After a submission is validated, if you feel it is better suited in another category, you may move it there. You may not have it in both at the same time.
Poetry stays in poetry, period. First and foremost, a poem is a poem. As mentioned earlier, if people start seeing poetry in anything other than the poetry category, they will think that's okay at the submission stage and chaos will ensue. Authors will start submitting to categories other than poetry, the rejection rate will go up and mods will have double the work. And before anyone suggests spiltting the poetry category down into subcategories, that would be an organisational nightmare and send the number of categories we have to deal with through the roof. The poem rule has been a part of the MNFF site since day one and I don't see any reason to change it.
You are, of course, free to say what your pairing is, or other such subcategory-type information, in your summary. The whole point of the summary is to let people know what they're clicking on.
But the long and the short of this whole discussion is that we're asking you to read the rules before you submit your fic -- preferably not JUST the one about the categories. People who do not are wasting their own time, not just the moderators' (in fact, far more of your own than of ours.) And then keep following those rules once you've been validated, because you are now setting an example for all those who follow you. This fanfic site is affiliated with one of the main HP fansites; it has to look good, wouldn't you say? We're not just being casually mean; we're trying to respect Rowling and her fans.
I think that this rule is a good rule. It is a bit confusing though. Its a good rule because if you like a certain catergory, then it will not have a lot of them on it. That was pretty confusing, wasnt it? WEELL, its a good rule.
Magical Mave, but what if the story fits into two categories, and you reall can't choose? What do you do? Could you take the same plot and change few things so as to put in different categories, or is that aggainst the rules, too?
I'm not a mod, Bertybottaholic, but I think you'd be best just picking a category even if there are two it would fit into. You shouldn't change your story to fit a category, because a story's genre is irrelevent. If it's a good story, you will get readers regardless of where you place it.
Bertybottaholic - that's what General is for. If you absolutely cannot choose a category, then it needs to go in Gen. Failing that, you just need to bite the bullet and choose one. Two categories is not an option.
well, that's fair. I'd like more catagories, but I'm smart to not argue the point. It's really not THAT hard to choose one catagory.
oh, and thanks for the heads up. I haven't read the submission rules for a little while, and forgot a little thing like that. Maybe I need to go through and read them once again.
Thanks!
I have a suggestion that might reduce the temptation of authors to cheat and try to put their story into two catagories. Perhaps you could have a bulletin board under each catagory where authors could advertise their story if they think it could fit into that catagory but is found under another catagory. For instance: In the Draco-Hermione Romance section you might see something to the effect of: If you like D/Hr romances you might also like reading Blah Blah Blah by Wudoozit in the Humor section. Of course someone would have to watch these to make sure no one posts inappropriate comments.
im not sure why but my story has been deleted. Im wondering if this is the reason.
swthrt890 - if you story was submitted to multiple categories then yes, this probably was the reason. Submit your fiction to one category and you'll have it moderated.
*sigh* From experience, I can say that it's very easy to miss even the Big Red Writing if you skim down to the actual form, where it says right there where you choose a category that you can have more than one. It's actually not unreasonable for an author to assume that this means you're allowed to choose multiple categories -- since someone has obviously gone to the trouble of writing fiddly code to make it possible, and sites often do forget to change conflicting instructions when they add a new feature.
I know I've said this before, but ... look, surely all that needs to be done to make this problem go away -- immediately and completely -- is to change the submission form so that it's no longer even possible to select multiple categories? This is not in any way a complicated change to make for someone with access to change the template used (presumably since it was possible to add the red writing, that's feasible) -- maybe a hour all told, including testing, and once done, no more time-wasting or hassle for either mods or authors.
Oh, and on the immediate point (editing into multiple categories) -- while I hasten to add that I haven't tried this post-submission trick myself (and thus this isn't special pleading), after a quick look at the forms I can understand why people do.
