Wanted feature: concrit comments

[elf]

I've been considering what AO3 could do that's unique & different from other archives, rather than just "improve searches" and "more display options" which are indeed nifty goals, but I was trying to think of something different.

And I realized one of the reasons I sometimes don't leave comments is that I want to leave concrit/corrections, which some authors welcome, but it feels really really *weird* to say, "there's an obscene typo in paragraph 3, and also the dog's name was Indiana, not Illinois," and have that left in the comment stream for all future readers who would otherwise never know the author had a facepalm moment before fixing things.

I think I'd like something like screened comments, where the commenter could say "screen this thread." Mark it as "concrit" rather than normal-story-comment so it doesn't clutter the comment-stream, and so the purpose is obvious. I know I'd be more likely to leave critical comments for those authors who welcome them if it didn't feel like I was calling them out in front of all the other readers.

I could see there'd be options for abuse; people could leave hate speech in screened comments. But authors would have the normal option to report those; they're not much different from what people could do now.

I don't know if it's really feasible, or if there's some other way to implement it. I'd like features that encourage more feedback, of any sort; a section for "concrit goes here" for those authors who'd actively like it could be part of that. Because even with authors who avidly seek concrit and proofreading and some level of after-publication beta, it's hard to say "honey, your ESL is showing" in public, especially to a friend.

Does it sound interesting? Nifty? A feature we want next week? A horrible opportunity for vicious wank that I've somehow overlooked? This is in the "idle thoughts/brainstorm" stage, not an "I want to propose an official change" situation.

(FWIW, I'm not thinking of any particular stories or authors at the moment; I was going over some past entries in metafandom about concrit.)

Comments

[healingmirth]

I would love something like this, in either format you mention. I've taken advantage of peoples comment-screening settings in the past to point out typos and such.

I think my preference to implement it would be to have something like a discussion page (does wikipedia calls it a talk page? I can't remember) as a user option? One of the big conceit/picky-reader problems seems to be determining whether people even want to hear it. I've also seen from both authors and readers some confusion about when/whether to engage in conversations.

[elf]

Would love to see an author-approved space marked "Concrit etc goes here," however that could be implemented. (Maybe drafts could allow for beta readers? I have no idea how drafts work; I haven't tried one since, heh, very early in AO3's life... it didn't yet accept line breaks.) A "discussion" page like wikis have would be good, but I could see that being a resource hog if it's on all the fics.

[healingmirth]

On further reflection, I wonder if this could fall under the umbrella of some sort of private messaging system. (I don't know if there's already a plan in the works to allow users to send direct messages to each other.)

I think what I'd prefer is the option to send a comment straight, and only, to the author's inbox, preferably still with sort of referring link to the work that notifications have now, so that when an author with 30 works gets a comment about a misplaced word, there's less chance for ambiguity.

There's a bit of awkwardness about posting something screened when you don't know whether or not its going to remain screened. It's no more fraught than your average comment on a journal, but at least in my head, AO3 is a low-confusion, less-drama space. There's no telling what you'd end up with when you explicitly open up to concrit though, so whatever.

The rest of this is all off the main topic, but your comment sparked something...

I just had a thought about the beta-reader thing, actually. I know that you can indicate coauthors when you're posting a new work, but I'm not sure whether that means that a saved draft is editable by any or all of those authors before it goes live. You'd have to communicate outside of that to avoid simultaneous editing, and drafts are only saved for a week.

I know that Fanfiction.net hosts beta reader listings, but I can't remember whether they have an internal display of works for beta readers, or whether you have to communicate outside of that.

[cesy]

Private messages are in the works, as are some features for beta-reading, I believe.

[stepps]

I wouldn't use it myself, but I can see how it'd be helpful for some. I doubt that it'd be used too much for abuse, when it can be reported.

[facetofcathy]

I would really like to be able to have my profile have a higher, ahem, profile on my user page, and then to be able to receive comments on it, like it's my own private news page. I have my email address displayed, but I don't think people like to email so much.

I'd love to be able to receive typo comments or have people mention formatting issues, but on no planet do I want concrit on my stories. But I'm not everyone! If I could say what I want on my profile, which I actually have, and if the culture of the archive could evolve so that readers looked at our profiles for our feelings on this, I think that would work.

If we as writers could set those comments to be screened or to display as suited, that would be awesome too.

[juniperphoenix]

and then to be able to receive comments on it, like it's my own private news page

I like this idea a lot.

[elf]

I was thinking of formatting/typo mentions as a kind of concrit. ("Story is great! Story would be easier to read if the second half of it weren't all in italics!") And yes, I'm hoping for more use of the profiles, and more interaction with authors, to sort out what kinds of comments they welcome.

Would prefer screening to be under control of the author, with the commenter having a one-time choice when making the comment whether to make it private or public.

[facetofcathy]

Ah, see, I see a marked difference between pointing out typos or a missed html tag and structure, theme, plot, canon-compliance, etc. criticism of a story.

One is telling the person washing the windows that they missed a spot--and they may or may not care. The other is telling them they need to rethink the kind of cleaner they use, how they wash the window, what sort of squeegee they have and the correct placement of the stepladder--and that could get you a bucket of water dumped on your head.

I would want to design any hypothetical feedback system for this sort of thing to allow people to separate those two concepts in terms of what they request or discourage people to provide.

[halfeatenmoon]

I love this idea because while I appreciate typo corrections in comments, it's always felt weird to just have to leave them sitting there on the comment page after I've gone back and fixed it.

[noracharles]

I like your idea of "concrit goes here", but I'd prefer it to be split up further.

Ideally, I'd like there to be modules with different titles that would appear when a reader clicks "comment".

Here on Dreamwidth, when we click "reply", we get three modules: we can pick the "Icon to use", we can write a "Subject" and we can write a "Message". I mention this, because more than one text box for the commenter can sound overwhelming and confusing, until you consider that it's the norm for many users of the AO3.

Anyway, I'd like for the author to be able to select one or more modules. They could have pre-defined titles, but with the option for power users to edit them. They should each have a "screen/unscreen" button.

So I might select the modules "Praise" (unscreened), "Typos, grammar mistakes, formatting errors and factual errors" (screened) and "Critique of characterization, flow, style and plot" (unscreened).

Then readers would know that I welcome all those types of comments, and that they won't embarrass me pointing out mistakes or things they didn't like, because I have set whatever I don't want to appear in public to be screened.

Another author might select only a single module "Comment" for the readers to use, because they find splitting it up silly and ugly.

[elf]

I like that, but I could understand if the code burden (or cognitive burden) is too much to allow custom labels on the modules. Would be happy with Default: public comment; Option: Screened comment only viewable by author & commenter. The profile would be a good place to leave detailed preferences. It's possible there could be a small text box at the top of the "comments" area where authors could leave comment preferences, either individual by story or for all stories under that pseud.

[flamewarrior]

I like this idea a lot: I think a 'concrit goes here' thing that authors could turn on or off at will, but also the private message thing for typos, etc.

[tehomet]

I think that this is a great idea. I don't comment on AO3 at the moment because I'm the biggest nitpicker of all time and I feel bad about having my 'you put x number of commas in the wrong place' type remarks enshrined on the archive for eternity. :)

http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/talk/none.gif

[(Anonymous)]

Good news for all students !Professorwrite provide you a better service about academic and study sections.So all of your problem can be solved.