First of all, let me say how thrilled I am to still be using and enjoying Journaly on a daily basis. It truly is a unique and engaging tool with so many features for learning, improving and maintaining language proficiency. On that note, I've noticed in the corrections I offer — as well as those I receive — that the intention of the correction isn't always clear. To that end, I'd like to propose some conventions I personally use that may help make your corrections easier to interpret and apply.

Suggestions

Sometimes, the original word or phrase is grammatically correct, but there are just better ways of saying it. When this is the case, I like to preface my suggestion with "better: [alternative word or phrase]". That way the author knows that something just sounds off to you as a native speaker and you're just suggesting something that may sound a bit more natural and idiomatic in this particular context. Or maybe they just need to add one or two words to make it sound more native.

Alternatives

Sometimes the original word or phrase is perfectly correct and natural, and you think of an alternate word or phrase that means the same thing and that the author may be interested in learning alongside the original. I usually preface these with "or: [alternative word or phrase]". This tells the author "Good one! And you can also say it like this..."

Corrections

Sometimes, we want to replace entire words and phrases that are just incorrect, ungrammatical or out of place with the correct version. This is what I consider an outright correction, and I post it as such, with no notation. This tells the author to just replace what they have with what you're offering.

• A lot of times, I see users propose words with a capital letter because their computers automatically capitalize the first word they type. This may be confusing to some users who may think you're suggesting that they capitalize the correction.
• When a correction occurs around punctuation, I like to include that punctuation in the correction. For instance: "It was just a matter of tim," she said. Correction: time," (a little OCD perhaps, but that's just me:)
• A single highlighted period or comma (or any punctuation) can be hard to miss. I like to highlight the word in front of the punctuation in question and label the punctuation, often with an explanation. For instance: At the end of the school year she returned to her country. Correction: ...schoolyear,<[comma] before the subject of the sentence.

Explanations

It's always useful to explain your alternatives, suggestions and corrections whenever possible, so that the author can benefit from your native language prowess. I always add explanations behind double tall bars || to separate them from the actual correction. If there is no correction, just an explanation or comment, I put it between brackets too [ ].

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In closing, these are just some ideas that occurred to me as I was going over the corrections to my last post. They work for me, but then I'm not the last coke in the desert. You may have your own conventions that work for you. The main thing is to keep writing and keep correcting! On that note, I thank all of you who have contributed to my posts with your excellent insights and instruction. It's nice to be writing again and I look forward to your invaluable input on future posts.