Site Post » Changes to story sorting · 9:57pm Nov 29th, 2011
I've had a lot of feedback lately on the issue of multi chapter stories being much easier to get popular than one off fics. Even if they've really short compared to some 10k word one shot that someone wrote. On the back of this, I've decided to separate the concept of new stories and updates. The featured box now works off of when you first were accepted, the same as the bar below. the "Latest Stories" on the front page also works off this, and "Latest Updates" now have their own section below on the front page. I know that people who write multi chapter stuff are not going to like this as much, but you guys have had it good for a long time, and the point of the tracking system is so that people can follow stories they like anyway.
With this new system, new stories will get more time on the front page and top bar to themselves, giving more time for them to be tracked in the first place.
I hope you guys approve of the new system in general.
Edit: Also added Mare Do Well to the character list.
Although the change doesn't exactly help me in any way, I understand and agree with it fully! It'll stop people from constantly unpublishing a chapter they already had published just for more views, too.
I can't see why anyone could even disagree with this new update. The whole point of having a place like this to post fiction is so people can read it, why should that be limited to a few popular stories? New stuff needs as much exposure as old stuff because there might be some hidden gems that nobody is bothering to pick up.
This update gets a thumbs up from me
Now if you can somehow get 'Latest Stories' and 'Latest Updates' smooshed side-by-side...
But, really, I am just too lazy to scroll and should be ignored. :P
I support this. Next thing should be some sort of random button. This would keep people with old fictions from never being seen, correct?
you added Mare Do Well to the character list., cool but what about Tank? you have all the other pets there?
Interesting and effective new system. I do like it.
If I may say the one thing I am thinking: would it be possible to have a smaller bar (say, with just the title and chapter update and nothing more) right below the "new works" bar for updated fics? If both get the lists their respective lists, couldn't both get their respective bar near the top? It would be nice for people just taking a peek to be able to see updates straightaway as well.
That's just a minute thing (and I admittedly only thought of it because I am writing a long piece myself). It really is a pretty fair system you've established now.
1091
I'd support a random button being added. Or maybe a way to feature fics that haven't been viewed in x number of days, if that's even possible/practical.
I'll be upfront,
As a writer: I'm salty
As a reader: I'm enthused
I overall: stalemate. It's definitely good for the newer writers, and I do love reading oneshots, so I should get my steady fix. As for the the constantly updating writers: a pool of salt awaits, and I brought a snorkel, Awww...yeaaa. Good update overall.
Even though I write multi-chapters. This doesn't bother me at all.
On the contrary: It's nice to give the new stories some space for themselves for a little bit!
1096 This right here.
I don't like it. The execution leaves much to be desired. I think that it would work better if the two were side by side columns.
The update makes the top bar pointless and biased to shorter stories. Basically, this update has given a lot to one off fics and given nothing to and have actually taken away attention from multiparters. There are plenty of multipart stories that are just as unnoticed because they can get bumped off the front page before they have adequate time to be noticed, it all depends when they update.
Which is another problem for a rapid updater, story bump time can be painfully long at 24 hours when a 12 hour window should be plenty. I've had a story of mine get finished while only being on the front page for twenty minutes in total because of the 24 hour bump. I may be in the minority, but that doesn't make it not a problem.
1126
Hmmm... thinking about this.
A side-by-side would be nice. That way both will be able to get the attention. The featured stories on the top must stay as they are (white 'banner' thingy).
But the side-by-side 'new story' thingy (the one just below 'Edit Account', 'Tracking', etc.)... that I don't know what to do with.
The "X People Reading" could be a collapsing object (like the 'advanced search').
But... damn. No matter what happens someone/something will be aggrieved.
Okay, much better so far, being able to switch between New stories and latest updates via button? Much nicer, that I like. More neat, and more organised.
It should look like this http://i.imgur.com/VoYh9.png but I can't update the style files right now due to write access issues on my server. So that'll be fixed soon.
1153
This.
1153 Aww... where's my "Approve" button?
I goddamn love you for the tabs.
So, let me get this straight, (Just to make sure I understand this) if I were to already have a story that WAS approved, and has been on Fimfiction, and I wrote another chapter for it (because I plan on it being long), It wouldn't show up on the 'Latest Stories'? If it doesn't, then were would it? I don't mean to ask a lot of questions, I'm just curious.
Thanks
My salt has dissipated, I thoroughly enjoy the new layout, THE APPROVAL HAS BEEN DOUBLED
1159
It shows in the latest updates tab, on the browse page if they select order by last updated, and of course anyone tracking it will see that it's updated.
