Feedback Request - New Lit Voting Element

[alwayswantedto]

I'm totally disenchanted with Lit's voting system, I have no faith in their ability to provide accurate scores.

I don't judge a story by it's score, I try to judge it by the content.

Isn't the number of people listing a story as a favorite a better metric?

 

[starrkers]

But how do you know if any of your stories are favourited, if they're not in the top 100?

It doesn't seem to me that many readers use the favourites listing. The number 100 story has only been picked 16 times. The number 1 story has been picked 74 times.

 

[rgraham666]

I go by comments and who they are from.

There are some people whose comments never fail to make me feel good. And some for who just the fact they commented does the same.

I keep troll comments for the laugh they give me.

 

[D_K_Moon]

Isn't the number of people listing a story as a favorite a better metric?

No, I don't think so. What someone else may find appealing in a story, another person may not. Like starrkers said in her comment, not many people use the "Favorites" option. Plus, there's been certain writers that have been known to abuse the "Favorites" list by promising naked pictures, and naughty emails to whoever adds her, or her work to the "Favorites" list.

 

[TxRad]

No, I don't think so. What someone else may find appealing in a story, another person may not. Like starrkers said in her comment, not many people use the "Favorites" option. Plus, there's been certain writers that have been known to abuse the "Favorites" list by promising naked pictures, and naughty emails to whoever adds her, or her work to the "Favorites" list.

Not to mention the people with 37 alts. That alone gets you in the top one hundred.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Not to mention the people with 37 alts. That alone gets you in the top one hundred.

lol. good point.

 

[Quesla]

Click once?

Thanks for the comments!

Sorry, the blinking part was just a little exaggeration.

The stars should be gray and then turn gold as you mouse over them. The 1-5 system is still in place. One star = 1, 5 stars=5, etc.

The idea behind the change is to make it easier (and maybe a little more exciting) for readers to vote. The old system (which required two clicks instead of just one) has been in place since Literotica's early days. We think it's probably time to upgrade to a modern voting system that readers who visit other vote-allowing websites (from You Tube to Yahoo) would easily understand and relate to.

But, more important than all of the theories right now, is to make sure it's actually working on all of the major browsers!

Also, if you love it or hate it, feel free to share that.

Jomar - can you see the big stars for voting, or are you seeing the old radio buttons? Sorry to bother you twice.

Hi Manu? Quesla, The Blind Lady here: I like the click enteer only once, I don't know how to double click, as my adaptive tech teacher taught me on the #pad once long, long ago, but I've forgotten and CNIB, Canada's blind coaching center and adaptive center has cut so far back in funding that there is no longer a tutor to coach me here in Saskatoon with these things. P.S.??? DESPARATELY! need HELP! with the security code thing and the audio file that allows one to hear the characters, called Rapsody .ex! Can't make it work, don't know even where I need to put it? -on my desk top? On the C drive? How do I make it work continually while perusing stories? Do I have to turn it on every time I visit the New stories link? Sorry for all the Questioning: I guess that's why I call myself Queslqa!

 

[Quesla]

Adaptive voting system use by BLIND:

Hi Lit Authors -

It's me. Your favorite site-breaker!

Please, don't throw tomatoes until the end of the post!

Today, we are testing the new and improved (I hope) voting element on Lit stories and poems. That's right, Dorothy, it's not 1998 anymore! Here is an example of what it should look like:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=329089

Notice the shiny blinking neon stars at the bottom of the page? If you click on one of those, you can ruin an author's life! Of course, if you click on five of those, you can make an author rich and famous. It's your decision. But, you people are the authors, so you know all of that.

So, what I really need from you is a bit of testing. Can you go to the above linked story and see what happens? Does the new voting element appear? Does it seem to work? Do you notice any problems, bugs, issues, annoyances, etc.?

I will post more about this on Planet Manu in the next 24 hours, as I've been doing with other changes to the site lately. You can leave comments either here or on the Planet Manu blog. I will read them all either way. You can even send a PM if you are too scared to show your username in public!

Thanks for your time and sorry to bother you. Let the fruit throwing begin!

