menu spawned under you user name, navigate into the 'account settings' tab, and check the box that says, "Hide my visits and online status".

The status for online members is updated every 10 minutes. A member may therefore appear online although they left during the last nine minutes. It's also possible for someone to have been using the same page for ten minutes and thus appear to be offline. To that extent, this is not always a completely reliable list.

One way to deactivate your account is to simply stop signing in. If you don't want any future mails from CC, disable reminder mails in your settings. Then your account will automatically be deactivated after you haven't logged on in a year or so (note that if you have a recurring premium subscription you will need to suspend on your subscription page).

If you want to close your account immediately and permanently you can do so here.

If you want to remove your stories simply delete them yourself before quitting. Critiques on deleted stories can only be viewed by the person who wrote the critique.

Private messages in your message box will only remain there for 30 days. There is also a 100 message limit, counting inbox and outbox. When your box is full, the oldest messages will be deleted.

We do this to keep the database fast and manageable.

You should store your messages elsewhere, for example by sending them to your own email regularly. The best way is to go to All messages, select all messages and press "Send messages". You'll receive a single email with all the selected messages.

When you've made sure you have received all your messages in your email, you can delete all the messages in your on-site mailbox, leaving plenty of room for new messages.

Premium Members have a limit of 500 messages and no expiration. Premium Gold members have an unlimited message box.

Tit for Tat is an equivalent given in return. When someone critiques a story from you, it is common courtesy to critique a story from them in return.

If you go to your username, on top of the page in the right corner, click on Tit for Tat list.

There, you can see the details on how you stand regarding other members you have critted or who have critted you. The system tracks those people who have given you a critique so you can return the favor.