Feedback Request - New Lit Voting Element

[Boxlicker101]

The mouse dragging across them lights then up and that is attention grabbing.

Yes, but how do you induce somebody to drag the mouse?

 

[Roxanne Appleby]

IE 7, works as described.

Per 3113, Lauren and others, plus long years in the school of hard knocks, what can be misunderstood and f'ed up, will be. SNAFU, FUBAR, Murphy and all that. So definitely, definitely work on building in a little cushion, either an "oops!" re-do option, or a "Are you sure you want to do that, Dave?" confirmation requirement. Or maybe both.

~~~~

Also, this is a bit more radical and slightly off-topic, but think about throwing out that second digit to the right of the decimal in scores. 5.0, 4.9, 4.8, 4.7 etc. Giving that false impression of "precision" in these outragiously subjective (but hugely useful) numbers is the source of an awful lot of anxiety and strife among authors. The site could still retain the extra digit in it's brain and use it to order the top lists, but just would not display it.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

The numbers in the stars are a great help - makes it easier for us girlies to understand (joke).

Final thoughts/polite suggestions;

- Rather than say 'Rate' the story, would it be better to say 'Click the appropriate star to rate the story'.

- Personally, I would prefer a double click to vote. With a glass of wine taken and just reaching the end of the latest Rumple bonkbuster it is only too easy to have a premature click. A system for retracting 'hanging chads' would be difficult, so why not give a tad of protection in voting?

- The captions above the stars are fine, except for '2'. 'OK, but not my Favorite' seems stronger praise than '3' Keep on writing. I would suggest for '2', 'OK, but could do better'.

- Please end the confusion of whether making a PC is also making a vote. I vote and then consider whether to make a PC. If I know for certain that the PC thermometer counts as a vote, I will tend to leave more comments.

Overall, I like the new system but wonder whether it has been the cause of the recent drop in red H's. Writers and readers need a steer on popular stories and perhaps a 'NH' category - nearly hot - is needed to show what stories are 'bubbling under'.

Just my two cents.

 

[Boxlicker101]

The numbers in the stars are a great help - makes it easier for us girlies to understand (joke).

Final thoughts/polite suggestions;

- Rather than say 'Rate' the story, would it be better to say 'Click the appropriate star to rate the story'.

- Personally, I would prefer a double click to vote. With a glass of wine taken and just reaching the end of the latest Rumple bonkbuster it is only too easy to have a premature click. A system for retracting 'hanging chads' would be difficult, so why not give a tad of protection in voting?

- The captions above the stars are fine, except for '2'. 'OK, but not my Favorite' seems stronger praise than '3' Keep on writing. I would suggest for '2', 'OK, but could do better'.

- Please end the confusion of whether making a PC is also making a vote. I vote and then consider whether to make a PC. If I know for certain that the PC thermometer counts as a vote, I will tend to leave more comments.

Overall, I like the new system but wonder whether it has been the cause of the recent drop in red H's. Writers and readers need a steer on popular stories and perhaps a 'NH' category - nearly hot - is needed to show what stories are 'bubbling under'.

Just my two cents.

You might be right about the voting. When something is "on a scale of 1 through 5", that would mean that a "5" is saying "Among the best 20%." I believe that to be far from "One of the best."

Some years ago, during the Summer Olympics, a Romanian gymnast was given a score of "10" This raised quite a stir, because that was saying she was perfect, or so close as makes no difference. However, that was on a scale of 1 to 100, with a score of 9.8 amounting to 98, etc. Lit doesn't make such fine distinctions. I wonder how often readers say something like: "This was really good, but not perfect. On a scale of one to five, I would say about 4.8. It wasn't perfect, so I will have to grade it as a 4." Another, more reasonable person, might round that 4.8 up to 5.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

my prediction is already coming true...

 

[jomar]

my prediction is already coming true...

Are you noticing that on new stories, or are your old ones shifting down with new votes?

 

[Boxlicker101]

Are you noticing that on new stories, or are your old ones shifting down with new votes?

My newest one is certainly getting clobbered. It's an E/C story, and has an average score of 3.87, 106 votes and 17,742 views in four days. Those last two numbers are amazing. I have many E/C stories that haven't gotten that many votes or views after being posted for a couple of years. And, the PC and the emails I get are generally complimentary or, at least, not negative.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Are you noticing that on new stories, or are your old ones shifting down with new votes?

Yup... although I'm not sure if its the category or not. Most of what I'm posted lately is in audio (tough cat) and essay/review (also tough)...

any romance writers out there seeing a difference? I'd be interested to see what those scores are doing with the new superstars system...

 

[rgraham666]

Neither of my last two submissions has gotten an H yet. And it's doubtful they will now as one is off the New List and the other leaves tomorrow.

But one's Non-Erotic and the other's Erotic Horror so that's not surprising.

 

[DG Hear]

Stories

I've had three stories out since the change. 2 non-erotic and one Romance. Not a lot of change in either the voting or scores. I think once the readers caught on they just followed their old routine of clicking 1 through 5. It's also contest time and that diffenately affects voting. Time will tell. I do believe it would be nice to have a confirm hit.
Like the idea that if you go back to a story it can't be re-voted on.
DG Hear

 

[DesertPirate]

