FAQ: What happened to the stories? or Where'd my story go?

[Cainanite (imported)]

Because not everybody reads through the threads, or visits regularly, I thought I'd make a specific explanation thread, and make it a sticky.

If you've been living under a rock for a while, and all this is news to you, consider this your FAQ

What happened to the stories?

Back in mid-July (not sure of the exact date.) we lost our internet domain provider. There were a lot of reasons, but they essentially didn't like our story section. This meant we had to look for a new provider, and also had to make a decision about what to do with the stories.

After we managed to get our new domain provider up and running we began to discuss what to do with the story section.

We discussed it HERE (http://www.eunuch.org/forums/showthread ... ontroversy.)

After the MoM (Meeting of Members) in August, the decision was made to bring the stories back whole, and without censorship of content. HOWEVER we needed to put them in a more secure site, where the public couldn't accidentally stumble across them, and cause us future problems.

Also, it was decided to use this opportunity to update the Fiction Archive to a new format, that was more universal, user friendly, and more manageable.

This meant writing all new software (Thank-you talula!), and transferring all the old stories to the new format. Because there was never a universal standard for the stories, most of the Fiction became unreadable on the new site. The stories were full of extraneous HTML code, weird characters, missing paragraph breaks, Et cetera.

The only way to make the stories readable on the new site, was to edit them, and resubmit them one-by-one. As there are over 10,000 stories in the Fiction Archive this is a VERY BIG JOB. It is being done by a very few, but dedicated people.

Where are the stories now?

You can find the stories in their new home at eunuchworld.org (http://eunuchworld.org)

New stories are being added as they are edited.

Remember it is a big job, and not all the stories have returned yet.

Where did my story go? Why is it still missing?

It probably hasn't been edited for the new site yet. Remember there are over 10,000 stories to edit. It takes a while to go through them all.

Different editors have different methods of choosing what stories they edit. There is no specific order to the task. Some do it alphabetically, some do it by collection size, some just do what interests them.

If you want a story back you can request it HERE (http://www.eunuch.org/forums/showthread ... Next!-quot).

Polite requests will get priority. If it is important to you, then it is important to us. Please consider that all the editors are volunteers, and are doing this out of a sense of community spirit. Pats on the back are always welcome.

When will I be able to submit my NEW story?

The priority has been on editing and restoring the old stories to the new site. Right now we are not taking new submissions.

New story submissions will return when the software for doing such has been written. Again, because everyone here are volunteers, this will happen when it happens. We may have to wait until ALL the old stories have been restored.

At present, the focus has been on refining and streamlining the new archive. talula has been absolutely instrumental in this.

Until the new submissions return, there are several other sites you can post to, such as ASSTR.

or

You can hold onto your story for a little longer, and give it an extra read through for spelling errors, punctuation and such. Find a BETA reader in the Archive Writing Help Center (http://www.eunuch.org/forums/forumdispl ... elp-Center) Share your creativity, and refine your idea.

Imagine the polished works of art we'll have to share once submissions return.

Where can I read the old stories?

You can find the old stories on the Internet Wayback Machine HERE. (http://web.archive.org/web/201105270248 ... al=stories)

The Wayback machine hosts a snapshot of the site, prior to the loss of our provider. You should find what you are looking for there.

When will you be done restoring the old stories?

We're working on it. 10,000 stories need to be edited one-by-one. It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of effort.

Our biggest effort to date was about 900 edited stories over a two week period. This was a herculean effort by those involved. We will not maintain that kind of pace. Editing 300 to 400 stories in a two week period seems more likely. By the remainder we have to finish, I will guess late spring. No promises. We may be later, we may be sooner. All the editors have lives, and we are editing at our own pace.

The short answer is, we have no idea. Be patient.

Have my stories been deleted?

NO.

No stories have been deleted. They may however be edited for spelling errors, or readability.

Exception: Duplicate stories. Where stories have been submitted with revisions, or where stories have been submitted twice by accident, we either merge the files, or delete the extraneous submission.

Where can I comment on the new Fiction Archive?

Comments and suggestions can be posted HERE. (http://www.eunuch.org/forums/showthread ... nts-please.)

Please don't go there to gripe and complain. Ideas and suggestions are always welcome though. Maybe your idea is better than ours. We'd appreciate hearing about it. Just don't badmouth anyone who's been donating their time and effort to bring the stories back.

We'd like to hear from you.

You didn't answer my question!

Send me a Private Message (PM) and I'll get back to you as quick as I can.

If it is really obvious I missed something important, I'll add to this thread periodically to keep you up to date.

[Cainanite (imported)]

Will the search function come back?

Once the old stories have all returned, we have planned to add a detailed search function. We have been updating the tags of the stories in anticipation of the new search function.

We do not have an exact ETA on when it will be implemented. As with all the other desired functions, it will appear once the code has been written.

It will happen when it happens.

Why is there no "New Story" index?

Because right now there are no new stories. When we start accepting new stories, the New Story index will also return.

Why doesn't the new archive do what the old one did?

The old archive was a patchwork of cobbled together software that didn't fully integrate. It caused problems in readability. There was no consistency in how stories were handled. Upgrades to the old software were all but impossible.

The new archive is a solid base upon which to build new and exciting features. It is consistent across ALL the stories, and we can make nearly unlimited updates, and additions in the future.

We fully plan to add new features to the new archive.

Search functions. Customized indexes. Individual taste profiles. Favorites control.

We are already seeing the base upon which these options are to be built. They are not complete yet, but it was decided it was better to offer what we already had, rather than continue to keep the edited stories in limbo.

It is better that you should have stories to read from an incomplete archive framework, then no stories at all.

Updates are coming.