How Would You Improve Literotica.com?

[Lynn_MXX]

And What Do You Find Frustratingly Annoying?

One thing I would do is list the authors submissions in chronological order, or maybe give the member a button in which a click would give them a choice of stories being listed alphabetically or chronologically. There has been at least two occasions when I've read a submission in the wrong order

Another would be more detailed tags. NonConsent/Reluctance sound like two totally, completely different subjects to me. The first being - erm - rape, and the second meaning "to put up some resistance to a would-be seducer". The latter of those I would look for most of the time, and the former I would avoid like an A.I.DS. infection. There's such a huge difference in the meaning of the two words

Another tag that needs refined is "Interracial Love", which needs more than one identity. May I suggest "Interracial Love BMWW" & "Interracial Love WMBW"?

Comments at the end of a chapter or story: I'd like to give some of those comments either a thumbs up, or a thumbs down; rather like you see on "Yahoo Answers"

Furthermore, I'd like to see the stories come up with a smaller right-hand margin. I usually print stories up to read in bed, but with such a wide right hand margin, much paper gets wasted

I look forward to hearing your views

 

[Darkniciad]

One of the things that's already in the works is to allow authors to group stories as they please into series. Odds are that will solve the frustration point mentioned for you and many of us.

I have a couple of series that aren't chaptered stories, but do have a chronology. You can read them as individual stories, but if you read more than one and don't read in order, you can tell something isn't quite right. The only way you can get around it now is with an author's note in each story detailing the correct order.

Tags are also shifting toward more visibility, and the powers that be have said that they will become even more important in the future. You'll still have to depend on the author to tag them correctly, but it's something.

 

[OzoneRed]

I'd like to see longer summaries with the story titles. The short summaries available now are not real useful.

I'd also like to see the new stories posted each day listed in the order they're posted.

 

[TxRad]

I'd like to see longer summaries with the story titles. The short summaries available now are not real useful.

I'd also like to see the new stories posted each day listed in the order they're posted.

Laurel Posts the new story list as she sees best for her web site. Best foot forward kind of thing. It might not be fair to some people's way of thinking but it is the way it is.

 

[theravenfox]

Literotica is truly the best thing going in internet erotica. I love this place and it will always be my home. That being said, I do have two suggestions.

1. Only allow one account per person. Disallow alt voting and commenting.

2. Change "Text With Audio" to a format for submitting in all categories instead of a category unto itself.

 

[Firebrain]

I'd have new poems show up with new stories, all on one page. I often forget to visit the poetry page otherwise.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

Literotica is truly the best thing going in internet erotica. I love this place and it will always be my home. That being said, I do have two suggestions.

1. Only allow one account per person. Disallow alt voting and commenting.

2. Change "Text With Audio" to a format for submitting in all categories instead of a category unto itself.

The commenting is the best part especially in the Poetry section as it helps us poets to see how something doesn't always work and how it could be bettered

 

[butters]

The commenting is the best part especially in the Poetry section as it helps us poets to see how something doesn't always work and how it could be bettered

agreed - for us poets, the comments perform a vital role! we're all working to improve, and feedback allows us to get a feel for how we're doing and in what places we can make changes for the better.

 

[theravenfox]

The commenting is the best part especially in the Poetry section as it helps us poets to see how something doesn't always work and how it could be bettered

agreed - for us poets, the comments perform a vital role! we're all working to improve, and feedback allows us to get a feel for how we're doing and in what places we can make changes for the better.

I love my comments as well! I even welcome anon comments, although I've deleted a few that were a bit too colorful. LOL My suggestion was to disallow ALT commenting. The main thing is to get rid of all the alts that people use to 1-bomb stories and bring the scores low or to harass authors. There are a small handful of Literotica members who take themselves and the Lit contests FAR too seriously and ruin it for those who are just trying to increase their fan base and have some fun. No need to name names because they are WELL AWARE of who they are...as is everyone else.

 

[EroticOrogeny]

I like the suggestion for sort by date as well as by name, but more for viewing an aouthor's 'history'.
Would not want to see poetry and stories on same page as I'm just interested in poetry and would be paging more.
Why don't poems have a comments field?
I've put in keywords, but don't see them doing anything.

