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In other words,
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Looking for the Best and Latest in Transgender Fiction?

This is the TopShelf, where the latest and best TG fiction can be available - because you make it so!

Why is BigCloset some of the best Transgender fiction on the net? Well, BigCloset authors make it so with encouragement from BigCloset readers. Been that way for years!

Why is TopShelf going to be the latest? Because authors can do their own posting here! That's right. Anyone with an account can post a story here on BC-TS and it will go up immediately. Just create a User account, use the password emailed to you, log in and start posting.

Your first story post will earn you an Author account that will get you even more privileges!

Volunteer for an Editor account and get even more involved!

- Erin Halfelven


Now. Write some stories. Make some honest, polite and respectful comments. Have fun. - Hugs, Erin

Comments

Printable Page

As a guest, I no longer have access to the printable pages.

Is this intentionable?

Thanks

Guest

Same for me even after

Same for me even after logging in

Re: Printable Page

You'all might want to check your settings I don't have any problems!

OMG," its full of Stars

Open the pod doors Hal.

Konichiwa

Hey, when can I start posting again Mom?

I mean, I'm going through heavy duty withdrawels here and so aren't my fans, GEEZE! Giggle, giggle. Just kidding mom, take your time and do it right mom.

Huggles
Angel

Be yourself, so easy to say, so hard to live.

"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"

Posting is open

erin's picture

It's all go, here. Have you a problem?

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Font size

Switching back and forth between the new and the old TopShelf, I notice the font size is smaller on the new site. Is there a reason why?

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Private Messages

Breanna Ramsey's picture

There seems to be a problem with private messages - at least for me. I can open the form but when I send the PM I get no confirmation and it doesn't appear in my 'sent messages' box.

Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'

Bree

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy

http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph

Private messaging

erin's picture

The PM module for this version of Drupal is brand new, just released in the last few days. May be some bugs in it.

But Joy!

Two hours after I finished this new installation, Drupal issued an upgrade from 5.0 to 5.1.

Razza-frazzin' borgle mumphs.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Go figure!

Why am I not surprised! Just got a thing from a friend about whether computers are male or female. I'll put it in a blog , maybe tonight, if it doesn't show up before then from the person who sent it to me. You'll appreciate it!

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Why am I not surprised

Why am I not surprised

PMs - Additional

Scott's message got me to look at my own Inbox, and I saw none had been moved from the old TS. So I went to the old site intending to see how hard it would be to copy them, as I've saved a lot there for preservation. I was surprised to see that many/most of them are gone. Only those from about the later part of November are still there. Do you have some kind of cutoff in place that we weren't aware of, message count or date? If I'd had any idea I'd have been preserving them on my computer.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Sorry hon

erin's picture

The old software automatically dropped messages after a certain number.

The new version (when it begins working) will have folders and exporting and all kinds of good nifty stuff. When it works.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I just noticed...

erin's picture

New comments are at the top, instead of the bottom. I find this confusing but I'm not sure it isn't worth getting used to.

Also, the preview-every-time requirement is good but a tad bossy, don't ya think?

Opinions?

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Works for me

Breanna Ramsey's picture

I had my options set on the old site to show new comments at the top, so it seems perfectly normal to me. :) I also always preview my comments before I hit submit so again, to me, there is no real difference.

Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'

Bree

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy

http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph

There's actually an option ...

... where you could choose to have newest comments either first or newest comments last. I switched it to chronological order, and it works fine. Although I am curious about the smaller font size in the new BCTS default theme.

Oh! When i tried out someof the other themes, the recent comments sidebar didn't appear on any but the default for me. Is that a bug, or just a browser thing with Mac's Safari?

Randalynn

Some themes don't have a right hand side-bar

erin's picture

That's why important stuff like navigation and advertisement :) are always in the left hand bar.

Signed in members can set their preferences for top-down or bottom-up comment order but I get to set the defaults. Then again, non-members can't comment unless they sign in as Guest, so I may not get much meaningful response here. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Comments & Old Dogs

I noticed that right away, and changed the setting. As I'm always signed in, it's no biggie to me.

Oh, I wouldn't have minded about the messages if I'd had any idea, I'd have just saved off the ones I wanted.

Sorry if we all seem like fussy old women - "You changed this, you changed that", but we're just a bunch of old dogs that don't like learning new tricks.

Now, about that font size. . . .

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Font size and Group W

erin's picture

Well, I increased it 5% then another 6% since last we talked. It still isn't as big is it?

And is Wysiwyg now working for you?

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Better

It does look better, but a bit more would be nice. I tried the other themes, but prefer the default layout.

Wysiwyg is there. Now I've got to finish off that short story and get it off to be proofed!

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Did you go back smaller?

Looking at the site now, the type seems smaller again.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

I don't know

erin's picture

I've gone up and down in size a few times, this is true 11.5 pt type, a bit bigger than in most books. 12 pt looks a bit big to me. One problem I have is that different browsers render things differently. I'm still experimenting. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I was a bit confused ...

Breanna Ramsey's picture

... upon seeing some stories had the 'Add New Comment' option on the front page while others didn't. I finally figured it out - it seems the option only appears there until the item gets a comment. Part of my confusion was because the comment box is not there automatically at the end of the story, but as I recall you did something on the old site to add that, Erin. Can that be done here?

The site really looks great to me, and I know everyone appreciates all you've done - and all you'll be doing as the little gremilins crop up here and there. The wonders of technology - *sigh*.

Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'

Bree

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy

http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph

Yeah

erin's picture

I think I found that we got more comments with the form at the bottom of the stories. Going to do that.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Printable Pages

I just kind of noticed that the printable pages are not quite as printer friendly as the old printable pages.

Friendly Printer Friendly

erin's picture

The old printer friendly pages were designed by me. These new ones are the default and I haven't had time to figgle with them yet since they just added the module last night. :) Sooooon.