Hi Manu? Quesla here: My JAWS reads the star system as Radial (sp?) buttons and says checked if you check it with my enter button, or not checked as I scan over them with my arrow keys. Like I say, my only frustration with the rating and comments contacts to authorsis that once I get to the bottom and have to "see" the security codes to type into the indicated box, I can't see! the characters or figure out how to get the Rapsody .ex file to work to "hear" the characters! It is a big DISAPPOINTMENT! as I REALLY! like to ENCOURAGE! writers! For me, contacting an author will only happen if I have something good to say or a suggestion to make a GOOD STORY! ... even better! Stories that I found disappointing, I don't even vote or leave comments on at all. I don't like Trolls!!! They leave a bitter taste in my mouth & mind! Quesla.

 

[Boxlicker101]

How do you think this is doing so far? My stories are definitely getting lower votes with the new criteria. I don't know if they are getting more votes or not, but I doubt it. I have a group sex story posted April 22 that has three votes now. It had five, but two were deleted; I don't know why.

 

[sr71plt]

How do you think this is doing so far? My stories are definitely getting lower votes with the new criteria. I don't know if they are getting more votes or not, but I doubt it. I have a group sex story posted April 22 that has three votes now. It had five, but two were deleted; I don't know why.

My stories are getting more votes but lower ratings. If that's happening across the board (and presumably it is), that's fair. It doesn't send me off salivating at the next story to submit, though.

 

[starrkers]

I seem to be losing more votes in sweeps than ever before. I don't see how that can be, if I had zealous fans (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/starrcats/smilies/haha.gif) voting more than once, you'd think they'd have got the message that they're not supposed to vote more than once by now.
I have one poem that used to have 6 votes and now has 1. It has three comments - all regular RVC types from the forums, either AH or poetry discussion, so why did their votes get swept?

 

[gauchecritic]

so why did their votes get swept?

Because you're Australian.

 

[Guest]

Because you're Australian.

Dealing with ami still has you fucked up, hmm?

 

[starrkers]

Because you're Australian.

Of course. Silly me, I should have realised.

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[BOSTONFICTIONWRITER]

Very strange

This is really strange and a bit embarrassing, but I think I know why everyone is suddenly losing their votes in the sweeps.

They are going to me. I know, it's weird and I don't understand it.

Trust me, I don't want your votes. I only want those votes that belong to me.

I had a story with 7 votes, then the sweeps happened and I suddenly had 77 votes. It's happened to dozens of my stories since the beginning of the month.

If I knew to whom these votes belonged to, I'd return them to the proper person. If you could tell me what your votes look like, I'll go through and pull those out and make sure they hit your story.

Very strange, I know, just like this post.

 

[rachlou]

I seem to be losing more votes in sweeps than ever before. I don't see how that can be, if I had zealous fans (http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y286/starrcats/smilies/haha.gif) voting more than once, you'd think they'd have got the message that they're not supposed to vote more than once by now.
I have one poem that used to have 6 votes and now has 1. It has three comments - all regular RVC types from the forums, either AH or poetry discussion, so why did their votes get swept?

I have lost votes from poems. I think that when somebody has left a PC, but not voted first, the vote is swept as being invalid. It would appear that votes via the PC thermometer don't count. I had a poem last week where the PC counted as a vote (the only one), then a few hours later, the PC remained, but the vote didn't. Since the commenter was logged in, there can be no other explanation.

 

[Equinoxe]

I have lost votes from poems. I think that when somebody has left a PC, but not voted first, the vote is swept as being invalid. It would appear that votes via the PC thermometer don't count. I had a poem last week where the PC counted as a vote (the only one), then a few hours later, the PC remained, but the vote didn't. Since the commenter was logged in, there can be no other explanation.

I have noticed the same thing; votes associated with Public Comments seem to be swept away.

 

[AutumnWriter]

From my seat in the house, the new voting system is a disaster. I don't understand why management thought they had to tinker with a system that was working ok. There were so many other improvements that they could have put in place. The fact that they changed it without asking for input from authors beforehand is an indication of how much they value us.

I've lost many votes in the sweeps that I don't think I should have lost. The "5's" always seem to go away and the "4's" get embedded.

