What causes this error?

[Five_Inch_Heels]

"
Story cannot be published. If you think this is a mistake, please send the story name and URL to support."

This comes up as soon I as I press 'Publish'. It isn't a content error or denial of any kind because it never gets to that point in the system. It's like it's a mechanical error. It should be part 3 of a series. Part 1 is up, Part 2 shows 'New" and goes up on the 12th, but this happens why trying to get Part 3 to the point of submission to become pending.

 

[lovecraft68]

Maybe three can't go up because two isn't live yet?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

It showed first as Pending, but I had to go back in to edit to add it to the story series. But then you're back to where you have to Publish again so it doesn't go to Draft and that's when the error appears. But it also still shows under Pending again.



Maybe it's just confused.

 

[StillStunned]

Ah, making changes after you've submitted! Yes, I've had this exact message. Don't worry, your story is submitted, with your edits.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It showed first as Pending, but I had to go back in to edit to add it to the story series. But then you're back to where you have to Publish again so it doesn't go to Draft and that's when the error appears. But it also still shows under Pending again.



Maybe it's just confused.

Making changes to submitted stories is not one of the strong-points of Lit software. If you tinker with a story that's pending, it will go back to drafts and, I think, to the back of the line again. By the way, always keep a copy of the final draft as a file called, say, The Grapes of Wrath, Ch. 02 Submitted. It's even good to have a separate folder call "Summitted" that contains all such files. That way you'll have something to work on if and when you want to change something. It's annoying, but you've got to submit a "new" edited version. It would be nice if you could just change the existing story where it is (do you get what I mean?) but you can't.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Let me clarify if I can. On another site, no matter how old it is, every story will have a "Delete" button and an "Edit Button" at the bottom. You have to go through more rigmarole on Lit. Anyway, on both sites it's worth having a note to the moderator about what you've changed. "I fixed three typos" versus, "I rewrote the whole thing."

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I didn't make any changes to the story other than to add it to a series less than five minutes after I first Submitted it.

I'll just see if it flips to 'New' tomorrow or the next day..

 

[gunhilltrain]

I didn't make any changes to the story other than to add it to a series less than five minutes after I first Submitted it.

I'll just see if it flips to 'New' tomorrow or the next day..

That might be enough to make it a "edit." Did you say it was in "pending" right now?

 

[TheWritingGroup]

The beta Series function is broken for one of the Writing Group series. I deleted it, but I can't create it again because the system says it already exists, and its invisible and unfixable existence prevents my stories from automatically being put in a series because they start with the same two words. Frustrating.

-Annie

 

[StillStunned]

I didn't make any changes to the story other than to add it to a series less than five minutes after I first Submitted it.

That's what I did to get the same error message. Like I mentioned above, I didn't have any problems. The change was saved and my story was approved.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The beta Series function is broken for one of the Writing Group series. I deleted it, but I can't create it again because the system says it already exists, and its invisible and unfixable existence prevents my stories from automatically being put in a series because they start with the same two words. Frustrating.

-Annie

I guess you mean it was a "manual" series and you want to make it "automatic" now? I've always used automatic because that was all that existed when I started here years ago. It seemed good enough for me. Once in a while I'll add a new entry to a series if I think of something new. I just did that for a series of essays that are linked in theme but otherwise not dependent on each other. (Well, there are only two submissions so far!)

But yeah, Lit's software is a kind of patchwork of different elements both old and new. I've found it tolerable, but when I started Lit was all I knew.

Note this:

https://www.literotica.com/faq/series/series-automatic-manual

How long has this been in "beta?" "The feature may not yet be available to all users." This seems to have been going on for a while now.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

The one in question is now showing 'New' for tomorrow.

And for people complaining about Pending purgatory, I sent two up on the 9th that show to post on the 12th and one on the 11th that's set to post on the 13th.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

I guess you mean it was a "manual" series and you want to make it "automatic" now?

Yes, except I thought I deleted it, but apparently you can never delete a manual series, it just hides it. As a result, I can't take those two stories out of it, so they can never belong to any other series. (I just figured that out as I was typing this reply).

@Manu, am I close?

-Annie and Rocco working together on this one

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Parts two and three went up today, so the error was an error and not an error.


I thought only one wold go up each day though?

 

[ElectricBlue]

Yes, except I thought I deleted it, but apparently you can never delete a manual series, it just hides it. As a result, I can't take those two stories out of it, so they can never belong to any other series. (I just figured that out as I was typing this reply).

@Manu, am I close?

-Annie and Rocco working together on this one

You need to completely bust the manual series, take it all back to single chapters/stories that are no longer joined together, then start all over again with a new series title. I was able to fix two buggered up and incorrectly sequenced series by doing that. It took a couple of goes, but both series got fixed in the end.

I've had another one glitch since, where a chapter is listed both within the series but also by itself - I can't be bothered fixing it.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Other than the Ch 02 and Ch 03 I added to the titles, I don't see any indication of a series on any of the stories.

There is a small icon of a stack of books on My Works page, but nothing the readers can see.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Other than the Ch 02 and Ch 03 I added to the titles, I don't see any indication of a series on any of the stories.

There is a small icon of a stack of books on My Works page, but nothing the readers can see.

They were only posted today. The automatic process is not instantaneous. I was told to expect it to kick in after a couple of days.