THE NEW CHYOO (with link)! Also, what features should be part of an updated CHYOO?

i've seen the screenshot and was wondering, if there would be a category for Non-English stories or even a way to categorize/search/filter by language

Trugbild said:

i've seen the screenshot and was wondering, if there would be a category for Non-English stories or even a way to categorize/search/filter by language

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We've removed the category "Non-English" and have replaced it with a separate language field.
This way you can use all categories to full extent even if the stories are not in English.

According to Alexa the site's traffic is mainly from the UK (17.2%), USA (22.4%), and Germany (29.3%). Despite the question of how accurate the data is, we see a need for a better integration of different languages.

That sounds like a huge improvement. Thanks for thinking through language classifications.

Friedman said:

This way you can use all categories to full extent even if the stories are not in English.

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sounds great ^^

Germany (29.3%)

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Will we be able to see a date of upload or last edited on individual threads of the storymap? Or some kind of indication where there's new content the user hasn't read yet, whether it's a comparison to last known visit or what have you.

GreenBanana said:

Will we be able to see a date of upload or last edited on individual threads of the storymap? Or some kind of indication where there's new content the user hasn't read yet, whether it's a comparison to last known visit or what have you.

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There will be both. Each thread will contain the date on which it was last modified. If a thread is unread or has been changed, the thread is highlighted.

Here is a screenshot of the current version:

Friedman said:

There will be both. Each thread will contain the date on which it was last modified. If a thread is unread or has been changed, the thread is highlighted.

Here is a screenshot of the current version:

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Everything you've shared so far is looking brilliant. Thanks for all of your hard work.

TAMS said:

Everything you've shared so far is looking brilliant. Thanks for all of your hard work.

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Thank you for the kind words.

A change for the better

I don't usually post on the forums, but I wanted to add my thanks to those of others.

The screenshots look amazing, and a big step forward over Chyoo2.

I can see many users of the old site regaining their interest in writing, simply because of the upgrade we will be getting soon. I'll definitely be making a return to my own story ('Thrust').

Well done Friedman and his team!

One question, could you reveal more about if / how accounts and stories will transfer to the new site?

I lost my old username after forgetting the password, would love to know if there's a way of getting it back during the change.

That reminds me, I'd like to request some password improvements in the new Chyoo. The ability to change a password would be nice. Also, a way to reset your password or send it to your email address if you lose it would be good.

Also, the current Chyoo has always had strange behavior with capital letters in usernames. I once absentmindedly started entering my name as "Goodboy741" with a lowercase 'b'. It was as if that created a second user account with the same password. Now I get two emails when someone responds to certain threads, one for GoodBoy741 and the other for Goodboy741. It probably won't be an issue, but I'd appreciate it if you double checked that things like that won't happen.

Also, a personal request. If you do manage to get the old stories transferred over, can I be just GoodBoy, without the numbers? Would that be hard to change? If it's a pain in the but, don't worry about it.

voidhawk3 said:

One question, could you reveal more about if / how accounts and stories will transfer to the new site?

I lost my old username after forgetting the password, would love to know if there's a way of getting it back during the change.

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Sure. Currently I have not received any direct access to chyoo.com. Therefore, the new version will run at the beginning on a separate domain. The stories will all be transferred and synchronized regularly, at least in the transitional phase. And you can use your former username and password to sign in (more on that later).

If you have forgotten your password, you can reset it. However, this should also work with the current version, only that you can't change it afterwards.
As soon as I get access to chyoo.com, I can certainly find out the username via your email address.

GoodBoy741 said:

Also, a personal request. If you do manage to get the old stories transferred over, can I be just GoodBoy, without the numbers? Would that be hard to change? If it's a pain in the but, don't worry about it.

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That will be no problem as long as GoodBoy doesn't exist. Unfortunately, I have an account with that username. If this is your account, I can merge the stories.

In addition, you will be able to change your password. There will also be from then on no difference between uppercase and lowercase letters.

I did a search for GoodBoy. The only post was this one:

http://www.chyoo.com/index.php/main.story.page/133669/133669

Yes, that's me. I think I just forgot the number when I logged on that day. Chyoo is weird that it will just accept a mistake like that.