The Red Writing says that fics may only be "submitted" to one category, but then goes on to talk about selecting one "primary" category. That, taken in conjunction with the possibility of selecting more than one category, does sound a lot like it's saying that the restriction is at the submission stage only. Especially as the edit form doesn't have the submission instructions, just the 'do this to pick multiple categories' instructions.
In short, I think this is more a usability problem with the instructions and forms than necessarily an example of authorial perversity.
"An example of authorial perversity." Thanks, SnorkackCatcher, that phrase is going to have me giggling for the next few rounds of modding. You're probably right; after all, there are plenty of other outlets for authorial perversity.
SnorkackCatcher - Whilst I'm sure we would jump at the chance of changing the template... the fact is that we use a pre-coded system. There are sections of this system that we can edit to suit our needs (such as the big red writing that we can add in) and parts that we can't. We have made it clear on several occasions and in several places that a fiction should be submitted and kept in one category only. This is to keep the site tidy and ultimately easier for you authors to use. If you think your story fits into more than one category then by all means write this in your summary... but the fact remains that the moderators who run this site have asked it to be placed in one category and one category only.
If we ever get the chance to change the messages on the submissions page then we will, but for now, I think it's pretty hard to miss the announcement on the front page of the site AND the big red writing on the page.
Roxy Black -- have to disagree there, I'm afraid; experience suggests it's very easy to miss if you don't use it very often (which I don't -- perhaps it seems more obvious to the mods who are working with it all the time?). Personally, I don't mind either way whether a fic site allows multiple categories or just one -- some do, some don't, there are pros and cons to both -- but I do get irritated by contradictory instructions.
That being said, which sections can you edit? If you can add/change the markup on the submission form, you wouldn't need to touch the backend code that processes the submission as long as the name of the key element doesn't change? Just put all the possible choices in the "category[]" selection box, and don't specify it as multiple selection. (And remove or comment out the "categorySelect" dropdown and the "SelectCategory" and "ResetCategory" buttons so they don't confuse anybody.) Then when a choice is made, it will still look exactly the same to the processing code, right?
If that kind of editing is possible, it's a quick solution to the problem. (If not -- I'd be glad to help if I can, it's my general area anyway.)
This is a pointless argument, already! I understand the idea that we can't have more than one category, since Magical Mave already told me that point blank. We should be happy that we even have fanfiction on here at all, it could be just like HarryPotter.com, the official site that has no fanfics at all.... If people don't like it, then there are other fanfiction sites out there, but no site where you get as many reviews as Mugglenet, because there are rules here, and less stories. On other sites, anything goes, so there are millions of stories, and half the time you'll be lucky to get two reviews!!!! So Why don't we end the arguments now, and just follow the mod rules, since they aren't going to change them because we're pissed! Okay?
While I wouldn't put it quite so enthusiastically as that, Bertybottaholic is absolutely correct. I really can't understand why there has been so much debate. You may not select more than one category. That's it. The end. SnorckackCatcher, if you wish to offer your services, please email an administrator. We are not coders - we are moderators. We work within the program as it is given to us. I know that I, as well as many of the moderators, wouldn't know my butt from my elbow looking at a page of code. We've made the few changes we feel capable of making (the red, bolded text), things we are fairly certain won't shut the site down. We do not have access to the entire code for the site, nor would we know what to do with it if we did. Given our limitations, we've made it a rule, which is stated on the page when you click 'Add New Story' and we made this news post to remind the authors that this rule does exist. There's nothing to debate about. It's a site rule - follow it.
Is it possible to reword the red, bolded text? This notice won't be on the front page forever. Something like 'A fic may be published in ONLY one category. Most fics could fit into more than one category, but as the author, you have to choose the most appropriate primary category when submitting your fic.' would spell the rule out more plainly for new authors in the future and save beloved mods time and irritation! :)
why would, say, a poem about harry and ginny, be put into romance? it is primarily a poem, but i can sort of understand wanting to have it in poetry and romance. if you want to move it, okay, whatever, thats fine. but having it in both is the entire readon for this argument.