Ten Things You Wish the SWG Archive Could Do ... (That It Actually Does!)

[dawn_felagund]

Earlier this year, we asked for feedback on a survey about the SWG site. Our software is aging and we face the challenging decision of where to take the site next. Wherever we go, we want it to be useful to the authors and readers who use our site for sharing Silmarillion fan fiction.

But as I read through the suggestions for what we could do to make the site better, I kept bumping into wish-list items that the site already does. So in our December 2016 newsletter, I wrote an article called “10 Things You Wish the SWG Archive Could Do (That It Actually Does).” I’m going to reprint that article separately in an attempt to reach as many SWG users as possible because it's nice, if the site is capable of doing something you'd like it to do, that you know how! :)

So if you ever wished that the SWG archive would send you alert emails, let you make rec lists, allow you to copy from MS Word and keep your formatting, comment on Reference articles, generate story stats, and post images and podfic, read on!

1. I wish I could get email alerts when someone comments on my story.
Switching on email notifications for new comments is literally three clicks away. Go to Account Info -> Preferences and tick the first box ("Contact for new reviews") and click the Submit button at the bottom of the page.

Want email notifications when someone replies to a comment you've left? Click the second box as well ("Contact when author responds to review") and then the Submit button.

2. I would love to make rec lists for my favorite stories.
All members have a Favorites list, and each story has a link at the bottom to add it to your favorites list. For favorite stories, you have the option to add a comment about why you chose that story. You can access a member's favorites list on their profile, after their bio.

One could, however, make the argument that rec lists aren't much fun buried at the bottom of a profile. Or maybe you want to make a rec list on a specific topic, like favorite stories about a particular character or exploring a specific theme, that can't be done with a simple favorites list. For these purposes, you can create collections of stories using the Add New Series option under Account Info. Typically, authors think of series as collections of their own works that are part of the same arc. Our site, however, allows you to add stories by other authors to a series, as well as create an open series that anyone can add to. Want to collect the best stories about a particular pairing? Every story on the site set in a particular place? You can do this using the series function.

3. Why oh why can't we have bookmarks?
We would love them too! But bookmarks unfortunately aren't an option offered by the software we use. However, if you want to create a list of stories to return to later, you can either add the story to your favorites--your favorites are available via your Account Info page or your profile--or create a series, as explained in #2.

Want to get an email update when a story is updated? Check out #4 below!

4. I want to get an email when a work-in-progress I'm reading has been updated, or when an author whose work I like posts a new story.
You can opt to receive an email notification when a story or an author you've added to your favorites list has updated. To opt into this email, go to Account Info -> Edit Preferences and check the box labeled "Contact when favorites are updated."

You can add a story or author to your favorites list from the story listing, the table of contents, or from a chapter within the story. At the bottom of the listing or page, click the link Add Story to Favorites or Add Author to Favorites, and you will be notified when that story or writer updates.

5. It would be useful to be able to see a list of all of the available characters, warnings, genres, and challenges before I post a story.
The Browse page is useful for seeing lists of things sorted by category. Want a list of stories about Mîm? Or to see all of the genres you can choose from without having to scroll through the selection boxes on the story submission form? Browse is the place to look.

6. I wish I could comment on articles in the Reference Library or add them to my favorites list.
All articles in References are cross-posted to the archive. Clicking on the title takes you to the Reference Library rather than to an entry in the archive, but all other archive functions are available. You can comment on the article by clicking the Reviews link at the top of the entry, and you can add it to a series or add it to your favorites using the links at the bottom. See the series Reference Library: Essays and Reference Library: Periodicals to see these stories posted on the archive and show our Reference authors some love!

7. I would post more if only my MS Word formatting could be preserved somehow.
Word's inability to play nice on the Internet has been the bane of fanfic writers for as long as fanfic writers have been posting on the Internet. Microsoft Word creates all kinds of extra code in its documents that doesn't always display correctly online. (Meaning it pretty much never displays correctly but looks like something Ungoliant chewed up to feed her spawn.)

There is a solution to this, however. To paste directly from a Word document, you will first need to make sure that the rich-text editor is turned on for the story submission form. To do this, go to Account Info -> Edit Preferences and check the box labeled "Use tinyMCE WYSWYG editor."

When you go to the story submission form, you will now see a rich-text editor above every field where you are allowed to use HTML formatting. (If you want to enter HTML, you can switch off the rich-text editor right from the story submission form, using the checkbox below each field.) In the second row of buttons on the rich-text editor, find the button to the right that looks like a clipboard with a blue W over it. This is the Paste from Word button.

Click it and a field will open up where you can paste text directly from Word. Helpful monsters will eat all of the extra Word coding before delivering a fine, cleaned up, perfectly formatted version of your story to the story submission form, ready to post in a matter of seconds.

8. Other sites give me stats on my stories. I'd love to see them here too.
To view your statistics, go to Account Info -> View Site Statistics. Clicking on the link for the number of stories you've written will return a list of all of your stories with page clicks, number of favorites, and number of reviews. The View Chapters link will further show your stats broken down by chapter, in case you were curious if chapters with steamy scenes tend to receive more clicks. (Popular wisdom says, yes, they do!)

9. It's so annoying when I click on a story and get sent to the Table of Contents instead! I wish I could just go right into Chapter One.
You can opt whether, for multiple-chapter stories, you'd like to see the Table of Contents or Chapter One when you click on the title of a story. If you want to dive right into a new story, go to Account Info -> Edit Preferences and uncheck the box "Display table of contents for stories." (Likewise, if you want to go into the Table of Contents first--this lets you see a list of chapters, as well as story and chapter notes--make sure you tick this box.)

10. It would be cool to add things to the site other than just text, like images or even podfic.
Images are allowed on the archive within stories (but not in summaries), as long as you have the right to use the image. Our image FAQ has complete details on where you can use images and what our rules are concerning their use.

To add an image to your story, you will need to have the image hosted somewhere on the Web that allows you to create a hyperlink to that image. If you are posting your story in HTML, simply add the HTML code for the image. If you are using the rich-text editor, click on the button with the green tree, found in the middle of the array of buttons. This will open a dialog box where you can paste in the URL for your image and write alternate text for readers using screen readers.

The SWG also allows its members to upload and comment on podfic and other sound files. Visit our podfic archive to see what our members have created so far or learn more about creating and sharing podfic.