What is this?
Howdy! It's me, Mysie Pruitt, with an issue of What's Cooking? If this is your first time seeing my blog you might be wondering, What the heck is this? Well, let me explain. This blog will hold monthly updates that are happening all around the site. In this case, I'm posting a few days later on but all updates happened last month. The blog includes the following:• Resignations - All of the staff who resigned within the month, including the dates they held the position to and from.
• New Hires - All the staff who were hired within the month, including the dates they got the job.
• Whatcha Readin' - All of the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler articles that were posted within the month.
• Site Updates - Any updates around the site (plot related, new IG year, shops/items, features, etc.) can be found in this section.
• House Party - This will have all of the columns posted on each House notice board.
• Interview - Each month there will be an interview between myself and a staff member about their job or outlook on certain things. It's just fun to see the world through someone else's eyes, isn't it?
That's all that I'll be packing into each blog. You can find each section using the tabs to the left (those funny looking letter there) which each represent the first letter of the title I just listed with the exception of the star which leads to this page. Enjoy your time here with me and settle in for a flashback into last month!
Resignations
Astronomy Professor: Sage Rhose3rd of May, 2020 - 1st of July, 2021
Library Team: Adrian Vidal
29th of January, 2021 - 2nd of July, 2021
Library Team: Sora Cazares
1st of May, 2020 - 2nd of July, 2021
Arithmancy AT: Courtney Starkweather
23rd of November, 2020 - 8th of June, 2021
Backstory Team: Kaelyn Donovan
22nd of November - 8th of July, 2021
Transfiguration AT: Maia Sobiech
15th of June, 2021 - 18th of July, 2021
Plot Lead: Dinah Louise
9th of November - 18th of July
Plot Team: Emmett Oaksen
22nd of September - 25th of July
New Hires
Library Team: Sage Rhose1st of July, 2021
DADA Professor: Zephaniel Zeno
1st of July, 2021
Astronomy AT: Emily Ravenwood
1st of July, 2021
SoMe Team: Eleanora Vixen
5th of July, 2021
Backstory Team: Nicole Marshall
9th of July, 2021
Astronomy Professor: Leah Kimble
27th of June, 2021
Plot Lead: Maxine Devlin
25th of July, 2021
Whatcha Readin'
The Sunday Prophet: Broom Boom Kits?
The Daily Prophet: Party in the Library
The Daily Prophet: Prophet Pickpockets - Partially Exposed
The Sunday Prophet: Weaver's Weekly Horoscopes
The Daily Prophet: The Charlatan of Diagon Alley
The Daily Prophet: Prophet Pickpockets - Solved!
The Sunday Prophet: Poison Study
The Daily Prophet: The Hogwarts Lioness
The Daily Prophet: Hail From Hell
The Sunday Prophet: The Planets Aligned
The Daily Prophet: A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love
The Daily Prophet: Minister of Malice
Q- A Day in The Life: The Wizengamot
Q- CC#2- Department of MysterWEEEs?!
Q- CoTGL: A Very Serious Message.
Q- A Day in the Life: Dragonologist
Q- Why is the ROOF always gone…
G4G #4- Tantrum at the Board Game Tournament
Site Updates
Shop updateWho doesn’t like socks? Wool, cotton, nylon, rubber… Either way, we got a shop update! You can go find a pair of socks to support your house pride or get one that changes for whoever wears them! Or, even better, you can buy yourself a pair of
Alert before closing the pageAre you like me and forget what you’re doing midday? Yes? No? Either way, I know many people who might be in the midst of writing a topic reply and accidentally close the page before they’re done or it’s sent. It really does give a rush of adrenalin and it’s terrifying when it does happen, but you won’t need to worry anymore! If you have a page on WoP open with writing in a text box such as homework assignments, topics, PT/BS, etc. the site will give an alert before you completely close the page. “Hakuna Matata!” No more worries!
Pin wall postI’m sure many of you have noticed this already, but pin, pin, pin! When you take a trip over to your own wall, you might find that everything on your wall has a little pushpin in the top corner. When you click this, it brings that message to the top of your wall! This might be helpful for an absence post you left or even just a message you’re proud of! It’s definitely fun to play around with, so bring some spice to your wall and maybe even trick some of your friends with this new update!
Gradable homework countCalling all graders! I know many people on this site have a strong love for homework assignments, both doing their own and grading others. It’s also exciting when you reach the end of the grading queue, but sometimes it just gets exhausting and it seems like there never is an end. Well, this is another thing I’m sure many people have seen, there’s a number next to your grading queue to show how many assignments are left! I really love this update because it helps you maintain a balance with how many you’re grading per day. (Or just go at it head on if you don’t like splitting it up. I’m all for that as well.) Get ready for some competition with grading now! 3… 2… 1… go!
