A Suggestion

Shoot this down if you must. I know TF.N is a bit cranky about all us VIPs running around already.

I was thinking today that it's awfully difficult to find the New Story Indeces now that Mely isn't updating them. Her red colors made it easy to find the index even though it wasn't stickied.

I would like to suggest giving Layren, Lonewolf89 and the person updating Saga's index VIP red so we can find them easier. What say you?

Jae

 

i think that's a good idea. Would make it easier to find the indexes. But it would be up to the mods and those higher up.

 

Good idea.

I'll kick it up the food chain and we'll see what happens.

 

It would be especially useful for us. It's hard sometimes if the index falls to page two due to lack of activity and I have to hunt and figure out where it is so I can update it. The Before board is not as active as the other boards and therfore not as many new fics. Thanks for the suggestion, sweetie With moving and everything it's harder for me to be online than it used to be .. but Kynstar has agreed to take over until I get moved and the dust settles..

 

I think this would be a good idead too. It definitely helped to find it when Melyanna was posting them.

Btw, the saga person is Sara_Kenobi.

 

Add my support for that too...

 

^ Mine too! This is a great idea!

 

Now that you point it out, I feel bad for not thinking of it already. But isn't that the way with most good ideas?

That would be an excellent way to find the indices without having to search too terribly long. Not to mention it would give the index-workers some much-deserved visibility.

You definitely have my support.

 

I know I haven't been around much, but I know boards and I know how annoying it can be, especially if it's a big board.

So I agree!

 

You know, I've been missing Mely's V.I.P. colours when looking for the index. It really helped when I was finishing up the Sept Index. I miss it now with the August Index. I'm sure the other Index keeper's would agree with me on that.

 

At this point in time, the chances of this don't look promising. We are, however, considering making the monthly indexes stickies, I believe.

Dana

 

Three stickies in each forum..? I've always felt that the two we have now was a little much. Three would make it quite cluttered looking.

If you give us colours, or not, I'd rather not see a third sticky sitting up there.

 

I remember Melyanna saying she didn't like the idea of a sticky because she knew everyday where she had left off with indexing; the index served as a bookmark of sorts.

If stickies don't work out, maybe a mod could post the first post each month for each of the indexes?

Or perhaps a separate sock can be created, like the FF_Newsletter and SSFA_awards socks? The sock could be given VIPship so it would stand out, and it would only need to post the first posts for each month (I suppose a mod could be in charge of that?). Each of the indexers would post under their own name daily.

 

Edit: D'oh! I was suggesting a separate sock, but have just realized that Happy_Hobbit_Padawan already did.

I really should stay off the boards when I'm tired . . .

 

The idea was that a normal user name is difficult to make out on the boards, so I don't see how a sock would aide that way.

I'd rather not have to go to the trouble of changing usernames, every time during the day I update the Index.

I sometimes update twice, sometimes more, with The Saga, daily. It'd be a bit of a pain to going to all the trouble.


... but I do get what Mely said; I don't think there's a need for the Index to be a sticky. Just for it to be visable was the original request of this thread.

Either way, I just really hope it doesn't get put up there with the other stickies. I really think it would look too cluttered.

 

The thing is, making them VIPs is really not up to the fanfic mods alone, but the question has been posed and is currently being discussed.

There are other ways to find them without the VIP reds. Set up active topic notification, put it in your favorites and update the link once a month. They are also listed in the Fan Fiction Index on this board.

The threads could also be stickied if the index keepers were okay with it. A mod could start the threads once a month. There are other options that have been brought up that could be explored.

 

If stickies don't work out, maybe a mod could post the first post each month for each of the indexes?


This idea has merit. It wouldn't be any more difficult than making stickies (actually, it'd be easier since it doesn't need to be done by a manager) and there'd be an easy to spot name.

 

I'll admit I like that idea much better than the stickies...

The only dispute I can think of against it, right now, is that people might think the current Index Keeper's aren't the one's responsible for taking care of it, anymore. I like this job, and I like dealing with the questions I'm given.

I really don't care, either way, about the colors. I didn't take the job ever thinking that it would ever be part of the package, as Keeper's of the past never were given colors for the responsibility.

I'm sure the other Keeper's likely thought something along those lines too before taking this on.

I was suprised though, I'll admit, pleasantly so, when I seen the suggestion posted. Anyone would be.

My hope is what ever is chosen is the best solution, since some folks see some fault in the way things currently are presented with the Index's.

 

I wouldn't mind having a Mod post the first post every month, though I agree with Sara that it may cause some confusion. But, at least it could make the thread stand out.

However, I don't like the idea of having stickies. Too often those are overlooked. I think it works better having the Index mixed in with the story threads so that people are able to see it when they scroll through the board. That's just my two cents.

 

The idea was that a normal user name is difficult to make out on the boards, so I don't see how a sock would aide that way.

I'd rather not have to go to the trouble of changing usernames, every time during the day I update the Index.

I sometimes update twice, sometimes more, with The Saga, daily. It'd be a bit of a pain to going to all the trouble.


Actually Sara_Kenobi, I was thinking that the sock could get colors (don't know how that would go over with the admins, though). In addition, you wouldn't ever need to log on to that sock - perhaps a mod would post the opening posts each month. Each of the indexers would then just post as their own username each day, as they do already.

 

I know what you're trying to say with your suggestion, but since the mods already have colors themselves, if they choose to go this way, I think they'd likely go with their own username instead of a sock with V.I.P. colors.

It would take away the problem for the Index Keeper's, but would only pass the burden of a sock to the Moderator's.

Also, the sock, if they decided on this way, would only be used once a month when posting the Index. Not really worth the bother of creating a sock in the first place, I think, as it would be barely put to use.

 

I like the idea of the mods posting the first post for each month. You'd think that there would always be at least one fanfic mod on for the first of every month, so we'd always have somebody to post it.

Also, now that I know you do the Saga index updates, Sara, I'm not going to forget you're the one who does them. The same goes with Before and Beyond. Credit will definitely be given, because it's not an easy task you're undertaking!

Jae

 

Why not have the mods start the threads every month, but then give the indexers titles to avoid confusion?

(they should get titles anyway, imho )

 

Okay. If one of the mods starts the index for the first of the month (start it for September as the indexes are already established this month), then the index keepers can follow it up with their regular information post and daily posts after that?

We will try to get a mod who doens't normally post on that specific board so their name will stand out a little better. Would that work?

 

Why not give them colors? I see no reason why not to.