Replies & Correspondence

Join the Correspondence

Replies on Stanza are called Correspondence: letters written to a poem and its poet, rather than comments in a stream. You can write to any poem whose poet has comments switched on.

Writing a letter

1. Open the poem.
2. Scroll to the Correspondence below it, or open it from the letters count.
3. Write in the box ("Write back…") and choose Send.

The poet is notified, and your letter appears under the poem for everyone who can read it.

Write-backs and exchanges

Letters are threaded. To answer a particular letter, choose write back on it. Your reply joins that letter's exchange, so every conversation stays together instead of scattering down the page. Long exchanges fold up neatly ("3 more in this exchange") until you open them.

Each writer's letters carry their own ink colour, drawn from their profile theme, so an exchange between two people reads like one.

The ✒ Poet badge

When a poem's author writes back in their own Correspondence, their letters carry the ✒ Poet badge, so you always know when the poet has answered. The badge never appears on anonymous poems, because that would reveal who wrote them.

What a letter shows

• The writer's name and avatar, with their ink colour down the edge.
• When it was sent.
• Reactions: you can Cheer or Tomato a letter. Encores are reserved for poems.
• A write back button.
• A ⋯ menu with options such as Edit and Delete (for your own letters), Report, and whether others may add your reply to their lists.

Margin notes

A reply can also live beside a single line of the poem: a margin note, anchored exactly where a line moved you. See "Margin Notes, Letters, and the Settling Window".

When replies open

Letters open the moment a poem is published. Margin notes and critiques open after a short settling period (currently 30 minutes), once the text has settled.

Your letters in other places

• On your profile: turn on Show replies on my profile under Settings › Privacy to show your replies in the Poems tab of your profile.
• In lists: others can add a reply to their reading lists unless you turn that off from your reply's ⋯ menu ("Others can't add this reply to their lists").
• In activity: under Settings › Privacy › Who sees what you do, the Replies & margin notes row decides who sees your replies in activity feeds. Your letters always appear in the thread under the poem.

For poets

Turn comments on or off for each poem in its settings (Allow comments). Closing comments stops new letters; existing ones stay. See "Permissions on Your Work".