Fanfic Review Points and "New/Updated" Fic Alerts

This post: How can authors know if their names or stories have been added to readers' Favorites lists?
How to enable Chapter Alerts?
How to remove a fic (or author's name) from Favorites list?
Not getting emailed alerts of "new/updated fics" esp. with AOL email addresses. Check your email addy and junk mail folders
Why do we earn points for signed reviews?
How do I remove a story (or author) from my Favorites list?



Okay, I'm probably going to come off as a complete dork here, but I've been wondering this for a while.

Is there any way to know who had added you to their favorite stories/authors list? I'm only asking since at other sites I've seen a way that lets you know whose favorites list you're on, and wasn't sure if PK used the same system or not (i.e. showing you a list of all the people whose list of favs you're on).

This may be a problem to track who added you and who didn't . . so anyway, I was just wondering.

Sorry to have taken up your time like this.

- Nitya

A good question Nitya.

The reason I didn't code this originally was that when I introduced favourites lists, there wasn't any point in listing who had added you because at the time nobody was using them. I was pressed for time around the release of book 5 so it was one of the features that was "delayed indefinitely".

I'll look into implementing the ability to see a list of which users have you on their favourites, and how many times you are in a user's favourites.

As for whether PK uses the same system or not... Well, the Portkey fanfiction system is written by me, so we don't use the same system as anybody else.

Thanks,
James

Whee! Thanks, James. I was only wondering, but oh well.

How to enable "New/Updated" Fic Alerts

I've read about chapter alert, but I can't find it. How do you access it?

Um...well at the bottom of the review pad, there should be two things to push on, on how you want the alerts. But you have to login to see it.

Kris-who's technical terms are limited.

No offence, but are you sure you're logged in? Because having an account in the forums and being logged in here doesn't carry over to the fanfiction side. You have to register another account there too. Once you have set it up and you're logged in, You should see a link to the Control Panel. As a security measure, you have to enter your login and password again. From there, click on the link for either Authors or Stories in the Favourites list in the menu. You should be able to enter it manually there. Or you can do this via the drop down menus when you're leaving a review. If you can't see these drop down menus below the review box, you are not logged in.

Hope this helps,

Nielle

Ummmm..well then I don't know...You'll have to ask NAPPA or James...or Heaven...Easier said, ask one of the Admins.

Kris

EDIT- Oops just saw Nielle's post....

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008

Hi,

This is just a quick suggestion from a newbie. I've been around here reading stories for a long time (thanks for maintaining such an excellent site btw!) but don't really have time to talk on forums much, but I just had a suggestion to make and saw this was the right forum to do it in, so here it is...

I assume you know what RSS is, but if you don't it's basically a really simple way of reading new news stories, blog entries, etc. An RSS file is written in XML and is then read by an RSS reader, which are very numerous and free (Mozilla's Firefox has one built in as a feature they call 'live bookmarks'). If you want it, there's more detail on RSS is here.

Anyway I thought it'd be really cool to have an RSS feed of new and updated fics. Unfortunately, I have no idea how technically difficult it'd be to do, or how long it would take to implement (after all, time is in short supply these days.) I don't suppose it'd be too difficult because so many sites are doing it these days. I also don't know if anyone else (other than me) would find it useful...


It's only an idea anyway, and many thanks for taking your time to read this,

Matt.


P.S. Sorry if this has already been suggested before, but I did try searching for 'RSS' but the search query was too short, and I didn't have time to look manually through all the threads.

Well, we don't have RSS but for registered users on the FF side, they can get email alerts when a favourite Author has posted a new story, or when a favourite story has a new chapter. But this is something you will have to customise yourself in your user control panel, or at the bottom of every chapter where the review box is located.

Hope this helps,
Nielle,

We do have a few syndication things that we are alpha testing. At the moment however, they aren't RSS, or ATOM - We'll be hoping to implement them very soon. Howeve, the need for these is very little. Considering, people can keep track of their fav fanfictions on the site quite easily. And can get emails when their favourite authors upload - or stories get updated. So it's much further down the line then say - limiting of the NC17 fics from minors.

