Forum / Posting Multiple Stories

M.H.
Nov 02, 01:46pm

Hi All - I'm wondering what people think of posting multiple stories at once. I've noticed that if a writer posts more than one story at one time, the other stories have less time on the front page.

Any thoughts/suggestions?

Susan Gibb
Nov 02, 04:52pm

It's probably out of the initial excitement of finding this place of fellow writers and the wanting to share. But you're right, I think some time in between is likely a more considerate route to take.

H-M Brown
Nov 02, 06:13pm

My Short Story and Poem got knocked out of the front page by multiple postings. So I took a look at the Groups section and joined one of them. So now I added my Short Story in their section. I doubt writers will post 5 of their stories one after another in a span of ten minutes and knock my Story off the front page.

Jürgen Fauth
Nov 03, 12:19pm

This is a great question -- thanks for bringing it up, Marcelle. We considered technically limiting the number of stories you can post during a given time frame, but we were hoping that the community could establish its own guidelines or etiquette without a hard-coded limit. And like Henry-Michael says, groups are supposed to help keep stories visible even when they're gone from the front page. Would love to hear some more thoughts on this, though.

Lauren Becker
Nov 07, 11:20am

I've had the same thoughts as Marcelle. I think people are more likely to read a story if it stays on the main page. And are more likely to read a writer who does not post multiple stories at the same time. I am concerned that, even when stories move to group pages, those who are not members of those groups will likely miss the opportunity to read it.

I truly appreciate that Jurgen lets us drive the site and any etiquette related to it. I know I was a bit confused when I started; I think that formalizing some guidelines, especially in light of all of the new members (which is great -- more to read!) might not be a bad idea. Just my two cents!

Jürgen Fauth
Nov 09, 11:55am

Agreed -- it's probably time to figure out some guidelines, if not hard-and-fast rules. What sounds right to you? Only one story on the front page at a time? No more than 3 in a row? It'd be great if we could come up with some sort of consensus.

Chris Kubica
Nov 09, 12:46pm

I don't think you should limit POSTING at all. But limiting how much/often any given person shows up on the main page sounds fine and there probably should be an algorithm for that that rotates people evenly, sometimes showcases certain authors/genres/etc.

Chris Kubica
Nov 09, 12:49pm

Oh, and I'm guilty of-multi-posting. In fact, I'm almost the whole front page right now. Sorry. Enthusiastic about Fictionaut.

Lauren Becker
Nov 09, 03:28pm

Jurgen: I think posting one to two times a week would be reasonable.

Chris: Welcome to Fictionaut!

Your enthusiasm is great. However, you posted 18 times today. That pretty much guarantees that few will read your work and that the people pushed off the first (and even second) page, as well as those of us who like to read a variety of writers, will be disappointed.

Please understand that this is not a personal attack on you, Chris. I just think it's a good example of the need for guidelines, especially with new folks who do not understand the workings of the site.

M.H.
Nov 09, 05:02pm

I agree with Jurgen and Lauren's comments. One to two times a week gives members a chance to catch up with stories and showcase work on the main page.

Dave Clapper
Nov 09, 05:16pm

I'm not sure that it should even be limited on a time basis. Rather, limiting each poster to one story on the front page at a time sounds good (imho).

H-M Brown
Nov 09, 06:01pm

@Chris Kubica - Dude you need to calm your enthusiasm. I posted my new story last night and your multi-posting bumped my story, along with others, into the 3rd page. That's not right and not fair. I didn't come to this site for a quantity competition. I have a lot of stories myself, but I don't go bumping everyone else off the front page. I work real hard to write my story, just like you and everyone else in this site. I am very upset about this.

@Jurgen Fauth - If this is going to be a trend I'm going to take my stories elsewhere. I, and many other posters, came here for a chance to have our stories read. And regardless of the Groups Section offered, not many people will think to look in those sections to read our stories, and will be looking only at the New Stories Section on the front page. Now, nobody will know that I posted a new story and I am now not getting a fair chance to have my story read.

