Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
So my life has been nuts and I've come back to the forum for the first time in quite some while today. I'm not weighing in on the actual lurker/de-lurker thing because honestly I haven't had time to weigh the issues out in my head. But speaking as a writer, here's my thing . . . I currently cannot access my own fics. I can't see the threads with people's comments on it or go back and look at how I had phrased something. I wasn't commenting yet, because frankly I'm a writer and not necessarily on the social side, so when I get back into things I do it through my fiction. It's frustrating to discover I can't see my own fiction posts and a little off-putting. Is there a way that I can at least be allowed to see those threads I started?
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cypanache
Is there a way that I can at least be allowed to see those threads I started?
Now that you've posted this comment you must have automatically delurked so access to the fanfic subforum shouldn't be denied to you.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
And I see that, but it frankly doesn't change my point. There are fanfiction writers who perhaps have left Chlex or are relatively inactive. They've completed their stories, but that doesn't change the fact that they may want to occasionally come back and see what's posted to their threads (the same way I do for stories i've got in fandoms I'm no longer all that active in). I don't think it's ever right to have a situation that limits a writer's access to the feedback they are given.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cypanache
And I see that, but it frankly doesn't change my point. There are fanfiction writers who perhaps have left Chlex or are relatively inactive. They've completed their stories, but that doesn't change the fact that they may want to occasionally come back and see what's posted to their threads (the same way I do for stories i've got in fandoms I'm no longer all that active in). I don't think it's ever right to have a situation that limits a writer's access to the feedback they are given.
Are you subscribed to your own threads to get an e-mail alert that tells you someone's left feedback? That might be useful if you can't visit frequently to check out if someone's commented on a fic of yours.
By the way, delurking only requires to post a message in any thread once a month.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Again, look beyond me and my situation. Yes I'm subscribed to the email alerts, but those only will update again if you then log back into the thread with your login name after a post has been made (something you can't do if you're blocked from the fanfiction forum). And it all comes back to the core issue . . . blocking a writer from access to feedback about their own work unless they reinsert themselves into a fandom they may not be all that anxious to reinsert themselves into.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cypanache
Again, look beyond me and my situation. Yes I'm subscribed to the email alerts, but those only will update again if you then log back into the thread with your login name after a post has been made (something you can't do if you're blocked from the fanfiction forum). And it all comes back to the core issue . . . blocking a writer from access to feedback about their own work unless they reinsert themselves into a fandom they may not be all that anxious to reinsert themselves into.
Well, I really don't know if the software would allow to give us writers indefinite access to our fics even if we've become lurkers or inactive while restricting the access of the rest of the community to such threads. I do understand not having the time to visit every day- believe me I do know what it's like to be loaded with work and RL in general since I work thirteen hours a day on average plus three hours on Saturdays without counting the tons of work I've got on the net. One has to eat, sleep and live sometime. :D
I just know that all forums I've been subscribed to work that way with e-mail subscriptions- the only difference is that some of them attach the comment to the e-mail so that you don't have to log in to read the message they've left you. Of course, you have to log in if you want the following feedback to arrive in your inbox.
However, if you log in to read the feedback and your status was that of a lurker or inactive member, you would have to post a couple of words anywhere in the forum to read or answer in your thread. It's a simple procedure, which might seem unfair if you just want to check out your threads but it's a rule I've seen implemented on many boards. We'd have to see if Julie has an alternative solution; however if she gave authorization to some of us and restricted access to others... I'm not sure it'd be seen as fair by the rest of the community. We'd be in some other kind of quandary.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
I was thinking about it earlier, if you are member who has been out for a while and all you want is to post your new update because say that's all you have time to do is a quick copy/paste. It is frustrating. So I see what you are saying Cy, and I'm on the side if this creates more problems than helps, I could live without it. We could always give it a go for a few months and then take a vote on whether to keep it, though I'm sure we can all predict how that is going to end.
Paid members are recognized differently than non-paying members so the system does seem to have some capability to recognize different types. Mods have access to things the average member can't. If there is a way to allow people to access threads they have started, then I definitely think it should be looked into. Obviously, a returning author whose sole purpose of returning to the site is to update a fic would regain access once they have posted their new update.
We don't want to restrict our authors because then we can't get people to visit the site at all.
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Just if anyone's wondering... This has been in the thought of for a while now, it just hasn't been technically possible until this new version came out, which is why it came at the same time as the new board :)
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Julie
Just if anyone's wondering... This has been in the thought of for a while now, it just hasn't been technically possible until this new version came out, which is why it came at the same time as the new board :)
Yes, I know it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision and we knew it was going to create some controversy or, at the very least, it'd rouse people to come forward and say something, which I believe it's always a good thing. :D
Re: Loooooooooooooooooooooong post here :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by
westwingwolf
If there is a way to allow people to access threads they have started, then I definitely think it should be looked into.
I don't think it's technically possible. The way it is set up now is that, once every day, this script runs through all members and checks for inactivity. If it finds someone, it moves them to the appropriate group (Lurkers|Inactive users). And the Lurkers group is can't see the fanfiction forum, to name a forum appropriate to what you're saying in your post. There's no way to allow just certain users access. It's either all or none. And If I give everyone access that defeats the purpose of this.
Once a user makes a post, anywhere on the board, they'll be moved back to their original user group.
While I see the point Cy makes in her posts, I don't think it's possible to implement.
It is possible to set that some usergroups aren't affected at all, meaning the script will just skip users who are in this particular usergroup. I could probably set it up so that paid subscription members aren't effected, but that will take me some time to tweak those settings :) The way the paid subscription usergroups are set now is that, you have primary usergroups, and secondary usergroups. The secondary usergroup permissions/settings are just added on top of the primary usergroup. So that when you pay for a subscription, once the payment is in, you'll get a secondary usergroup of one of the paid subscription usergroups. Then you have the settings/permissions of that secondary usergroup added on top of your existing primary usergroup, overriding any settings that clashes.
