tags for age of characters?

[meepsy]

Hi, first I want to thank everyone for how well this site functions and is organized -- I don't think I've ever done that before, and I really do appreciate it

That being said, I love seeing tags for stories, as it helps me know what I'll be interested in reading (for instance, I'm usually not interested in reading anything other than male colds) without having to click and 'be disappointed' as it were.

Anyway, I was wondering if it would be possible to include 'age' tags as well, so that I'll know if the characters are adults or teenagers -- because reading about teens reeeeaaally skeeves me out personally. I realize this is really only useful for original stories, but I still thought I'd test the waters. Another way would be to have 'setting' options, like 'high school', 'college', 'workplace' etc.

Again, I'm sorry if this is a little too pedantic, and I'll understand if it's not very practical. Just a suggestion!

Additionally, I would love to be able to 'favorite' stories the way your can on ff.net, but I know that would be a super huge undertaking for the staff! I was wondering if it was against the rules to include some of my favorite works in my about me page -- as a sort of make shift 'favorites' list?

Anyway, that's all from me I swear! Thanks so much everyone!!!!!

<3 meepsy

[Leafeon78]

It is a good idea for original stories and how about the observations as well.

[LapidotLover22]

I can get behind age tags, since I prefer reading about people closer to my age than my parents' age. And I've often wished I could favorite stories so I don't have to hunt for them when I want to read them again, especially since I don't comment on everything so searching my content is a bust or it's a story from ages ago and therefore can't comment on.

Setting tags, on the other hand, probably wouldn't work bc writers here are quite creative and come up with numerous settings from urban (modern) to high fantasy to sci-fi to historical (mostly thinking about this one fic I found that took place in the victorian era), and there are tons of settings that go with just those four genres alone.

It is a good idea for original stories and how about the observations as well.

Yeah, I agree it's a good idea for observations, too. Mostly the age tags, though.

[MoonDuck]

And I've often wished I could favorite stories so I don't have to hunt for them when I want to read them again

Sort of threadjacking, but I just wanted to pop in and say you could bookmark them in your browser (kind of risky), keep a document hidden somewhere, or make some other note somewhere private. Then you'll be able to keep track of everything!

[Sitruuna]

And I've often wished I could favorite stories so I don't have to hunt for them when I want to read them again

Sort of threadjacking, but I just wanted to pop in and say you could bookmark them in your browser (kind of risky), keep a document hidden somewhere, or make some other note somewhere private. Then you'll be able to keep track of everything!

Personally I think being able to favourite stories/art would be great not for the sake of finding them later being easier but because it's an easy way to let the author know you've enjoyed their work and that their contributions are appreciated. It's not always easy to just leave a comment (for various reasons) even if you've loved the story and want to show your appreciation someway.

The age tags sound like a good idea. They could probably be age scales or something like that.

But.

As has been said before some people here write fantasy stories (for example). It's not always high fantasy-ish stuff but the stories anyhow may include characters whose life span is significantly longer than a human's, and who may age differently. There could for example be a character whose chronological age is 900+ but their physical appearance is like that of a 20-year-old human.

[matilda3948]

First, I'm not speaking on behalf of the staff, just sharing my personal thoughts.

Based on other threads, there is a huge concern about minors on the forum, so I question if having a single-click way to search for underage content is a good idea. It reduces the likelihood of accidentally reading something you don't like but seems like it shines a spotlight on content featuring minors.

As far as coming back to content you like, you can always click "follow this topic" in the upper right hand side of the screen. If you have PM privileges you could also send yourself a message with web links in it. (I think you can PM yourself. Never tried it but I assume it's like sending yourself an email).

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

As far as coming back to content you like, you can always click "follow this topic" in the upper right hand side of the screen. If you have PM privileges you could also send yourself a message with web links in it. (I think you can PM yourself. Never tried it but I assume it's like sending yourself an email).

I just tried it, and nope: it looks like you can't PM yourself on this forum. However, using the Follow This Topic button should work quite well, as you can always look and see what topics you're following. (Also--and I'm speaking as a general member, here, NOT staff!--for the record, we did have a "favorite" feature here for a bit, but it was nearly-universally hated by the members, and so got scrapped very quickly.)

[High on Lullabies]

If you have PM privileges you could also send yourself a message with web links in it. (I think you can PM yourself. Never tried it but I assume it's like sending yourself an email).

You're not able to PM yourself, but you could write a PM and save it as a draft. Or a blog post and just not make it visible (unless you want to share your favourite stories of course! Just remember our rules about not rating or otherwise comparing stories against each other in terms of one being better than the other if you are going to do this.)

ETA: Oops, cross-posted with myown. I agree with her and Matilda that following topics you want to keep bookmarks of is a good way of doing this also.

[meepsy]

Based on other threads, there is a huge concern about minors on the forum, so I question if having a single-click way to search for underage content is a good idea. It reduces the likelihood of accidentally reading something you don't like but seems like it shines a spotlight on content featuring minors.

Yes, I had seen that brought up, and there seemed to be some heavy discussion about not allowing minors on the site at all for that reason among others. I personally believe that minors should definately be able to use this site and feel safe doing so. I really don't want to believe that adults specifically searching for underage content so large an issue as to warrant a decision to not use age filters, but of course if it is that much of a concern, my priority is with the safety and comfort of our underage members.

