In a world of unlimited likes, a like stops meaning much. Stanza gives you three reactions — Cheer, Encore and Tomato — and one of them, the Encore, is deliberately scarce. That scarcity is the point.
Scarcity creates meaning
Think of a standing ovation at a reading. You would not stand for every performance; when you do, it means the work truly moved you. An Encore carries that same weight. When a poet receives one, they know a reader chose to spend something limited on their poem.
How many Encores you get
Your Encore allowance is set by your plan and refreshes every month:
- Free and Plus: 8 Encores a month.
- Pro: 15 Encores a month.
- Organization profiles: 15 a month per profile, when the organization is on the paid Organizations plan.
Each profile has its own allowance — the Encores are not pooled across your profiles. Months run on UTC time, so your allowance resets at midnight UTC on the first of the month.
Now and then the Stanza team may grant extra Encores — for example, for a special event. Any extra allowance shows up in your remaining count straight away.
Seeing what you have left
The Encore button shows how many you have left this month. When you reach zero, the button is disabled until your allowance resets at the start of next month.
Taking an Encore back
You can remove an Encore you gave, but it does not come back to your budget. Spend them on the poems you mean.
What Encores can go on
Encores are for works: poems, podcast episodes and live performances. Replies, lists and profiles do not offer an Encore: a profile takes a Cheer only, and replies and lists take a Cheer or a Tomato.
Why not just more Encores?
Because an unlimited Encore would become another like. Cheers are unlimited for everyday appreciation; the Encore stays rare so that it keeps saying "this one stayed with me".
Not sure whether a poem deserves an Encore? Give it a Cheer now, and come back at the end of the month to spend what is left of your allowance on the poems you are still thinking about.