Jürgen Fauth
Nov 10, 11:04am

Henry-Michael, I do understand your frustration. Time on the front page is valuable, and we're figuring out ways to help new users understand that.

That said, there are lots of other ways to let people know you posted a story. If you regularly participate, make contacts, leave comments and favorites, and yes, add stories to groups, chances are others will follow you as well and see your story in their activity feed or on your profile. We also have sharing buttons to alert people on Facebook, Twitter, etc. Fictionaut rewards participation, and if you invest attention in others, it will come back to you -- even after your story is gone from the front page.

H-M Brown
Nov 10, 01:42pm

@ Jurgen Fauth - I actually want to start a Group Section for Sci Fi/Fantasy Writers, but I don't know if I could do it since the Groups that are on Fictionaut appeared to have been started by people from Web-zines, College Groups and Book Clubs are allow to start groups.

Dave Clapper
Nov 10, 01:48pm

Anyone can start a group.

Lauren Becker
Nov 10, 02:23pm

Once again, someone has posted seven pieces on the first page.

I am still of the opinion that having more than one story on the front page is unfair to others who would like to post and receive comments.

In addition, while I think the group pages are great, I don't believe that people are likely to seek out stories in that manner. I can only speak for myself on this issue, but I think it is sort of getting out of control and that guidelines/limits would be helpful to all.

Sam Rasnake
Nov 10, 03:04pm

I agree with Lauren about people not likely to seek out poems or stories in the group pages. First the front page additions, second Recent Activity, then I might go to the groups page. I go there mainly to see if there are updates from the journal I'm following or if there are new members.

For part, I think limitations of some sort need to be in place, but I don't see that as a members' issue, I see this as an administrative issue at the Fictionaut level and at the groups level. Members will work within the provided guidelines - simple as that.

Susan Gibb
Nov 10, 03:18pm

Yes, quite honestly, it's getting a bit too much for me to maintain interest since there's just too many being posted daily.

There's been some amazing writing here but it's gotten too frantic for me. I'm going to back off for a while and maybe start looking at some of the groups instead.

Dave Clapper
Nov 10, 03:59pm

Actually, something just occurred to me that might be useful: could individual members block/hide posts by other users? As Lauren mentioned, there's one writer who has seven new pieces on the front page right now. If I had the capacity to hide her work from the front-page listings (or Chris, a few days ago), I'd do so in a heartbeat. Seems like if people realized that their stuff was getting blocked by a lot of other folks, they might be less inclined to spam the front page.

Dave Clapper
Nov 10, 04:02pm

And actually, now that I've said that, I'd be willing to bet that almost every time this happens, it's someone who's just new to the site and excited to share their work (which is great). Maybe folks shouldn't be limited to how many stories they post at once, but there should be a mechanism in place to determine what is featured on the front page.

I know there's an algorithm in place to determine which stories are featured as top stories. Couldn't a similar (and almost inverse) algorithm be put into place to determine what's featured in the main column of the front page? Limit what is actually displayed there to one per writer. If the writer has posted more than one during the most recent period, show only their absolute latest or the one that has received the least attention thus far?

Jürgen Fauth
Nov 11, 10:25am

OK -- we added a built-in limit last night: if you still have a story on the front page, the system will tell you to wait before you can post the next one. I agree that just a general understanding of "etiquette" doesn't really work for new users who may not explore the site all that much before posting.

Dave, thanks for the ideas about blocking/filtering users. We are thinking about implementing something along those lines in the future. As Susan says, the key is to always keep Fictionaut navigable and manageable as the site grows -- one of the reasons we still have the invite system in place.

Thank you all for your feedback.

Sam Rasnake
Nov 11, 10:43am

I think this will be an effective and workable addition, Jürgen. Thanks.

M.H.
Nov 11, 11:17am

Thanks Jürgen! I hope this will be an effective solution.

