Request to Review New Favorites Hub & Feedback Hub Designs

[Manu]

Hello Authors.

We just rolled out the new designs for the Literotica Favorites Hub and Literotica Feedback Hub.

https://www.literotica.com/favorites/

https://www.literotica.com/comments/

These are the first releases, so we plan to improve them in the coming weeks.

Please have a look and let us know if you find any issues or have any suggestions for improving the new designs.

Thanks.

 

[Altissimus]

Looks fine to me. I noted that on the Comments link, when you click on the "Nonconsent/Reluctance" category the heading changes to "Reluctance & Ravishment" but doesn't on the Favourites link. Are you changing this category's name?

 

[SimonDoom]

Manu, I think you would get more helpful feedback if you explained in a post a) what changes you made and b) what the reasons for the changes are.

The format has an updated look, which I suppose is good. I noticed, though, that after scrolling down a ways on the followed author list I had to click on "more" to get the rest of the list, and it took a long time loading.

A useful feature is including the numerical ranking on the right. Previously when I wanted to figure out my own rank as an author I had to scroll down and hand count, and this eliminates that need, so that's very useful.

You don't have this numerical ranking feature for the stories. I think you should for the same reason.

I like the addition of most favorited authors in addition to most followed authors.

I noticed on the most favorited author list the last entry is number 279. What's the reason for ending it there? Why not be consistent at ending each list at 250?

 

[SimonDoom]

Chloe had a comment but it seems to have disappeared. I want to second the idea in her post. The idea of being able to filter the favorited story list by category is an excellent one. It would be an extremely useful feature for readers who don't want to scroll through incest stories.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Like the look and feel, and the ability to pick categories and favorited authors. No gotchas that stood out to me

 

[Seadog777]

This is actually the first time that I've ever seen the "All-time" lists, so I cannot tell you if this new design is better than the old one.

For this particular design, I think it's OK.
I do not see any real flaws or issues with it.

 

[ChloeTzang]

Chloe had a comment but it seems to have disappeared. I want to second the idea in her post. The idea of being able to filter the favorited story list by category is an excellent one. It would be an extremely useful feature for readers who don't want to scroll through incest stories.

I just noticed you can do that from the panel on the right - I missed that at first look.

 

[TheRedChamber]

As a pedant, 'favoritest erotic stories' should be 'most favorited erotic stories'.

Second Simon's point about having a numerical ranking by the side.

More seriously the 7-day list appears at first glance to be broken (I'm seeing currently seeing)

Facial / Cream​

Mom's friend lets her in on an incestuous skincare secret.
by fakeflowerstoriesIncest/Taboo 03/25/2023
119 Favorites
4.82
38.2k
39
0

One Plus One Should Equal Fun​

It was his mother's fault. She should have dressed properly.
by miss_D_menaIncest/Taboo 03/24/2023
92 Favorites
4.6
43.5k
10
0

Soccer Mom Slut​

Mother rediscovers her wild youth in the arms of her son.
by RelentlessOnanismIncest/Taboo 03/23/2023
119 Favorites
4.49
34.9k
11
0

So One Plus One only has 92 favourites but is above Soccer Mom Slut on 119 favorites. Perhaps the idea is that 1+1 has gotten more favourites in the last seven days but Soccer Mom has gotten more favourites overall - in which case it makes little sense that we can't see the 'number of favourites in the last seven days' field.

 

[SimonDoom]

Whoops. Scratch my last comment. You already did this.

 

[SimonDoom]

I just noticed you can do that from the panel on the right - I missed that at first look.

Me too.

 

[HeyAll]

Looks amazing, thank you.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

They look good.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I am wondering, why ask us for the feedback? This is clearly something made for the readers to browse the stories more comfortably through stats. I expect you would probably want to hear what an average reader thinks of the improvements, and authors are hardly your average reader. Many don't even browse the stories in search of some reading material, but just write and hang out on the forum. Maybe General Forum is a better place?

 

[ElectricBlue]

"Favoritist" is not a dictionary word. That makes me cringe.

 

[Cali_Love]

I just LOVE rogue words. I use them in everyday language and see who I can trip up and who just accepts it. Who will correct me, and who doesn't have the courage to. Fun, fun, fun.

"Favoritist" will be in my next story.

 

[SimonDoom]

I am wondering, why ask us for the feedback? This is clearly something made for the readers to browse the stories more comfortably through stats. I expect you would probably want to hear what an average reader thinks of the improvements, and authors are hardly your average reader. Many don't even browse the stories in search of some reading material, but just write and hang out on the forum. Maybe General Forum is a better place?

Many, perhaps most, of us are readers as well as authors. I've been a reader far longer than I've been an author. Plus, we reply. I doubt there's a good way to get meaningful input from readers. If you've spent any time in the General Forum I think you would question the wisdom of consulting its participants for meaningful feedback on this question.

