It's nothing to do with membership level. If you choose to hide your online status, I think it will always show as something like "90 days ago" or "3 months ago" or similar. Or maybe "2 hours ago". Not sure.

The issue you're seeing is more likely to do with session logins. Best guess is that the "last online" is taken from the login/logout log entries rather than a realtime query (which would bog the site down with thousands of people online at once).

People who use the 'remember me' checkbox or who leave their Lush session logged in on a browser tab will not generate a "login" event every time they visit the site. So the Last Online Time is really "Last time the user logged in by entering their password or their session timed out and they were forced to re-authenticate". But that's a bit long to display on the screen 😁

There's a slim chance the system takes the IP address into account, so users who hop from IP to IP (on a VPN for example) might show different online times depending on the last time they logged in via the same IP as they're using now. But I highly doubt that's the case. It's more likely the login session time.

Wow, first entry already, and I haven't even had what can be classed as half an idea yet. I'd better get my skates on.

So that's the new Lush metric right there: Strokes Per Story 😂

I suspect the queries are not as optimised as they could be. When the page is first loaded after a period of inactivity it seems to take a lot of resource to make that query, and the Ajax request times out before the result is returned.

Oftentimes, as you found, after a subsequent refresh or two, some or all of the results have been temporarily cached and the load is reduced, allowing the query to complete.

I'm not sure when this will be rectified; I think it's an iterative process with each update. Some accounts are more adversely affected than others - maybe those people with many very active friends. These may have a lot of transactions to wade through to get hold of all the info that happened since last visit.

Quote by sprite
adds peppers, tomatoes, onions, and garlic to stew. sets to simmer

Aaaarrrgghhhhh!!

This is a great theme and I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone conjures up for us to read.

No ideas of my own have jumped out at me yet. Maybe a half-concept last night, but it's going to need some thought before I commit to it or do something else.

pops brain in jar to stew a while

Quote by Piquet

Ten thousand words ! Grammarly is going to get a thrashing.

Haha. You don't have to use them all. It's a maximum 😁

Quote by Vampire_vixen
It would be nice to have additive tags.

I'd love that too. Not sure if it's on the "yes we'll do that" pile for the developers. I've mentioned it often enough they're probably fed up of me asking!

With my purist hat on, which sadly also makes me sound like an elitist twat, I'd say circa 80% of the micros we've published should be axed on the grounds that they aren't Microfiction. A sex snippet with no subtext or cleverness or elements that make readers think about the characters and how they got there or where they're going is just a lifeless scene and not in the spirit of Microfiction.

Unfortunately, like poetry, it's very subjective and what I think is unworthy, others would argue the opposite. And therein lies the rub: with a team of twenty-plus volunteers, one of us is likely to see something in a micro that none of the others do.

Great question, Kimmi.

My goal has been, and probably will always be, to continuously evolve my writing to tell what I consider the best possible stories. I love taking tired tropes (gardener, billionaire, horny teen, ...) and seeing if I can give them a fresh angle, as well as finding pictures that not only serve as cover art but also give me inspiration to conjure the story behind the image.

I daren't go back and read some of my early stuff here from 2015, but my first story earned an RR so it must have been okay. And I've been steadily adding to them, with over a hundred RRs and EPs so far in 120-odd stories. I must be doing something right!

From here, I want to keep finding ways to tell scorching hot stories that haven't been told. Like you, injecting something a bit different but still grounded in reality. Something that whisks readers into the situations I create so they lose themselves for the duration of the piece.

I adore story comments. If readers enjoy what I do and leave a comment, I'll always endeavour to write back, and usually give away tidbits of the writing process I went through, for the vaguely interested.

A fringe goal I decided earlier this year is to reach the Prolific badge and shoot for Omnium, though I know a couple of categories are going to be a real struggle. This year so far I've ticked off 6 more categories, and I have 4 more already written in 4 different cats, awaiting final edits, so I'm getting there. Doubt I'll get there this year but, as my profile says, I'm determined.

Quote by bluestocking
there are only some covers which has the kebab menu

This is identified as an issue, thanks for raising it.

It's been fixed in preparation for the next build, so whenever that is pushed to the site, the delete should be available to all cover images.

Yep. An update was pushed earlier today. Hopefully that helps navigate the site better.

Hmm don't know about that. I can ask if there's a way to do it.

Quote by OldPete2024

I have some story covers that I want to delete but there does not seem an option. Is there a way to do this?

Can you edit each story and click the little x floating on the cover then save it? That should remove the pic from the story.

Or do you mean remove them from your media library?

That is a nice idea, Kee, but how do we determine if a story meets the criteria of having beginning middle end and character arcs when it is developed piecemeal over a long time? Or if the author never finishes it? We're no better off than we are now and would potentially annoy readers who specifically came here for long-form.

Take an example: I'm working on a trilogy, possibly quadrilogy. When I started, it was going to be a one-off. Then I added a second chapter and liked where it was heading. On the surface, these two parts of the series are just sex. Nothing clever. Nothing special. Nothing characterish. But in the third chapter, the protagonist is beginning to develop an arc which explains her behaviour and (hopefully) brings it to some kind of fitting conclusion (although I would probably leave it—at least in some way—open-ended so readers can take the story forward in their heads, or I could add an 'origins' prequel if there was enough demand, or continue it in future).

So far, I've put each chapter in a different category and linked them as a series, because then people who camp in any of the particular categories can enjoy the individual chapters, which increases my exposure, but if readers want to know more, they can dive either side and read the rest. Or not.

