WritersCafe.orgReviews 39

Writing is the last thing on earth this site is all about. Try sexual predators, online fishing, trolling, $#*!ing, stalking, emotional drama and baiting etc.You won't be disappointed.

I started a book project on the site. When I typed in my first chapter I clicked on "Save." The screen flickered as if responding, but the editing view remained the same. When I navigated to "manage writing" and looked at my project again there were no chapters at all. Thinking I had missed something, I repeated the whole process very carefully. Same result. However, I had just entered a chapter on a similar site and it went perfectly. At that point I decided to get off Writers Cafe.

I deleted my work (i.e., title and cover page). That part did work. But then I found the link to close my account. I clicked on it and was given another page with a box to leave a message and another button to go ahead and close the account. I did both. But it did not log me out or give me any indication that my account was deleted. I logged out, and then tried to log in. My account was still active. I repeated that process a second time, with the same result. I then used a site link to send a curt message demanding that they delete my account. But even though they have my email, I've heard nothing back.

WritersCafe.org has major privacy and security flaws, not to mention numerous other broken and outdated elements.

Once I created an account, I received an activation link, which when tapped logged me straight into someone else's account! I was able to see their full name, email address, all their personal details! Maybe this was a mess that could have understandably occurred in 1999, but this is absolutely shameful to see in 2023.

I would not trust my data with this website AT ALL. All I did was make an account like normal to post my poetry, tapped the activation link received via email, and it took me right into the other person's account who doesn't even realize their account was breached and personal data compromised. I logged out of his account, then logged into mine under my email and password and immediately closed it.

I messaged the admin/moderators to advise them of the incredibly easily achieved privacy and security breaches, and offered to provide screenshots and the original activation link to assist with fixing this major flaw, but have received no response. Extremely poor and utterly careless. User data should be an absolute priority.

Additionally, the website itself is a broken mess so I'm not surprised this happened, e.g. showing links for 'Sign Up' literally above 'Logout' when I'm not logged in, which of course makes zero sense as one cannot exist with the other.
The registration page is also badly formatted, meaning on a smartphone screen the text is jumbled together in a vertical string of letters, requiring you to turn your phone landscape to simply make it somewhat readable, and even then some letters are still jumbled vertically. The site is just an archaic mess that doesn't seem to have been updated for a decade or two.

Honestly, avoid this website at all costs and use other more modern and secure poetry websites. Your personal details could be viewed by ANYONE and could lead to your identity being stolen, fraud, spam, etc which can cause a lifetime of life-changing and immensely stressful problems. Not worth it. Just avoid.

This is a writing community. You can post your work and get reviews. It is a free site that allows you to read as much as you like or post as much as you like. I have been on it over 12 years. Hope to see you there.

Lololololo...as a cafe clown is known to say! Poor $#*!y Jenkins, pervert Emeritus! Rides to the rescue of his wayward 'poet' folk! You know that saying about how the truth hurts? Well, Poor $#*!y Jenkins has been outed for the closet pervert he really is! The simple fact is thus: Any female that joins this writing site bearing an avatar of any youthful semblance, is immediately accosted by this Richard Jenkins, who promptly plumps his $#*! on their writing pages and sneakily, in their private mailboxes. And why? To offer them his 'services' as a teacher of poetry, of course! *wink, wink*! Which, by the way, he'll happily come running to teach you if you are stupid enough to fall for his fake persona and 'charms'! And this from a total $#*! that thinks he is a Laureate of poetry simply because he writes, airheaded, pointless, boring, dull, soulless form poetry in...wait for it, wait for it...forms to WHICH HE MAKES UP ALL THE RULES! Now isn't that genius! Let's make up the rules of a brand new poetry form and show how good we are to all the babes! You see? Any idiot can look like a Poet Laureate when they are making up forms and the rules for such forms! And this is $#*!y Jenkins in a nutshell. An overweight, aged, online Casanova trying to seduce young women with poetry forms of his own creation...but only to teach them, of course! Lololololo. If you join this website, immediately block this $#*! of a man before he squats all over your personal page and tries to lure you into his clutches. So many, many, many, many young females have left this writing site, primarily because of the perverted, unwanted, puke inducing attention of this man. But of course, he'll deny. Don't even Catholic priests charged with sexual crimes do the same? He has been the subject of online investigation for the past three years in which the results are in the process of being collated, upon which they will be submitted to Federal Police for deeper investigation and criminal charges. We now live in a world, real and online, where women deserve to be protected and free of sexual predation. So the truth shall set us free. Richard Jenkins, Ladies and Gentlemen. Avoid him at all costs.

The format is good but the politics is discouraging. The site is dominated by mostly retired, obscure people with little writing ability who indulge in a lot of behind the scenes mailing and form cliques and circles. This leads to a lot of mutual backslapping among them to the exclusion of those who do not indulge in such networking and social hobnobbing. As a result, talented and sincere writers often get embittered and leave. The site has lost a lot of traffic and membership due to these reasons.