One thing you can do to get a friendlier friendly page is to switch to one of the fixed width themes.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

A lot of images are broken, PM, printing

erin's picture

A lot of posts that used images are broken now, the images don't show up. I'll work on that, for now, the stories and artwork appear as before at ShoeBoxen. :)

The programmer on PM is aware of problems, they may be fixed by the end of the week--or not. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Comment order

I've noticed that on older stories that are receiving new comments, the new comments are coming up on top, even though I have "oldest first" selected. Something about the way the new software treats the comments that were moved over with the stories, perhaps?

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

I suppose so

erin's picture

I'd have to look at the code to find out why. Probably some counter sonewhere that is being used differently.

Not a big problem is it?

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

No biggie

In the grand scheme of things, no. It will sort itself out as newer stories take the place of the ones moved over. Just thought I'd mention it so you'd be aware. I suspect this will be a fun period for you, debugging things to get them all working like they should.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Weird fun

erin's picture

Well, yeah, but right now after an intense one week period I'm sort of maxed out on that kind of fun. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Fun Cure

Well, in my neck of the woods, we'd recommend a fifth of Tequila, a couple of lemons and a shaker of salt. Guaranteed to help you forget your problems, at least until the next morning.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Re - Fun Cure

Personally I'd recomend a long bubble bath soak, Hot Coco, wrap up in your favorate night gown and comforter and your favorate chick flick.

Hugs & Giggles
Penny

Another comment comment

Just noticed, I corrected the spelling in an earlier post, and it changed the submission time on the comment. Is it supposed to be that way? I know I use submission date and time when trying to sort out who said what, when.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Fudge

erin's picture

No, it is not supposed to do that. Probably a bug. It's printing the update time instead of the created time. I may be able to fix that in the template.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

A modest suggestion

This is for your "when I get to it" list, Erin.

At the moment, I can't see any difference between the front page and the page you get by clicking the "Stories" link at the top of the page. My suggestion would be to add the old author list to the left column of the Stories page. That would make it easy to get to for those who want the list, but wouldn't make it part of the initial page load.

Overall, I think the new software is working well, and it sure is much faster too.

Thanks and hugs!

Amelia

"Reading rots the mind." - Uncle Analdas

"Reading rots the mind." - Uncle Analdas

I second that

Sounds like a good idea to me! I'd noticed that also, and I know I'll miss the author list eventually.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

As soon as I figure out how...

erin's picture

The old author list is not easily recreated in the current software but new extensions are posted every week and someone is sure to recreate the old block. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

PMs and Blogs

I was going to ask this in a PM, but they still don't seem to work. Do new blog postings not show on the homepage anymore?

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Blogs

erin's picture

Right at the moment, blogs don't show on the home page because I've been taking a few days to recupe and not doing enough housecleaning, sorry. :(

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Housecleaning?

What's that? Okay Erin, I understand. ;)

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Who's online first

I shall resist the horrible jokes possible with this, and instead ask if the Who's Online list can be above the Author list, please.

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Third base

erin's picture

Okay. :)

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Printing without comments?

Is there a way to print with printable view that doesn't have the comments attached to them like the way it was at the old site last week? There might be a small to medium sized story that has quite a number of comments, and who wants to print out the comments. I read the comments before I print it to get an idea if I want to read the story or not. I just don't want to print them.
I am sure that there are others that feel this way also.

Otherwise, keep up the great work. You are very much appreciated by all of us.

Marc

Printable pages

erin's picture

There's a lot to do with this feature yet. And no real idea how soon I may be able to do it. Sorry, but I'll try.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Recent Popular Content

Breanna Ramsey's picture

I was wondering what the time frame is for the recent hits shown - i.e. is it the current day or the last 24 hours or the last three days or what?

Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'

Bree

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy

http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph

Appears to be last three days

erin's picture

But I'm not sure. Trying to find the config for that so I don't have to dig through code. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Recent Popular Content Redux

Breanna Ramsey's picture

It seems like it must be way less than three days, in fact less than a day even. I just checked out of curiosity and the top three items, all of which were posted yesterday, show recent hits far less than their read counts on the front page. I would think if it was tracking the past three days the numbers should match. Seems to be more like the past 6 hours or so.

Scott
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of--but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Lazarus Long - Robert A. Heinlein's 'Time Enough for Love'

Bree

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
-- Tom Clancy

http://genomorph.tglibrary.com/ (Currently broken)
http://bree-ramsey314.livejournal.com/
Twitter: @genomorph

Well...

erin's picture

I don't actually know how long it considers recent, I just know that I've got the logs set to save only three days worth of details which is enough to catch any harvesters or robot reapers. :) I've caught two in a week, now.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Thanks Mom, for all the work you are doing for us!

All I do is write and help new authors where I can. You make our world a reality and give us this wonderful HUGE CLOSET to play, in which we all fit with plenty of room left over.

Thanks again Erin, Bob, without you doing what you do, we would be back in the dark ages.

Huggles Mom, Bob, and the nameless ones who help you both.
Angel

Be yourself, so easy to say, so hard to live.

"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"

What the heck is going on this morning?

I log on and I get a very bizare home page with old stuff. I can't see any new entries for blogs, or my sneak peak I had posted last night.

I access my author page and only find a few of my stories. Giggle, giggle...

Mom, what's going on?

Huggles
Angel

Be yourself, so easy to say, so hard to live.

"Be Your-Self, So Easy to Say, So Hard to Live!"

Erin says she's working on it

I noticed only old stories are coming up.

Erin says she's looking at it it. Wish her good luck, afterall yesterday WAS Groundhog Day.

I half expect to see Rod Serling chain-smoking at any moment now.

Hey, an idea for Bob's Stardust contest. I thought of it first so it's mine, mine, mine!

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

It's a freaky problem

erin's picture

A module I installed last night set all the access codes goofy, I uninstalled it and things looked okay as Admin, but apparently it only undid things for the admin user and all other logins and users are still goofy.

