You just bought Literotica...what do you change?

[jaF0]

I'd guess it comes from using a standard forum package which wasn't designed to automatically link forum IDs to non-forum pages?

VBulletin and this Xenforo package both have that ability and are widely used on other sites. But keep in mind how many alts are in daily use here. Many authors do not post to the boards with their story IDs. Other sites generally do not all alts.

 

[la_ruche]

Why? What's the harm? Just because something is old doesn't mean it can't be interesting

No problem with active posts. But a stale thread without an answer in two years…?

 

[jaF0]

And most of all- self editing. I would establish a threshold, based on some sort of combination of time on the site and number of works published, that would allow authors who meet the criteria being given the privilege of editing their own work at will. Abuse of the ability would result in its revocation.

Like the idea of being able to edit stories.

That could open the door to abuse. An approved and published story could be edited with content outside the rules. I agree the process needs to be streamlined though. Maybe it could only be allowed for veteran authors.

 

[MelissaBaby]

Maybe it could only be allowed for veteran authors.

Which is what I proposed.

 

[lovecraft68]

The main problem there is she won't delegate sufficient tasks. Our roles and access are very limited. Appointing a few more Mods, SuperMods and Admins would be a huge step in cleaning things up. But all such suggestions have gone unanswered, same as new category and other suggestions for the Story Side.

Yeah, we need more mods and one mod to rule them all that's not the owner

Big issue here that can be seen in everything from moderation to what stories pass through and what is allowed to be said/not said is not based on a fixed set of rules but simply the whim and personal preference of one person, and the love it or leave it attitude needs to go.

Playing out my fantasy its why I'd have people taking care of all that, I don't want anything run affected by my personal preferences and biases. I'd want my time to be spent growing and improving things not being ticky tack with rules and posts

 

[jaF0]

Why? What's the harm? Just because something is old doesn't mean it can't be interesting

No problem with active posts. But a stale thread without an answer in two years…?

We've recently seen an increase in 15-20 years old threads bumped for little or no reason. Many times with just a few words. I had a guy not too long ago bump dozens of then. It was almost like he was reading the board backwards, oldest threads first and just replying to each one.

 

[Trionyx]

In all fairness to Laurel and Manu, let’s remember that this site probably doesn’t make tons of money. Some of our fantasy changes would probably cost a fortune. Even hiring one individual can be brutally expensive given salary, benefits, taxes, additional accounting and reporting charges, etc. It could potentially require Powerball winnings or at least further monetization with advertising to effect all of our dream changes. Still, a nice Sunday fantasy (sorry, Bramblethorn, Monday for you) to dream about.

 

[lovecraft68]

ALL violent stories would be gone, including most if not all Non-Con.

This was a slippery slope for me. I believe NC is a kink like any other, and as long as its in its own category I'm fine with it. Don't like, don't read. I won't write or read it, but I'm wary of censoring people's right to write what they want.

But if you go to my post, you'll see that I stated it has to stay within a sexual context, no torture, no beatings etc...

 

[MelissaBaby]

We've recently seen an increase in 15-20 years old threads bumped for little or no reason. Many times with just a few words. I had a guy not too long ago bump dozens of then. It was almost like he was reading the board backwards, oldest threads first and just replying to each one.

That's already forbidden in the rules, but only occasionally enforced.

I have some hesitation about a complete block on older threads. Consider a situation such as when Ogg passed away. There were many people looking back through old thread in which they interacted with him. I'd not want to see the ability to share things like that removed.

 

[jaF0]

"4-Continuing on 2/3 Reluctance is now in place of MC in its own category. Reluctance is very different from NC and creates the issue of people not knowing how to find a story that is reluctant vs NC so now everyone knows where their kink is."


Reluctance and apprehension can be based more on lack of knowledge and experience than outright unwillingness. I can see where stories there have some value where Non-Con does not.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Reduce the categories a little, but add a filtering system. A series of checkboxes for all the variant and sub-category content. Check boxes for pairings, like M/M, M/F, F/F, include Trans?, Include Non-Binary?, etc.

Only trans?
Only M/M?
Only M/F?

Like mind control but not the more brutal non-con? There's a checkbox for that.