 

[dawei]

Here are a few quick suggestions:

1. I don't think anonymous voters should be allowed to vote 1's on stories. I think only logged in members should be able to do that. And in fact, maybe track those low voters somehow or in some way limit obviously skewed voters.

2. I am curious to know who has favored my stories or if anyone has favored me as an author. I don't know how to search to find that, and I suspect you can't do that with the current search capabilities.

3. On the member’s favorite stories page, show the story category of the story (or if there is not enough space give an abbreviation or code)

4. Authors might like to add there favorite quote (1 or 2 sentences) from their story as a highlight, which is different than the story caption.

5. I might like to see how many votes on my stories are from females vs. males since I mostly only care about the females anyway <smile>. Besides, I don’t think guys like to read some of my stories as much either.

 

[UnderYourSpell]

I love my comments as well! I even welcome anon comments, although I've deleted a few that were a bit too colorful. LOL My suggestion was to disallow ALT commenting. The main thing is to get rid of all the alts that people use to 1-bomb stories and bring the scores low or to harass authors. There are a small handful of Literotica members who take themselves and the Lit contests FAR too seriously and ruin it for those who are just trying to increase their fan base and have some fun. No need to name names because they are WELL AWARE of who they are...as is everyone else.

There's always somebody who has to cheat, makes you wonder what's missing in their lives that they get their kicks this way

 

[TxRad]

Do away with anonymous and all alts. Everyone has to register.

Every vote you make is recorded on your profile page.

Who voted for you along with their vote is on your authors page

views and reads are recorded separately as in 1000/850.

The Survivors contest be done away with.

 

[Guest]

Another thought

delete

 

[TxRad]

First, this is a great web cite and I appreciate it being here. Having said that there are a few things that I would enjoy seeing changed.

1. either add a link to the members page in the forum that will take the reader to the members writing or simply add the titles to the members page so that it is a little easier to access their works. -- JUSTIFICSATION When authors refer to their work in the forum it would be nice to easily access their work without having to jump through a variety of hoops.

2. Create a forum for new writers and members so that those of us who are new can network with each other and maybe even receive guidance from the experienced writers who are on the web cite. JUSTIFICATION It's a little intimidating when you are new here to jump into conversations with the more experienced people. It takes a while to ascertain the politics and etiquette of the board.

3. Create the additional category that seems to be so often mentioned in AH, Bi sexual. JUSTIFICATION: This is a completely separate area and if the stories are not well received in other categories, it seems a shame to put them there when the authors have worked so hard to write and polish the work. It's kind of like putting a BDSM story in the reluctance category.

4. Increase the numbers of the top lists from the top 250-to the top 300. JUSTIFICATION: When lit first started, I'm sure the numbers were manageable, but now it takes an ungodly number of views and votes to make it to these lists. It would help to encourage the new writers if they knew that this was a reasonable circumstance they might achieve.

These are just a few thoughts, and I again want to say how much I appreciate the web cite.

1 Most authors have a link in their signature line to their stories already.

2 this is what the AH is for among other things. It's also the reason we tried to get a political forum started to take the political threads out of the AH.

3 Yes, the gay section needs to be broken up into a number of subsections at the very least.

4 Have you checked out the monthly top lists?

 

[Tyro999]

Web cite????? Twice!?!?!?!?!? In a writer's forum!!!!!

 

[TxRad]

Web cite????? Twice!?!?!?!?!? In a writer's forum!!!!!

One typo usually leads to the same typo. The brain is funny that way.

 

[michchick98]

Here are a few quick suggestions:

1. I don't think anonymous voters should be allowed to vote 1's on stories. I think only logged in members should be able to do that. And in fact, maybe track those low voters somehow or in some way limit obviously skewed voters.

I agree there should be some way to curtail the 1-bombs authors get, but I don't discourage anonymous comments and/or votes. I understand that people prefer total privacy which might include not registering a username or using it on a comment. That's fine with me. I just delete the mean/nasty/negative comments anyway, unless they're constructive, of course.

2. I am curious to know who has favored my stories or if anyone has favored me as an author. I don't know how to search to find that, and I suspect you can't do that with the current search capabilities.