I should be able to fix it soon. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I think it's fixed

erin's picture

Thank you for your patience :)

hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Post more stories!

erin's picture

Now's a good time, traffic is up 15% in visitors, 100% in pageloads since the change over to the new software. I guess the slowness was a real problem for some people.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I may be able to help??

Janet got another cleaned-up Timeout back to me.

I may post it today. I'm not sure if this will help or hurt.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Private Messages and Comments

Hello Erin, I've just sent a PM but see that there's no 'preview' option. Would it be possible to add this feature? Is the only way of formatting text (e.g. Italic) in messages and comments by entering the appropriate codes manually, or could there be clickable options for this? It appears that BBCode doesn't work (e.g. [b]This uses BBCode and should be bold[/b]), only HTML tags, and I have selected BBCode in the 'Input Format' options! ;) Are 'emoticons' not supported, or is this another possible option? Regards, Dave.

Preview for PM

erin's picture

A preview would be good. I may have some solutions to this soon, I'm working on it and a formatting assistant that is less prone to unnecessary code than the current Wysiwyg editor. Hang in there. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Editor assistant

erin's picture

I've installed an editor assistant that should work for fiction, forums, stories, blogs, comments and private messages. The one for Authors should be more full featured than for non-author members. It should not appear with Wysiwygs. Unlogged in users won't see it at all. Let me know about problems with it.

The Preview key doesn't work perfectly, but it's better than nothing. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Editor assistant

Hello Erin, I see that there are now 4 icons for comments and PMs - I assume these are the Editor Assistant you mention? ;) Thanks! It seems that the Editor Assistant only appears when replying to PMs, I don't get it when I try to 'Write a new message'! As well as the 'Eye' icon for previewing messages, there is also a 'Preview Comment' button (though not a 'Preview Message' for PMs, apparently), both of these seem to work OK for me! It took me a moment, though, to realise that the 'Eye' icon toggles between 'compose' and 'preview'! BBCode still doesn't work, however! :( It also seems that, whatever 'Input Format' is selected, it defaults back to 'Filtered HTML w/line breaks', is that normal? I created a 'New Folder' when viewing my 'Inbox' and the option to move PMs to it appeared, so I moved the PM in my 'Inbox' to the 'New Folder.' However, when I went to 'Sent Messages', that option wasn't present, so I couldn't move any PMs from there (it wasn't present for the 'Inbox' either, but that could be because there were no PMs in it!), the curious thing is that, when I view the 'New Folder' the option to move PMs to only the 'Inbox' is present!?? This seems rather curios behaviour to me, is that how it is supposed to work? Regards, Dave.

Editor assistant again

erin's picture

Fixed the no EA when making new PM. I always pick the recipient before typing the message and it worked that way, didn't occur to me to try the other. :)

The Preview Comment button is built-in to Drupal Comments, Drupal PM has no such button. The Eye preview will not show some of the legal HTML you can use, that may be fixed later.

You're right, BBCode doesn't work. It did work, now it doesn't. I've removed it till I figure out WTF.

Filtered HTML is the default because it is safer than just letting any HTML at all be used. Actually, there are a number of tags I probably shouldn't allow.

If you make multiple boxes you can move msgs between them at will, except the sent message box is only for sent messages and nothing else and sent messages cannot be moved out of it. Normal but not too bright. :)

Maybe the EA is interfering with the BB. I'd rather have EA. EA does interfere with the WYSIWYG editor so if you can use one, you can't use the other.

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

More Editor assistant!

Hello Erin,

Fixed the no EA when making new PM. I always pick the recipient before typing the message and it worked that way, didn't occur to me to try the other. :)

OK, and it didn't occur to me to try it by first selecting a recipient! ;)

The Preview Comment button is built-in to Drupal Comments, Drupal PM has no such button.

That's a pity - it would be useful to be able to preview a PM.

You're right, BBCode doesn't work. It did work, now it doesn't. I've removed it till I figure out WTF.

OK.

Filtered HTML is the default because it is safer than just letting any HTML at all be used. Actually, there are a number of tags I probably shouldn't allow.

There are now only three 'Input Format' options instead of (IIRC) four, is this a result of removing the BBCode option?

If you make multiple boxes you can move msgs between them at will, except the sent message box is only for sent messages and nothing else and sent messages cannot be moved out of it. Normal but not too bright. :)

No, it isn't! A workaround (until such time as it is possible), would be to send a PM to yourself as well, then it could be moved from the Inbox to a different folder!

When I composed my last comment, I'm fairly sure that the preview showed line/paragraph breaks, but once posted, they were gone - I'll see if the same happens this time!

Regards,

Dave.

PM

erin's picture

New version of Private Message just came out. Notes say it adds a preview and fixes a bug I've never run into. Hope to install it tonight. :)

I can install MarkSmart, WikiStyle, or Texy (all pretty similar) instead of BBcode. Any interest in those out there?

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Re: PM

Hello Erin.

New version of Private Message just came out. Notes say it adds a preview and fixes a bug I've never run into. Hope to install it tonight. :)

That's great! Thanks. I'll look forward to trying it out.

I can install MarkSmart, WikiStyle, or Texy (all pretty similar) instead of BBcode. Any interest in those out there?

I'm not familiar with those, but if one or other of them gets around the BBCode problem, whatever you think is best will be fine with me!

Regards,

Dave.

PM now has preview

erin's picture

:)

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Re: PM now has preview

Hello Erin,

PM now has preview

Thanks. :)

BTW, what is the purpose of the little grey circle at the right-hand end of the 'To' field?

Regards,

Dave.

Clean the screen?

erin's picture

I haven't seen that in either browser I use frequently. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Re: Clean the screen?

Hello Erin,

I haven't seen that in either browser I use frequently. :)

I see it in both SeaMonkey V1.1 and IE V6.

However, it's not clickable and does nothing!?

Regards,

Dave.

In Sea Monkey...

erin's picture

... it appears to be an indicator that the filed is wider than displayed. Type across in the field and when you type wider than the field display, the little grey circle will turn blue and spin for a moment. :) I'm not going to boot up a WinBox to see but I suspect it's the same thing there.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Re: In Sea Monkey...