I hope it's not too early to think of this, but presumably CHYOO3 (or whatever we might end up calling it--I don't even know why it's called that now) hasn't undergone public testing in regards to routine usage by the site's users. To my limited understanding, Friedman's doing a lot of work (this is a pretty extensive site--it demands interactivity and loads of functionality has to be considered). How easy will it be to modify the new site after it's launched, to adjust for any of the routine bug testing that's bound to occur in the natural process of all programming? I'm actually more curious about design flaws, such as the features we've mentioned above. Say, for just an example, if the tags option doesn't look right, or becomes more important in its usage, how easy would it be to modify?

On another note, I admit I'm being impatient, but what's the status on our suggested features? /)^3^(\ No need to answer that, though. I don't wanna start up an argument about why this or that didn't make the cut.

Murakami said:

I personally don't like the immerse text. Part of that has to do with the extensive blanks it leaves everywhere if you go in via tree view, but part of it is also that sometimes I just don't want to use it. At the very least, there should be a requirement for default values on everything.

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Is there anything we can do about that? How about if the author set default values for all the variables in his story. So if someone goes in through tree view, then it uses the defaults.

Alternatively, it would be great if each story could save those values. So as long as you're logged in (which you currently have to do for tree view anyway), the story will remember the values you used for that story last time. That would be really nice.

GreenBanana said:

On another note, I admit I'm being impatient, but what's the status on our suggested features?

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I don't hope that we've made any design flaws. But nevertheless it may happen. However, it shouldn't be a problem to change it afterwards.

I have integrated most of the points mentioned. When I finish the platform, we can talk about them in detail.

The project started with 3 people. Although, we are now only 2 – Murakami and me. The third member has opted out due to the high workload. That's why the completion of the site is a little delayed. While Murakami consults regarding the design, I now finish programming the platform.

GoodBoy741 said:

Is there anything we can do about that? How about if the author set default values for all the variables in his story. So if someone goes in through tree view, then it uses the defaults.

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There will be default values for this feature. As you suggest, the new CHYOO saves the values you enter for each story, and keeps using them in the story map.

I think another important method to circumvent abuse of the rating system would be to find a way to offset the "Top Stories" by incorporating the quantity of votes into the average rating. If one person votes a five to a one-page story, it hardly seems meritable for it to surpass a 4 story with dozens of chapters and dozens of votes.

Of course, as previously mentioned, it'd be more encouraging to see a "Least Popular Stories" and a "Random Stories" sortie. Everyone wants a little bit of that spotlight, or they're pretty much just writing an interactive story by him or herself.

I don't think this next idea is very practical, but I've been imagining a feature in which readers can scribble corrections onto a story's chapter to point out flaws in spelling and grammar. While this might have the niche benefit of allowing people to focus on more abstract responses in their reviews, this sort of thing would be more appropriate for a website that's specifically dedicated to writing workshops and the like. Plus, one simply can't ignore technical issues, as they're the forefront of effective communication. Plus, there are more complex grammar rules that can't be easily depicted just by squiggly red lines.

I've never actually bothered to question whether a spell-check capability is inherent in a browser, or is only a feature of site-by-site writing forms. I think it's best not to take even the smallest things for granted, however (provided I actually manage not to overlook them).

In terms of the site's design, what are our customization options thus far? Are there color schemes? Should we really bother with being able to rearrange the layout of sorties on the front page in the vein of TheFreeDictionary.com? I'm worried this is going to be a major point of contention until we acclimatize.

is there any word of when the beta is going to be up or what the adress is going to be?

GreenBanana said:

In terms of the site's design, what are our customization options thus far? Are there color schemes? Should we really bother with being able to rearrange the layout of sorties on the front page in the vein of TheFreeDictionary.com? I'm worried this is going to be a major point of contention until we acclimatize.

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It is a good idea to increase the activity within the stories by adding additional lists. The list "Latest Stories" already tries to achieve this.

The annotation feature you've mentioned could also be helpful. However, we have to see whether it is necessary or not as the new feedback feature is more advanced.