Stories need these attributes filled out, then, and author-added attributes are given preference, but user-added attributes are allowable in the event that the author has done nothing. Authors can choose to approve user-added attributes, locking them in.

EDIT: Might rename it Wiki-rotica

 

[lovecraft68]

No more BTB stories or stories of any type that are not erotic and just flat out violent fantasy filled with abuse and torture for titillation.

There's supposedly a rule about the latter somewhere around here, but its obviously never enforced.

I would refer to it as hate is not a kink. If its not erotic and posted in an erotic category it goes. Not moved to non erotic or NN because that's where it could have gone in the first place, but if you want to be cute do it somewhere else.

I would have a loose goal of making LW tolerable to be in again, which might be a bigger fantasy than winning power ball.

 

[jaF0]

That's already forbidden in the rules, but only occasionally enforced.

I have some hesitation about a complete block on older threads. Consider a situation such as when Ogg passed away. There were many people looking back through old thread in which they interacted with him. I'd not want to see the ability to share things like that removed.

The rules are intentionally vague to allow for discretion. There are times when a 20 year old thread might be appropriately bumped. Threads would not be hidden, only present the 'old thread' prompt which as of now does not display here like it does on other sites.

 

[lovecraft68]

That's already forbidden in the rules, but only occasionally enforced.

I have some hesitation about a complete block on older threads. Consider a situation such as when Ogg passed away. There were many people looking back through old thread in which they interacted with him. I'd not want to see the ability to share things like that removed.

I think that when lit added that feature where when you're titling your thread and it shows you former threads on similar topics it has led to some resurrecting of old threads

And I would make the Ogg thread a sticky. He deserves to always be remembered.

 

[jaF0]

Yeah, we need more mods and one mod to rule them all that's not the owner

Big issue here that can be seen in everything from moderation to what stories pass through and what is allowed to be said/not said is not based on a fixed set of rules but simply the whim and personal preference of one person, and the love it or leave it attitude needs to go.

Playing out my fantasy its why I'd have people taking care of all that, I don't want anything run affected by my personal preferences and biases. I'd want my time to be spent growing and improving things not being ticky tack with rules and posts

TPH and I have had 'conversations' with Laurel where she has told us how much time she spends on the story side and how little time she has for the forums. We have both volunteered to take on more, but there has been no change. A number of the current Mods rarely if ever log in anymore.

I'd like to see more of a forum staff so she has more time for stories which would relieve some of the issues with approvals.

 

[RandallOldman]

Remove the politics section of the bulletin board

Agree.

One of the things that has most improved my enjoyment of the bulletin board is to ignore anyone who starts a political thread. Now, when I search for "New Posts" since the last time I logged on, my results aren't polluted by a bunch of politics nonsense. Since those clowns seem to reregister over and over with different names I occasionally have to ignore a new one, but it has helped tremendously.

I honestly don't understand why those people are here at an erotic site anyway. Why not go to Truth, or X, or wherever? It reminds me of, say, model train enthusiasts going to a crochet club and wondering why the crocheters don't give a shit about whether N or HO gauge is better.

 

[lovecraft68]

I think having the Politics Board is genius. It shunts all that bile into one place.
Without it, that stuff would bleed over into all the other boards since these days people can make dang near anything political/tribal.
It’s a lightning rod, doing what lightning rods do…

Or...it can be wiped and any of the tools there who try to bring it back to the GB or any other place will be banned. Period.

The issue would be there can be a time and place for some light discussion of something political, say for a story purpose...but where is the limit set?

Longtime rule at get togethers was you don't talk politics or religion and that is a rule here on story side(within limits) and should be extended to the forums.

This is a erotica/porn site and if you look over in the GB and Poli forum, these people get upset that there's all those porn pic threads there. Most have never written a story, never read one and contribute nothing to this site other than their self righteous hate. They're the crowd that's been kicked off of any forum that has actual moderation and for some, you can tell that forum is their damn life

And they can live it somewhere else. Like I said about certain types of stories. If its not erotic it goes. Forum discussions don't have to always be about erotica, but hatred should not be welcome here....or anywhere for that matter, but we're talking here.

