Questions about the new Fiction Archive. No Complaints, please.

[Cainanite (imported)]

Okay, I thought I'd try something a bid radical here in starting a thread about the stories and the restored Fiction Archive.

I'd like to get a sense of what people are thinking.

Keep in mind before you answer any of my questions that there is already a huge amount of work happening behind the scenes, and the last thing we want to do is to offend any of the people working diligently, and for no pay. So let's not use this thread for negativity, okay?

1. Are there any Fiction Archive contributors out there, and what do you think of the new look of the Fiction Archive?

2. If you've had one of your stories return from electronic limbo, what do you think? Did the editors keep your intent? Is your story just ruined now? Did my spell correcting your story destroy your words? (Okay, you can complain a little about formatting, That might be something I can fix as an editor.)

3. If you are a regular contributor, how have you been dealing with the temporary loss of new submissions? Are you contributing stories elsewhere? How therapeutic is sharing your stories to you?

4. If you are a long time READER of the Fiction Archive, have you been able to discover any lost Gems? Have you read any stories you've skipped before? Have you re-read any old stories you've loved? Are they better, worse, or about the same as you remember?

5. What would you like to see for the future of the Fiction Archive? (Remember, people are volunteers who are working on this. You may not get what you want, but you can be fanciful in your dreams, we won't judge you.)

6. What are your general comments or concerns? This is the place to share your ideas. (Just remember, the people who you want to listen have been putting in long hours for no pay to give you the new Archive. Be respectful.)

I'd love to get a sense of what the community thinks about all our hard work. I love to hear praise and compliments, but that won't help me do my job any better. If it is about formatting, and my editing, I can take a few knocks, but be gentle.

I want to hear your opinions positive or negative. If you aren't liking the new set-up, or you aren't liking the editing job we're doing, that is valid, and I'd like to hear from you. Maybe we can do better. Just keep in mind you don't want to offend anyone doing the actual work.

Again, HUGE RESPECT goes out to talula for all his coding efforts. That guy is a miracle, and we wouldn't even have a Fiction Archive without him.

Lets, begin.

[Cainanite (imported)]

I'll go first.

1. I LOVE the new Fiction Archive layout. I've only discovered one thing missing so far, and that is a search option for authors with names starting with symbols or numbers. The stories are still there under the alphabetical listing, so it's not a big bother. I've only contributed one story in the past, but it is super easy to find, and it looks just fine in the new format.

2. A lot of stories I read in the past were super difficult to read with all the spelling errors. A lot of the old stories didn't have the sharp eye of our current editors, and a lot of difficult stuff to read got through. My own story had several spelling errors that haunted me after I submitted it. I'm glad to see them gone.

3. I'm not what anyone would consider a REGULAR contributor with only one story submitted, and that was back in 2004. But I do have a story I've been working on. Since the Fiction Archive went down, and submissions haven't returned, I've had time to really put solid effort into my story. It has grown to well over novel length. I've thought very seriously about trying to post it elsewhere, but it belongs here on the EA. I'm fine with waiting.

4. As a regular reader of the archive I used to come to the Fiction Archive almost daily to look for new stories. I didn't always find what I was looking for. Months might go by before I'd find something that appealed to me. I didn't much bother with the old index, because I found it difficult to search through. Sure I could search by author, but there was a LOT I missed out on. Since the new Fiction Archive is up and running I've read some terrific stories I had no idea about. Paolo's XY-N, Ganymede's Worm-Hole, and a host of other amazing stories I hadn't given a second look to when they were buried in the old archive.

5. I'd love to see some kind of application (in the distant future) that would allow me to take some of these stories with me as e-books. Some of these stories are as good as any novel I have ever read, and I'd like to see a portable version of the stories offered as downloadable e-books. I can do some copying and converting to do that now, but it would be cool if it were something we could eventually do automatically. (even if it were for a price)

6. I love the new set-up, and am very excited to see what comes of it in the future. We've got a terrific base to work from. talula has created a wonderful interface, and it has so much room to grow that we didn't have before. Right now, I'm just excited

for the future of the Fiction Archive,

and very honored to be a small part of its reconstruction. Serious props go out to my fellow editors. It is daunting boring work, but I am always impressed by what you accomplish.

Anyone else wanna contribute?

[Losethem (imported)]

For those working on this keep in mind my comments here are observation and not criticism of anything you may or may not be doing.

I'll go question by question.

1. Overall I think the logistics of the design could be better, but what you have is a vast improvement. I'm not quite sure where I would make a change, but something seems a bit clunky. It seems the categories are there, but how they are laid out seems to reveal that you've had some of the same issues/questions I have with the interface. That said, you've done a good job and have come up with a solution, and when everything is done with getting the backlog cleared perhaps you could revisit this. I would take what you have now over the absolute inability to find anything by category on the old story archive. A great improvement over the old system.

2. I only have 3 stories I've ever posted to the archive (2 of them by "anonymous", one by me). I can't say I've seen them improve or decline, but then I always submitted things that had paragraphs formatted, etc. All those years ago it seems I helped you out on this project by doing that. What I can say is that I'm noticing a several stories that were interesting but otherwise unreadable have become much easier to read and take breaks from. Again, improved over what had been in place prior.

3. I have been formulating and contemplating how to write a new story for a while now. I have something in mind but have not started writing, and will keep it on hand and submit when you're taking them again. I'm in no hurry to get my new idea published, but will gladly do so when you start accepting again.

4. This seems to be a sub-section of question 2. I've read a lot of those stories I enjoyed from the old system, and am looking forward to reading others that I've enjoyed that have not yet shown up. I know you're all in the middle of a large task and they will show up eventually. I liked stories like, "An e-mail exchange", "Jim's first castration" (all parts), and the spin off of that... Jim's big job?, The "Going Nullo" series (all four parts), etc. I know they will be back. Eventually.