When it's done, if it goes the way I'm thinking, it could well be a "novel" as per your definition. So I could move it and lose my category assignments which signpost what each one is about (and meaning I'd have to write other stories in those categories to work towards Omnium, but that's a side quest). But overall it'll be, what, 15K words? Maybe 20K? Is that a novel? A novella? A long short story? Does it qualify? Who decides? A story of that length could be split into two to comply with our 10K per submission limit. If I've put a 15k piece in Novels, what's to stop others doing the same? Can two parts of that length be a novel? Someone who comes here specifically to read longer works and who sits patiently waiting for authors to write in this category, might then be pissed off that it short-changed them compared to 100-chapter epics like Techgoddess is penning.

Although there are arguments for keeping it, and I'm still on the fence, no matter which way we slice this, the Novels category is an anomaly. It's difficult to justify its value when there are now better tools available (category, series link, plus "novel" tag at minimum) to connect readers with relevant content.

Quote by JustForYou
still appears to be ' pending '

If your story has been returned to you for editing it will be in your Drafts folder. Visit your Stories page and click Drafts in the submenu above the list of stories to see them all.

Then Edit it, click Preview at the bottom when done, check it through and, when you're happy, hit Submit. It will then be sent to the moderation queue.

A naughty stewardess and a horny seatmate? The skies have never been raunchier. Chapter two of the "come with me" series is out: Come With Me Too. See what I did there? Didja? Didja?

Hope you enjoy it. I'm gonna get onto writing the (probably) final chapter...

Quote by JustForYou
thanks again for the tag and genre help

You're welcome.

Quote by kistinspencil
I just tried this on your profile page. None of the story thumbnails open large. If I tap an image in an open story, it enlarges, but as I said, it always has for me.

The story thumbnails don't enlarge. It would be nice one day perhaps if they did. Since each story entry isn't linked en-bloc (only the title is) it's possible to do it this way in future. But equally, it may be better that clicking the image also opens the story one day. I'm not sure (cognitively) what's better. But that's for another day.

I think the change for clicking to view the larger individual story images to see a larger version has been around a while, but the ability to enlarge profile wall images is relatively recent (a few months, if memory serves). I was just mentioning them in case some folk hadn't tried it yet, as it seemed relevant-ish to this topic and was a recent image-related change that wasn't mentioned when it was released.

Quote by Georgia_27_8
When stories are reverified, do they get listed as "new" stories, or keep their original date of approval?

They keep their original publication date.

The OP issue should now be fixed. Refresh to see the covers. Thank you for the report.

Quote by kistinspencil
I see the images on my stories page, but tapping them doesn't do anything -- or did you mean on some other page?

You can't tap the thumbnails (yet?) on story list pages but if you are either:

A) viewing an individual story; or

B) viewing images on someone's profile wall

Then tapping an image will pop up just that image to see it bigger (if it's been scaled).

The standard size is currently 768x1200.

Not sure why the (older) ones aren't showing. Could be aspect, as you suggest Susie, or it could be because they're in a different location, as they were pre the move here. I've flagged it to the developers to consider.

Adding the covers to story list pages is a lovely upgrade. I also like that you can tap them (when on the stories page and viewing profile wall images) to view full size. Nice.

If it's a group sex party, put it in Group Sex. That sounds like the main thrust, as it were.

Then for the tags, start typing: oral and click the best fit from the list. Same for 'anal'. It also sounds like you'd use:

masturbation

voyeur

And maybe also 'reluctance' if the woman who eventually enjoys it is hesitant at first. You have up to 10 you can add per story (you don't have to use them all), so think about other aspects and see if there are tags for them in the dropdown list as you type. Choose the closest match.

Please only add a new one if you're absolutely certain it's spelled correctly and is not covered already!

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Now that the competition’s over, I’m gonna start on the sequel to “Dare to Fuck with the Devil?”

Wooo! Looking forward to it.

I'm penning a mile-high sequel to Come With Me. Which is proving hot.

Anyone who likes to read longer works, please give the Novels: a redundant category thread a read and add your vote/thoughts.

High level: we're considering dropping it in favour of authors threading multi-chapter stories together using the Series Link feature (which didn't exist when Novels was added years ago) and putting each chapter in a category that more befits its genre.

The aim is to help readers find content that they're interested in more easily than having it stuffed in a 'miscellaneous' category and having to hunt for it.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Anyone who likes to write longer works, please give the Novels: a redundant category thread a read and add your vote/thoughts.

High level: we're considering dropping it in favour of authors threading multi-chapter stories together using the Series Link feature (which didn't exist when Novels was added years ago) and putting each chapter in a category that more befits its genre.

The aim is to help readers find content that they're interested in more easily than having it stuffed in a 'miscellaneous' category and having to hunt for it.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Yes, that's changed category and tag. And intriguingly, it appears to have changed the URL too. Didn't expect that but it's a nice surprise.

Quote by WannabeWordsmith

I was under the impression that authors could change category and add tags without moderator reapproval.

I have it on good authority that the only things that trigger remoderation are changes to:

• body

• title

• cover image

• one liner

So tags and category should be editable by authors of their own work at any time.

Note that if you do change category, the URL won't reflect the new name, but if we do go ahead with this proposal, we'll snapshot the situation as it is before we start migrating content and then redirect the category assignments by hand.

Quote by wxt55uk
moderators will need to be involved in migrating novel genre stores, to whatever the new chapter genre is, even if we authors are somehow given the power to change story genres by ourselves (we don't have that power at the moment, btw). This is because we will need to add a novel tag to each chapter, and you need a moderator to do that.

Oh. I was under the impression that authors could change category and add tags without moderator reapproval. I'll find out.