Hello Erin,

.. it appears to be an indicator that the filed is wider than displayed.

Indeed, it is - fancy that! ;) Thanks for that info. :)

Actually, what happens is that it spins after each character typed, if there is a sufficiently long pause between keypresses(!), but as soon as the field limit is reached, it doesn't spin when additional characters are typed, it also doesn't spin if a name is pasted into the field!

Regards,

Dave.

Minor, minor glitch

One funny little thing. When I click on new comments for a story on the home page or a comment itself on the right, I'm taken to the appropriate place, everywhere except this topic. In this topic, I'm taken to the top of the first page, even though we are now on the second page of comments.

That make sense?

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

No cents

erin's picture

I'll see if I can spot the problem, that's dumb.

Okay, apparently, I can just increase the number of comments per page to solve this. Still dumb but no longer a problem. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

100 Comments - Comments - ?

chrisl's picture

Hi,
there used to be an option at the top right of home page where the latest comments could be accessed. If they were very positive I tended to use it to find interesting additional reading. It has either vanished because I messed up my settings (very likely) or is no longer available. The recent ratings and popular content can be used in a somewhat similar manner so maybe it is not needed. just wondering :)
Hugs, Christine

100 Comments

erin's picture

I turned that off because comments that were not supposed to be visible were still showing up. Maybe if I figure that out, I'll turn it back on, but the last few days have been toothache city and I've been sleeping 15 hours a day, (I guess because of the medication I'm taking to deal with the toothache).

Patience. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

100 Comments

chrisl's picture

ThankYou Erin,
now my GrandMother insisted a touch of the Irish (preferably Bushmills) was good for a toothache, just passing along some wisdom :)
Love and Best Wishes,
Christine.

On teeth and comments

Take care, Erin. I have come to hate teeth; I spend more time on them than the rest of my body and they give me more trouble (but I started way to late, and that is more trouble so far (Knock on wood.))

the only cure seems to be money; my dentist specializes in extractions - from my bank account.

If we comment more won't we push those old ones off the list? Come on everyone, speak up (politely).

Get well soon.

Hugs,
Jan

Just a note about comments

erin's picture

Attaching a general, self-labeled rant about other stories to one story is not a kosher use of the comment function.

If someone wants to make general comments about story writing, that's what blogs and forums are for.

Thanks,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Friday's Radio Play - Transformation

It may be of no interest but ....The Friday Night Play (27th April, 9 p.m. UK time) on Radio 4 of the BBC apparently concerns -

"Thomas is a no-hope poet obsessed with Porshia, a young woman at the office. When one day he literally wakes up inside her head, he begins to experience the life of his fantasy woman from closer than he might like, including when her hunky boyfriend pays a visit."

To quote their website.

Can you receive this in the USA through the internet connection?

Hugs,

Fleurie

Fleurie

BBC Radio in US -- Yes, You Can!

To listen live to BBC Radio 4, go to this URL and click on "Listen Live" in approximately the upper right hand part of the page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4

If you miss a show, many of them are also available afterwards, although I don't know for how long.

For those of you planning to listen to anything live, I would suggest that you try it out well in advance, in case there's anything you need to download or adjust in order to get it to play on your PC. I've got it working on 3 of my PCs, including my old "kick-around" machine, a 1998-vintage laptop with a 233 MHz processor running NT 4.0. In general, I'd have to guess that whatever you have, it should work better than that, but do sort it out in advance.

BBC Radio on-line

You'll need Real Player for it.

The BBC News site offers some of the clips in Windoze Media Player format, but Real Player is the default. For Radio, Listen Live, or Hear Again, it's Real player only.

Xi

Doppler Press

I have just spent about eight pounds buying five downloads from Doppler Press. I have been dealing with Lulu Press for some time and have works by the likes of Jenny Walker and Carmenica Diaz, for whom I have the greatest admiration. I have a sight problem and these downloads enable me to read large print on my computer monitor. These books also represent amazing value for money. Thank you to the authors who put so much work into them.

I encourage you to support this work. Purchase of some of these downloads also supports BC-TS, which has provided me with such a wealth of great reading.

Thank you.

Thanks, Susan

erin's picture

That's a very nice endorsement. :) DopplerPress is doing very well for BigCloset and I'm glad to hear that people enjoy the books they have bought. There'll be some great new things coming from DP and BC in the next few months. :)

Oh, currently the storefront for Doppler Press is at http://stores.lulu.com/dopplerpress but there will be a stand alone website soon. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Formatting problem?

Looks as if somebody's story posting has had an adverse effect on the front page, at least on my computer. Didn't this happen awhile back also?

And what can we as contributors do to avoid it?

Karen J.

"A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you."
Francoise Sagan


"Life is not measured by the breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away.”
George Carlin

Use the !--break-- symbol

erin's picture

The simplest thing is to use the <!--break--> symbol to indicate where you want the teaser to end and make sure all HTML commands in the header are propely closed.

Strict browsers (most modern ones) have more problems with bad HTML than some of the sloppy older ones.

I've also changed an algorithm in the code for figuring the end of the teaser. The formula ( -length - offset) should have read -(1 + length - offset). The original formula worked if offset were 1 or 0 but did not work for higher values of offset. I had changed this once before but the base code got updated for a security fix and changed back. BC makes extensive use of teasers which a lot of Drupal sites don't do so we got bit.