5. For the future. I'd love to see a keyword search if possible. Perhaps a less clunky interface for the category system. That last one is something that would take a lot of thought and practice, so what's there is good for now. Perhaps when another update is applied it's something to look at. Again, an observation, not criticism of your efforts.

6. I think I've addressed what I've seen so far. My review is that you've made vast improvements, but anything can be made better (well, maybe with the exception of the Mona Lisa). I think my point with improvements is that everything evolves over time, so I'm sure this will evolve as if it's a living organism.

Keep up the good work.

--LT

[Cainanite (imported)]

Thanks Losethem.

Your comments and criticisms are very welcome.

I'm trying to be tactful with criticisms on this thread because I don't want anyone banned for complaining. There have been some inconsiderate folks who've mouthed off in other threads, and insulted the wrong people, people who didn't deserve it.

I trust the powers-that-be know the difference between constructive criticism and badmouthing our efforts.

You don't have to hold back valid observations and critiques. I'm just hoping folks will be sensitive to those who actually have to do the work.

If you like, when I'm finished my current project I'll look into your stories for you. You've listed a few you'd like to see back, and I'll work on those next.

Thank you again.

[cheetaking243 (imported)]

1. Looks great, and I really love that you can search by story type now. Plus the ability to rate the stories is a huge improvement. Getting an actual rating on my story was a huge motivator for me to write more, as before it just kind of felt like the story was disappearing into a big vast emptiness with no way to tell if anyone was actually reading it or not.

2. I don't think a single thing that I wrote was changed in the slightest when my story came back online, so I can't really comment. I nitpick my own grammar to death, though, so there probably wasn't much to correct.

3. I'm not technically a regular contributor, seeing as how I just posted my first story literally about a day before the site crash, but the anticipation on when the ability to make new submissions will return is kind of bothering me. My story is a multi-part one, and part one was basically just an introduction, so I've been dying to get the good parts of it posted for quite a while now. So although I understand fully the reasons why it's taking a while for the submission option to return, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't getting a little impatient. And I really don't feel comfortable posting anywhere else. Here, I know what kinds of people are reading it, and I know that the stories that I post will be safe. Sharing that first part of the story was a huge thing for me, because I had been writing stories about gender swapping and nullification for pretty much my entire life, and this was the very first time I'd ever found a place where there were other people who understood this. So being able to post these publicly after keeping them to myself for so long, it was an amazing feeling of relief and mutuality, and I really hope I can contribute more in the future once the submission option returns.

4. The search feature was a huge improvement in this. I'm a reader of straight transgender stories, which are few and far between here, as the general population tends to lean more toward gay castration stories, so I found a LOT of stories that I had missed before. Quality-wise, they're about the same as I remember them. Most aren't that great, and hardly get into any detail at all or really strike my fancy, but then amidst the masses I discover some true hidden gems that I absolutely love and can't wait to read the next part of.

5. Aside from hoping for the submission to come back, my only other suggestion would be maybe a way to sort stories by their ratings, so that it would be easier to find some of the most popular ones.

6. My only real concern is that the login feature is kind of annoying. No matter how many times I click "remember me," it still makes me log in fresh every single time. Aside from that, it's fantastic work, and a huge improvement over the old format. Keep up the good work, guys, and thanks for your effort!

[Cainanite (imported)]

Thank-you for adding to the dialog.

talula has a lot of amazing things planned for the future. I'm excited for all that is possible.

I hear you on wanting new submissions. I really do. It is one of the reasons I'm working so hard on editing the old stories. I don't know if we are going to wait until the last of the old archive is finished, or if we are going to start taking submissions sooner than that.

Writing my own story, I can tell you how therapeutic, cathartic, and important it is to me. Sharing it here on the EA is what keeps driving me to write a little more each day. If you told me submissions were gone for good I'd be devastated. For right now I'm fine with continuing to wait. I don't want to rush a process that is completely beyond my skill-set. I leave that to the experts.

[Cainanite (imported)]

...

I liked stories like, "An e-mail exchange", "Jim's first castration" (all parts), and the spin off of that... Jim's big job?, The "Going Nullo" series (all four parts), etc. ...

--LT

I assume you mean Jack's First Castration and Jack's Big Job.

They are the only ones I can find that resemble what you're asking for. You can tell me for sure after the next update. I'll edit what I found for you.

Cheers,

Cainanite

[Losethem (imported)]

Yup, that's it. LOL Hey, I got the J right.

--LT

[mandler1 (imported)]

Hi Guys

1. Love the new format, its clean, simple and easy to navigate

2. Four of my eight stories (under the name Mandler) have been restored. Thanks for getting them back up.

Other that a few odd paragraph breaks the stories looked fine to me.

3. I currently have one new story ready to go and about 3 other story ideas partially written. Have not submitted anywhere else yet. Am hoping the new submissions will be up in the next couple of months. And yes I have found it very therapeutic to get my stories out there and get some feedback from readers. Thanks guys.

4. I have discovered a few stories that I probably never would have read on the old Archive. My old favourites were just as great as I remembered them.

5. The old archive had a "search" option where you could search by key words. This helped me find a few stories where I could not remember the author or title.

6. I assume all the previously expressed concerns about censorship and the "minor" themed stories have been resolved at this point.

Am really glad to have the stories back, thanks again for all your hard work and puting up with all the dumb questions from us impatient members.

Cheers

Mandler

[Rubicon String (imported)]

Thank you Cainanite for showing me this thread. Sorry for asking in the other one.