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008

I just wanted to give you the heads up. Today I noticed two or three of my favorite fics were updated, but I didn't get the handy chapter alerts letting my know that they had been. If I hadn't been catching up on other fics I'd missed through the week, I wouldn't have known these had been updated.

Emily.

Do you have enough points on your account? It costs 2 points to get a review.

I have over 1000 points, so thats not it. I havent gotten any since they moved teh servers.

Well, I have good news/bad news on chapter alerts. Good news is, I've been getting alerts since yesterday. Bad news, I've been getting multiple alerts for the same story/same chapter. As an example, I just 4 alerts back-to-back-to....etc. I had 40+ points last week, and this just killed my alerts. Any ideas? --Shaz124

I finally got some chapter alerts, but I also got 5 emails for the same chapter.

Emily

Hi there. Could you verify again, if this is working properly for you now ? Me and James are looking more closely at the system this weekend. So we would love to know what problems people are having. If they are still having them.

They seem to be working properly (for the time being). I got three chapter alerts today, and no repeats.

Emily

I eblieve it's a problem with AOL email addresses. Have you tried to add Portkey into your address book on AOL ?

Why do we earn points for leaving signed reviews?

Hi..

Would just like to enquire about chapter alerts and the point system.... Does it mean that if I do not review stories I will not be able to receive chapter alerts? I'm not much of a reviewer and do not wanna appear false if I review just for the sake of points... Please advise.. Thanks!

Mod-Note: Before I reply, I'm going to merge your thread with this one, as it fits there, perfectly. Watch this post for an update

EDIT: in answer to your question:

yes, that is quite correct. If you want to get story or author updates, then you must submit reviews first. Copying this from the user cp of the fanfic side:

Thanks a million! Well, it won't kill me to review.. Just wanna take an easy way out.. But well, thanks for the prompt reply!

How do I remove a story (or author) from my Favorites list?

Okay, I've figured out how to change the avatar *bows at personal achievance* but I would like to know how to get something off of the favorites list. Thank you guys soo much!

-M, of J&M Ink.

Hi.

I'm moving this to the Questions area so others will be able to help you better.

Kris

http://users.portkey.org/admin.php
It's down at the bottom of the page. When you comment/respond to a story, you can select to add it to favorites. Then, Portkey sends chapter alerts every time a chapter has been uploaded, costing portkey points. (you can view your favorites by going to "fanfiction" and then "control panel") However, I have a story I no longer like to read *gasp!* and I don't want it to go on depleting my points, so I'd like to take it off. Anyone know how to do that?
Oh, thank Kris! I apreciate your help!!
-M, of J&M Ink.

Oh okay. To remove items from your "Favorite Stories" list;

1. Go to users.portkey.org, then click "Favorites --> Stories" on the top left menu.

2. Check the "Remove" box beside the story you want taken off.

3. Hit Submit.

Can you post back here to let us know how it worked out? Thanks.

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008


What are portkey points? How are they applied? The other day I had 31, and now I only have 29. Why is that?

Portkey points are kinda credits you need to get chapter alerts.
You get 1 to 4 points per review, depending on the length of the review. For every chapter alert you get you pay two points.
So if you had 31yesterday and only have 29 today, I'd say you got a chapter alert overnight.

I hope that helps you in any way.

-Nadja

Oro...I see. Thanks!!

How can authors know if they or their stories have been added to readers' Favorites lists?


I haven't been able to find anything on this subject yet, so I figured I'd post it (since I seem to find the answer shortly there after).

From an author's perspective, is there a way to see if people have added you to any lists, such as favorite author's, chapter alerts, favorite story, or any other lists that may be out there? I know that when you view a persons profile you can see their favorite authors & stories, but how does the author know if they're on such lists w/o scanning member profiles?

thanks!

Umm . . . I don't know of any way to list all the members who've selected a certain favorite story or favorite author. I'm not definitively saying there isn't, but I don't remember anything like that. Anybody else?

Sorry,

~Jonathan

That's cool.

Is there a way to stop getting chapter alerts for authors you've added to your own favorites w/o removing the authors or the stories from your favorites lists?


