What do the numbers mean?

[Fran_cd]

I have been posting stories for a few years but I have never really understood what the numbers on the “My Stories “ page mean. Would someone please explain them to me?

 

[SimonDoom]

When someone clicks on your story and opens it, it's a "view." This is the number next to the icons with the three vertical bars.

If they vote on your story, then it's a "vote." This is the number after the forward slash.

The number on the other side of the slash, to the right of the star, is the score. This is the mean of all votes, from one through five, on your story.

The number to the right of the heart is the number of favorites your story has received.

The number to the right of the dialogue icon is the number of comments your story has received.

 

[Fran_cd]

Thank you!/

 

[TheWritingGroup]

"Favorites" is a lie, though. It includes people putting your stories on a list. Say someone has a "To read later" list, putting your story on that list will appear on your Works page as a Favorite.

--Annie

 

[TheLobster]

From left to right:

• story's rating (average over all votes) -- here, 4.78
• total number of votes -- here, 185
• number of favorites -- here, 18
• total number of views (of the first page) -- here, 28832, as you can hover over the number to get the exact count
• number of comments on the story -- here, 9

 

[Fran_cd]

Thanks!

 

[SimonDoom]

"Favorites" is a lie, though. It includes people putting your stories on a list. Say someone has a "To read later" list, putting your story on that list will appear on your Works page as a Favorite.

--Annie

I don't believe this is correct. When I download the current story stats file, there are two columns, one for "favorites" and one for "reading lists." The "favorites" column numbers exactly match the favorites numbers on my Works page. This leads me to believe that the "favorites" number on my Works/My Stories page is favorites only, and that the list numbers are separate from this.

If you navigate to your story submission page, which is what readers see, for each story you'll see a heart icon for favorites and a list icon for lists. These numbers track the story stats download file numbers, and the favorites numbers match the favorites numbers on the Works/My Stories page.

 

[iwatchus]

"Favorites" is a lie, though. It includes people putting your stories on a list. Say someone has a "To read later" list, putting your story on that list will appear on your Works page as a Favorite.

--Annie

Favorites is a lie in the news feed when you get a message saying so-and-so favorited your story. Sometimes, these are favorites and sometimes these are lists.

If the "beta" display of stories becomes the norm, it will help, since that displays the tags for each story (at the cost of space on the screen.)

Is there a standardized list of tags? I have been kind of making mine up. Since I turned on the beta display, I am seeing all sorts of other ones I had never considered.

When I download the current story stats file, there are two columns, one for "favorites" and one for "reading lists."

The data describing counts of favorites is always correct. The Author Control Panel just leaves out any information on the number of lists you are on.

 

[alohadave]

I don't believe this is correct. When I download the current story stats file, there are two columns, one for "favorites" and one for "reading lists." The "favorites" column numbers exactly match the favorites numbers on my Works page. This leads me to believe that the "favorites" number on my Works/My Stories page is favorites only, and that the list numbers are separate from this.

They made a change back in March. The downloaded stats used to double count. The Favorites stat had the correct number, then the Reading List stat added the Favorites to other Reading Lists.

What is showing on your Control Panel is only showing Favorites, not other Reading Lists.

 

[designatedvictim]

The downloaded stats used to double count. The Favorites stat had the correct number, then the Reading List stat added the Favorites to other Reading Lists.

Thanks.

I was wondering why my Reading Lists count dropped by over a quarter on 3/31.

It took until... tonight, actually, to recover to the pre-adjustment level.

 

[lovecraft68]

I'm thrilled by the fact the OP has been here for awhile and didn't understand what the numbers mean.

They must be too busy writing to have given them any thought.

Good for them, as much time is spent fretting over numbers here as there is actual writing.