The lower vote averages means that any comparison between older stories and new ones is lost. An author has no idea how to interpret the results (especially when the votes are swept away).

It was a big mistake to add the descriptions to the stars. When readers have an option to select a mediocre vote and still be complimentary to the author many will do so, rather than take a stand with their opinions.

I have withheld my most recent two stories from Literotica. To be honest, I am unsure if I will ever publish here again.

AW

 

[Boxlicker101]

From my seat in the house, the new voting system is a disaster. I don't understand why management thought they had to tinker with a system that was working ok. There were so many other improvements that they could have put in place. The fact that they changed it without asking for input from authors beforehand is an indication of how much they value us.

I've lost many votes in the sweeps that I don't think I should have lost. The "5's" always seem to go away and the "4's" get embedded.

The lower vote averages means that any comparison between older stories and new ones is lost. An author has no idea how to interpret the results (especially when the votes are swept away).

It was a big mistake to add the descriptions to the stars. When readers have an option to select a mediocre vote and still be complimentary to the author many will do so, rather than take a stand with their opinions.

I have withheld my most recent two stories from Literotica. To be honest, I am unsure if I will ever publish here again.

AW

I am inclined to agree, except I will continue to write and post here. I know there are other places, and I will post there sometimes, but I like the other authors here, and I like the contests and I do get some feedback, which I don't get from the other places.

The story I mentioned before, which is in Group Sex, still has only three votes. At least they are all "5". It is the fourth in a series, and the other three all have H's, so it is not in bad company. Apparently a "4" is what a "5" should have been, and a "5" is in a class of its own. It used to mean in the top 20% but it now means in the top 1%, or about that. That's okay, I suppose, because it is the same for everybody, but I miss having those high scores.

 

[TxRad]

I've had the same lost votes deal in sweeps and thought I was crazy when a story jumped up 25 votes all of a sudden. Glad to hear I'm not the only one who has seen it. The oddest thing is when the score changes but the votes don't or the votes change and the score don't. Very confusing to say the least.

At one time I kind of had the sweeps figured out. Now I have no idea. The big jumps for troll votes don't happen to much anymore. It's the slow dwindling of votes and the scores dropping hundreds and sometimes tenths at a time that worry me as the votes go away. I figure one day I'll wake up and there won't be any votes or negative numbers.


Oh and AW, this is a free site and the readers are the money makers for it. We're given a place to post or stories if we want it. That is all management owes us, if that.

 

[sr71plt]

I'm sure I'm in a category like most, with no one really wanting to say it--we think the Hs were getting sort of meaningless because of their volume and we have to agree they should be cut down. We just don't want our own Hs cut down.

4 is really a good score now, in the new voting system (because of the wording on the stars, because more may be noticing the vote buttons and so more may be voting, and because of the sort of suspicious sweeps cutting deeper). I think what might have been creative in resetting the voting system would have been to include a second level of story award--keep the 4.5 rating for the higher-level hot, but put designators on stories rating between 4 and 4.5 as well. It really is a shame that a story floating along with a 4.45 rating isn't identified as being more popular than a story with a 2.2. And, yes, it's also a shame this wasn't thought out a bit with the authors before changing it.

 

[jomar]

I'm sure I'm in a category like most, with no one really wanting to say it--we think the Hs were getting sort of meaningless because of their volume and we have to agree they should be cut down. We just don't want our own Hs cut down.

4 is really a good score now, in the new voting system (because of the wording on the stars, because more may be noticing the vote buttons and so more may be voting, and because of the sort of suspicious sweeps cutting deeper). I think what might have been creative in resetting the voting system would have been to include a second level of story award--keep the 4.5 rating for the higher-level hot, but put designators on stories rating between 4 and 4.5 as well. It really is a shame that a story floating along with a 4.45 rating isn't identified as being more popular than a story with a 2.2. And, yes, it's also a shame this wasn't thought out a bit with the authors before changing it.

I agree. Hmm, what color for warm, but not red hot.

 

[PrincessErin]

.....

 

[sr71plt]

I agree. Hmm, what color for warm, but not red hot.

They could be black as far as I'm concerned--just as long as the site developers paid a little bit of attention to suggestions.