[Phoenix]

@stmercy
When talking about tags, I meant the categories. And I totally agree with you. I liked this feature and want to add more. Which also made me come up with the author-search. An idea noone else propably came up with 😛
It could even be possible to offer a language tag to stories. Brawna was like 99% english, I believe. But on Diana’s you still find the occational german, spanish,… story.

@fats
Yes, I’m aware that such a project is time consuming. And while I know that there are already solutions like Joomla available, I’ll try and get it done without them. After all I kinda want it to be a challenge for me. I don’t know how much in depth knowledge you have about PHP and SQL but, at least for the search engine I know how to figure them out. Since I would work with databases, I can simply send them a query and have it list me all stories which have the desired tags and/or author and return the results as links to the user.
Quite honestly, the thing that bothers me most is not the functionality, but the looks. I have no experience in webdesign 😆

@sdsj
Depends on what you imagine as stories with images. I personally quite like the idea of giving each story a picture like a book cover. Although if you imagine a whole series of pictures to go along with the story or the story even written on those images, propably not. I used Brawna quite often on my phone and since you want to scale the text to make reading more comfortable, images would propably get in the way, in my opinion.

[Phoenix]

Idea for a new rating system: (input highly appreciated)

So you propably all remember the 5 Star rating system for stories on Brawna. So since 5 Stars don’t offer much of an in depth idea of what the story is about or how well it is writen, I had the idea of a more visual approach:

So basically multiple rating aspects on a scale from 0-10, calculating the average and according to that value the section would be filled out. I think this could give everyone that selects a story a good idea what to expect. Maybe about the author as well, who knows.

Opinions? Thoughts? What ratings would you like? Doesn’t have to be 6, could be more or less and different in color.

[AlexG]

I can’t promise to be more of a regular contributor than I was to the previous iteration of Brawna- my work environment makes it unlikely that I’ll be able to do much of any sort of FMG/amazon-fetish-based story there, and I’m rarely motivated to write in that style when I’m at home . . .

Yeah, nothing worse then having your stream of thought interrupted. 😉 B)

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Avery Leckrone]

Conceptually, I like this idea a lot. A couple thoughts on implementation, though.

First: I think it would be a good idea to include some sort of rubric with explanations (and possibly exemplar texts) that show what each level is supposed to represent. It will still be somewhat subjective, of course, and more so because not everyone will read the criteria before passing judgement, but I think encouraging consistency will still be a benefit, overall.

Second: Don’t have so many levels. While we love to play around with fine gradations, there’s really no need for them. If you think of the system as being similar to grading, it could be something along the lines of: 5- Outstanding! 4- Above Average 3- Average 2- Below Average 1- Poor. If you then want the larger 0-10 scale for your graphic, your algorithm could average the values and produce half-values.

As for values for critiquing, I would propose: Originality, Organization, Consistency, Style, and Mechanics.

Originality refers to whether a story feels unique to the reader. Obviously, there are very few new ideas under the sun, but originality looks at whether or not the author took the elements of the story and combined them in a way that made them feel new and interesting to the reader.

Organization refers to the form of the story. This can be difficult to judge for chapter stories, as often important elements may not be introduced until later and other elements may not be touched on in every chapter, but the basic idea is that a story should have a clear beginning, middle, and ending. For short stories (and, I would argue, larger works, as well), the format is typically an introduction in which the main characters and the basic conflict are introduced, rising action in which difficulties are presented and complications are added, climax in which the maximum tension is achieved, falling action in which the main conflict is solved and the various complications are dealt with, and conclusions in which the story is wrapped up, possibly with the introduction or restatement of dangling plot threads to lead the reader into the next story or chapter in the arc.

Consistency basically means the ease with which a reader can immerse himself in the story. Stories do not need to follow the laws of mundane reality, but they should adhere to their own internal rules. When they don’t, they break our suspension of disbelief.

Style indicates how well the story kept to the categories it was represented by. If the story claims to be a GTS story, for example, then there ought to be at least one woman who is in the GTS range (and, depending on the number of categories provided, this may be even more restrictive- if the largest sized woman is only 8-feet and the option for mini-GTS exists, than labeling the story a GTS story would be misleading).

Finally, Mechanics indicates how easily the story could be parsed by readers. Stories should follow consistent rules of grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure. Stories should be broken into paragraphs and, if needed, chapters. Stories should not be presented as streams of consciousness (usually) or as walls of text, unless the goal of the author is to frighten away his audience.

It would also be useful (to authors) if there were a small section for comments next to each section and a larger section for more general critiques below that, although that might be asking a bit much of reviewers.

As regards graphics, I’m generally inclined to agree. While I like in-text pictures (I think they give a well-written and well-formatted story the appearance of a magazine article), I can also see how the pictures would tend to interfere with the flow of the writing. I would propose having pictures be an option- not a requirement- for the beginning of each page, chapter, or section- however the story is broken up on the site.

[AlexG]

If you’re looking for suggestions, part of Brawna was the allowance for not only FMG stories, but also stories involving power couples, as in MMG and FMG transformations, or GT and GTS transformations within the same story. Although of a niche interest, this is something that I strongly believe should be retained in any new archive setup.

Secondly, what about Transgenic w/ MG? I’ve written some of those in the past. (Think of Tigra w/ muscles, and you have somewhat of an idea of what I’m talking about.)

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[mlcred1111]

I’m surprised you Brawna writers, especially stmercy, didn’t mention the complicated story submission system the site had. I guess you figured it out (because you had stories on Brawna) but I’ve communicated with a few writers who specifically shunned Brawna because of it.
So, my suggestion, Phoenix, is to make it simple to submit.