I don't know how many months ago it started, but you can see who's favorited you or one of your stories through your member page:

http://www.literotica.com/members/main.php (Click on Submissions, then click on Recent Activity)

Although it only goes back 30 days, it's a good way to keep track of what people are reading of yours. Some will favorite a story then un-favorite it later, and I'd guess it's because they want to "bookmark" it for later reading. I have noticed, too that those same people who do that will add me as a favorite author also.

3. On the member’s favorite stories page, show the story category of the story (or if there is not enough space give an abbreviation or code)

One click will open the story and tell you the category. I guess it'd be helpful though if that's how people decide to read stories (based on what other people have favorited)

4. Authors might like to add there favorite quote (1 or 2 sentences) from their story as a highlight, which is different than the story caption.

I think the story caption is automatically generated. I don't know if I'd want authors having control of that, but again if it's something you'd like, that's what this thread is for after all.

5. I might like to see how many votes on my stories are from females vs. males since I mostly only care about the females anyway <smile>. Besides, I don’t think guys like to read some of my stories as much either.

I've found that quite a good number of my readers are male, even with the Romance and Erotic Couplings stories. I can't tell much from the comments on the stories, of course, but the emails I receive are the true indicators.

Me personally? I'd like a page like Stories Online has that tells me when one of my favorite authors has posted a new story/chapter. I don't always check the new stories page on a daily basis and often I'll miss something. Maybe not even a separate page, but an icon of sorts beside the person's name in my favorites list indicating he/she has posted something new. It'd save lots of clicking.

 

[talismania]

I'd like a page like Stories Online has that tells me when one of my favorite authors has posted a new story/chapter. I don't always check the new stories page on a daily basis and often I'll miss something.

Now there's an idea I would really like to see! It would enhance the Favorite list and make it more useful, at least for my purposes, which is to read more by authors whose work I like. I like finding new authors, of course, but love it when my favorites give me something new.

To a prior post... I'd be reluctant to have a gender identified attached to either reader or writer names. It's not like I go to any lengths to hide mine, but I don't see it as important to either the writing or the reading. Also, because there is no way to say for certain what gender any user name really is, it wouldn't be a reliable indicator anyway, right?

Interesting ideas here.

 

[RoyceConnors]

I agree that there should be a way of monitoring votes to weed out the 1 bombs. Most writers put a great amount of effort to put forth a story, which ends up getting votes that don't reflect the quality of it. The disgruntled or jealous writers and their friends can determine whether a story is "Hot" or not.

Readers look for red boxes beside a story, because it says that the story is worth reading. Writers work hard to attain that little symbol. If a story is unfairly scored, it can be passed by and an otherwise great story is neglected.

Anon. readers aren't the real problem. It's the writers and their Alts. that low-ball a story out of jealousy, that someone else's story is doing better than their's.

 

[theravenfox]

I agree that there should be a way of monitoring votes to weed out the 1 bombs. Most writers put a great amount of effort to put forth a story, which ends up getting votes that don't reflect the quality of it. The disgruntled or jealous writers and their friends can determine whether a story is "Hot" or not.

Readers look for red boxes beside a story, because it says that the story is worth reading. Writers work hard to attain that little symbol. If a story is unfairly scored, it can be passed by and an otherwise great story is neglected.

Anon. readers aren't the real problem. It's the writers and their Alts. that low-ball a story out of jealousy, that someone else's story is doing better than their's.

Well said!

 

[sr71plt]

There likely is no good, reasonably doable way to control the alts. This site takes it too far in the other direction, I think. Only one person in a household on the same IP is going to be permitted to vote--and I suspect that after time a second person voting for the first person in the same household will have all of their votes erased by the Bot system here.

And some stories are worth only a 1.

What I've suggested for a couple of years--tossing the suggestion into the ether--is a couple of ideas.

1. Only let registered readers vote and comment.

2. Go to a 10-level voting system, with anyone voting up through 4 having to comment on why (and maybe those voting 9 or 10 too).

or 3 (my favorite). Add a level of superlative symbols. Keep the current 4.5-5 level for "flaming hot" but add a "hot" disignator for 4-4.5. There are an awful lot of good stories in the 4-4.5 level that are decidedly better than those at 3-3.5. With it less hard for good stories to stand out, I suggest there would be less cheating and less bitching about the lack of Hs.