The break symbol can be inserted by using the formatting aid button above the input box that looks like:

   A
----
B

It's between the eyeball and the question mark. That will mark the end of the teaser.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Many Many Thanks

My Greatest Thanks

I would like to thank a few people for making my off work time really special even if i do not know them personally and there is no order to my preference as all of you have a beautiful way of writing and capturing my heart

Juli O, Wanda Cunningham, Scott Ramsey, TeddyS , Angel o Hare, Babara Lynn Terri, Ellen Hayes, Maddy Bell, Jannet Stickney(who Posts on other good fiction Sites)

I know there are a lot of others out there that I have not Had the change to read as up today but I hopefully get around to read each and every story

You put so much love hurt and passion in your story’s I just have to thank you over and over again you did a great job and I hope to read more from you

Luv

Carpe Diem

think

I believe all authors deserve credit for putting in their time and effort in assembling so many stories for others to read.
If the reader has not found one to their particular taste, just move on to another. A friendly note of you preferences, or alternate direction ... but nothing offensive to anybody. There's NO good reason to try to disrespect another person.
Bitterness does not reflect well on anyone.
Thank you for your time,
denni b

easy going, casual, possible a lurker to some, but not to those who are not so critical.
peace

JKO question

kristina l s's picture

Well let's see, I think you asked before and... no answer, so I'll stick my hand up part way. Someone using the name of Christina Chase posted a story. A few of us, myself included, questioned the use of that name as it is the primary character in a very popular serial....um, ongoing story. Perhaps said author felt slighted or rebuffed, because the story disappeared. Though a posted comment by the author (before disappear) suggested understanding of the situation. So.... I dunno. No fault no foul, so post again if desired, there was a reason, I guess there still is. Just be name careful, huh.
Kristina

Formatting on home page

Has something changed on the front page. All the sudden I'm having to scroll side to side to see the entire page. I don't see anything off, but you never know.

Mark

"If you are too open-minded your brain will fall out"

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

Scrolling - Fixed

erin's picture

Someone's had a posting error. I tracked it down and removed the offending posts from the front page.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

I noticed it too, thanks for fixing it, Erin

At least it wasn't me this time, huh?

Oh, I will be posting a new Timeout at BC soon, be warned.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Hanging Chad?

On some stories, I only see the top half of the vote button. Is this happening for anyone else?

Italics

It seems to only happen to stories that begin in italics, but it isn't happening to all of them that do.

I haven't seen that problem

erin's picture

What browser and OS are you using and which stories?

- Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

half a button

My browser is Internet Explorer, version 7.0.5730.11. My OS is Microsoft Windows XP, Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 2.

Of the stories on today's front page, it happens to "Being Christina Chase | Chapter 29: Pyrrhic Victories," "The Long Journey, Chapter 6," "Camp Kumoni Ch. 6," "Runway | Chapter 15: Sunday Dinner," "Show Me The Money! Chapter 3 - The Dance," "To Make A Wish Part 4," "Little Pink Pills (Part 13)," "Lost In Thought, Part 16," and "To the moon, Alice! | Chapter 7."

The stories that begin in italic and are fine are "Wonder Twins -7- Daughter's Dilemma," "David's Dilemma," "Deja Vu," and "The Disclaimer 3: The Best Seat in the House."

The half button problem

erin's picture

Appears to be with IE's treatment of the Java commands that draw the voting box when there is more than 1.5 lines of italics at the top of the content.

There's a new version of the voting software up as well as a minor update to the major CMS software BC uses. I'll try those updates first and see if they solve anything. It will be several days before I can do this because of other commitments.

If the appearance of the voting box is important, in the meantime, it looks fine in Firefox, Safari and several other browsers. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

How Do You Vote?

That is what I want to know

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Voting

erin's picture

When you open a story to read it, there's a box next to the title that contains a number and the word Vote. Click on the box. The number will increment by 1 or 2 (2 for authors) and the legend will change to Voted. About a month from now, you can vote for the same story again.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Thanks Erin

Now I can vote for my favorite authors

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

sorry if i hurt anny one ,

if i sed soomething to +make you mad iam sorry as far as i know all i have dun is made a replay to a few storys on here and the one that i have i relly lovedthar are verry good but some times i feel some of the writer get a littel slow and no i have not sed anny thing to anny one on that part but did wish a few wood get going on a few storys and add to tham if it was abouth me useing caps iam sorry i did not know as the light on my key bord was out but now fixed so i will leve and only say i love this site so have a good one keep up all the good storys god bless and have a good day ,
sin your,s
[email protected]
and again thanks mutch

mr charlles r purcell
verry good story i wood love to see a lot more of this all i can say is wow verry good thanks for shareing

Comments

I dunno. Since I am not getting any comments, I must assume that my stories are terrible. I would rather receive comments than to go on assumptions.

As of the present, I have not gotten a single comment on my last two submissions. (I say "at the present" 'cause someone may comment now to make me feel better. You don't have to do that.)

Love,
Billie Sue

Billie Sue

Yes we do

I have been busy scrambling to finish, or get far enough on my How Novel is it entry for Erin so I have been remiss as of late.

I like how your heroine is trying to work out if it is infatuation, true love, is she even capable of knowing the difference at her age and all the other conflicts of her emerging feminity.

Sweet stuff.

John in Wauwatosa

John in Wauwatosa

Erin's Comments

Personally I'm grateful for having Erin do all this work just to give us aspiring artistes a place to present our thoughtful drivel.

While I'm happiest to receive positive feedback. I actually don't mind the negative. I think there is an old saying which, if I may, I will paraphrase incorrectly - "If it weren't for the negative publicity I might not have any publicity at all."

Thanks again Erin and best wishes for the New Year.

marie c.

marie c.

Re Erins comments

Erin wrote:

I will NOT spend hours a day refereeing the commenting here. If flaming starts up again, I will simply find another hobby and offer money back to those who donated subscription money. I may try to put a few individuals on moderation first but, frankly, I'm MUCH more likely to just ban someone than go halfway. I don't like doing that. If I have to do that then each time I do, I'll have to think is it worth it or do I just shut down.

I've noticed other places too on the web where site owners become increasingly agitated over 'policing' user behaviour on the site. I can someway understand it when the site is trying to attract commercial sponsorship, but in this case what is the harm of letting adults say what they think? The words 'heat' and 'kitchen' come to mind - wasn't it some ex president of yours whom put those words into a rather meaningful comment worthy of quotation?

