In an effort to keep the main page as clean and accessible as possible, we've created this F.A.Q to answer questions about The Jane Project itself, submissions, moderation, administration, and technical details. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact us (See Where Should I Submit Ideas and Feedback for The Jane Project below). Not only will we answer you promptly, we will probably update this page to reflect your question/answer or clarify the item you're asking about.
- What is the Jane Project?
- How did The Jane Project Begin?
- What are People Saying about The Jane Project?
- How do I Submit my Work to The Jane Project?
- What are the Submission/Comment/Moderation/Political/Thread Guidelines?
- Can I Submit/Comment/Participate Anonymously?
- Where Should I Submit Ideas and Feedback for The Jane Project?
- How Can I Help Promote The Jane Project?
- Are There Recent Technical Changes to The Jane Project?
- What Technical Resources Did You Use?
If we had complete anonymity, what we as women, have to say about being a female? The Jane project serves as a safe place to speak out about our own truths through art, letters, stories and pictures. We are not a social experiment, we are a gathering of women with the purpose of better understanding one another and thereby securing the means for change in how we view one another and our gender as a whole.
How did The Jane Project Begin?
The Jane Project is the brain child of two women who pondered on the question, "Why do women allow ourselves and one another to be hurt, harassed, assaulted, bullied, and objectified?". Our question certainly doesn't mean that we think it is the fault of women-kind when these things happen, our question means that we wonder why women are so willing to turn a blind eye or even participate in these activities.
It has become our opinion that we as females have labeled one another the enemy. We become defensive when another is skinnier, prettier, smarter, faster, or stronger than us. We are in a constant state of competition that has left the members of our gender isolated from one another at our very core.
We are online friends. We have never met in person but talk through email, sometimes several times a day. We have realized that, because of the nature of our relationship, the need to compete and compare ourselves to one another just isn't there. Because of the anonymous nature of an online friendship we felt more open, even compelled to tell one another things we wouldn't dream of sharing with those closest to us in "real" life.
It is this idea that brought us here to create The Jane Project, a completely safe space to share the female experience. Here at TJP we encourage you to do what feels comfortable to you. If you choose to remain anonymous, we hope you will feel safe to open your heart to all of us here without fear of judgment. If you choose to post under a pseudonym or your real name, we like that too. As a matter of fact, one of us has chosen to retain anonymity, while the other did not.
We will post excerpts from the early conversations leading up to this site's creation and hope that some of you out there will bring your emotions, intellect, opinions and your true selves to share in the Project. Only through expression can we truly understand one another.
What are People Saying about The Jane Project?
We are pleased to be able to share just a few of the comments we've received on The Jane Project:
- From the director of a shelter for battered women: "The Jane Project is a useful operation, and I will be using some of the submissions to discuss with our entrants and will definitely be encouraging our entrants to share their own stories."
- "I looked at the site. It's really good. I wouldn't change a thing!"
- Via e-mail: "Dr. Janet Rose (drjanetrose) is now following your updates on Twitter."
- "I feel that TJP is valuable learning tool. I have begun taking topics and letters from the Project and using them to broach topics with my patients in group therapy sessions. I hope you will continue to do what you all are doing. We could all learn so much from one another."
- "Just wanted to let you know I am totally in love wtih the Jane Project. I'm passing the word on to as many gf's I see. G'luck with it because it's a very helpful and insightful site."
- "I have become hopelessly addicted to this site!"
- We published one long comment as a post.
- From a resident in a drug rehabilitation program, "Some of the ladies at our center read the submissions and comments from TJP to the others who are not able to read. We're encouraging work on a group entry that we can type so that they can share with TJP as well."
Please submit anything you feel is reflective of your female experience. Visual art, poetry, stories, audio recordings, even music are all accepted and very much encouraged. We are not concerned with your political leanings. We do not pander to one side or another and submitted materials dealing in politics will be weighed heavily against others.
Not everything submitted will be displayed on the main board. Please, only send us your own work. If you think something is inspiring and that other women should read it, email us the link and we'll consider it for a special posting.
We have established several different methods of submission/contact:
- Completely Anonymous Submissions / Contact: Use the web-form on the left nav bar. The web form requires the user submit an e-mail address. Use our address, (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com), instead of yours, for complete anonymity, even from us, the admins. This contact/submission method gives us no way of knowing who you are or contacting you for editing/questions regarding submissions.