 

[demantoid]

as a reader not an author...I like the FEEDBACK PORTAL.

1. Expand the feedback portal's "Latest 15 Readers Comments...for instance instead of 15 comments listed under "Latest 15 Readers Comments, go to 30 or 50. I find the comments very helpful and they pique my curiosity to explore a different category or different author. Too often the comments do not last long enough to explore. Further, THIS WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE COMMENTS as well.
2. I don't really get the "Users Making Comments" section...Is this a reward for posting the most comments? There are many commentators I respect, and I would like to be able to read some of their comments...and then explore the stories they commented on...can't do that. Somehow post their comments that relate to specific stories. Again, THIS WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE COMMENTS. As it now lies, there is just a number next to the "comments posted" which doesn't really mean anything, except a prolific or verbose commentator. Literotica, be specific with individual comments and the stories that relate to the comments.
3. Expand the "most comments" area from 10 to 20 in each of the time frames of 1 day, 1 week, 1 month...after that time frame, lead the reader to the "top list" for further exploration. Again, THIS WOULD ENCOURAGE MORE COMMENTS, as well as more readership. A lot of stories get ignored due to lack of "publicity" at Literotica.
4. Lower the age standards from 18 to some lower arbitrary number, say 10? or 12?. This is particularly a problem in Incest stories, where the drama/tension is totally lost when describing the parent sibling relationship. These stories feel flaccid. I realize there must be some guidelines, but...
5. Expand the competitions/contests. I love when an author takes an existing story and gives that story a different ending. I have to read the first story, and then the new one. Win/win.
6. One of my bete noires is the serialization of long stories as I am forced to read in installments, so I have to reread chapters to get all the characters straight. Further, I have lost any enjoyable momentum in reading these story. This is particularly true of say DanielQSteele1's stories or any of the "non Human" sagas or the "romances" ( I lost interest in 2 of Jaz Cullen's stories because of my impatience). DanielQSteele1's stories are brilliant, but that lack of continuity is tedious. (I know, wait to the author is finished, and then read it...ah you guys are "wicked smart). Some of the world's greatest authors had their works initially panned because they were first published as installments (Dickens, Hardy, etc.).
In general, though, I am very impressed with this "sight". Oh shit a "Tie poo"!

 

[RoyceConnors]

4. Lower the age standards from 18 to some lower arbitrary number, say 10? or 12?. This is particularly a problem in Incest stories, where the drama/tension is totally lost when describing the parent sibling relationship. These stories feel flaccid. I realize there must be some guidelines, but...
6. One of my bete noires is the serialization of long stories as I am forced to read in installments, so I have to reread chapters to get all the characters straight. Further, I have lost any enjoyable momentum in reading these story. This is particularly true of say DanielQSteele1's stories or any of the "non Human" sagas or the "romances" ( I lost interest in 2 of Jaz Cullen's stories because of my impatience). DanielQSteele1's stories are brilliant, but that lack of continuity is tedious. (I know, wait to the author is finished, and then read it...ah you guys are "wicked smart). Some of the world's greatest authors had their works initially panned because they were first published as installments (Dickens, Hardy, etc.).
In general, though, I am very impressed with this "sight". Oh shit a "Tie poo"!

In response to both of these, I'll say straight up, that the Law forbids any story to contain any sexual contact with a person under 18. That would consitute child pornography otherwise, so it'll never happen and truthfully, I wouldn't want to see it.
Secondly, it's virtually impossible for an author to submit a multi-chaptered story in one go. Most chapters run 4 or more pages, so imagine submitting a story with double digit chapters. I myself am writing a 50-60 chapter story and there's no way I can submit it all in one go. It would be closer to 400 Lit. pages long. No reader will sit and read it all at once, even if it is all there to read.
Longer stories are like weekly serials and hopefully the author leaves off each chapter with a good cliffhanger.

 

[pimpette_f]

I would love a link to view "Who's Online".

I'd love to be able to thank posts...like agreeing with them.

It'd be nice to not have to look up people on the member's list to go to their page to view their profile or posts. If they are in my buddy list, I'd like to just be able to click their name to go to their profile.