 

[lc69hunter]

The Feedback Portal changes will take some getting used to. I was confused as hell this morning while still on my first cup of coffee at 5am, as that is where I start my day.

As for as the most posters list, I notice I moved up a spot in the rankings, but my number of posts dropped by almost a hundred, so you did some other things besides changing the format, but again, not a big issue.

 

[Sammael Bard]

https://www.literotica.com/comments/

All time favourites looks great but this link isn’t working. It’s stuck at a blank page.

edit: It‘s working but it takes a long time to load that page (about 20 seconds). I’m on a 5g network so that was surprising.

edit 2: It’s working normally now.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Many, perhaps most, of us are readers as well as authors. I've been a reader far longer than I've been an author. Plus, we reply. I doubt there's a good way to get meaningful input from readers. If you've spent any time in the General Forum I think you would question the wisdom of consulting its participants for meaningful feedback on this question.

I remember how in various topics more than one author mentioned how they rarely read stories on Lit anymore. My impression was that even those among us who do read an occasional Lit story, do not read them often and are unlikely to use this feature much to search for them. I've never ventured on the general forum and I'll take your word for it that it is not a great place where one can get some meaningful feedback.
Still, I feel it is kinda ironic for Manu to ask for some feedback from us about a feature that is clearly not meant for authors, while at the same time both him and Laurel are dead silent about every issue and idea we raise that could improve our experience and interaction with readers. Communication should be a two-way street.

 

[SimonDoom]

I remember how in various topics more than one author mentioned how they rarely read stories on Lit anymore. My impression was that even those among us who do read an occasional Lit story, do not read them often and are unlikely to use this feature much to search for them. I've never ventured on the general forum and I'll take your word for it that it is not a great place where one can get some meaningful feedback.
Still, I feel it is kinda ironic for Manu to ask for some feedback from us about a feature that is clearly not meant for authors, while at the same time both him and Laurel are dead silent about every issue and idea we raise that could improve our experience and interaction with readers. Communication should be a two-way street.

You're right about that. Communication is not what it should be. This site is not quite as unresponsive as some people say, because they do make improvements, and they give us updates once in a while, but they don't keep us as up to date as they could.

But still, they should be given some credit. In the 6+ years that I've been on the site as an author, off the top of my head, the site has added changed certain features: 1) added the downloadable daily story data file; 2) completely changed the format of the author control panel, with many new features, 3) changed the platform for the bulletin board/forums, 4) added filtering to the acceptance of comments (an unpopular feature to some, but they have a sound explanation for it), 5) changed the format and content of the favorites/followers lists, 6) changed the format and content of category hub pages, 7) increased search features and capabilities, 8) provided some additional guidance in the posted content regulations. There are other changes that are slipping my mind.

I think what people have been saying from the beginning is true. It's a 2-person operation. I have no idea how they do it. It's perfectly fair to say so if you think things could be done better, but the operational limitations have to be kept in mind.

As far as why they ask us about something like this: probably because we're as good a feedback resource as they have. I don't read as many Lit stories as I used to, but still, I've been doing so for 20 years, and I would characterize myself as a heavily invested reader, so I have a lot to say. I suspect many other author/readers feel the same way.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

You're right about that. Communication is not what it should be. This site is not quite as unresponsive as some people say, because they do make improvements, and they give us updates once in a while, but they don't keep us as up to date as they could.

But still, they should be given some credit. In the 6+ years that I've been on the site as an author, off the top of my head, the site has added changed certain features: 1) added the downloadable daily story data file; 2) completely changed the format of the author control panel, with many new features, 3) changed the platform for the bulletin board/forums, 4) added filtering to the acceptance of comments (an unpopular feature to some, but they have a sound explanation for it), 5) changed the format and content of the favorites/followers lists, 6) changed the format and content of category hub pages, 7) increased search features and capabilities, 8) provided some additional guidance in the posted content regulations. There are other changes that are slipping my mind.

I think what people have been saying from the beginning is true. It's a 2-person operation. I have no idea how they do it. It's perfectly fair to say so if you think things could be done better, but the operational limitations have to be kept in mind.

As far as why they ask us about something like this: probably because we're as good a feedback resource as they have. I don't read as many Lit stories as I used to, but still, I've been doing so for 20 years, and I would characterize myself as a heavily invested reader, so I have a lot to say. I suspect many other author/readers feel the same way.