We tend to agree, I think, that the better stories involve a conflict of interests between protagonists but when it happens naturally, in comments on the site, the conflict is quickly curtailed.

I've said it before, but it probably needs saying again. The web is larger than all of us. If Erin leaves the stage and takes her ball home then there will soon be others willing to take on her mantle. Just look at what happended to Fictionmania when Mindy gave up.

A Happy New Year to you all! And let's not get too precious eh?

Oh, and another thing...

May the present ethos presently pertaining on this site, whereby authors apparently submit endless chapters for a 'story', perhaps be curtailed? After all it is New Year Resolution time!

I read very little here now. My thinking is that if an author cannot write a beginning, a middle and an end to a story before posting, why should I spend my time reading it? Dashing off a few paragraphs and posting is nothing more than an ego trip, in my humble opinion.

Julie O seems to manage admirably only posting finished works, all excellent by the way. Perhaps you wannabes can follow her example rather than endlessly churning out soaps.

Publishing finished works vs pieces

You may well be correct that publishing a finished story is better (for the most part) than serial publishing. In my case, I probably would never have published (or even started writing) if not for the apparent acceptance of short pieces to a larger story. I'm pretty sure, the two that encouraged me to write, would never have succeeded in getting me going or I'd have given up as a bad effort, if it hadn't been for the encouragement of some of the readers on this site.

Is posting for me an ego trip? No. To be quite honest, I'm very surprised anyone wants to read the story. Perhaps this is cause my last effort at writing (a complete 3 act play if you can believe that) back in Jr. High got totally changed by the rest of the "team" I was in. (Oh, the words didn't get changed, just who said them.) This was enough to convince me I couldn't write to save my life. Now about 35 years later, I'm attempting to write again. Being able to publish serially is how I'm able to do this.

All that said. Do I prefer to READ longer pieces or shorter/serialized pieces. Prior to finding this site. I'd have agreed with your sentiment. I much preferred to be able to read a story that I knew would have an ending. I was frustrated getting to the end of what was there in a story, and look at the date published, and realize the author had abandoned the story years ago!

Since comming here, I've revised my opinion some. I still prefer to read works that FINISH. (You should see the double thick cases of books in the house!) But, I've come to enjoy some of the "serials", as well. I guess my tastes have changed some. I think back to my parents days, when they were kids, they watched serialized movies along with full length features. They told tales of anxiously awaiting the next episode.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that there seems to be a place for both completed works as well as serials. My plan, when I finish my piece, is to merge the smaller bits together into a complete total and republish that and remove the pieces. Whether that works or not, I dunno.

My 2 cents.

Phrances

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion ...

I am thoroughly enjoying Angharad's "As Easy As ..." series. There's no obvious end in sight, but it's a fun little story.

My writing? "Ma'at" is a set of entirely self contained stories that explicitly build into a larger story. "Amazon"? A very big story that's evolving a bit as it goes.

I see no need to change this site; if Erin finds it a problem, she can let the authors know. And the readers can always ignore stories they object to.

To each their own.

Nicole (a.k.a. Itinerant)

--
"Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite."
Robert A. Heinlein

Nicole (a.k.a. Itinerant)

--
Veni, Vidi, Velcro:
I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Yes, but..

It's Erin's site and she has invested a lot of time and money in it - so she has a perfect right to say how it should be run. If folks don't want to abide by her rules they should find a site that allows them to behave as they wish - or create their own site.

Personally I come here to read the great stories, not to listen to any arguments. Thank you Erin for providing this wonderful place and to all the authors for their stories.

Mmm...

But that's a bit like saying that since good old George Bush is President he can have any war he likes.

Oh but then of course you Yanks let him do just that don't you?

Sometimes you have to question. No-one has the right to set themsleves in an unassailable tower - not even site owners. Nor Rupert Murdock. Nor...

pissing contest?

kristina l s's picture

Ok, do I agree with every decision regarding pulled argumentative comment strings and the like? No I do not. I actually think they should to a point be allowed to run. We are all adults here supposedly and I doubt things would get too out of hand too often. Still, it isn't my playground beyond the invitation as a guest, so not my call.
As for running serials etc... I have no problem with them when they are done with style. I am somewhat partial to the free form do it as it comes 'school' after all. But then I'm just one slightly nutso opinionated cow from down there, so what do I know.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This place is the best of it's kind. I like it. Is it perfect from my point of view? No, but then what is. I have been coming here for a couple of years now and this place has helped me. It's somewhat indefineable but basically I can explore and ask questions and even if some will never respond enough will to give me a line on an answer. It is simple fact that not everyone likes what I do or how I say things, so be it. I have enough 'balls' to put myself here and say what I think and I will never use a different name or a pretty picture to play at someone else. Others can make their own choices.

As a semi litterate fool from the bottom of the world I try to express ideas and sometimes tell a story. Can I? Maybe sometimes depending who you talk to. I may not be a writer but I can admit my shortcomings and perhaps try to look to them. Everyone here will have opinions on what is nice or good or better or not... so what. There is no barrier except perhaps some basic rules and a desire to share and understand.

I hadn't intended to say anythinhg like this, but there you go. Off the cuff has some advantages. This is Erins place and many of us like it. Even if we don't agree with everything, well that's life innit. This place helps and is growing and changing all the time. So it goes... the world is a big place and this little corner, thanks to Erin, reaches to us. Long may it be thus.

Kristina
ps... how come you don't come to the comment with a click? Scrolling... really!

Why

erin's picture

Why do I try to squash arguments quickly here? Because people get upset during arguments and yank their stories or demand privately that I ban the other people in the argument. It really is that simple.

As for your analogy between G.B. and I, that's a lot like trying to make a cherry pie out of nothing but walnut hulls--it doesn't work. :)

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Mmm... why?

