I added a new optional notification for authors.
If you turned on comments for your stories, you can now receive a notification by mail when somebody posts a comment on your story.
It's off by default, but you can turn it on in 'My Account' -> 'Messaging & Notifications'.
Hopefully it's useful for you.
Thanks, Lazeez. One problem with the 'Notification by email' option, is that I've had mixed results in responding to messages via email. Usually (at least when I've previously communicated withe the writer), the email will reach them (going through the messaging system), but in others, it doesn't. In order to resolve this, I now typically respond via both the SOL messaging system AND traditional email, just to ensure the reader gets the message. However, this means typing a simple message takes MUCH longer to do when you have to duplicate the same message multiple times.
I've had mixed results in responding to messages via email.
Hmm, does someone commenting (rather than providing feedback) expect a response?
Hmm, does someone commenting (rather than providing feedback) expect a response?
If they ask questions, they definitely do (even if the question is simply rhetorical, in intent). However, when I say 'I've had issues', I meant with people NOT getting responses when I hit 'reply' on the emails, which is why I now double-post each of my responses. The email response is faster, and allows for richer html content, but it doesn't always get through. I simply though Lazeez would want to know that it's currently an outstanding issue for many of us on the site who receive and maintain our message histories on our own computers.
Update: Sorry, I went back and reread the message after posting the response, and saw you were referring to the 'story messages' rather than the 'author messages'. In short, no, I don't do the double postings when someone responds to the story itself, mainly because the email notification ONLY tells you there's an 'outstanding message', rather than sending you the actual message.
The point is, Lazeez built in an automatic 'respond to the original poster' mechanism (via email) which doesn't seem to work as intended (if it was ever intended to work that way, as it seems tied into the email systems response (i.e. those who you've already emailed privately before)).
Hmm, does someone commenting (rather than providing feedback) expect a response?
Most don't. In the End Note to all my stories I mention the Comments Section and that I don't monitor it at all, as it's for the readers to communicate with each other. The few times I've posted a comment have come about when another reader has sent me a message saying they think I should read and respond to a comment that is about an important part of the story. Most of the comments I see when I do that are either comments on what they did and didn't like about the story or long debates about certain aspects, but it's extremely rare for them to say something they expect me to comment on. I don't know if this is because of my End Note or their general behaviour in the section.
Most don't. In the End Note to all my stories I mention the Comments Section and that I don't monitor it at all, as it's for the readers to communicate with each other. The few times I've posted a comment have come about when another reader has sent me a message saying they think I should read and respond to a comment that is about an important part of the story. Most of the comments I see when I do that are either comments on what they did and didn't like about the story or long debates about certain aspects, but it's extremely rare for them to say something they expect me to comment on. I don't know if this is because of my End Note or their general behaviour in the section.
I think it's your end note, as the discussions I have in the story comments is MUCH more detailed than my normal 'comment to the author'. Those comments are not about specific issues, but about the story as a whole. (Not 'we LOVE it' or 'we HATE it', but 'this aspect is weak, this aspect works well, etc.)
Also, if you simply turn on email notification, you don't NEED to monitor the responses, it'll tell you when to check it.
Unfortunately, such honest feedback can bite you in the ass. I just got my ass handed to me in my latest chapter, as apparently no one got that my 'trial' scene centered around a rush to judgement, rather than an 'honest evaluation of the facts'. Thus it appears I did a crappy job of making a central point of the story (time for a rewrite of the entire chapter, I guess).
However, this means typing a simple message takes MUCH longer to do when you have to duplicate the same message multiple times.
If you are sending duplicate messages, why not just type it into your word processor once, then copy/paste it?
If you are sending duplicate messages, why not just type it into your word processor once, then copy/paste it?
Because the messaging system doesn't support what email does (html vs. plain text, important when highlighting how I changed incorrect passages).