Once again I am perplexed by your answer. I understand you mean well, yet I don't understand why you keep replying and making excuses for Laurel and Manu and acting as their advocate in general. Their absolute silence about requests/issues we raise can't possibly be OK. I remember you making a thread about a possible blog function for authors, an idea I liked and supported. Doesn't it frustrate you that your, I dare say, very good idea became just something we discussed among ourselves for a couple of days? Examples like that are plentiful. I would understand if they expressed disagreement about something we raise, if they said our idea is technically unfeasible, but they are adamantly silent about EVERYTHING except technical support and story publishing issues. Also, for some reason you keep perpetuating this claim that it is a two people operation. That claim is beginning to sound like religion to me, maybe even a cult. Nobody here knows anything about that and the scarce info we have is from years and years ago. I do not believe for one second that Lit can't afford multiple moderators who would help with sometimes insane story queues, website improvements and other things. I will not go through all the things implemented on Lit over years. A very small part of that was for authors' benefit. I am a relatively new author, yet I've been a reader here for 20 years.
Bottom line is - please stop acting like their PR; it is weird to say the least. Let them tell their side of the story, their truth, if they ever decide to do it, which I seriously doubt. Staying silent is certainly their right as website owners. Yet it is also my right to call them out for asking feedback from us while giving none in return.

 

[djrip]

Once again I am perplexed by your answer. I understand you mean well, yet I don't understand why you keep replying and making excuses for Laurel and Manu and acting as their advocate in general. Their absolute silence about requests/issues we raise can't possibly be OK. I remember you making a thread about a possible blog function for authors, an idea I liked and supported. Doesn't it frustrate you that your, I dare say, very good idea became just something we discussed among ourselves for a couple of days? Examples like that are plentiful. I would understand if they expressed disagreement about something we raise, if they said our idea is technically unfeasible, but they are adamantly silent about EVERYTHING except technical support and story publishing issues. Also, for some reason you keep perpetuating this claim that it is a two people operation. That claim is beginning to sound like religion to me, maybe even a cult. Nobody here knows anything about that and the scarce info we have is from years and years ago. I do not believe for one second that Lit can't afford multiple moderators who would help with sometimes insane story queues, website improvements and other things. I will not go through all the things implemented on Lit over years. A very small part of that was for authors' benefit. I am a relatively new author, yet I've been a reader here for 20 years.
Bottom line is - please stop acting like their PR; it is weird to say the least. Let them tell their side of the story, their truth, if they ever decide to do it, which I seriously doubt. Staying silent is certainly their right as website owners. Yet it is also my right to call them out for asking feedback from us while giving none in return.

I'm slightly perplexed by your response to Simon. You're talking as if the site owners are reading the forum and have some responsibility to react to things said here, some obligation to discuss and either implement or deny features that get discussed here. I'm not sure what makes you feel this way. Personally the only communications I would think the site owners might respond to would be PMs or maybe posts on the tech support board, not sure if regular users can even post there. And even in PMs, I don't think they have any obligation at all to engage with users who message them about feature requests. I also don't expect Bezos to redesign Amazon if I send him an email.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

I'm slightly perplexed by your response to Simon. You're talking as if the site owners are reading the forum and have some responsibility to react to things said here, some obligation to discuss and either implement or deny features that get discussed here. I'm not sure what makes you feel this way. Personally the only communications I would think the site owners might respond to would be PMs or maybe posts on the tech support board, not sure if regular users can even post there. And even in PMs, I don't think they have any obligation at all to engage with users who message them about feature requests. I also don't expect Bezos to redesign Amazon if I send him an email.

They've asked us for feedback, so they intend to read this thread? No one said anything about an obligation, it's their right and choice to decide to communicate with us or not, but I just feel they should stick to it then. Or am I the only one who has a problem with this approach? "I decide to communicate with you authors when it serves my needs, and I will create a thread on forum and ask authors what I want to ask them and read their answers, but I will never reply to them in a similar way?"
Geez.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I expect the site is reading this thread and taking whatever they choose out of it on board.

It's evident to me over the years that both Laurel and Manu visit the AH, from posts they have left from time to time, and from low level policing (threads being closed, posts removed - although that may be the AHMod, I don't know).

But they're under no obligation to respond to anyone here. If that's how they choose to run their site, that's their business. We're not share-holders, we're not sending money. We're using a platform they provide at zero cost to ourselves - I for one am grateful for that.

 

[djrip]

They've asked us for feedback, so they intend to read this thread? No one said anything about an obligation, it's their right and choice to decide to communicate with us or not, but I just feel they should stick to it then. Or am I the only one who has a problem with this approach? "I decide to communicate with you authors when it serves my needs, and I will create a thread on forum and ask authors what I want to ask them and read their answers, but I will never reply to them in a similar way?"
Geez.

I agree more communication would be cool! I'm totally down with you expressing that you would like to have better communication. I think I was mainly just perplexed that you thought Simon was doing something wrong, I just thought he was accurately describing the situation. If your message was directed at the site owners instead of a powerless user I would likely agree with it.