You were doing okay until you brought America and American bashing into it. You've always been pretty reasonable, so I'm assuming that your ill temper is from a hangover from last night. I will simply say that I've seen this pattern time after time on this site:

Someone on the left (and it is ALWAYS someone on the LEFT who starts it) attacks the US, its people, a moderate or a conservative, or a position with, to put it as mildly as possible, wild distortions or utter nonsense. This puts the recipient of the abuse in a very uncomfortable position. He or she can either allow it to stand, thus granting it a measure of validity, or he can speak up and correct the record. When the latter happens, it is invariably considered the responding salvo in a comment war and the entire string is eventually stricken. Now, I don't care for Bush, although I think his Iraq policy is right on and extraordinarily far-sighted, but I don't go around instigating attacks against those who don't share my beliefs, nor do I bash other countries in the comments section (at least not on this site, and not gratuitously).

I can't stand hate speech laws. In my opinion, they only exacerbate the problem, hurt honest discussion and worse, can serve as a muzzle, actually preventing people from facing hard truths. I fully support anyone's right to say whatever he or she wants to on any topic in the open air. When one owns a site, however, I respect the rules. If Erin doesn't want politics and hard argument on the site, then I can go along with it, but when provoked, I am sorely tempted.

Aardvark

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Mahatma Gandhi

Sorry, but

...I'm still laughing at being included in 'you Yanks'...

Time Out?

Can't we have a time out on this please.

The most important thing is that Erin has far more important things to worry about at present.

These arguments are trivial now in comparison but they are adding to her concerns.

We should be looking for ways to solve her problems.

I have no interest in US politics just TG literature.

Petra Rose

Petra Rose

I'm not.

I'm not.

Aardvark

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Mahatma Gandhi

"Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony."

Mahatma Gandhi

Unfinished/Serial Postings

Shenandoah

First of all, as a long time reader, I wish to express my deep appreciation to Erin for maintaining a wonderful TG fiction site and to all those authors out there who have contributed their time and writing effort for public enjoyment. Your collective work has provided immeasurable hours of entertainment as well as a psychological outlet that has many times stayed off severe bouts of depression. For doing that, I almost feel ashamed to complain abut anything at all, but as it is said, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

As others have expressed here, I too am growing very weary of authors who do not publish finished stories or drag out their serials interminably. That is not to say these stories are bad, not in the least, but end them for God's sake - please, or don't publish them at all. Far too many times I have become entralled and deeply involved in a very good story only to see it stop and never resumed or else continue on and on and on..., without any sign of resolution. To me, both of these examples show a complete lack of respect to your readership. You wouldn't be posting stuff here if you did not want people to read it, so why not post an entire story? Why go 5-10-15 chapters and then leave everything hanging - forever? What is gained by this? I don't know, but it happens all the time on this site and many others. Even moreso, does any story need to encompass 150 + chapters with no end in sight? Yikes!

Ok, so I have said my piece and won't take up everyone's time with a rehash of old news. I just needed to get this off my chest.

Thanks again Erin for your efforts and to all the authors who do complete their stories.

Shenandoah

Make it a contest?

Maybe we should have a contest to finish them?

(only kidding!)

Sorry about that

erin's picture

This post is simply off target for this site. The freedom for authors that results in long serials and even unfinished stories is completely part of the design and philosophy of BigCloset. Other sites are designed as service to readers, BC is designed to make authors comfortable to do whatever they think they need to do to produce the stories they want to write. This includes, specifically, long serials, even literally endless ones if that's what the author wants. It includes abandoning stories without finishing them, if the author thinks they need to--that's beside whatever real life concerns might cause an author to abandon a story or even writing altogether.

This things are designed into BC, on purpose. I thought of them ahead of time and deliberately made them easy to do because authors need that sort of freedom. It has nothing to do with the author having respect for readers. Stories do not exist in a vacuum, they don't spring full-blown from the forehead of some Jovian being-or even a jovial one. :) Writing is often a painful process, BC is designed to make it as easy to do as possible for a website.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

150+ chapters..

Y'mean, like Lord of the Rings? The Foundation trilogy? The Pern series? The Saga of Tuck? Babylon 5?
Big, sprawling stories are fun too... even unfinished ones have their fans. Nice, understandable endings are for mortals!
Michelle

Nothing Against Length

Let me qualify. I have nothing against big sprawling stories, even ones with 150 chapters or more, but not when they are doled out piecemeal over a considerable length of time, or when there are weeks, months or even years between postings. That just takes the enjoymnent out of it for me (and I am speaking only for myself). Stories that are left unfinished, particularly good ones, are supremely irritating. So call me mortal if you will but that is my preference.

Shenandoah

And my preference...

erin's picture

... is that authors have the freedom here to be creative, which includes the freedom to fail. Unfinished stories are part of the price of this freedom. No one prefers unfinished stories but asking that they not be posted unless they're finished is asking for a different philosophy from me. It's a BigCloset, it's got room for things that are less than perfect. If all stories had to be written completely before posting, which is the only way to do what you're asking, 90% of the stories posted here would not exist. That includes more than half of the finished ones and some really good stuff.

It's like complaining that only fourth magnitude and brighter stars should be allowed to shine. This isn't a bought and paid for thing, designed as a whole piece from the beginning, BigCloset isn't built, it happens.

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Finishing stories

If all stories had to be written completely before posting, which is the only way to do what you're asking, 90% of the stories posted here would not exist.

And 85% of those would be "Easy As Falling Off A Bike"!

;-)

Damaged people are dangerous
They know they can survive

Making a distinction

I think that Erin has done a good job of providing flexibility here. Among the options for categorizing a piece of fiction here are "Novel chapter" and "Serial chapter," and if authors use them properly then a reader like Shenandoah who always expects a story to be resolved at some point would know to steer clear of serial chapters.

Now the other issue is that sometimes a writer will start posting chapters of a novel, but not finish. Sometimes for one reason or another the author abandons the writing hobby or the TG community, or sometimes health issues prevent them from continuing, and sometimes the author hasn't stopped writing but just slowed down the rate at which chapters are appearing. For these reasons, reading novel chapters is always taking a risk that you may never find out how the original author planned to end the story. (In a few cases, other writers have imagined their own endings.) But the opportunity to read a novel in pieces is a bonus here, something that you don't generally get with commercially published stuff.