Finally, the infamous Brawna CAPTCHA … do I need say any more?

[Avery Leckrone]

I have to be honest… I know a lot of people had issues with the submission process, but I never really did, that I remember. I had completely forgotten how much of a bear some people found it to be.

I will agree that the CAPTCHA was one of the most awful that I’ve ever encountered, but I would prefer that to the zillion-and-one hardcore porn spam ads that, for example, yahoo groups seem to always be plagued with.

[Phoenix]

Don’t have so many levels. While we love to play around with fine gradations, there’s really no need for them. If you think of the system as being similar to grading, it could be something along the lines of: 5- Outstanding! 4- Above Average 3- Average 2- Below Average 1- Poor.

Good point. Although when you think back to the 5 Star rating of brawna, you had .5 results as Average as well. So counting the .5 steps from .5 to 5, you would have 10 steps as well. But there’s more time to discuss the details. I like your critique points! Of course I would add a legend below or to the right where it’s listed what color means what. And clicking on the chart itself could link to a site where everything is explained in detail, just the way you have done it.

It would also be useful (to authors) if there were a small section for comments next to each section and a larger section for more general critiques below that, although that might be asking a bit much of reviewers.

So basically a commenting section below the story, the way it has been on the original. Yeah sure that shouldn’t be much of a problem.

If you’re looking for suggestions, part of Brawna was the allowance for not only FMG stories, but also stories involving power couples, as in MMG and FMG transformations, or GT and GTS transformations within the same story. Although of a niche interest, this is something that I strongly believe should be retained in any new archive setup.

Secondly, what about Transgenic w/ MG? I’ve written some of those in the past. (Think of Tigra w/ muscles, and you have somewhat of an idea of what I’m talking about.)

YES, YES, YES! Definatly.
While I, and propably most of us are here for the strong women, I had the thought as well to open Brawna more for other topics as well. I still would prefer that women have the leading power but if there pops up a story which includes MMG, I see no reason to decline it, as long as it doesn’t offend someone. I did talk to SSW on dA, if that’s a name to some of you guys. She writes superhero stories about her heroine. SSW on dA DeviantArt itself has a sizable fantasy author base as well which we could propably win for Brawna as well, since dA isn’t really made for reading. So if Brawna is working we could propably inherit a small fanbase. Who knows.

I’m surprised you Brawna writers, especially stmercy, didn’t mention the complicated story submission system the site had. I guess you figured it out (because you had stories on Brawna) but I’ve communicated with a few writers who specifically shunned Brawna because of it.
So, my suggestion, Phoenix, is to make it simple to submit.

Finally, the infamous Brawna CAPTCHA … do I need say any more?

😀 Yes, please say more.
No, seriously I have no idea what you are talking about. What made it so bad?
This, much like the registration on the old Brawna was a mystery for me. I never figured out how to create an account on Brawna, despite it having a login.
Well of course CAPTCHA’s are required nowadays, so we won’t get around of that. I have my own CAPTCHA generator set up already and it seems like it’s working. But of course if it causes problems, I wouldn’t hesitate to transition towards reCAPTCHA or something like this. Luckily there are services like this.

I will agree that the CAPTCHA was one of the most awful that I’ve ever encountered, but I would prefer that to the zillion-and-one hardcore porn spam ads that, for example, yahoo groups seem to always be plagued with.

Well we won’t get around ads sooner or later. I’m currently having some free space where I can host Brawna 2.0 from as long as it’s in development. But once done, I would prefer a professional hoster as well as a domain. Who knows, maybe Lingster will hand us over the Brawna.org domain. But one way or an other, I would like to cover my expenses for hosting and the domain via ads for example. Of course an agreement could be made with disabling ads once the monthly expenses are covered. Via ads or donations….

[AlexG]

If you’re looking for suggestions, part of Brawna was the allowance for not only FMG stories, but also stories involving power couples, as in MMG and FMG transformations, or GT and GTS transformations within the same story. Although of a niche interest, this is something that I strongly believe should be retained in any new archive setup.
Secondly, what about Transgenic w/ MG? I’ve written some of those in the past. (Think of Tigra w/ muscles, and you have somewhat of an idea of what I’m talking about.)

YES, YES, YES! Definatly.
While I, and propably most of us are here for the strong women, I had the thought as well to open Brawna more for other topics as well. I still would prefer that women have the leading power but if there pops up a story which includes MMG, I see no reason to decline it, as long as it doesn’t offend someone. I did talk to SSW on dA, if that’s a name to some of you guys. She writes superhero stories about her heroine. SSW on dA DeviantArt itself has a sizable fantasy author base as well which we could propably win for Brawna as well, since dA isn’t really made for reading. So if Brawna is working we could propably inherit a small fanbase. Who knows.

Full disclosure, I should have mentioned that I also have written growth / power couple stories. Way back in the day I use post them on ZZZ’s (who is now on DA as zzzcomics and posts updates here) Everything Grows forum, which allowed for a wider spectrum of TFing genres, such as Shrunken Women (SW) stories or as I coined the term – Minizons. 😉 B)

“I like a good story well told. That is the reason I am sometimes forced to tell them myself.”
~ Mark Twain / Samuel Clemens (1907)

[Phoenix]

:laugh: Minizons. That’s a sweet name.

Also:
Brawna 2.0 the pre-pre-pre-alpha is live now. Check it out here: Brawna 2.0

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