- Pseudo-Anonymous Submissions / Contact: Use the web-form with your own e-mail address or the e-mail link on the left nav bar, or e-mail us directly (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com). This contact/submission method lets us, the admins, know who you are and contact you for editing/question purposes regarding your submission. If you do not want your identifying information published or want to publish pseudonymously, just tell us how you'd like it published. Many of our submissions have been submitted with identifying information but published without it.
- Anonymous Commenting: We've received feedback, about the redesign, that commenting anonymously is onerous because readers don't have/want Google IDs, etc. We think there may be some confusion on anonymous commenting because it's quite easy.
When the "Comments" link is clicked, a a pop-up window appears to type the comment. At the bottom of that window are 4 radio buttons: Google ID, OpenID, Name/URL, and Anonymous. Commenters wishing anonymity can just click the [Anonymous] radio button, type a captcha (avoids automated comment spam), and click [Publish Your Comment].
What are the Submission / Comment / Moderation / Political / Thread Guidelines?
- Submission Guidelines: Submit by e-mail or web form anything you feel is characteristic of your female experience. Writing, artwork, spoken word, multimedia, and music are all welcome. If you're in doubt, submit. If we need to work with you before posting your work, we will.
- Comment Guidelines: The goal of TJP is to provide a safe environment for women to voice their thoughts, dreams, experiences, failures, baggage, etc. A "safe" environment does not include aggression, intimidation, name-calling, sniping, jealousy, intentionally inflammatory provocation, insults, incivility, or other negativity. We understand that emotions can run high, we're human, too. If you're passionate about a topic, please draft your comment/submission and revisit it the next day in an effort to see your own attitude through fresh eyes.
- Why we Moderate Submissions and Comments: Unlike submissions, we cannot edit comments. We can only moderate on a Pass/Fail basis, i.e. a specific comment is in or it's out. If we deny your comment, it's because we don't think that it meets the Comment Guidelines above. The admins will always discuss with each other any comment denial to be sure said denial is not a one-person-in-a-bad-mood error. We're asking everyone to please keep comments civil, per the Comment Guidelines. Though we cannot edit comments, we can edit e-mails, so you can comment by e-mail if in doubt (just tell us which submission you're commenting on and whether or not you want your identifying information included). We will either then post your comment as-is or contact you regarding a questionable content and ask you to re-draft it if necessary. Our goal is not to censor your speech but to be sure that no one is overtly attacked once they've let their guard down in the spirit of TJP. Honesty and discussion, even if it's occasionally heated discussion, is our goal.
- Political Guidelines: We initially advised that submissions of a political nature would be fine-toothed and bear a heavier burden than non-political submissions. Our initial concern was that political items tend to divide, devolving into shouting matches that end in insults, while the goal of TJP is just the opposite. Through several discussions, we've begun to consider opening our horizons a bit more on this topic because so many of the issues that concern women have important political facets. We're open to items of a political bent, but please take extra care to be civil in both submissions and comments of a political nature. Please be advised that we will be watching for ugliness in submissions/comments of a political nature in an effort to prevent a descent into name-calling.
- Thread Guidelines: Please try to keep personal vs. political comments/submissions in different threads, i.e. don't comment to rant about the politics of abortion on a thread begun by a submission from a Jane about her abortion, or vice-versa. If a political piece about HPV vaccinations drives you to comment about your child's side-effects from same, please submit this so that we can publish it and therefore begin a new thread on side-effects and medical concerns while the first thread discusses the politics of same.
Submissions can be made anonymously (see How do I Submit My Work to The Jane Project? above) either by using the web contact form or your own e-mail. If you'd like to use your own e-mail to submit, but would prefer we not publish your name, just tell us that. Many of our already-published submissions were traditionally e-mailed and published anonymously.
Including your contact information (but our not using it if you don't want us to) is actually our slightly-preferred method for submissions/contact because if editing/clarification is required, we can contact you and work on the piece. Again, we give you our word we will not identify you in a post if you'd prefer not to be identified. In fact, each of the admins has posted anonymously herself. A large portion of the power of The Jane Project is the anonymity option.
We have established several different methods of submission/contact:
- Completely Anonymous Submissions / Contact: Use the web-form on the left nav bar. The web form requires the user submit an e-mail address. Use our address, (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com), instead of yours, for complete anonymity, even from us, the admins. This contact/submission method gives us no way of knowing who you are or contacting you for editing/questions regarding submissions.
