DemonGoddess Posted July 4, 2016 Report Posted July 4, 2016 July 3, 2016 Firstly, I'd like to welcome all the new users we're seeing daily! Glad to have you here! Please do familiarize yourself with the Terms of Service and Content Guidelines. This IS a moderated archive. Software Upgrade Thank you to all of you for your patience through the process. We all appreciate it! Final Updates Fiction Portal is out of beta, official version number is 2.0. the layout skin, which is transitional, is being reworked entirely, so that it is responsive to mobile and desktop devices at the same time. Because we have members with older computers and operating systems, the new skins/layouts are being designed with that in mind, to try and ensure it is all backwards compatible. The review board system now autodetects whether or not a user is logged in, and no longer requires an email address to be entered to when making an anonymous review. Users can now toggle review notifications on or off in their control panel. To do this, under “Edit Profile” click “Review Notify”. Then select yes or no, and click update. Authors can now manage their reviews directly in the review board. The code is now mostly compliant with PHP 5.4.x, and there are some final things to do to make that happen. Expect that some page draws may get a little weird while this is done, but that'll be temporary (as in minutes), while the changes are made and applied. Once EVERYTHING is PHP 5.4.x compliant, I'll be able to upgrade the forum from 3.4.x to 4.1.x. The rich text editor has been fully updated. The old site files have been removed, and there will be unnecessary fields in supporting tables which will also be removed. BECAUSE of this, if you still refer to old profile links, you need to update them, as they no longer exist. We'll certainly accept suggestions to other features and what not that users might like. Please post those to the forum topic link for this news post. As long as what is being asked for won't bog down the server, and is doable in php, it will be considered. We'll also let you know if it is doable or not. If you encounter a bug, please post it here. Login is not required to post a bug to the tracker. The Comics chapter table Restoration of the corrupted data is ongoing. I have 20MB to go. Please keep in mind that when I do this, I look at each chapter, and compare the data to the back up table, to make sure that there is no data missing. If there is, then I restore the missing data. Site Header/Logo Image We're thinking about rotating images, plus, we're open to donations of images. Image requirements: 150x150px, transparent background, easy to identify, must look good in black and white. The forum topic for this news post will have the new images (so far) embedded, so please take a look, and tell us what you think! Dribs, Drabs and Doggy Tales This is the forum where they all are listed. This is the current one. These are open ended, so if one set of words doesn't work for your muse, look at others! Funding Status As always, we appreciate and thank everyone who can donate. It's certainly not required of the users, but every little bit helps! Deletion notification For Accounts When deleting an account because the user is underage, a plagiarist, or whatever else would be a reason to delete one entirely, we do NOT send a notification. For Stories When deleting stories, this is done for non compliance with the ToS. Stories are HIDDEN long before they are deleted. The user is told there is an issue, and given 7 days to comply before the story is hidden. Upon hiding, the story is left for 30 or more days (it ends up being more when I have a heavy work load IRL) before it is deleted. If the issue is CORRECTED, the story is restored to public view. Disposable email Disposable emails are not checked, and we don’t allow registration with them. Upon finding an account registered with a disposable email address, it is deleted. Email address visibility By default, the email address is hidden when you register. It will only display if you put it in the bio area of your profile. Tech Bits Archive rewrite Is done for the front end! Tech support, directions given Just to reiterate, when I email out step by DIRECTIONS on how to do something, that is exactly what they are. Not suggestions, but directions. If followed as stepped out, it works very well. This means that the user must follow them in the order the steps are given. Please remember that the authors you read do like to hear from you! Leave them a review or two, and let them know how they're doing! DemonGoddess061
benny_grl Posted July 4, 2016 Report Posted July 4, 2016 Hello! I was wondering if you have considered adding a star rating system? Reviews are great but a lot of times readers dont leave reviews. It might be easier and faster for them to leave a star rating. And for readers looking for good stories, it would help them know which stories are worth the read. I see alot of stories on here that have thousands of hits and maybe only a few reviews. So its confusing whether it might be a story someone would want to check out. And as a writer, a rating system would help me know whether i need to improve my story or let it be... Just my thoughts. Thanks. TB Ps-i accidentally posted this on faq requests also, my bad!
DemonGoddess Posted July 4, 2016 Author Report Posted July 4, 2016 I merged this to this topic, as honestly we are looking at things like this related to the news I just sent out. We are going to do another ratings system. The problem with the old one, is it was truly anonymous, and was used arbitrarily as a way to punish an author for things like a pairing that the reader didn't like. With no way of finding out WHO so I can establish patterns of abuse, the old way just wasn't working anymore.
BronxWench Posted July 4, 2016 Report Posted July 4, 2016 As a reader, I don't use ratings to identify a good read. They're entirely subjective, and don't tell me anything about the story. I look at the summary, and if that catches my eye but doesn't entirely sell me, I look at reviews. I've seen FAR too many stories with huge numbers of 5-star ratings that were written without regard to spelling, punctuation, or the basic rules of grammar. I'm not trying to be overly stuffy, but I get distracted by a high level of errors, and it takes me out of the story to the point where I lose interest. As a writer, ratings don't help me improve. If they're high, I have no idea what people liked most. If they're low, I have no idea what needs to be improved. They serve no purpose for me other than to make me wonder what readers actually thought about the story, but weren't willing to say. Given that I can second-guess myself into a state of literary paralysis all on my own, I don't really need any more encouragement to be afraid to post anything.
GeorgeGlass Posted July 4, 2016 Report Posted July 4, 2016 The thing I liked about the ratings system was that it gave you some idea as to whether people were actually reading a story, rather than just clicking on it and then clicking away after reading the first paragraph. I have several stories that have thousands of hits but no reviews; the ratings provided the only clue as to whether anybody actually read those stories from beginning to end. So I am looking forward to having some kind of ratings system again.
mikimaro Posted July 5, 2016 Report Posted July 5, 2016 The thing I liked about the ratings system was that it gave you some idea as to whether people were actually reading a story, rather than just clicking on it and then clicking away after reading the first paragraph. I have several stories that have thousands of hits but no reviews; the ratings provided the only clue as to whether anybody actually read those stories from beginning to end. So I am looking forward to having some kind of ratings system again. This, this, this. Every time I post a new story chapter, I can get some 300 hits, but only three reviews. It's really disheartening, because I have zero idea what's going on with the 297 hits that didn't get reviews. Did they read a few lines and click away? I don't know. I understand why the ratings were removed, but I wish they or something similar (a like/kudos/thumbs-up system) could be installed at least in the originals forum, where shipping wars aren't really a thing.
Llanyia Posted July 5, 2016 Report Posted July 5, 2016 Hello. I made a donation to AFF.org today, and as I was logging into PayPal and then typing in my info, I had a thought: I'd like to keep donating to AFF.org on a regular basis, so would it be possible to add a feature to the donation section that sets up recurring donations, like on a set schedule? I would absolutely sign up to donate monthly like that and other users might like that option too. Of course, this is just a suggestion, so if that's not feasible, no problem. Thanks!
DemonGoddess Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Posted July 5, 2016 If you click the paypal button under the donate kitty, there is an option for subscriptions . While I'm at it, this is the one for $10 at 6 am? I'm asking so I know how to add/link for supporters page
Recommended Posts