*has found this thread in the old Administration forum*

I don't think there's a way to do that. What I can suggest is to use your email program's filter to put chapter alerts about specific stories or authors into certain folders, like Trash if you don't want to read them (the alerts, not the stories).

There's also an alternative here.

~gal-texter May/Jun 2008

I'm new around this side of Portkey, but I've been reading the fanfiction for a while. I have posted some reviews to stories, clicked on the "add chapter alert" box, typed in my email address, submitted my review...and don't get any chapter alerts. I know the stories have been updated. What am I doing wrong?

Thanks for the help! Portkey is a safehaven for Harmonians!

MOD NOTE: Answer here.

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008

Can anyone explain Portkey Points to me?? I have a lot of them from reviews, but I have no clue what they're for. Can anyone give me an answer?

I'm not a moderator here, but as I understand the system, you earn Portkey Points by leaving reviews for fics. You get 2, 3 or 4 points depending on how long your review is; I think the minimum review has to be at least 10 words. But if you write a 300-word review, you still get only 4 points.

Now, what do you do with these Portkey Points? Say you are enjoying a particular fanfiction and want to know when it's been updated without having to look at the Portkey website. When you're signed in and reading that fic, look at the review area at the bottom of the chapter. Below the review box are a couple of drop-down menus with several choices. Click on the menus, find the appropriate choice and voila', you'll get an email alert when that fic is updated. That email notice will say that you have "used Portkey points" to get the email notice.

Does that help?

Firstly, did you put the correct email address in. This problem is bigger than people think.
Here's how you can check. ~gal-texter May2008

If you did, are your emails getting automatically routed through to your Junk E-Mail folder? Again, this problem is bigger than people think.

If this doesn't help, try signing up for Chapter Alert again on the stories you wish to have alerts for.

Finally, if none of this works, PM NAPPA, with your Fanfiction username (NOT your forum one), and an explanation of the problem.

Adam, Portkey.Org Fic Mod Team.

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008

Portkey Points [for reviews]?

I'm new, and just registared, I don't know what they are can someone help me! thanks.

You get portkey points every time you review a story and the longer the review, the more points you recieve. You can use the points to recieve alerts through email whenever one of your favorite stories or authors has updated. So really they are there as a convenience to reward people who leave reviews. You can start letting the system know you want the chapter alerts or author alerts by slecting the option in the drop down box below the review text box and once you've accumulated enough points they'll start showing up in your inbox.


Julie

Thanks!

MOD NOTE: merging this into a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen May2008

I've already *posted* about it, but my post never *showed* up, so here I go again: I'm not receiveing any email notification from Portkey (chapter's update, author's update, review's alert).
However, I'm losing the Portkey's points.

I really would like to know what's (and why) this is happening.

Thanks.

First all, I would like to say that I'm now receiving the email alerts- they still took a while to appear in my email box, but that's okay, so, thank you.

However, today I was on FanFiction section and I treid to login (I wanted to write a review) but I simply couldn't. I wrote my username and password clicked okay and- nothing. The page *refreshed* as if I had indeed logged in but I wasn't logged. It had never happened before.

My browser is IE.

Thanks!

That just happend to me when I tried to log into here. I logged in again and it worked.

I'm not a computer buff, so that's all I can advise.

MOD NOTE: merging this with a related thread.
~gal-texter / Pen Jun2008

hi, so i was wondering how can we delete thigns from our favorites if we accidentaly put a fic into it?

Hi. I'll move this to the Fanfic Help Desk, okay?

To remove a story (or an author's name) from your favorites list:

1. Log in your fanfiction control panel at http://users.portkey.org/

2. Hit User Panel > Favourites > Stories

3. Tick the Remove box.

4. Hit Submit

5. To log out of your control panel, simply close the browser window or tab.

There's a screencap of the control panel in Part III-B here

Hey all --

I just wanted to put some authors/stories on my favorites list but I don't want to use up all my beautiful Portkey Points; is there a way to have favorites without the alerts? (Actually, I just don't feel the need to have alerts -- I'm not particularly attached to my points.)

Thanks!