Forum: Bug Report and Feature Requests

Part & chapter numbering

solitude 🚫

Is there a way for authors to number chapter 5 of part 3 as 3.5? I find it confusing when the update stream reports a new chapter posted with a lower number than I know I've read! Also, when responding to an author (using the feedback button at the bottom of the chapter) the title of the message does not indicate the part number, just the chapter wirhin the part. (I find it much easier if no two chapters in a story have apparently the same identifier.)

Of course, ir would then be up to authors to make use of the new facility. However, when they get feedback, lack of ambiguity about which 'chapter 5', say, is meant shoyld be worth something!

Replies: awnlee jawking akarge REP redthumb

awnlee jawking 🚫
Updated:

@solitude

However, when they get feedback, lack of ambiguity about which 'chapter 5', say, is meant shoyld be worth something

If that's true, it would be worth fixing, (although I believe the feedback provider can manually amend the title).

Have any authors experienced this problem?

ETA I pulled up the feedback form on the latest chapter of Aroslav's 4,000 Years a Demon story and got

Re: Bob's Memoir: 4,000 Years as a Free Demon Vol. 2 - Chapter 53

but it's actually the 28th chapter of the current SOL book

AJ

Replies: Switch Blayde solitude

Switch Blayde 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Have any authors experienced this problem?

I've never had parts with chapters within them, but I can see his point.

solitude 🚫

@awnlee jawking

ETA I pulled up the feedback form on the latest chapter of Aroslav's 4,000 Years a Demon story and got

Re: Bob's Memoir: 4,000 Years as a Free Demon Vol. 2 - Chapter 53

but it's actually the 28th chapter of the current SOL book

The 'vol 2' is part of the book title, and the author has chosen to number chapters carrying on from the earlier book. I'm thinking more of books in the John Carter universe, when most books/titles have multiple parts, with chapters restarting at one as each part starts.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@solitude

Have you tried pulling up the feedback forms for cases where you suspect the default titles might be the same? I didn't investigate properly, I just did a quick one-off test to satisfy my own curiosity about aroslav's strange configuration.

AJ

Replies: solitude

solitude 🚫
Updated:

@awnlee jawking

Have you tried pulling up the feedback forms for cases where you suspect the default titles might be the same?

Looking at Betsy Carter, chapter 1 of part 1 the default subject for the feedback form is

Re: Betsy Carter - Chapter 1

Moving on to chapter 1 of part 2 of the same book, I get:

Re: Betsy Carter - Chapter 1

Looks the same to me!

ETA: sorry, can't remember how to embed a link to the story.

Replies: awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@solitude

Dayum.

I think that's one for management's 'To Do' list.

AJ

akarge 🚫

@solitude

Not EXACTLY the same issue, but I would like to be able to designate Forwards, Preludes, or the Table of Contents to be not counted as a chapter when you are looking at the top of the current chapter page.
Example: a story might have 10 chapters and 1 prelude. At the top of chapter 4, it will show that as 5/11. This just drives my tiny bit of OCD bonkers.

Replies: awnlee jawking Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster) awnlee jawking

awnlee jawking 🚫

@akarge

Not EXACTLY the same issue, but I would like to be able to designate Forwards, Preludes, or the Table of Contents to be not counted as a chapter when you are looking at the top of the current chapter page.

I'm not saying this just to be contrary, but I find it very useful.

Forwards

People who misspell Forewords as Forwards drive my not-so-tiny bit of OCD bonkers ;-)

AJ

Replies: akarge StarFleet Carl

akarge 🚫

@awnlee jawking

People who misspell Forewords as Forwards drive my not-so-tiny bit of OCD bonkers ;-)

Oops. Sorry.

StarFleet Carl 🚫

@awnlee jawking

Forwards

Isn't that the spell golfers cast while they're still in the fairway and someone else is teeing off behind them?

Lazeez Jiddan (Webmaster)

@akarge

Example: a story might have 10 chapters and 1 prelude. At the top of chapter 4, it will show that as 5/11. This just drives my tiny bit of OCD bonkers.

That's not doable. If a story has a preface, a prologue with an epilogue. You're on one of the 'not chapters', what is the system supposed to display for you? [-2/10], [-1/10], there are 13 parts, what would the epilogue be? [11/10]?

The counter is for 'displayed parts', whatever those parts happen to be.

awnlee jawking 🚫

@akarge

Example: a story might have 10 chapters and 1 prelude. At the top of chapter 4, it will show that as 5/11. This just drives my tiny bit of OCD bonkers.

FWIW, scifistories doesn't have that but I haven't done a thorough investigation into what it does have.
Here is a sample menu bar:

"Home " Authors " Joe J " El Paso " Chapter 9
Chapter 8 Bottom"

AJ

REP 🚫
Updated:

@solitude

I don't see a problem with an author adding Part 3 after Chapter 5 in the story. For example (periods use to "center" chapter and part over title):

.........Chapter 5

..........Part 3

(Chapter Title, if appropriate)

redthumb 🚫

@solitude

There is a difference between 3.5 and 5.3! To me .5 would be the fifth part to chapter 3 and 5.3 would be the third part of chapter 5.

One of a long incomplete author's stories has for example 1A and 1B for the different parts of the came chapter.

Replies: Switch Blayde madnige

Switch Blayde 🚫

@redthumb

To me 3.5 would be the fifth part to chapter 3

That would be odd. Typically, it's the Part that has multiple chapters. As to Chapte 1A and 1B, I've seen that and, honestly, didn't know why it was done.

madnige 🚫

@redthumb

for example 1A and 1B for the different parts of the came chapter

I think you'll find this predates the automatic pagination into ~50KB pages, where long chapters needed to be manually split to smaller chunks for posting. The automatic paginator which came later in a few incarnations with improving choice of split point was abandoned once the backend code could cope with large chapters. The automatic paginator is gone now, but the relics of the manually split chapters live on. I suspect that the split-point placement decision code lives on in the placing of the 'There is more of this text...' message.

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Forum: Bug Report and Feature Requests

Part & chapter numbering

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