Backstory ratingsHow many people have had to put a makeshift rating on their backstory? Had to keep a warning over everything? I bet the backstory team loves this update: Backstory ratings! Now when you edit your backstory you can put a rating on it the same way to do with a topic, the same X-rating rules and all. You can pick the rating from X to XXXXX and if your backstory rating exceeds the rating a user has set for themself, they’ll get a warning before reading it to make sure they don’t read anything that may upset them. Cool, right?
Sorting pages/forums in clubsHey there club owners! wink wink Yup, you guys get the next update. Is it ever tiring when you can’t sort the forums and pages in your own club? Does it ever get you upset when you can’t fix it up to your liking? Well, your troubles are all coming to an end! You can now sort your club in whatever order you want to have it in. So exciting! Have fun with it!
Wizard cards can be salvagedCards! Who doesn’t like wizard cards? Seriously, if you don’t, I’ll take them. another wink wink Anywho, you can salvage your already opened but still unused wizard cards. If you have at least 11 of one kind of card, you can trade as little as 10 of the cards and as high as 100 for one new card. There’s no guarantee that it’ll be a new card, but the more cards you trade in, the better chances you have. It definitely puts a spin on the usual card unpacking! Good luck, little card collectors!
A word count on homeworksGuess what’s new (besides every other update I’ve given)? Homeworks! There’s now a word counter while you’re writing so if there’s a minimum word count in a lesson, no need to find a word counter site to check that requirement! It makes me want to go test it out - I know I probably should - but go take a look at it for yourself! Maybe we’ll see even more homework in the future, hm?
Backstory of the MonthWondering who won July’s backstory of the month? There’s so many incredible writers on this site so it’s no surprise that there’s just as many great backstories! The lovely smurfies, led by Wesley Brooks, get the honor of searching around for each mentionable backstory for each month. There’s the Best Content, Best Code, and the Staff Spotlight! Go take a look at the most recent winners here!
Patrolling Prefect Article (aka "PPA")I know that there’s loads of people who wait around all month for their catch up on all the gossip. Once again, the winery has presented us with some wonderful summaries on everything happening around us! It’s crazy to think that there’s so much activity out in the wizarding world. Sometimes you can also manage to get your name in the month’s issue. Wanna check it out? Find it here!
House Party
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 3
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 4
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 5
Attention: Quidditch players needed
Badger of the Week, Year 20 week 6
Slytherins Through History: Salazar Slytherin
Snake of the Week: Year 20, Week 4
Slytherins Through History: Blair Ashford
Snake of the Week: Year 20, Week 5
Slytherins Through History: Merlin
Snake of the Week: Year 20, Week 6
Ravenclaw
20 Years of WoP UK: Memories - Week 4
The Dragon Diaries #3: My First Dragon
20 Years of WoP UK: Memories - Week 5
The Dragon Diaries #4: My Dangerous Obsession
Eagle of the Week (Year 20, Week 4 & 5)
Eagle of the Week (Year 20, Week 6)
Gryffindor
Lion of the Week - Year 20, Week 3
Challenge Gryffindor | Mission: House Cup (Part 2)
Lion of the Week - Year 20, Week 4
Lion of the Week - Year 20, Week 5
Interview
SoMe: How are you settling into your new position?
Novalee Sullivan: I'm settling in quite nicely thank you. It was definitely a big adjustment getting used to everything, but now I've had time to learn how things work, it's all going smoothly (I think xD)!
SoMe: In the past, did you ever see yourself as becoming an Assistant Teacher?
Novalee Sullivan: If I'm being completely honest, it's not something that past me would have seen myself doing. I've always enjoyed grading on site but it's not until recently that I completely fell in love with it and thought that I could take on an AT job!
SoMe: Why did you pick Music as your class to be an AT in?
Novalee Sullivan: Oh, there are many reasons that I decided to pick music! Firstly, I've really enjoyed taking Professor Atchinson's lessons in the past (they're amazing) so I knew it would be a lesson that I would enjoy grading the work for. Music is also something that I plan to make a part of Nova's life, so it fits her character to be AT in the class. I also really love music IRL too!
Word of Wisdom from Novalee Sullivan:
To anyone who's on the fence about doing something on site, please just go for it. There's no harm in trying new things. Whether it's something like applying for a job on site, or owling someone about a relation/topic, to just joining in a conversation in chat; do it. I know that these are things that I've been a little bit nervous about doing in the past, but I am so glad that I took the plunge and did them. They've lead to me getting to know some amazing people here!