 

[RandallOldman]

I think having the Politics Board is genius. It shunts all that bile into one place.
Without it, that stuff would bleed over into all the other boards since these days people can make dang near anything political/tribal.
It’s a lightning rod, doing what lightning rods do…

Some of my favorite boards and groups have a zero politics policy. Violate it and the post is gone. Violate it repeatedly and the user is gone. After a while they seem to get the message. You create a culture, and the violators stand out like a neon sign.

 

[AG31]

Clean up the log on process. So you don't have to open a forum in order for the profile and mail and alert icons to show up. I know of four people who either dropped out of Lit forums altogether, or dropped out for over a year (me) because they were so confused (never mind the seemingly random way you move between Literotica and forum). I'm surprised to see that no one has mentioned these things. Maybe it's browser specific. Even if so, they need to fix it. Who knows how many users they've lost.

 

[lovecraft68]

VBulletin and this Xenforo package both have that ability and are widely used on other sites. But keep in mind how many alts are in daily use here. Many authors do not post to the boards with their story IDs. Other sites generally do not all alts.

I swear there was a point here where if you ignored someone then any alt they created from the same IP would automatically go on ignore.

I'd love for that feature to be available, it would be especially amusing on this forum these days.

 

[KachinaDoll]

Redesign the awful front page and menus. Looks like it was done by a fourteen-year-old as part of a school project.

Encourage anonymous users to sign up. No scoring and a one story per day limit.

A tip jar.

Restrict Author's Hangout to those who have published stories.

Provide a link from this forum to commenter's library and bio.

Allow self-editing for regular contributors - say ten stories without a rejection. Their stories would be published immediately but the privilege could be withdrawn if abused.

Keep the over 18 rule but allow a little more flexibility in recounting previous experience if it is fundamental to the story. Strictly no under 18 to adult interaction though.

Do something about LW. God knows what but it needs sorting out.

Cull the forums such as Chyoo which hasn't had a post since April.

Longer notice for competitions and sort out the confusing dates - too much cut & pasting of announcements.

Improve interaction with authors. Explain the processes that submissions go through. Issue notices of site issues and delays.

 

[lovecraft68]

Restrict Author's Hangout to those who have published stories.

I would have been against this a few years back because I think readers can give feedback to what they like here, and authors always say they want feedback.

But over time I began to see it as there's a feedback forum, the story ideas forum and of course readers can comment and reach out to authors via feedback with suggestions and reviews.

So I would now support this being authors only. Even if its one or two stories, you have to have something published to come here and discuss writing and publishing here.

 

[onehitwanda]

1. A tip jar
2. better text formatting support for within stories e.g. some control over font size, a subset of supported fonts etc.
3. cover page functionality for related stories indicating suggested reading order.
4. a way to list perhaps three stories as the author's personal favourites and have these appear at the top of the list of author's works. Kind of a sample menu if that makes sense. "Hi, this is me."

 

[OverconfidentSarcasm]

First I'd get rid of the hipster programmers that felt the need to include a 2MiB JS-Library in the site's payload for the sole purpose of building the three drop-down menus in the UCP. This site is for reading stories, there's no need to overinflate my mobile data plan for that.

In the same sense, I'd ask someone who knows about typography and redesign the story pages for optimized readability, as well as force people to use the correct tags, so users that rely on screen readers can have a computer voice use intonation.

I'd probably get rid of categories as a whole. I don't see why most of them are even present anymore. Irrespective of how they'll fare, you'll find gay couples in I/T, EC and NC/R in LW, and so on. Instead, I'd just implement a unified tagging system. If users only want to read specific topics and tags, they can use the search function or create an account and set preferences.

I'd put a stronger focus on the authors instead of the stories. Give authors a proper blog to communicate with their followers, make the feedback option actually work for a change, implement a proper serialization feature, rebuild the author submission pages to display the actual stories with covers instead of an endless list of parts and chapters,... stuff like that.

But I'd also like to implement something so readers can see if an author is even active anymore. The number of stories I started reading here, just to then realize that the chapter I just read isn't the final one and the author who wrote it has been MIA for more than a year is ridiculous.

 

[onehitwanda]

But I'd also like to implement something so readers can see if an author is even active anymore. The number of stories I started reading here, just to then realize that the chapter I just read isn't the final one and the author who wrote it has been MIA for more than a year is ridiculous.

This is such a subtle change but would be so useful.