As far as coming back to content you like, you can always click "follow this topic" in the upper right hand side of the screen. If you have PM privileges you could also send yourself a message with web links in it. (I think you can PM yourself. Never tried it but I assume it's like sending yourself an email).

I sort of meant this suggestion to be a means of showing appreciation for authors' works, as often times I'll read a story that I enjoy but don't necessarily have a specific comment for, or feel weird about 'bumping' if it's been too long. Obviously if this has already been tried and failed, there's no need to re-experiment, but I can't imagine why such a feature would be universally hated haha!

You're not able to PM yourself, but you could write a PM and save it as a draft. Or a blog post and just not make it visible (unless you want to share your favourite stories of course! Just remember our rules about not rating or otherwise comparing stories against each other in terms of one being better than the other if you are going to do this.)

I think I will start a 'favorites' section in my about me page, so others can read older stories that I've enjoyed in the past. Thank you for the reminder about no-cross comparison -- I think that's a very good rule, but have no fear -- I would never dream of putting down one author to showcase another!

[bloom]

but I can't imagine why such a feature would be universally hated haha!

I don't think I was even a member here when this happened, but the problem we ran into when another board I used to frequent had this feature was that people were basically using it as a popularity indicator. Another reason people didn't like it there was it discouraged people from actually commenting on the posts they liked, so it was stifling discussion of any kind and the board slowed down a little bit while the feature was implemented. It perked back up once it was removed and people were forced to comment in order to communicate instead of just hitting a button.

I'm not sure if those were the exact reasons the feature was disabled here, but I assume they were along similar lines. I think it's one of those things that seems like a good idea, and then you put it on and everybody goes "Oh hang on a second..." So it's not a terrible suggestion or anything, just one that's been tried out before.

[MyOwnPrivateSFC]

Yes, Meepsy, pretty much what Junia said: it was a good idea that turned out not to be right for this group.

[Sitruuna]

I can't imagine why such a feature would be universally hated haha!

There are some (many) people here who hate the simple, short coments that people tend to leave, too, and I can't imagine those people would care for favourits. Most of those people also seem to be of the more popular sort whose stories/art get a lot of comments and they wouldn't really be left feeling unappreciated even if all the "nice story/drawing (:" type comments weren't there. Not that that necessarily matters.

[meepsy]

I don't think I was even a member here when this happened, but the problem we ran into when another board I used to frequent had this feature was that people were basically using it as a popularity indicator. Another reason people didn't like it there was it discouraged people from actually commenting on the posts they liked, so it was stifling discussion of any kind and the board slowed down a little bit while the feature was implemented. It perked back up once it was removed and people were forced to comment in order to communicate instead of just hitting a button.

Ahh I see. I hadn't really thought about it that way. Thank you for clarifying!

[Dusty15]

I can't imagine why such a feature would be universally hated haha!

There are some (many) people here who hate the simple, short coments that people tend to leave, too, and I can't imagine those people would care for favourits. Most of those people also seem to be of the more popular sort whose stories/art get a lot of comments and they wouldn't really be left feeling unappreciated even if all the "nice story/drawing (:" type comments weren't there. Not that that necessarily matters.

I'm not sure why anyone would hate simple, short comments. A nice "thank you, I enjoyed this story!" is better than nothing at all and basically a little "LIKE" for the content. In fact, I can't think of any time anyone here has expressed a dislike for any kind feedback and it would be disappointing to hear that someone felt that way. Sure, it's great to get a lengthy, well thought out comment on your creation but I'm just as happy with a "I LOVED THIS! " comment and I'd venture to say the majority of people feel the same.

There are a lot of different interests and preferences on this Forum. Not everyone is going to get equal 'love' for their work and some authors and subjects are naturally more popular because they may appeal to a wider group here. I do not think our more popular authors and artists dislike one-line comments….!

[Sitruuna]

I can't imagine why such a feature would be universally hated haha!

There are some (many) people here who hate the simple, short coments that people tend to leave, too, and I can't imagine those people would care for favourits. Most of those people also seem to be of the more popular sort whose stories/art get a lot of comments and they wouldn't really be left feeling unappreciated even if all the "nice story/drawing (:" type comments weren't there. Not that that necessarily matters.

I'm not sure why anyone would hate simple, short comments. A nice "thank you, I enjoyed this story!" is better than nothing at all and basically a little "LIKE" for the content. In fact, I can't think of any time anyone here has expressed a dislike for any kind feedback and it would be disappointing to hear that someone felt that way. Sure, it's great to get a lengthy, well thought out comment on your creation but I'm just as happy with a "I LOVED THIS! " comment and I'd venture to say the majority of people feel the same.

There are a lot of different interests and preferences on this Forum. Not everyone is going to get equal 'love' for their work and some authors and subjects are naturally more popular because they may appeal to a wider group here. I do not think our more popular authors and artists dislike one-line comments….!

I'm sorry if I came accross as whiny or hateful or bitter or something. That's not how I meant my comment. There was a topic dedicated for "ugh I really hate the simple, short comments people leave" some years ago and I can't imagine that those who felt that way would like a favourite function.

I'm also not trying to say that all ogf the (or even most of the) more popular authors and artists here would hate the "nice story" kind of comments. More like a greater percentage of the simple comment haters are/were people who anyway get a lot of comments than people whose work gain few comments if any.

I understand that not everyone's work will get equal "love". I didn't mean to complain about some people being more popular than others and I'm sorry if it seemed as if I did.