Next-chapter-links suddenly pointing the wrong way

25 Mar 2014

Is it just me or do the links to the next chapter at the bottom of the story suddenly point to the previous chapter for everyone else too? I swear it used to work in the past, but today I checked, and chapter 4 links to chapter 3, and 3 to 2, and so on.

29 Mar 2014

Bump!? Nic, Gav, did anyone read this or the notice I sent with the form? Haven't gotten a response yet sad

29 Mar 2014

Quote by ChrissieLecker
Bump!? Nic, Gav, did anyone read this or the notice I sent with the form? Haven't gotten a response yet

If you have a specific query, it would be best to pm Gav or a member of admin direct. Sometimes forum questions can be missed. I've been into your stories and changed the link to the next chapter as you've requested. When someone uploads a story there is only an option to link it to the ones you've already written, if that makes sense? Unless you go in at a later date and edit it.

Please let me know if there are others you need changing smile

29 Mar 2014

Thank you Candy.

I don't think this is something that should involve manual changes. I'm sure now that the system used to work the other way round, that the dropdown box at the bottom of the chapter did let you select which other chapter should link to the current one.

I've done some digging, and the chapter links are a mess for everyone, not just me, so this is definitely a backend issue, and it can probably make reading multipart stories a bit tedious for readers not that familiar with the site, because you need to go back to the author's stories page to find the link for the next chapter. I'll pm Gav directly, I've up to now not done that because of his request in the profile to use the contact form.

Thank you again smile

Edit: Looking at the exact wording below the dropdown, it actually seems to be the way it is intended to work now. Hm. Doesn't make all that much sense, unless I submit chapters in reverse order.

29 Mar 2014

I do it that way on purpose for those who haven't read the previous chapters or would like to refresh their memory.

29 Mar 2014

I just interrupted sprite from her beauty sleep (not that I'm convinced she needs any), and she confirmed that this is in fact how things work. I don't know where my eyes have been all that time, then. Okay, I do know, but I'll admit nothing.

The idea of consciously linking to the previous chapter hadn't really crossed my mind yet, but then, I'm sometimes famous for my single-mindedness smile

Perhaps having both would be a good idea? I.e. being able to select "previous chapter" and "next chapter" and have both directions updated in the current as well as the "surrounding" stories.
Or, if it is technically feasible, perhaps the linking could be added as a feature to "my stories" page, so changing the link doesn't trigger a new submission.

Just bouncing ideas right now.

29 Mar 2014

Linking to the next chapter would only work when they're all up.

Maybe people would be able to go back and edit it that way. But then you got the reverification process and extra work for the mods no one wants.

29 Mar 2014

Quote by Haineko
Linking to the next chapter would only work when they're all up.

Yep, that's why I thought about an option on the "my stories" page. But it would still need be disabled until the new chapter is approved.

Quote by Haineko
Maybe people would be able to go back and edit it that way. But then you got the reverification process and extra work for the mods no one wants.

That's the worst case scenario and not much different from asking a moderator directly to change all the links. If only a third of the 30000+ stories are serials, that could become a hell of an annoying job.

And I guess a lot depends on how the current system works, whether the link is stored inside the story text itself or inserted by the software each time the story is visited.

It might also be possible to have a separate checkbox on the edit page that tells the system to ignore all other changes and only update the link, that way it could be routed right through without hitting the moderation queue.

29 Mar 2014

The 'Chapter Link' drop down can only point to stories you have already published. If you are submitting part 3 for example, it can't yet point to part 4.

Once part 4 is up, you can edit part 3, change the drop down link and save it. I don't believe this requires any work on behalf of the moderating team, it should just update without needing to be re-approved.

Hope this helps.

@Lizerotica

29 Mar 2014

Quote by Liz
Once part 4 is up, you can edit part 3, change the drop down link and save it. I don't believe this requires any work on behalf of the moderating team, it should just update without needing to be re-approved.

Hope this helps.

A lot

That was the missing piece of information that totally changes things.

Perhaps (guessing that Haineko and I aren't the only two people afraid to make the moderation pile overflow) this could be added to the FAQ?

29 Mar 2014

Quote by sweet_as_candy

If you have a specific query, it would be best to pm Gav or a member of admin direct. Sometimes forum questions can be missed. I've been into your stories and changed the link to the next chapter as you've requested. When someone uploads a story there is only an option to link it to the ones you've already written, if that makes sense? Unless you go in at a later date and edit it.

Please let me know if there are others you need changing

You really suit your name and thanks for passing my new stories. XXX

29 Mar 2014

Quote by ChrissieLecker
I just interrupted sprite from her beauty sleep (not that I'm convinced she needs any), and she confirmed that this is in fact how things work. I don't know where my eyes have been all that time, then. Okay, I do know, but I'll admit nothing.

The idea of consciously linking to the previous chapter hadn't really crossed my mind yet, but then, I'm sometimes famous for my single-mindedness

Perhaps having both would be a good idea? I.e. being able to select "previous chapter" and "next chapter" and have both directions updated in the current as well as the "surrounding" stories.
Or, if it is technically feasible, perhaps the linking could be added as a feature to "my stories" page, so changing the link doesn't trigger a new submission.

Just bouncing ideas right now.

I went back through my Lush stories and linked them in the order that they should be read, rather than the order they were written. A lot of the time the "You may also like..." section picks out other parts of my multi-part stories as well.

I'm sure that readers can navigate their way around to find what they want to read anyway.

29 Mar 2014

Quote by dpw

You really suit your name and thanks for passing my new stories. XXX

Thank you and no problem! Hugs

26 May 2014

Quote by AbigailThornton

I went back through my Lush stories and linked them in the order that they should be read, rather than the order they were written. A lot of the time the "You may also like..." section picks out other parts of my multi-part stories as well.

I'm sure that readers can navigate their way around to find what they want to read anyway.

This is a great suggestion. One caveat however. The link takes you off that page before you have even seen the voting box and comment section, which I would suspect has a tendancy to lower voting and comments.

Of course that problem could be fixed by moving the voting block to the immediate ending of the story and following that with the comment section, (which could be collapsible), and then follow these two things up with all of the links, the author provided link being the first.