[Meta] Story Hour Index (development)

[el-remmen]

So I was browsing through the story hour forum as I usually do. . .

I only have a couple of stories I follow regularly, but I like to check in randomly on this one or that one - read the most recent installment or some random section and see if I like it and want to start from the beginning, and that was when I got the idea for some kind of ENWorld Story Hour Index.

I know at some point we had a page where people could upload pdf and word doc versions of their stories for download with a little description, etc. . .

But what I was thinking was a page with a listing of every story hour and some basic info about each, including (but not limited to):

• writer
• setting
• number of threads
• start date
• last update
• average frequency of updates (we can do some math to figure this out)
• Whether it is completed or abandoned
• available as PDF or word doc?
• link to rogue's gallery thread (if any)
• brief description of style (epic, gritty, low-level, basic log, narrative style, first person, etc. . )
• and perhaps a one or two line review by a regular reader.

How feasible is this? Anyone willing to help collect the data? Anyone think this kind of thing would be helpful?

If we get started I can ask Morrus to host it - or else I could always host it if we needed - and it can be updated twice a year or something.

I am just brain-storming here and throwing ideas out there - so feel free to do the same.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I think that sounds like a very cool idea. The only practical way to collect the data would probably be to have the authors submit it themselves... Are you thinking of this as something linked off of the main news page, or perhaps a stickied topic here in the Story Hour Forum...?

 

[el-remmen]

I think that sounds like a very cool idea. The only practical way to collect the data would probably be to have the authors submit it themselves... Are you thinking of this as something linked off of the main news page, or perhaps a stickied topic here in the Story Hour Forum...?

I thought about authors doing it, but I was thinking of something more "complete" - i.e .compile a list of Story Hours and divide them up btwn those willing to help - so we are not waiting for the whim of the authors.

I was thinking of its own page linked somewhere - as opposed to a stickied thread - so that it formated nicely and the stories can be kept in alphabetical order. . .

 

[Eeralai]

BardStephenFox did an index for all the Ceramic DM contests. Would something like this be the idea with a little more detail about the story hours? http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=1719470&postcount=2

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

I really, really like this idea. Though it sounds like it could be a huge amoutn of work considering the number of Story Hours out there. I might regret this, but I would be willing to help out with getting this working.

I do think a stickied thread would be a good idea, though could also double it and do it on its own page. But keeping it stickied is good so that it will be RIGHT THERE, even if stickies get ignored...

 

[Piratecat]

They can be ignored in this case, but they'll be handy for quick reference. That's the important thing!

 

[el-remmen]

I really, really like this idea. Though it sounds like it could be a huge amoutn of work considering the number of Story Hours out there. I might regret this, but I would be willing to help out with getting this working.

I do think a stickied thread would be a good idea, though could also double it and do it on its own page. But keeping it stickied is good so that it will be RIGHT THERE, even if stickies get ignored...

Cool. Okay, how many people do you think we need to get this done, and anyone want to suggest a method for going about it?

Maybe start with asking authors to submit the info (once we settle on a format) at first and then go back to flesh it out and add whichever story hours authors did not submit something for?

As for the stickied thread, that can work, too. . . or maybe even a hack on the story hour forum page to add the link to the top. . .

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I'd start off by creating a page with links to the 20 (or so) Story Hours with the most views. Possibly classify them as "ongoing," "complete," and "dormant." I'd suggest a top-five in each category, then an alphabetical listing of all of them.

 

[Enkhidu]

I'd start off by creating a page with links to the 20 (or so) Story Hours with the most views. Possibly classify them as "ongoing," "complete," and "dormant." I'd suggest a top-five in each category, then an alphabetical listing of all of them.

I'm not sure that such a system would work for authors with one story though multiple threads (like el-remmen, for example).

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

I'm not sure that such a system would work for authors with one story though multiple threads (like el-remmen, for example).

Hmmm. Good point. Maybe they should be listed alphabetically by Author? That way all of any given author's SH can be gathered in one spot - Sepulchrave's stuff falls into this category. Heck, I've got three story hours under my name.