- Pseudo-Anonymous Submissions / Contact: Use the web-form with your own e-mail address or the e-mail link on the left nav bar, or e-mail us directly (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com). This contact/submission method lets us, the admins, know who you are and contact you for editing/question purposes regarding your submission. If you do not want your identifying information published or want to publish pseudonymously, just tell us how you'd like it published. Many of our submissions have been submitted with identifying information but published without it.
- Anonymous Commenting: We've received feedback, about the redesign, that commenting anonymously is onerous because readers don't have/want Google IDs, etc. We think there may be some confusion on anonymous commenting because it's quite easy.
When the "Comments" link is clicked, a a pop-up window appears to type the comment. At the bottom of that window are 4 radio buttons: Google ID, OpenID, Name/URL, and Anonymous. Commenters wishing anonymity can just click the [Anonymous] radio button, type a captcha (avoids automated comment spam), and click [Publish Your Comment].
Where Should I Submit Ideas and Feedback for The Jane Project?
You can contact us for any reason via either the web mail/e-mail links in in the left navigation bar on every page or manually typing our e-mail address (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com) into your web mail account or integrated e-mail client. We encourage all feedback (good or bad!) and any ideas you have for TJP, be they content, features, layout, technical, or anything else. Because you can use the web form, your contact can be anonymous, just input our e-mail address (jane.doe.admin[at]gmail.com) instead of yours for anonymity.
How Can I Help Promote The Jane Project?
We are inordinately pleased every time someone asks this question. First and foremost, tell every single woman you know about The Jane Project! Tell them why it's important, tell them how it affects you, tell them why it has value to you, personally. Personal endorsements are more credible than general good comments.
We have developed letter-sized PDF promotional materials that can be downloaded and printed. We have business cards and tear-offs (right-click, "Save As"). Just cut the business cards apart and then hand them out or leave them in stacks on literature tables where women congregate. The tear-offs are two-per-page. Just cut them apart, fringe the end with the URL tear-offs, and pin them to bulletin boards or paste them to walls where women will see them.
Please, be responsible if you choose to help promote TJP. When leaving/posting these promotional items, obtain permission if appropriate and honor requests to not leave them.
Are There Recent Technical Changes to The Jane Project?
06/11/09 -- In response to feedback we've received, we've changed the color scheme, created a new masthead graphic, and updated this FAQ to clarify anonymous and pseudo-anonymous submissions and anonymous commenting. Please let us know if there are any questions regarding the FAQ or its updates. Also, we're still looking for someone to assist with the javascript read-more bug, so please connect us with anyone you think can help!
06/06/09 -- We've cleaned the front page by creating this F.A.Q., and we've instituted the "Read More" feature that truncates each post on the front page and adds a "Read More" link. We're still having a bit of trouble with that feature, though: Every other time the main page loads, the posts aren't truncated. We're still trying to chase this bug down, and if you know of anyone versant in javascript who might like to help, please refer us.
06/04/09 -- The "View Our Stats" link at the bottom of every page now opens in a new window/tab (dependent upon your browser settings). Though we generally dislike this feature in other websites, we really didn't like idle statistic curiosity leading readers off of the blog.
06/01/09 -- To more elegantly provide submission/contact anonymity, we've instituted an as-anonymous-as-you-want-it submission/contact web form. To avoid spammers, we've obscured the mailto: link. Though these are both javascript solutions, we've included alternatives readable by browsers without javascript enabled. As a result, we've disabled the anonymous Gmail account we'd created and for which we'd published login credentials, and we've removed those credentials from the blog history.
What Technical Resources Did You Use?
- Romantico blog template from OurBlogTemplates
- Statistics counter from StatCounter
- Contact/submit e-mail address obfuscator script from Jottings
- Contact/submit web form from Kontactr
- Creating a static page in Blogger tutorial from iSimplyBlog
- Automatic post-truncation script from Bloggerstop (not working well yet)
- Various HTML tags from w3schools
- File hosting: Boxstr
- [I Tweet, Follow Me] button from Twitbuttons
- [dis be worthy o'Reddit] button from Reddit
- [Technorati Favorites] button created at Kalsey.com
- [Violence Unsilenced] button from Violence Unsilenced
- [Kirtsy This] button from Kirtsy
- [Tweet This] button on individual posts from BloggerBuster
- [Share This] button from AddThis
- [Subscribe/Atom] link is a Blogger widget
- Software: Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 3, Photoshop CS3, Gimp 2, Microsoft Word 7, Microsoft Notepad 5, and Open Office Writer 3.