Changes to the FF Index

Hi, guys!

I thought I’d ask you guys a little bit about the Fan Fiction Index and how it can be improved! I want to keep the actual thread for the Index uncluttered, so that’s the only reason I’m opening up a topic for this specifically.

I got to thinking after MissCarrera opened a thread completely devoted to all of her stories in aggregate, and wondered if something similar should be added to the Index to make browsing easier. I really felt bad about telling her I’d be closing her thread, so I’m trying to think of different ways we can update the Index to help fanfic writers showcase their work better.

Fan fiction has kind of been a pretty dead art around here up until recently, and typically we’ll have a couple writers here and there posting things at random, so that’s why the idea of having one thread as a sort of “library” for all of a particular writer’s work seemed strange to me, and defeated the purpose of having the FF Index in my mind. However, I thought about it for a while, I’m wondering if we can actually add that to the Index, and make it a feature.

For instance, I’ll add another post to the thread specifically dedicated to fan fictions sorted by author. From there, each author with over five written pieces of fan fiction can create their own “library” thread, such as what MissCarrera did, and a direct link will be added to the FF Index.

Is there any other way you guys think I could improve the Index? Currently it’s only sorted by film, but do you think it should be arranged differently? What ways do you think browsing could be made easier? Do you like it the way it is?

Let me know what you guys think! I haven’t put as much energy into the Index as I should be, but maybe with a little bit of creative vision and some input from you guys, it’ll help keep me right on top of it!

little chef

I like the idea of having a separate post for fanfics by author. For anyone who wants to see how MissCarrera arranged her library, you can check it out HERE.

There was a fanfic tag filter on Equestria Daily awhile ago that I thought was pretty neat, but that would require some HTML doovalackey and database whatchamacallithingies. And I’m good at neither. But just an idea.

Question: How do we add a post in between posts? As in, if you were to write a post of fanfics sorted by author, is there a way to post it so that it appears straight after the first?

Question the second: Does this mean we fanfic writers can now set up our own ‘library’ threads if we’ve written more than five fanfics?

TDIT: Yeah, I think it’d be safe for everyone who has written five or more fanfics to go ahead and create their own library threads, because I think I’ll use it to implement the idea I have below. I might do the same, and possibly update my FYC post accordingly before it’s a bit too late. xD

What I might do is split the first post into two, then edit the first post to have tags like “Fan fictions by film” or “fan fictions by author” and create separate posts for each category. Then, when you click the link, it bumps you down to that part of the thread. I think that’s how that would work! The only other thing it would do is open in a separate page, which would be kind of annoying, actually.

I’m not particularly sure what you mean by “posting in between posts”, but hopefully what I wrote will give you a better idea of what I’d like to do. If anyone knows how to program a particular link to open in the same window using the BBCode that we have already in place, that’d be wonderful. I know squat about HTML, and it’s a pain in the butt for me to use when I have to, so I’m not sure I’m ready to try setting up a tag filter of any kind quite yet!

little chef

I think having them arranged by film is something we obviously need, and breaking it down into authors is good too. Perhaps it could be broken down into Film > Author. So, under each film it would list the fics but then also organize them by author.

Example: (Film)
Story - Author #1
Story - Author #1
Story - Author #2
Story - Author #3
Story - Author #3

I don’t know, maybe that’s what you already meant, and the index is kind of like that anyways but perhaps you could do that and then give authors with 5 or more fics their own library as well. That way anyone who posts a fic will get on the index, but those who write more often will also have a section devoted to their work so users can select work from just that author. Readers may enjoy an author’s work but rather than scrolling through the whole index to see if they write for any other films they could just check under the authors section. I also think it would be cool if we could include what genre the story is, but that would just be an added bonus.

Ok, so here are some of the ideas that have been pitched so far, compiled so we can see them all at a glance.

Fics sorted by film - which is the current setup.

Fics sorted by author - All fanfic authors with five or more pieces that have been posted to PP create a “Library” thread, in the style of MissCarrera’s library, so they’re all somewhat uniform. Links are then placed in the FF Index to these libraries.

Fics sorted by film, by author - Within each film category, fics are arranged in order of film, but listed in order of author, in alphabetical order. Members looking for fic by a particular author, within a certain film, can then find it more easily.

Fics sorted by genre - Not entirely sure about this one yet, but it’s not at all off the table. Currently, I don’t think many authors list their fics with a specific genre attached to them, so I would have to send PMs out to individual authors and have them all get back to me on the genre of their fics, which might be a bit time consuming. Again, not completely impossible, I just don’t know how quick I’ll be to implement this idea yet.

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I also thought of having a sort of “Notification System” similar to FF.net, where people ask to be alerted when a particular author updates their fic, or posts a new one, or when a new fic comes available for certain films. However, this would also be a very time consuming project and might even get to be extremely confusing if it’s not handled well. I’d have to organize a small team to send out notifications, and I’m just not sure how entirely beneficial it would be, since we usually see new fics or updates when we search the newest posts.

I also want to have a section devoted to Pixar poetry, since it’s a bit separate from regular fan fiction. Though, I’m not even sure if we have enough actual poetry for this implementation to be worthwhile.

Ok, TL;DR – We’ve come up with at least three different ways to further sort the fan fiction on this site, which is great! I’m so glad to hear input from you guys! Also, I’m going to encourage all authors with five or more posted fanfics or one-shots to go ahead and create their own Library thread. You can refer to MissCarrera’s thread as a sort of template. If you write fan fiction for more than one film, sort them in order of film release. Be sure to add interesting summaries to your stories as well!

Keep the ideas coming, guys!

little chef

Do I just keep mine the way it is? I currenty have 3.

Yup! I’m only looking for fic authors who have more than five posted pieces to create Library threads for their work. I’m pretty sure I’ve got all three of your fics in the Index, but if not, let me know and I’ll fix that.

little chef

I don’t see my one for Up. It was a Christmas fanfic I made.

I just fixed it. Should be there now!

little chef

Thank you.

I’ll make my own thead when I make more fanfics. Not sure when I’ll make more. Still need to finish Sid’s Story. April will be it’s 2 year anniversary.

I think we’re doing great too! Eh, don’t worry about the genre thing. I just threw it out there, but it would be quite a hassle to be honest. I like your poetry idea too, or they could at least have their own section on the index. Again, you make a good point that I don’t know how much Pixar poetry we have to begin with. And thanks for using my thread as an example for people.