So a reader like Shenandoah may want to avoid reading things identified as novel chapters until the story is complete, or maybe try to get a feel for the author's commitment to the story, and pick and choose which novels to read in chapter form and which ones to wait to read until they're finished.

By the way, if you are reading a novel a chapter at a time and you don't want it abandoned, let the author know you're enjoying it. Many of the writers here have stated how motivating it is to receive comments on their stories.

I think Erin has done a good job, too

Anyone who would give a stupid person like me as chance to write has to be a good person -smile-

Erin has been fair and very nice. I could not ask for any better.

Probably the reason some drop their series before finishing could be that the number of readers decreased and people do not seem to be interested anymore.

I am thinking of dropping my series for that reason, but I will keep on writing for myself and make hard copies for myself. I will go back in a few years and read what I wrote and I will enjoy it.

Then I will cry all over again and wonder why others did not like them.
-weak smile-

Love,
Billie Sue

Billie Sue

Thinking

I do my best to think but the synapses between my little grey cells are still on dial-up. However I will keep trying.

As I said in a private communication, Erin, if you are managing this program along with Sephrina you both deserve some kind of international award.

It's a remarkable service!

marie c.

marie c.

Guest Reader

Hi Erin,

Just a comment to you that I've found this site recently, (3 days ago) and it really has some great stories. I like your policy of allowing the "guest reader" to post comments because I don't think I would want to have my e-mail traced back since my wife is so much against my hobby (sigh - I still love her). Thank you for setting up this site!

Guest Reader

apropo of nuthin' much

kristina l s's picture

Has anything changed lately on the home page? It seems to take about 3 times longer to load than it did a few days ago and who might; health.gov.ab.ca.. be and why are they downloading stuff?? Not trying to upset anything just wondering. I could get the whole page in about 7 or 8 seconds now it's over 20 to completion. Nothing has changed this end as far as I'm aware unless some crab got his claw caught somewhere or something. Maybe it's those rogue spy satellites.

Kristina

Nothing as far as I know

erin's picture

Sometimes it loads very quick and sometimes not. I did have it down to less than 2 seconds on my machine but now it takes 5 seconds to 30 second. This is WAY down from about 15 months ago when it took as much as two minutes to load. Bob and I may see what we can do about more speed tweaks. :)

- Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

Thinking 2nd post reedited part 2

 

I do think, "BUT" 99% of the time I get so...... Pissed off at the comments, that I Have to, "say something."

Be right wrong or indifferent, Thats who I am, and will always be. Sorry I don't play games. That is why I so seldom visit here any more because I just get madder and madder.

My Mother taught me this saying: If you can't say anything nice, Then "DON'T" say anything at all...

I don't believe its "Any ones right," to belittle someones else's writing.

Sorry I'll get off my soap box!

Thats my story and I'm stickin to it.....

Here is what I do like!!

I like paper clips

Ernie: Paper clips?

Bert: Paper clips!
I like bottle caps

Ernie: Bottle caps

Bert: Bottle caps!
I love pigeons, yeah

Ernie: Pigeons?

Bert: Love pigeons, oh, yes I do

Ernie: Well, Bert, you know
I don't really like any of those things
But I like you

Bert: Aw, Ernie

Ernie: I like playing jokes

Bert: Playing jokes.

Ernie: Playing jokes!
Love my rubber duck

Bert: Rubber duck.

Ernie: Rubber duckie!

Ernie: I like bubble gum

Bert: Bubble gum.

Ernie: Bubble gum! Yes I do

Bert: Well now, Ernie
I'm not crazy 'bout any of those things
But I like you

Ernie: I like to lie awake
In bed at night and talk to you

Bert: Yeah, I know
I like to say goodnight and go to sleep

Ernie: I like to go and see the big hippopotamus in the zoo

Bert: Hey, Ernie, you know what?

Ernie: What, Bert?

Bert: I like that, too!

Ernie: I like jelly beans

Bert: Jelly beans?

Ernie: Jelly beans!

Bert: I like lentil soup

Ernie: Lentil soup?

Bert: Yeah!
I like a marching band

Ernie: I like a music box

Both: Yes I do

Ernie: But though I don't always like everything

Bert: That I like

Both: Still I like you

Bert: Though I'm not too crazy about your rubber duckie

Ernie: Though I don't love pigeons

Both: Still we're awfully lucky
'Cause I like you

 


Pro Libertate (For liberty)
Family Crest and Motto

Please don't remove this again!
as you can plainly see I've edited it. (FYI yes I'm whacked right outta my skull)

Konichiwa

Do We Have To?

Ah, gee! Why spoil the fun by thinking? This is the internet after all, the wild west of the 21st Century. Why ruin things by forcing people to think? That is so yesterday.

Nancy Cole

P.S. For those of you bereft of a sense of humor, just kidding folks.

P.P.S. For those who don't know what bereft means, Via con Dios.

P.P.P.S. For those who don't know what bereft means, don't have a sense of humor and doesn't have a deity they can call on, please dial 911 now.

Nancy Cole


~ ~ ~

"You may be what you resolve to be."

T.J. Jackson

No problems!

I would follow the aforesaid rules even if they would not be officially published. How it is possible to wait for respect for if you do not respect others?!
But, probably, such opinion adhere not all. At all events, if to recognise that such-like requests from administration proceed not for the first time.

No Sarah Palin Comments??

I noticed the Sarah Palin post. Why do you do this?

Is it because the Safe School Czar advocates sex between adults and children?

Is it because the Faith-Based Initiatives Czar says that Sharia Law is gender justice?

Registration failure

I have tried to register and the process tells me I have been sent an email with additional instructions. This started yesterday (11/4) morning but I haven't received a single email from Topshelf or Big Closet.

HELP! email: dennisjoyce @ sbcglbal.net

Dennis

Fixed now, I think

erin's picture

Hugs,
Erin

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.

= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.