I do like the idea of the tabs and whatnot, but the lack of an update being immediately visible is a bit.. eh, I'd say.
Might I suggest adding another bar like you currently have with just the author name/fic name, but this second bar would be purely for updates?
The problem I see here is that many people open the page, and glance at it to see if anything of interest is there. With this new change, chapter updates (apart from the featured 5 on top) get no notice at all until you click to the new page. And that's where that second bar comes in, with a list of updates :)
I can definitely understand your comment of "you multi-chapter people had it good", but in this case it almost seems like they're being ignored. Unintentionally, I know, but that is what's happening
Seconding Tchernobog's statement. As the system currently stands, casual and new browsers won't even know that multipart stories exist here, much less that they're updating. You're right - they don't need to be showcased as badly as new fics. But leaving them to be ignored outright? ...kinda cruel, there, man. It's a structural and implicit endorsement of one-shots over other forms of fan literature - one that you might not have intended to espouse, but... here we are, and here it is.
A sidebar dedicated to updates, I think, would be an acceptable compromise. Either over or under the Facebook frame.
How about having the grey bar show the names of multi-part stories when a user is in "New Story" mode and show the names of new stories when the user is in "Latest Updates" mode? Otherwise it does hide away the multi-part stories.
1173 This
Some of the multi-chapter ponies had it good. Some of them were taking more time to write their stuff and get it good- and are now a lil' boned.
Or might be. I guess we will wait and see. I am heartbroken I couldn't get my chapter done sooner, because I was only going to see a few hours at best on the front page as an update- and my chapters are running as long as 9,776 words. I can't necessarily make them much shorter just to exploit the way the site works- and now even if I did, it wouldn't help.
I'm writing reasonably well- no literally 5 star fics yet, but I have a 4.9. It's a one-off, but was published here before the new rules went into effect. That's from only six ratings, but the commenters can spell and punctuate...
I'll wait and see. I hope ponies are actually using the tracking system you think they're using, and I'll try to get the word out in other ways. Not sure why I should feel so undermined, as my stuff always was shoved off the front page within an hour anyhow. The volume of work being uploaded is truly a challenging problem, and I respect your attempts to make sense of it. Unfortunately I'm fundamentally a novelist, and the only thing that's ever got me to write short stories is fic contests, which have their own problems.
Thank you for trying to better the fic environment, even if it turns out to have hurt me- caring is better than apathy, and maybe I'll be fine- some of my commenters act like they would've used the tracking. Actually it looks like 55 ponies are tracking the one that just updated- now if only I could get them all to read it at once so I could be on that chart thingy on the side!
1169 Thanks much, I feel better now
Going to have to echo what some of the others are saying. I fully understand the changes and that multi-part fics were overshadowing a lot of the others, but it seems some folks have been completely screwed over in the process.
What few readers you pull in with the very first posting seems to be all you'll get - most folks completely skip the 'Latest Updates' section and only view 'Latest Stories'. I've seen a lot of one-shot fics get featured in just a few hours ('Why Didn't Ah Stay at Th' Farm?' being a good example. I've read it and I'll admit it's hilarious, but it seems like it got featured extremely quickly), and several very good multi-part fics are getting skipped over because they're just not getting views anymore.
1169
Two things, I love the new style. I really approve with the direction... if only the color scheme was consistent. Second, I want to echo the need for a random button. I've found some great fics by scanning the archive that never get seen. Unluckily for myself, the archive is extremely difficult to load when another tab is open. If a random button is too difficult, can you reformat the archive to collapse and whatnot? Other solutions include giving a space for a random completed fanfiction every day... the possibilities are pretty open.
And perhaps a multiquote system.
1201
The archive changed about a week ago. If you try it now you'll see it only loads 50 at a time.
And what do you mean by multiquote system?
Dear owner/developer,
What am I suppose to think if I see multiple entries for the same story on different tabs? If a method of organization isn't, by the fifth time of seeing the same 'thing', recognizable, then it isn't a generally understood method of organization. I ask that you give us a choice of the method of organization we wish to use.
Sincerely, someone who checks this site hourly and is confused and annoyed by this new method of organization.
Hmm, I have to admit. I am a little dissapointed to see that chapter updates don't really get any time in the top slideshow. Maybe a more balanced system, where both can be featured for a shorter period of time would work? That would mean that both one off's and chapter updates could get some time in the spotlight. Everypony wins.
In saying that, it is always good to see some more recognition to the one-off stories! Keep up the great work Knighty!
I like the idea of also featuring multipart completed fics. It reinforces the concept of having an extended narrative with a real story arc, that goes somewhere and concludes. The trick with the multipart fics is that they seem to want to go on FOREEEEVER which isn't going to encourage the best writing- the more you do, the more you build on what's come before, and launching a new multipart fic means starting over.
The mechanisms here do tend to direct the type of fic- I think I'm seeing a burst of 400-1000 word one-offs of uh... questionable polish. It feels like 'yay, one-off quickfics FTW! Oh wait, it fell off the page- quick, write another, no editing, just get it up there! Now another!'.
I'm not sure this was the intention. Doesn't affect me, I'll still be doing the same thing regardless, but since the changes are to direct the type of fic, it's interesting to watch what actually happens.
1203
Oh, excellent!
And by this, I mean the ability to reply to multiple posts without having to doublepost. It would be very helpful when replying to three or more, so as not to inflate the amount of comments on a page unnecessarily.
You can reply to as many posts as you want....
1217 Like
1215 So
you probably have heard this enough, but i'm not that big of a fan of the new browsing system. The front page is better now, but it's almost impossible to find any new updates. Also the browse function seems to be kinda glitched. To find out the new stories you have to go to a different page and then go back to one.
1257
What do you mean you have to go to a different page then go back to one?
1091A random button? Hells yeah! Great idea!
I second the motion.
1264
When you go to browse, you can only see the new stories, but when you click on the numbers to see more stories (to go to the next page of stories), all the stories (new and updated) start coming up.
Ah! It looks like you fixed that thing where it was counting "hidden" chapters on the new story list. Thanks muchly.
Incidentally, are the old site-maintenance topics available anywhere? I thought they'd be part of your blog, but they don't seem to be.
Where you go when you hit Browse: http://www.fimfiction.net/stories/latest
Where you should be seeing when you hit Browse: http://www.fimfiction.net/index.php?view=category&page=1
The 'latest' page seems to only have new submission and lacks updated stories. I think that's the Browse glitch (guest) was talking about.
1317
Thanks. I didn't know how to explain it.
Meh, I wasn't really happy with the change at first, but it makes sense. Could it be possible to have another bar thing at the top that, instead of listing new stories, lists updates? That way, there could be some screen time for both new stories and updates for old ones.
Why not add a "Featured updates" bar as well?
Where do I report spam? Comment 10 here is full of garbage links.
Actually, suggestion: A "Mark for review" feature on comments. Comments with links or "http" anywhere in them get made invisible when marked, others don't, but all marked comments get reviewed (for spam and abuse). It would increase your moderation load, and people could try to abuse it, but if you track comments marked by user, story, and result (spam vs not-spam) you should be able to visualize who gets the most actual spam and who's abusing the feature.
Also, I guess I should see if I can turn off anonymous comments... and it seems I can't. That should be added, too. Registered users can be banned by username no matter what IP they have, guests can only be banned by IP and can use proxies to get around it.
Also, I think allowing only members to rate the stories would go over well. I've been parasprited a lot lately, and it would be nice to know that ratings are only within the community.
The way the featured box works now really confuses me. Could i get a more thorough explaination?
1364 Just fyi on the spam comment, you do have the ability to delete comments. There's a checkbox at the top of each comment and a button to "Delete Selected Comments" just below the story.
So many one-shots have been getting featured incredibly quickly. It's certainly a bit of a disincentive to even attempt a multi-parter because of it.
As a reader, I don't like this. If there's a new chapter, I want to know.
And what I REALLY don't like is how this has effected the 'Tracking' page when I select 'Unread'. I'm on that page for the sole purpose of finding new chapters. Having to consistently change the search so that it actually takes into account new chapters, really gets old quick.
The only thing this has done is manage to annoy me as I have to change the search parameters.
1416
Then..track them? That's the point of the tracking system. You don't need to keep checking for updates because it tells you there's one. And I haven't changed anything on the search page regarding viewing unread chapters. It still works the same.
1418
For a while at least, the 'Tracking' page, when I would use the search function to select 'Unread' stories, had it's default 'Order' set to 'First Posted Date'. I was getting annoyed having to change it back every time I wanted to search. It appears to no longer do this however, and is now remembering.
As for the 'Browse' page, I did like it presenting me with newest updated stories, rather than just new stories. Personal preference though, I'll just keep changing the search parameters.