Which maximum character limits are fuzzy?

[bumpercars]

So, story titles are capped at 35 characters and subtitles at 60 characters. Are those limits that I could beg Laurel to let me exceed just a bit?

I have a story series about a sorority, and the naming convention has always been "Sigma Lambda Tau: Short Phrase." My most recent one was about some religious girls trying to "save" the Sigmas and getting sidetracked, and I wanted to call it Sigma Lambda Tau: Trials and Tribulations. That title was about six characters too long, though, so I published it by shortening it to "SLT." I'd love to correct it if I could, though.

I know Laurel is awfully busy so I don't want to even ask if that one is a hard limit akin to the 750-word minimum.

 

[GinnyPPC]

I can't say for sure, but I suspect the 35- and 60-character limits are configured into whatever database engine Lit uses. So, likely not possible to permit a one-off exception, it would have to be a global change and be allowed on all stories in the future.

You're not the only one who would like to see them longer, I had to rewrite a description once to fit. But I no makea the site, so I no makea the rules.

 

[SimonDoom]

So, story titles are capped at 35 characters and subtitles at 60 characters. Are those limits that I could beg Laurel to let me exceed just a bit?

I have a story series about a sorority, and the naming convention has always been "Sigma Lambda Tau: Short Phrase." My most recent one was about some religious girls trying to "save" the Sigmas and getting sidetracked, and I wanted to call it Sigma Lambda Tau: Trials and Tribulations. That title was about six characters too long, though, so I published it by shortening it to "SLT." I'd love to correct it if I could, though.

I know Laurel is awfully busy so I don't want to even ask if that one is a hard limit akin to the 750-word minimum.

I don't know this for sure but I seem to recall someone saying a while ago that Laurel may allow a longer title if you ask. You might as well try.

 

[AlinaX]

People do occasionally get away with longer titles, usually if a chapter has been renamed to fit in a series.

 

[GinnyPPC]

People do occasionally get away with longer titles, usually if a chapter has been renamed to fit in a series.

Well, I guess there goes my database theory.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

If Laurel doesn't allow the longer title, maybe she would rename all your stories to use the Greek letters instead of spelling them out with English letters?

 

[RejectReality]

If Laurel doesn't allow the longer title, maybe she would rename all your stories to use the Greek letters instead of spelling them out with English letters?

That's dicey.

While a lot of the code has changed, it used to be the case that any special characters within the title or description line were as likely as not to display as gobbledygook in critical places like the new list, top lists, etc. They would show up fine on your story page, but the places where it was most likely to be found by readers would display random shapes instead of the intended symbols.

Manu may have corrected that oversight during the process of updating the pages, but until that's confirmed, it's throwing the dice to put any special characters into the title or description.

 

[NotWise]

I have a title over the 35-character limit. I gave it a title that was as close as I could get, and explained to Laurel in the notes how I really wanted it titled. She made it so.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

My Story 'Late Night Swim with My Step-Sister' was already at the max. When I went to submit chapter two, it wouldn't go. I put a note in and explained, and it worked. I had to do the same for chapter three, and will for chapter four, too.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I have a title over the 35-character limit. I gave it a title that was as close as I could get, and explained to Laurel in the notes how I really wanted it titled. She made it so.

Yep, I've bumped up against the 35 characters in the title, and Laurel gave me a few more.

 

[stickygirl]

Yep, I've bumped up against the 35 characters in the title, and Laurel gave me a few more.

It comes as no surprise to me to hear you've bumped up against that many characters

 

[oneagainst]

I often use all the characters and had to put pt02 on the end to squeeze it in. The story chapters all magically published as Ch. 02 - way beyond the limit. Fullstops also get added into the subtitles, blowing those limits too. I can't conceive of the extra workload for Laurel asking her to hand-edit titles... it would only mean slowing something else down like story vetting, so maybe live within the limits if possible.... As much as it pained me to, because it actually changes the meaning of the book, I had to settle on What We Say In The Dark from its original title of What We Tell Ourselves In The Dark

 

[LexxRuthless]

I can't say for sure, but I suspect the 35- and 60-character limits are configured into whatever database engine Lit uses. So, likely not possible to permit a one-off exception, it would have to be a global change and be allowed on all stories in the future.

You're not the only one who would like to see them longer, I had to rewrite a description once to fit. But I no makea the site, so I no makea the rules.

Well, I guess there goes my database theory.

