Apologies if this is in the wrong section, but this seemed like the best place for this to go.

Just a brief feature request for the rec engine: I'd like to be able to sort by whether I've read a fic, but especially whether or not I've scheduled a fic to be read. I think this is a feature that would be put to much use by those that use the engine.

The code to make the necessary changes should be minimal, too. There'd need to be an option added to the sort-by box to call that sorting option, but as far as sorting, you'd have to make sure that you were pulling the t.is_recced and t.is_read fields (or whatever the names of the fields are from the two tables), and then just append "ORDER BY is_recced, words" or whichever field would be best as a secondary sort.

For bonus points, you could add a second sort box for this...

Thanks for considering this!

I'm still rusty with the rec-engine features after not having used it for years. I thought there was something like that before, but I'm not sure as I've never used those "mark / schedule to be read" features much.

I'm gonna pass on your suggestions to our rec-engine coder, Thieving Magpie, sometime soon. I have a long list of requests about the rec-engine. BUT considering he (and our other coders) do this on their volunteer time, then there's no guarantee that modifications can be done. Nowadays with people's busy RLs plus admittedly waning interest in HP, then it's become even more of a "it would be nice if you could fix these issues, but we'd understand if you can't find the time" situation. Perhaps other PK-ers like you can help with the coding?

In the meantime, perhaps you can try adding recc'd stories to your favorites (in the rec-engine), select "Schedule this fic to be read", then select "My Favorites" later. After reading, you can remove it from your favs if need be.

Btw, while I understand why you put this query in the "Fanfic Archive Help" section, I'm gonna move it to the Forums Help instead. To de-clutter this Fanfic Help forum, and also because the rec-engine produces forum threads. (The Fic Recs forums preceded the rec-engine.)

Understood, and thank you for moving this thread.

I would be more than happy to help with the coding; I can't imagine there would be anything too difficult to do, as most fanfic archives have fairly straight-forward database relations. Admittedly, PHP is not my language of choice, but I've dabbled in it for four or five years now. I'll make sure I get in touch with Thieving Magpie tonight once I return from work.

As for adding it to my favourites, I'll ponder that. For now, though, I have a simple desktop application that I wrote to keep track of what's on my reading list that I'll use when I'm home; I could pretty easily port it to be web-based, so I might consider that instead.

Thanks for such a speedy reply; I'll speak to TM next.

Okay, I'll tell him, and NAPPA too, about this thread. I get in touch with TM by sending a PM on the site linked in his forum profile and with NAPPA by emailing him at imran (dot) nappa (at) gmail then IM'ing him (brn_fri in Yahoo) about the email.

I read a thread sometime in 2005-06 where TM and another mod (now on leave too) talked about beefing up the rec-engine, but he didn't have time to do it then. Maybe if you techies can work something out, other minor improvements can be done too. *hint hint*


*writing up emails and PM*

OK, I've sent the email, PM and IM. RL might stop them from replying quickly though. NAPPA's moving or has moved to another country while TM's busy with his job. Will let you know if I hear from them. But yes, you're welcome to contact them too.

Hi folks,

basically, there are only two things one can do. The first thing is to extract the database and build a new improved rec-engine around it.

The second option would be me coding the wanted improvement into the existing code.

Believe me, it wouldn't make sense to take the existing code and try to improve it because it's a mess. It's the first thing I ever coded in php and the only goal I had in mind was to get it to work in any way I could. It's like the worst php-html-java-script melange you can possible imagine.

Also, the IPB SDK is no longer updated as far as I know, which means that you can never update your forum as long as you are using the existing SDK. We actually have the same problem for the Portkey Gallery. The only reasonable thing to do is to build the rec engine from the scratch and make it as independant as possible. It should still authenticate against the forums user database table though.

I could make two recommendations, then.

Frankly, given the scope of Porkey and the number of users, it would be conceivable to do a Ruby on Rails application. Dev time would be maybe two weeks to three weeks for core, and then however long making it look pretty. Major advantage would be that it would be extensible like heck; fic recommendations? Just an extra database table, a quick model, and a few current_user calls. Rewriting the entire fic engine would be conceivable with ROR, and it'd certainly allow for a lot more time-saving fixes by coders, and even by mods, once they'd read a bit of code.

Downside with that is it may not be possible with the server Portkey is on. I'm at work, so I can't exactly run a whois without looking strange, but unless PK is on its own server, it might take some convincing.

Other thing to do would be to use some existing DB software to replace IPB with; SMF I know for a fact has a pre-built SSL file to make user functions available outside of the software itself, so retrieving usernames is as simple as

That said, having done several years of PHP development and two months of ROR, I'd never go back to PHP.

It'd also be simple to write a Ruby script to remap database entries to Rails' somewhat quixotic naming conventions.

Thanks for the quick reply, Magpie, as usual.

I have no idea what all these technicalese mean, but let us know what we recs mods can do. We don't mind doing things using a mix of automated and manual methods.

Just in case something comes out of this, can I cc in here a suggestion made by another of our members, StarbuckJr, (whom I like to call Dr S):

(To Dr S, sorry it took me this long to pass on your request. I had a long list of things to do. )

I think a tag-based system would work really well, no? Have a series of pre-defined tags, and let the recommender add his or her own as it goes?

I'm getting teary-eyed here. (And Dr? Where did you get that? Did i tell you that? Don't recall. Hmm)

You are apologizing for what, actually? Again, i should repeat my admiration for PK. It's the best around the net. You are even taking requests to improve the rec-engine and have people attending to it. I say this fan-site will be long-winded.

Never before i felt this close to higher ups of a fan-site (or maybe i did, but founding is different from being a guest). I feel special somehow. Like meeting the CEOs or something.

As of now, i have no other suggestion to make. Let's see what other people think too.

Thanks so much for caring.

S.

PS: I didn't read to posts above this one. If i missed something, or repeated things already pointed, sorry. I'm so impatient these days.

Slightly because I'm talking more about the history of the rec-engine and recs forums:


I saw your post here while I was restructuring the forums in April.



[HISTORY LESSON]
The rec-engine was built in response to requests by non-mods and observations by PK staff. The Recs Forum itself started as a single thread in the H/H forum. When I joined PK in Jun 2003, the recs forum was a subforum in H/H. There were no recs forums for the other ships (L/J and D/G at the time). Then PhoenixWriter (who wasn't a mod yet back then) suggested making a separate section for all fanfic-related discussions. Much of that history can be gleaned


For taking this long to relay your suggestion. You've PM'd them to me on May 3.

Back when PK staff were much less busy in RL and much more obsessed with HP, () we had very, very quick response times. It was one of the things I liked about PK actually, before I joined the mod team. I remember PM'ing James to edit or remove a post I had made in the Recs forum. He PM'd me back saying he couldn't find it, then Magpie also PM'd me to say he had moved or edited my post because he was mod-ing the Recs forum at the time. Also, there are plenty of old threads in the former "Administration" forum that show NAPPA, Magpie and other mods quickly responding to requests and questions.

Anyways, as I've PM'd you (Dr S), no promises about this particular rec-engine project. But my co-mods and I will help in whatever way we can.

Le Rob - to clarify, you meant Fic Recommendations (the Rec-Engine), right? Not the Fanfic Section's Search/Filter?

I've looked at the Rec-Engine's search page again. It does have the option to select fics:

Fanfictions Marked As:
- Scheduled
- Not Scheduled
- Ignore


Fanfictions Marked As:
- Read
- Not Read
- Ignore