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Units, standing, trust levels and badges

The site has its own internal currency – units. They are earned by stitching and spent on paid charts and on deals on the classifieds board. Beside it live three things that are not currency and cannot be bought with it: your trust level, your standing (the figure on your page) and badges. This article explains how all of this works from your side: where each thing comes from, where you can see it and what cannot be done.

What units are

Units are the site's internal money. Chart prices are written in them, for example «20 units».

  • Units cannot be bought for real money and cannot be withdrawn back into money. This is deliberate and permanent.
  • Units cannot be given or transferred to another person directly. They move from person to person only through buying a chart or a deal on the board.
  • The site keeps a small fee on every sale – its size is written on the price page and in the listing form.

How to earn units

The main source is stitching in the tracker. Once a day the site closes the previous day (in your time zone) and pays units for the stitches credited on that day. Every few dozen credited stitches earn one unit.

Not every stitch is credited. This is on purpose, so that units cannot simply be «drawn»:

  • Only stitches on charts from the catalogue count – or on a chart you bought or started stitching straight from the catalogue. Your own private charts and imported files work in the tracker as usual, but bring no units.
  • Very small charts are not credited.
  • Payments start at the «Member» trust level (more on levels below).
  • If you mark a very large piece in the tracker in one save, it goes into your progress but not into the credit. Mark your work as you go – the way you actually stitch.
  • Unmarking and marking again, deleting a project or pressing «Start over» earns no new units: each cell of a chart is paid for once.
  • A single day has a ceiling. An ordinary evening of stitching, even a very long one, does not reach it.

The second source is sales: money for your paid charts and for deals on the classifieds board (selling charts is covered below).

How much you have

There is no separate page with your balance. The balance is named in the message you see when a deal on the board costs more than you have: «The deal costs … units and your wallet holds …». The state of your wallet is also part of the data archive you can request in «Settings» (the «Your data» card).

How to buy a paid chart

A paid chart in the catalogue has «Buy for …» and «Put in the basket» buttons instead of «Stitch this». You can stitch a paid chart after buying it.

  • «Buy for …» – buys this one chart at once.
  • «Put in the basket» – sets the chart aside; the button turns into «In the basket». The «Basket» page shows every chart and the total («Altogether»). The basket is paid for at once – the «Pay» button buys either everything or nothing.
  • If there is not enough in your account, you see «There is not enough in your account for this. Nothing was charged.».
  • You cannot buy your own chart, and a chart you already own is not charged for again.

After buying, the «Library» opens with «Bought, … spent.» at the top. The «Bought» section holds the chart, its author, the price, the date and the links «download the chart» and «download as OXS». The chart's page now says «This chart is yours.» and has a «Stitch this» button. A bought chart stays in your library even if the author later takes it out of the catalogue.

The price you paid does not change

«Bought» records exactly the amount you paid. If the author later raises or lowers the price, starts a sale or removes the price altogether, your record does not change – the past is never recalculated on this site.

The same rule works the other way too. If a price changed while the chart was in your basket, payment will not go through at the old price: you see «A price changed while you were reading. Nothing was charged», and the basket shows the new amount.

How to sell your charts

You cannot put a price on any chart straight away. It takes:

  • a chart that is in the catalogue and stated as your own work or as published with permission;
  • the «Regular» trust level and enough standing;
  • two charts of yours already in the catalogue that anyone may take for nothing. This condition is asked only when a free chart gets a price for the first time.

Open your chart in the catalogue and click «Set a price». If something is missing, the «What this chart costs» page says exactly what. If everything is in order, you get a form:

  • «Price» – with a hint about the price ceiling and the percentage the site keeps;
  • «Sale price» and «The sale ends» – a sale is lower than the usual price and always has an end date;
  • «Remove the price», or an empty price field – the chart is free again.

A price that is already set can be raised, lowered or removed at any time. When somebody buys your chart, you get a notification. The proceeds do not reach your account at once, but when the holding period ends – the sale notification says so as well.

Trust levels

Your trust level is written in grey under your username. There are three:

  • «Newcomer» – where every account starts. You can draw charts, use the tracker, write stitches and comment.
  • «Member» – arrives on its own once your email is confirmed and you have spent a little time on the site. It opens public chart links, submitting charts to the catalogue, a first message to a stranger, reports, wiki editing and units for stitching.
  • «Regular» – arrives with time: regular visits over a week, some activity, likes from other people and no upheld violations. It opens the classifieds board, selling charts and group conversations.

A level cannot be bought and cannot be earned by standing – only by time and behaviour. It never drops by itself; only a moderator can lower it, and that is always a separate decision.

Standing

The «Your standing» block on your page is a figure showing how much useful work you have done for the site. Above it is written who can see it. Strangers see only the current figure («Standing»); everything else in the block is for you alone. You can hide the figure from everyone in «Settings», the «My standing figure» line.

What makes up your standing:

  • «Getting started» – five steps, each counted once: a picture, a few words about yourself, your language and time zone, your first chart, your first finished piece.
  • «What you have shared» – charts in the catalogue, likes on them, pieces finished from catalogue charts, reviews of charts you bought, deals carried through. Each line has its own ceiling, so no single thing can carry the whole figure.
  • Awards from the site team. If an award is public, an «Awards: …» line with the reason appears under the figure.
  • «Findings against you» – an upheld report on your work lowers the figure. After a while it stops being subtracted.

Next to the current figure you see «best so far». A break in activity slowly lowers the current figure but never touches the best one, and the site's features open by the best one. A quiet month takes nothing away from you. At the bottom of the block, «What this opens» lists what standing gives together with a trust level, and each line says «open» or «not yet». Standing cannot be bought with units.

Badges

Badges are given by themselves, for real work: for credited stitches (a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand), for finished pieces, for charts accepted into the catalogue and for reviews of charts you stitched. There are no badges for merely being on the site.

A new badge appears in the «Badges» block on your page and as an «earned a badge:» line on your wall. The page shows the six most recent badges, the rest as a count. By default only you see your badges; you can open them in «Settings», the «My badges» line. A moderator can take back a badge earned by gaming the system.

The «Who stitched how much» table

The Who stitched how much page compares credited stitches for a «Day», «Week» or «Month» – «Among»: «Everyone» or «People I follow». There is no link to it in the site menu: the way in is from «Settings», the «Public comparison» block, the «See what this table looks like» link.

By default you are not in the table. To take part, tick «Let my results be compared with other people’s» in «Settings». You can untick it at any time – you disappear almost at once, including from tables already built. The table has no speed, no hours and no list of charts, only the number of stitches. If you are not in the top rows, the line «Your place is …» appears under the list. A guest sees the table without signing in, but without the «People I follow» option.

Invitations and premium

Nothing is paid for inviting friends. How to create an account is described in Account and settings. Premium or a special status cannot be bought on the site.