At the beginning you can choose between 3 color schemes: white, gray and black. We're relying on CSS filters to achieve the desired effect. Here is a screenshot to demonstrate this: http://s18.postimg.org/4d4hd2ivd/chyoo_color_schemes.png

mack2028 said:

is there any word of when the beta is going to be up or what the adress is going to be?

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We will release the beta on April 4, 2014. I'll write another post about it including the domain name.

Friedman said:

At the beginning you can choose between 3 color schemes: white, gray and black. We're relying on CSS filters to achieve the desired effect. Here is a screenshot to demonstrate this: http://s18.postimg.org/4d4hd2ivd/chyoo_color_schemes.png

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Oooh, the black looks so pretty. ^w^ I feel so selfish now. Thanks a bunch! The low lighting somehow makes me feel more ready to write late at night.

Friedman said:

The annotation feature you've mentioned could also be helpful. However, we have to see whether it is necessary or not as the new feedback feature is more advanced.

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By "annotations," do you mean the tags? I know most image gallery sites (such as Rule34.xxx) use tags to help users search for specific content. I wondered if this function couldn't be applied to other mediums of user-generated content as well. It's dead useful when people tag thoroughly and properly, so I was curious how this could help people get their stories found more easily.

My fear then is that people could abuse tags like they do on YouTube sometimes. There are a lot of ways to approach this, but I wonder what's most effective. If only the editor tags a story's chapter, they could inflate views by adding tags they think will be popular. If anyone can edit tags on a story's chapter, unscrupulous users might use insulting tags. Furthermore, people might end up putting slang in a tag rather than one consistent term, which will lengthen searching time if some users insist on using "eating out" instead of the less vague and more linguistic term "cunnulingus". That also inflates tag lists.

Perhaps only registered or unbanned users should be permitted to tag. And yet, I don't see very much of any abuse of this feature on gallery sites, which are admittedly a bit more dependent on it. Sadly, we have seen the honor system fail here in the past, but admittedly only in very few instances.

I still like the aforementioned addendum that a story's title page could mention how frequently a tag appears throughout that story. I wonder if it would be easy to show how often that tag appears through the continuing branches from that segment of the story. Would it also be good design to see which tags apply to a chapter by hovering the mouse over its link in tree view?

Sorry, there I go again, running off at the fingers, when you've got enough on your plate, I'm sure. :\ Your hard work thus far and the attention you've already paid to us are much appreciated. Thanks again!

Friedman said:

We will release the beta on April 4, 2014. I'll write another post about it including the domain name.

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Excellent! I'm looking forward to this.

Thanks for all your hard work.

Hahaha, we'll miss those.

I'm not sure exactly how similar starting new stories will be what with the changes. I'm hoping that the synopsis field will be a bit longer, though. I can't help feeling I need a little bit of extra room to squeeze in a few more vital details for my concept. Well. Maybe a smidge more than just a "bit".

Cockroaches have a similar lifespan, but at least they are useful.

rippitydoo said:

… LONG before I do.

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Since Chyoo isn't reachable at the moment, I was not yet able to synchronize the stories. This is especially essential for signing in and transferring the accounts. In these cases the new version has to communicate with the old one.

Regarding the stories, I have a copy of all threads of March 9. I'll give Chyoo a few more days to come back. In the meantime I'll use/prepare the copy I've made for the new version. I will also set up a form so you can claim your stories.

Have a nice weekend!

Friedman said:

Since Chyoo isn't reachable at the moment, I was not yet able to synchronize the stories. This is especially essential for signing in and transferring the accounts. In these cases the new version has to communicate with the old one.

Regarding the stories, I have a copy of all threads of March 9. I'll give Chyoo a few more days to come back. In the meantime I'll use/prepare the copy I've made for the new version. I will also set up a form so you can claim your stories.

Have a nice weekend!

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I trust you'll be working with forum mods to do so, since they can determine our registration e-mails and therefore the proper owner of the defunct site's respective content.

Just in case, it's a nice time to have backed up what I've written. Say, that might make an interesting feature for the new site--to be able to back up our stories with one click. Of course, that's completely useless when we can just cut and paste. However, if it sped up the process of leafing through every post we've written somehow, that'd be something else. Still, I find it better to back up a copy before having submitted it.

looks like it is back up. how are we going to do this?