Discussion rooms received new option, now you can create private groups and invite BookLikes members to join and chat.

To set up a private group follow the procedure of creating a discussion group: go to Discussion rooms, click create group, fill up the form and choose Private - Yes. 

Once the group is created you can invite your friends to join. 

To invite others, type e-mail address or user's username in Requests spot and press Invite. Your friends will receive an invite email to your group. If the e-mail address does not belong to BookLikes member, invite your friend to BookLikes first. You can do this in Friend’s tab. 

Please remember to type Username (not blog name), username is the first part of your BL webpage address, e.g. if you would like to invite BookLikes to join a private group, enter “blog” (our address is: blog.booklikes.com).

Entrance to private groups is open only for people accepted by group’s administrator. If you want to join a private group, click Request on a group page. Once you’re accepted by admin, the group and discussions will be open for you.

If you’re group’s admin, you will receive notifications about pending requests. You can accept them, reject or block the members on Show Requests Page (entrance is on Group Info Page).

As a group admin you can also change your public group into a private one. To change group status go to your Group, click Group Info and Edit. Then you’ll be given a form with private group option available. 

Discussions and posts in private groups are visible only for private group members. Non-members can see only limited group info.

Tips

If you'd like to write a post about more than one book and insert book covers in the text, you can easily make it happen on your blog. If you hover over the book chosen on the wooden bar (you can select up to 10 titles), you'll see several options for: link, image, and x for remove.

Thanks to these options you can put link or book cover image inside the text. The cover will appear in the place of your cursor. To choose image set up, mark it in the text and choose Image icon on the tool bar on the top of the editor and adjust place and size. Update to see changes.

This can be quite helpful while writing reviews about book series or for thematic posts.  

pic source: via

Who wants a candy? 

Candy #1 - publish a comment

OMG, is it a plane, is it a star? No, it’s Publish button in comment box! It’s really here, go and check and leave us a comment :-) 

Now you can use Enter to add new line and click Publish to add a comment under a post.

Candy #2 - discussion stats

We've opened discussion statistics. Now you can view who said what and where, and join new groups and discussions.

Entrance to your stats in on the main page of the Discussion Rooms - just click My Stats to see groups you’ve created, discussion you've taken part in and recent posts.

To view discussion stats of other members, click Discussion stats in discussion thread. You'll be moved to a discussion profile of that person.

You can also view all members of a given group. Go to Group Page and click Group Info to see other BookLikers who joined a given group. To see discussion stats click the avatar.

Candy #3 - new themes

New blog themes are available in BookLikes Theme Store! Parajunkee, our new designer, stays busy and makes two more templates available for your blogs: Notebook ($9) and Voodoo Princess ($19). 

To see all blog themes, click Customize in Settings/Blog and then Themes in upper left corner. To buy themes click buy and follow the instructions (PayPal account required). Read more here.

Eat sweets without guilt, enjoy and stay busy on BookLikes :-)

Discussion Rooms are getting filled with book lovers :) And now we’re giving you extra option to make your discussion posts unique. You can edit your posts with basics HTML tags.

Let’s see what formatting is now available in your Discussion rooms:

The easiest way to add formatting is to copy/paste a given tag and insert your text/link between markers, e.g.: [b]I loved this book![/b] -> I loved this book!

We’re sure that after several posts, you’ll know them by heart :-)

And if you make a mistake or a typo, don’t worry. You can easily Edit your post and make all necessary corrections.

Another new feature is sticking discussions within a group. For the time being this option is available only for Administrators of a Group. If your are Group Admin and you notice that a given discussion receives bigger attention, bring it to the top. Enter the Discussion and click “Stick”. Then it will be first above other discussion in the group with special marker. 

It's Halloween today! Do you have any reading / writing plans for the evening? If not, we'll help you with spooky atmosphere.

Check out 20 horror books recommended by BookLikes book bloggers: Spooky Reads For Halloween - Horror Books That You Loved. 

  Boo! ;-)

18 + Due to Strong Sexual Content, Extreme Violence 

Book Geeks Unite says: “…raw, edgy, unpredictable, and even funny in parts. I was pleasantly surprised and entertained by this erotic thriller.” 

Amber’s Reading Room says: “It’s dark and twisted just the way I like it.” 

Book blogger Pia Bernardino says: “All Of Her Men is unapologetic, unconventional, unpredictable, interesting, tough and witty ...” 

Jolene is no ordinary woman. She’s young, vivacious, and oh so dangerous. Burdened by her uncontrollable urges, Jolene struggles to live with a sexual dysfunction so harsh it consumes her entirely. 

But when she starts receiving strange letters she suspects the worst. Someone saw her in a compromising situation. But what did they see? And what do they want? And how the hell did they find her? 

“It’s like Dexter meets 50 Shades of Gray.” Ryan (reader)

In case you've missed it, there is a Science Fiction and Fantasy discussion room up and running.

http://booklikes.com/groups/show/18/science-fiction-and-fantasy-group

We're currently the largest and most active discussion room on Booklikes, except for the Official Group. I'm not sure how long that will last with other, fast growing rooms out there.

We're planning a group read of Brian Sanderson's "Mistborn," in November.

See you in the room.

Rocky