I've had three stories out since the change. 2 non-erotic and one Romance. Not a lot of change in either the voting or scores. I think once the readers caught on they just followed their old routine of clicking 1 through 5. It's also contest time and that diffenately affects voting. Time will tell. I do believe it would be nice to have a confirm hit.
Like the idea that if you go back to a story it can't be re-voted on.
DG Hear

I like the honesty thing too. Vote once the rest won't count. There are ways around anything and yes I can beat this one, but I won't.

 

[ExoMani]

My second story, since the change, was approved yesterday. Both of my new stories are in the “Mature” category.

While my latest story it’s doing better than the first one that was approved since the change, it still hasn’t quite earned an “H”.

Now, IMHO, my latest story is a lot better than the two older “Mature” stories of mine, that both easily won the big “H”.

I suspect that the new “Star Voting System” has resulted in about a .25 drop in story ratings.

I admit, I haven’t posted anywhere near the number of stories that many of you have, but about a .25 drop in story ratings is my current conclusion.

 

[TxRad]

Now if there was just a way to tell when you get a new pc, life would be greatly improved. I have a pretty good memory for numbers but I still miss new ones.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

I just submitted a romance story, so I'll let you know what happens as far as the ratings go.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I know, Tx!! I feel stupid replying to say, "Thanks for that feedback you left last April!"

And thanks, Crim... I have a theory that romance is still going to remain high(er)...

but I could be wrong!

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

We shall see. It's a longer piece (almost 12,000 words), so it's not a quick stroke fest type of story.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

We shall see. It's a longer piece (almost 12,000 words), so it's not a quick stroke fest type of story.

perfect. the longer the time investment, usually the higher the score.

 

[MarshAlien]

my prediction is already coming true...

Your prediction? In post 42? I think you mean your agreement with my prediction.

Once you come up with a way to let people know what they're actually doing (I like the confirmation button, although then we're back to two clicks - I'd also go for more information up front), I think it will work fine.

With narrative like that, though (damned good read, one of the best, etc.), I'd actually expect scores to go down. People will suffer. There will be gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. Maybe rending of garments. Dibs on the popcorn concession!

nice av.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Your prediction? In post 42? I think you mean your agreement with my prediction.

We posted 10 minutes apart... didn't read your post first, just read Manu's... so no... it was my prediction...

but great minds must think alike...

and thanks...

 

[Anna_Malia75]

Your prediction? In post 42? I think you mean your agreement with my prediction.

Men. Can't live with 'em, can't live . . .

well, wait a minute now. Let me think on that for a while.

I posted one story before the change, and will be posting another shortly, no better or worse than the first. I'll let ya know.

 

[MarshAlien]

Ha! Once again, y'all are ganging up on me.

Oops. Wrong alt.

[size=-1]"Never mind."[/size]

 

[Boxlicker101]

My most recent story, Angel 7, is not getting as many votes or reads as the first six chapters. They are all doing well, as far as the average vote is concerned, but not many votes. It also has no PC, which probably has not much to do with this thread.

 

[ExoMani]

I just noticed something.

I felt that an anonymous PC to one of my stories warranted a reply. So, I posted one, and of course, gave my own PC a 100% rating. (What the hell, a rating is required as part of the PC, and I'm not going to rate one of my own stories as something less than 100%)

To my surprise, the 100% PC rating also registered as a Five Star (5) vote for the story!

Now this may not be a really big deal, but I have made it a point of honor to not tamper with the ratings of my own stories. I don't vote for them, and I don't post stories, or myself, on my Favorites Lists.

I'd be interested to know what everyone else thinks about this. I mean, should the PC ratings be "decoupled" from the Star System Votes, or is it all really no big deal?

Personally, I would like to be able to leave an occassional "Author's Comment", without having my comment affect my story's vote rating.

Again, opinions?

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I just noticed something.

I felt that an anonymous PC to one of my stories warranted a reply. So, I posted one, and of course, gave my own PC a 100% rating. (What the hell, a rating is required as part of the PC, and I'm not going to rate one of my own stories as something less than 100%)

To my surprise, the 100% PC rating also registered as a Five Star (5) vote for the story!

Now this may not be a really big deal, but I have made it a point of honor to not tamper with the ratings of my own stories. I don't vote for them, and I don't post stories, or myself, on my Favorites Lists.

I'd be interested to know what everyone else thinks about this. I mean, should the PC ratings be "decoupled" from the Star System Votes, or is it all really no big deal?

Personally, I would like to be able to leave an occassional "Author's Comment", without having my comment affect my story's vote rating.

Again, opinions?

That's a good point...

I don't have myself on my favs... and voting for my own story is futile, it's swept away anyway...

but I LIKE the idea of being able to leave a comment without having to vote...

interesting idea!

 

[ExoMani]

That's a good point...

I don't have myself on my favs... and voting for my own story is futile, it's swept away anyway...

but I LIKE the idea of being able to leave a comment without having to vote...

interesting idea!

Thanks for the comment.

A question though: By "swept away", do you mean averaged out, or deleted by the admins?

(I'm relatively new here and had to ask!)

Thanks.