Margaret Fisk's Word Advance™ Progress Meter

Seeing your progress when working on manuscripts can be difficult, especially for larger projects. The Word Advance™ Progress Meter makes it easier by providing a visual representation of where you are in relation to your goal in a simple-to-read, colorful bar graph.

Whether you want to keep track for yourself, provide loyal fans with clear evidence that you are working on the next book in the series, or have some eye-catching banner to flag your different projects, Word Advance™ is your tool.

Word Advance 1.0 offers a separate color scheme for tracking manuscripts (or any project) at the writing and editing stages. There is also a special bar you can select to indicate the 50k mark for those who participate in the National Novel Writing Month (NaNo). These simple images help illustrate the way day to day progress gets you closer to your goal, something that can be hard to see. They are designed for writing and editing manuscripts, but can be used for anything that has a numeric basis, such as progress toward an annual word count goal.

Through the interface, you control the width of the Word Advance™ Progress Meter so it's always the perfect size for your needs. For example, if you want to tuck it into an existing sidebar, you'll need a much shorter Progress Meter. If you have a page to display information about your works in progress (WIPs), you can use a longer Progress Meter to separate each description.

Whether you're taking a break at home, on the road, or roaming a convention, you can keep your website or blog visitors up to date on your progress.

The generator portion of the program only requires a website running PHP with the GD mod (the ability to create graphics). In the rare case that it is not already enabled, many ISPs will turn that mod on when requested. This version stores the information in a flat-file database that is provided with the application. After installation, a simple web form enables you to create or update projects from wherever you have Internet access.

The program creates an image file that you link to with a standard IMG tag like any other picture. Your Progress Meters can decorate your website, your blog, and even your signature block. You can display them wherever linked images are allowed. And because the image is linked, when you update the information in the generator, each place you display the Word Advance™ Progress Meter is automatically updated as well.

Installation is simple, taking an estimated 15-20 minutes to complete, and requires nothing beyond a text editor, the ability to load files to your website, and (in some cases) the ability to set permissions. You should use the same FTP program you use to push your website pages from your local hard drive to your site.

A little history:

The original progress bar was designed at the request of Lazette Gifford, who liked the progress markers available to NaNo participants. However, she wanted to offer one to Forward Motion members year round. The original version is still available for use within the Forward Motion site. Holly Lisle then wanted to use the progress bars on her own site, but she contracted a standalone version so she could adjust the bar colors. Several other authors have also done so.

You can see Progress Meters in use at these websites to give you some idea of how they can decorate your own: