Recommended reading is back!

[Solaris]

It has been a long time since we had the Recommended Reading up on the author's pages but they are returning shortly.

Hope you like the news.

Beth

[Guest Painful Retribution]

How can be done shortly? There are Story ID that same, yes? FAQ used to say that the problem. I work with database in Japan until recent time. All Story ID must be edit by person, not code for it to work. If it work anyway, please explain how?

Oh, ----- is manta2g person? She was fired, no? Over year ago. It announced on old old Yahoo Group.

English not my first language, sorry.

[Solaris]

She quit the group, she was never fired.

It is possible that is her handle here, but she was never fired from the site, she quit and placed everything in DA's hands, including the coding to the recommended stories which DA refused to put back up.

Beth

[manta2g]

Actually, to restore the recomended reading is far simpler then what is assumed. In fact the answer allows people not only to recomend stories on aff, but also other fiction archives and give a reason why the recomend them. Instead of revising the old recomended reading function, it was simpler to edit the chapters functions to allow people to make recomended readling lists in a similar fashion as posting stories. no limit to how many stories can be recomended, no limit on where the stories are located. the ability to make a recomended reading list that can be aimed at a single fandom or multiple. Aff is about the freedom to express, why limit it to only aff?

[EveKnight75]

I'm sorry, but I have to step in right here and defend DA.

It wasn't a matter of refusal. The site had to be recoded to separate the archives. Each user profile had to be separated into archival user profiles. This was all done so that the site wouldn't crash again.

That's partly why Recommended Reading hadn't been re-instated up to this point. It would be necessary to separate that into separate archives as well.

There was talk of combining all of the archival profiles into one user profile. It was possible that there would be a way to do it without crashing the site yet again. Once that issue was decided upon, Recommended Reading would be tackled.

I would appreciate it if you'd hold back your hostility towards DA in these posts. Expressing it is extremely unprofessional. On top of that, many of us actually knew her and liked her, so we're not appreciating your tone. That same tone is also diminishing whatever belief we may have in your words about the site news, despite the fact that we know you as well.

When a change is instated, by all means let us know. We appreciate it, especially in these confusing times. I just don't see why you'd be unable to keep your personal opinions about certain people out of this.

[Guest Madapple]

I think it should be limited to AFF because Aff is a high traffic site and anyone you connect to offsite in recommendations is not paying for the advertising space/privilege that the advertising cliets actually are giving the site money for.

Why should they pay if they can get free advertising by putting up a post in recommended readings? If anyone can post to anywhere, why advertise?

[Solaris]

DA never elaberated why she didn't put them back up, she ignored my questions about it when she was questioned about it.

But I understand that the coding would have to change a bit for it to work with the new format that the site is in.

I also don't agree with recommending other stories from other sites, keep it in house.

Beth

[EveKnight75]

I agree with Mad. There was already something in the rules about not advertising any stories on any other site unless the same story was already posted at AFF or if the story was connected to another story not on the site (such as a sequel without an adult rating).

That policy makes sound sense to me. Right now, people have to pay for advertising on the site. Making it too easy for a rival fiction site to promote themselves through AFF is unsound from a business standpoint.

The old rule allowed for enough camaraderie with other fiction sites without letting AFF itself be run into the ground. That's a balance onto which the site should attempt to hold.

Turning Recommended Reading back on is a good thing. I love the fact that you can also add your own explanation on why the story is on your list. Huge improvement, as far as I'm concerned.

Putting stories from other sites on that list? Not so much.

[Guest Jaxxy]

This is overwhelming to me. But I'm committed to AFF and all its folks, so I'll do my best.

Let me say that when a Forum was first added to AFF, that I supported it only because my co-Owner at the time, Apollo, was really into the idea, as were the majority of the Mods. My point is that I am still learning how to use this forum vs. something like a Yahoo! Group, which I'm more used to... so if my posts are a little off topic or my font is boring, I'm sorry.

That there is bad blood or conflicting opinions or even misunderstanding on any end hurts me so. So, so much. I *myself* have never been a side-taker, and have enjoyed a fairly enemy-less existence for much of my life. So, by nature, I don't want to sway you to "my side" if you are not inclined to be there. I want you to enjoy your online time where you can grab it, and if AFF is a place in which you can do that, I'm glad.

I do wish, however, that folks were deriving their pleasure here from some Stories, or some friends they've found on the Forum, and not from watching a very painful division of ways, views, and personal and professional relationships. I'm feeling like a member of a reality T.V. show here, or maybe a creature at the zoo, more than a guardian of an online fiction archive. It's possible (probable) that the other people being discussed here feel the same.

All four of the retired ladies spoken of here so much recently were loved ones to my heart. I've had less than a week to get my mind around the fact that they disown me, suspect me, and perhaps despise me.

I say *nothing* I'm saying for pity or support, or even to retain anyone as Staff or as a Member of AFF. As I've said in other posts, if you enjoy AFF, use it with my compliments. If you don't, use a site (with staff?) you prefer. It's what *I* do, no matter what I own or where I work.

What I see is that people, despite the fact that this is a site where we should come to enjoy sharing stories, want *answers*. Some of these questions are rather painful or personal or tedious to publicly revisit -- there's a line somewhere around here where the answers you demand become too much to ask, especially considering how many have already been given.

I can't even think of what to say, other than what I already have. I hated to have been as plain as I needed to be on Site News, but there was no way to sugar-coat things, considering that the angrier ex-staff were launching attacks against the site from the front page, to their author profiles, upon the Yahoo! Groups, and even from the domain mass emails... at that very moment.

Such a massive fireworks display needed *explaining*, and so that's what I gave (and it's still what some want more of from me), to the best of my only-human ability. I told you what they believed about me, what I had confirmed about them, and that you could expect a degree of mayhem to ensue.

Perhaps to my salient point: If what I said in any explanation came off as character assassination, I'm utterly stymied as to what it is I *should* have said. I, myself even, take no side in this drama, as I have always striven not to. I am a human being who saw a wrong and corrected it.

I welcome you all to enjoy yourself here. I will protect your pastime. I keep you not if your heart or thoughts lie elsewhere. I wish you joy.

My side is with AFF.

-- Jaxxy

[manta2g]

I can see the point about other sites, though there are some authors that refuse to write on aff due to past problems. the archives I had had in mind for allowing cross linking was mediaminer and fanfiction.net two well known archives with similar traffic as us of couse that still is pending. the explanation part was so that people can't just advertise with it, since if it's not there or is written as an add, it would be a clear indicator for deletion.

Jusy my logic, though it still needs to be fully ok'd by jaxxy on what will be allowed or not.

[Guest Painful Retribution]

Oh, so solution is to not recode old way (and lose all people save from then, yes?) and instead code new page with html link ability and text box, yes?

I see TOS say no link to external site when I sign up. And if I were advertiser, I would be mad big big sites like the ones said would be linked for free! Why I pay $ in month for what they get free because big site and I not?

See what I say? I not try to be rude or mean, just say what I would feel if advertise on site.

Harsh sound may be from English being bad if it there. I been accused of that before and not mean it.

EDIT: Oh, I mean to say this too:

If I person want to advertise site I have on site for free, then all I need to is make profile, post oneshot, wait while, post "recommended reading" link to AFF for random stories I read on site, post to story on my site I want to advertise, post "this story good read!" and then walk away. It easy to see way around looking like only there to advertise, yes?

EDIT2: I remember Avenger say on FAQ why not put up code and on main group too. May not be what you talk about, but I saw when I was member without account on site, just "lurk" you call it?

Edited September 4, 2007 by Painful Retribution

[manta2g]

I've spent aa bit more time and tweaked my recomended reading fix so the only link types are story links to any where in the aff archive. and links to author pages any where in the aff archive. The cahnges were made due to the mods and the owner's concerns that to allow multi outside archive linking could be abused. on the bright side the fix code at a later point can be expanded upon if the descision is ever made to allow recomended stories from other archives.

[madlodger]

I agree on not having outside links.

When would we be able to see a "favorite fics" button on Author's Control Panel?

[manta2g]

When ever it's been aproved, though it won't be a button, the code makes it so you post your recomended reading list like you do a story, so you can say why you recomend the story.

[madlodger]

Sounds like what I have posted in the Lists section, the list of my faves.

I suppose that we'll be able to have links to stories or author's pages in it. That would be a nice feature.

[IceAngel]

I think that this will be neat to have. Though I'm a lil worried about the off-site linking (if I understood that part right)- that might get a lil messy. But to be able to look at other's fave stories will be neat.

~Ice~

[Entrisic]

I agree that recc'ing stories from out of the site is an iffy area that would probably be best left alone.

Anyway, I'm glad it's coming back. It's a nice way to tell the world that stories you think need love.

[manta2g]

my original coe is modified so it's only going to be within aff, the outside linking has been removed.