You weren't wrong. When we type in the proposed title in our "New Story" block, there IS a hard limit to the number of characters, and that's due to the original size of that field in the site's database. Newer site updates have given the site more flexibility, but Laurel retains the right to allow longer titles ONLY on a case-by-case basis. If we were suddenly given free reign to put in much longer titles, there would be smart-alecks who would abuse that newfound freedom just because they could.

Also -- and I doubt most of you would consider it first thing -- if we get access to substantially longer titles, it will unfairly penalize older stories on the site. Those authors had a much stricter limit and did the best they could under those restrictions.

 

[RejectReality]

Also -- and I doubt most of you would consider it first thing -- if we get access to substantially longer titles, it will unfairly penalize older stories on the site. Those authors had a much stricter limit and did the best they could under those restrictions.

I mean... sort of. Then again, older stories had the advantage of a lesser filter for the views as well, so they have a massive advantage in that department. The new numbers are almost certainly closer to accurate for human interactions, but when it comes down to views ranking, the old stories still have years worth of those unfiltered bots and spiders pumping up their numbers.

So six of one, half a dozen of another IMO. Fair trade.

The main reason for the restriction originally was the display format. The combination of title and description took up a certain amount of space on the various pages, keeping them from overflowing into another line. The new pages have plenty of extra space to expand those. Used to be that a long title meant Laurel might cut down your description, or vise versa, but that was a long time ago.

I think the new pages remove the main restriction on changing those limits, but the necessary reserved space in the database might be obstacle #2.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It comes as no surprise to me to hear you've bumped up against that many characters

Are you casting aspirations on my characters, MissSticky? How double dare you .

 

[bumpercars]

Also -- and I doubt most of you would consider it first thing -- if we get access to substantially longer titles, it will unfairly penalize older stories on the site. Those authors had a much stricter limit and did the best they could under those restrictions.

Well, back before the internet, people had to go to stores to find erotica, so the site's very existence is unfair to writers from that era.

There are arguments to be made for limiting the length of story titles for display and readability reasons, but arguing that no limitation faced by people in the past should be removed strikes me as uncharitable to the future. I want the people in younger generations to have more possibilities, more tools, and more freedom than I have.

Let my grandchildren's generation have sixty-character Literotica titles! Let them masturbate to kinks hitherto undreamt of! Let the future not be held back by our limitations, but rather be lifted up by our hopes!

 

[Bramblethorn]

That's dicey.

While a lot of the code has changed, it used to be the case that any special characters within the title or description line were as likely as not to display as gobbledygook in critical places like the new list, top lists, etc. They would show up fine on your story page, but the places where it was most likely to be found by readers would display random shapes instead of the intended symbols.

Even if the technical side all works, I suspect most readers who see "ΣΛΤ" will read it as "EAT" rather than "SLT". And if they read it and want to find it again, they might have trouble figuring out what title to search for.

Just don't get it confused with Sigma Lambda Theta...

 

[Bramblethorn]

Well, back before the internet, people had to go to stores to find erotica, so the site's very existence is unfair to writers from that era.

There are arguments to be made for limiting the length of story titles for display and readability reasons, but arguing that no limitation faced by people in the past should be removed strikes me as uncharitable to the future. I want the people in younger generations to have more possibilities, more tools, and more freedom than I have.

Let my grandchildren's generation have sixty-character Literotica titles! Let them masturbate to kinks hitherto undreamt of! Let the future not be held back by our limitations, but rather be lifted up by our hopes!

Plus, long titles are retro! Just look at Daniel Defoe's magnum opus, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent.

 

[bumpercars]

Plus, long titles are retro! Just look at Daniel Defoe's magnum opus, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent.

That sounds like it would do well in multiple Literotica categories, to be honest.

 

[LexxRuthless]

Plus, long titles are retro! Just look at Daniel Defoe's magnum opus, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Famous Moll Flanders, &c. Who was Born in Newgate, and during a Life of continu'd Variety for threescore Years, besides her Childhood, was Twelve Year a Whore, five times a Wife (whereof once to her own Brother) Twelve Year a Thief, Eight Year a Transported Felon in Virginia, at last grew Rich, liv'd Honest, and died a Penitent.

See, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to see if Laurel did away with the title length restriction! Someone would submit 7 stories on the same day with titles so long, they'd push everyone else off the category frontpage.

 

[bumpercars]

See, that's exactly the sort of thing I'd expect to see if Laurel did away with the title length restriction! Someone would submit 7 stories on the same day with titles so long, they'd push everyone else off the category frontpage.

Just have it trail off into an ellipsis after like 45 characters on the category frontpage, and only display the full title on its own page.

(I am aware that saying this is way easier than doing this, but that's the easiest compromise that comes to mind.)