Whether you are just starting out on your Writers Journey or a fully-fledged Published Professional, this Site is for you. Particularly good for Poetry, but all Forms and Styles of the Written Word welcomed. If you read the negative Reviews of Writers Cafe on Site Jabber, you will generally find that they are written by people who have been thrown off the Site. Come and give it a try and see for yourself.

I returned to the site after a break to gain relief from the most troublesome troll David Demmers, aka KT Little. He still roams the site at will. The site is flunky and crashes often as you try to post reviews or reply to them. Recently the moderators who have not acted for years against serious issues (and I mean serious such as cloning my pages and sending out vile content, allowing one character called to post vile photographs etc). Suddenly I find my account closed by the moderators with no explanation and having done nothing wrong. The site seems to simply harvest revenue from advertising.

Website have so many bad sides. Technical state of website need really up date. Too often get frozen and you have to log again. But main problem is too many bullies and even your report them they accounts are still open. They use it profanity words and try to put you down. They can also blame you from plagiarism and they don't give proof of it. And again your report them nothing happen. I can say after this experience I am done with any websites. It's seems at this days it's full of miserable people who can just make them self happy when they hurt someone and make you leave. True is moderators don't care but other writers don't care neither. Even they are your friends. Quiet sad. I just hope this bullies will don't get worst cause it's quiet intense and nobody cares.

Writer's Cafe is what I call a "self-licking ice cream cone." There's a small clique of mediocre writers who are "top reviewers" and usually the "top writers." They essentially praise each other's work, mostly poetry, and ensure they remain at the top. A few of these people can be nasty, especially if you appear a threat to their standing on the site. I'd recommend any other writing site. I've used Writer's Cafe off and on for three years and it's mostly been a waste of time.

Site seems to be running on its own. Admins do not or will not respond to emails. Easy to use, but there are annoying quirks that need fixing (or otherwise explained) but probably never will be. The "Discover" feature (which randomly pulls up works by others for your review) won't work if your ad-blocker is on, but they never warn you of this. In re books: I tried to add the first chapter of a book, but the process is persnickety and weird and for some reason it won't accept editing afterwards. There is a Facebook page, but you won't get any response there either. PRIME PROJECTION: The site collects ad revenue for its admins and that's all the admins care about.

Just scrolled through a great number of the comments posted here. My guess is that the vast majority come from those who are either abysmally poor writers who have had their egos bruised, or simply have no real interest in the written word.

I write for my own pleasure only, but enjoying sharing my work with like minded scribblers who and are not part for the disease that seems to infect the whole of the internet, (the cloak of anonymity,) which allows the unpleasant and twisted mind free reign.

Perhaps no Robert Frost, or Emily $#*!inson will ever be discovered on Writers Cafe, but so what, as far as I am concerned it's a perfectly good showcase for us doubtless always to be amateurs; and as far as I am concerned, its detractors can simply crawl back under the rock they came from.

Beccy. Writerscafe.

There has been much discussion here about judging the "quality" of writing on this site. Surely any reaction to poetic licence is purely subjective. But as I am unable to either write, or interpret obscure phrases, I write for my own pleasure, also hopefully for my readers and not catharsis, which does seem to be prevalent on most writing sites.
How does one judge the merits of those emotions, without knowing the individual and the reality of those miseries?. Perhaps this explains the paucity of reviews.
Contributing to this site, at least has introduced me to different styles, which, in turn has widened my perspective.
If you need a more formal critical approach, there are more academic courses run by colleges etc., which can be quite brutal, but not always meeting the less formal standard.of the enthusiastic amateur.

" Horses for courses" is the watchword here.
L

My experience over 5 years with writing on this site. Usually You don't get honest reviews people always write like this is great or you make it well today. But what they really meant you never get it. I can see there lot of anger and hate in between writers. Since there no more exist forum there is no any real discussion. Looks also there is no in operate any moderators. I saw so many poems with copyright pictures and nobody cares. Some writing is very lame without any level of literacy. You can also get block from others writers for no particular reasons. Top review writers and poets. They writing looks like trash from 14 years old person. Groups basically not work there. You can put there writing how many times you want but nobody cares. Forum in groups don't work neither. Contest are very low quality basically anybody can win. You never get any publish contract with magazines. So all together is not so good. But I visited few another simulate web sites. I was not impress neither. If you think your writing is great. Send to the New Yorker etc.

I joined Writer'sCafe about a week ago and dumped about 20 stories and several books into their system. The other day I was browsing through my work and found they had blotted out the word 'bastard' from one of my titles. The fact that some yahoo in the backroom didn't like that word was the first red flag. The fact they didn't have the courtesy to contact me was the second red flag. I was stunned that they would do something like that. I didn't wait for the third red flag, I erased all my work, took my profile down and got the hell out of there.