Ben White
Nov 11, 02:05pm

I understand that the hope is that the group functionality will help with a lot of these issues. Currently though seeing updates and the live feed-type functionality isn't quite there yet to make this manageable. When it's possible to see what's new in all group memberships and from your contacts in one live feed, that might make a big difference. Being able to see further back in time than is currently possible would also be nice.

But checking people and groups individually to see if new stories have been posted or new discussions added or updated isn't ideal. And the current site-wide feed on the front page is sure to be so busy as to be nearly unusable if the site grows enough.

Lauren Becker
Nov 11, 07:45pm

thanks jurgen! i think this is an important step toward keeping users, both new and old, involved in both posting and reading.

i'm a bit uncomfortable with the idea of blocking/filtering users. after all, they've been invited. i also worry that this might lead to the creation of an exclusive club of sorts, in which newbies/unknowns are left out.

i think that putting into place an accessible set of guidelines, perhaps provided upon joining the site, might be less extreme. you might also have a message set to automatically advise participants of breaches of etiquette.

i am a total luddite and don't know if this is possible. i just feel conflicted about ostracizing people whose actions, unintentionally, or even intentionally, do not comply with the spirit of the site. i guess i would prefer that offenders receive warnings before we all refuse to sit with them in the cafeteria ...

Ben White
Nov 11, 11:04pm

I also think Lauren's spirit is right. I think adding a restriction in the backend to only display one story per person on the frontpage would be better than preventing someone from adding multiple stories at once. A new user should be able to populate their profile as they see fit, it just shouldn't overwhelm the site experience.

Susan Gibb
Nov 12, 07:10am

There are a lot of sites that alert commenters to avoid multiple comments, but I think it's based on time or date. I think that the warning, like Lauren suggests, is a better (and more polite) way of letting folks know that sharing space is the goal. Many simply don't realize what happens until after they've posted.

I think that Ben's points about group updates being more obvious (though it does show up on the play-by-play feed on the right I think) would direct more traffic to the groups.

Chris Kubica
Nov 12, 12:41pm

Hi!

I don't feel attacked in the slightest. No worries.

Here are my thoughts. I don't think you should limit people from posting or "publishing" at all. I think that's limiting. Personally, I could care less if I appear on the front page. I'm more interested in pointing people to the links to my work directly. Beyond that, I'm happy for people to happen upon my works by browsing or searching keywords.

Having said that, though, it should be easy as pie for authors to post and publish. Then it is up to the curators of the site to come up with a fair algorithm to give everyone equal face time on the home page.

Now I have to remember to check the front page to see if I'm still on there. Then remember to publish a work that isn't published yet (there is no visual indication on your works list as to which are which). I should have like 2 clicks to post/publish a work and then I've "set it" so I can "forget it."

Also, if you expect people to follow guidelines you both need to:

--bulletproof the system so that people can't violate them purposely or accidentally.

--make it part of a service agreement that is easily accessible (and part of the registration process).

Also, I'm helping Jurgen by sending him bugs I find on the back end.

Thanks!

Chris

Chris Kubica
Nov 12, 12:58pm

Also I think the order in which you registered for the site should give you more power than later registrants. So when there are thousands of users us early adopters will be able to delete stories and banish users with one click. We'll be like Gods of Creation (pun intended).

TOTALLY KIDDING. All in good fun.

Chris

Franklin Goodish
Nov 14, 03:52pm

i have a story on the main page and am trying to publish a story while keeping it private so that i can post it in a privately run workshop group (called the "workshoppy group"). it's not letting me publish this story, even as "private," until my other story is off the front page. presumably this is a glitch that can be fixed (i.e., letting people like me publish "private" stories even when they have stories on the main page)?

Ben White
Nov 14, 05:00pm

George makes an excellent point. The fix to this problem really shouldn't be limiting the posting frequency but rather the front page frequency.

Jürgen Fauth
Nov 14, 06:14pm

Ideally, there'd be a warning if you're trying to double-post to the front page and possibly a way to post without being listed there. At the moment, I think the current solution is better than no limit. George's problem is a glitch -- the limit should not affect private stories.
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