Site Updates

Oo, and I see there's a dark mode in beta (ie. being tested). Is that new or did I just miss it before?

Quote by Mendalla

Oo, and I see there's a dark mode in beta (ie. being tested). Is that new or did I just miss it before?

It's new and they are still sorting things since it's all just launched. 😊

Coin image is fixed, BTW.

HI, as part of the upgrade, I understood we'd been made Platinum members but when I went to my interactions today, I see this ad. How do I upgrade if I'm platinum?

Quote by SeaJay

HI, as part of the upgrade, I understood we'd been made Platinum members but when I went to my interactions today, I see this ad. How do I upgrade if I'm platinum?

It could be an update glitch. I'll let the techs know about this.

Wow, look at me; I’m a platinum member. Thank you, Molly, and the team.  

Quote by Mendalla
Oo, and I see there's a dark mode in beta (ie. being tested). Is that new or did I just miss it before?

I’ve been waiting for dark mode. So much nicer on my eyes.

Quote by JustAnotherSapphic

I’ve been waiting for dark mode. So much nicer on my eyes.

If you click on your avatar in the top right, click Settings on the menu, and scroll down, there's a section called Experimental where you can turn it on. As Molly said, it's in beta right now so there could be problems, but at least you can get a look at where they are headed with it.

Have there been any updates recently (like the past week or so)? I am having problems with the "Remember Me" switch on login not working again (I will try dumping cache since that sometimes fixes this) and the images for the Top Categories on the home page are broken. Just wondering if something borked something. And if it is just me or if these are happening to others.

Quote by Mendalla

Have there been any updates recently (like the past week or so)? I am having problems with the "Remember Me" switch on login not working again (I will try dumping cache since that sometimes fixes this) and the images for the Top Categories on the home page are broken. Just wondering if something borked something. And if it is just me or if these are happening to others.

There have been a few things running in the background. Mine did it too a few times, but it seems to be doing just fine now.

Quote by Molly

There have been a few things running in the background. Mine did it too a few times, but it seems to be doing just fine now.

Login seems better but 4 of the 5 images are broken on my desktop (but not on mobile, interestingly). I am using Edge on desktop so maybe that's somehow a factor???

Quote by Mendalla

Login seems better but 4 of the 5 images are broken on my desktop (but not on mobile, interestingly). I am using Edge on desktop so maybe that's somehow a factor???

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Would you raise a ticket on this?

Quote by Molly

Sorry, I missed this earlier. Would you raise a ticket on this?

Seems fine now. Having issues elsewhere but SS is behaving.

The colour scheme has changed. Is that part of a new update or something that is being tried out or what? Or is it just me?

The site looks much better and it's easier and faster. Great job.

Quote by NumberOneAngel

The site looks much better and it's easier and faster. Great job.

Yeah, I think I like it, just kind of caught me off guard. I would generally announce a change of that magnitude on a site I run.

I do note that images for categories and curated collections on the home page are still broken, at least on desktop, as I have noted before. They seem fine on mobile. I use Edge and Chrome on Windows for desktop, Chrome on Android for mobile. I will try dumping cache later in case there's old data that's causing a problem.

Hi everyone. I was hoping to have been able to get on and make an announcement before it happened, but my morning has been madness. Nothing bad, just nonstop.

We have a few changes coming over the next little bit that I'm very excited about. The color change was one of them, along with the update on the front page.

Quote by Mendalla

I do note that images for categories and curated collections on the home page are still broken, at least on desktop, as I have noted before. They seem fine on mobile. I use Edge and Chrome on Windows for desktop, Chrome on Android for mobile. I will try dumping cache later in case there's old data that's causing a problem.

I'm on the desktop version and it is working fine for me. Did you do a ticket?

Quote by Mendalla

Yeah, I think I like it, just kind of caught me off guard. I would generally announce a change of that magnitude on a site I run.

So would I.

I can't say I like the new colour. Purely my opinion, but for me, it is too harsh, too bright. I liked the blue far better. Way more relaxing. It actually hurts my eyes on a 21" monitor.

I'm digging the new look.

Just to let everyone know. We are aware that there are a few minor bugs and they are being looked into as quickly as possible.

~~

Some of the bigger changes are to the submission pages. The Save button allows you to save your draft as you go and there is a preview screen before you hit submit.

We would like to encourage everyone to use cover images, one-liners, and tags for each story.

You also have the option to recall your submission if it is not yet assigned to a mod. I cannot be the only person to find an error the moment I submit my story. This way you will be able to remove it, fix the issue, and resubmit without having to wait on a mod for help.

Once more information comes in, I'll update it here.

Quote by Molly

You also have the option to recall your submission if it is not yet assigned to mod. I cannot be the only person to find an error the moment I submit my story. This way you will be able to remove it and fix the issue and resubmit without having to wait on a Mod for help.

This is great news, Molly. As you know, there are times when I have done just that. It must take a load off the mods too. 👌😊

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I can't say I like the new colour. Purely my opinion, but for me, it is too harsh, too bright. I liked the blue far better. Way more relaxing. It actually hurts my eyes on a 21" monitor.

Interesting. I actually find the new accent colour more muted than the blue. There's maybe a bit too much white background now (or maybe a brighter white??). Wonder if that's what's making it bright rather than the new accent colour.

Quote by Mendalla

Interesting. I actually find the new accent colour more muted than the blue. There's maybe a bit too much white background now (or maybe a brighter white??). Wonder if that's what's making it bright rather than the new accent colour.

That could be true. However, the green doesn't contrast enough with the white to reduce the overall glare. For me, at least.

Quote by AnnaMayZing

That could be true. However, the green doesn't contrast enough with the white to reduce the overall glare. For me, at least.

We do have dark mode if that would help you. I know it says that it's still being sorted, but it works for most places on site now.

Click your mini avatar on the right, settings, and it's at the bottom.

Quote by Molly

We do have dark mode if that would help you. I know it says that it's still being sorted, but it works for most places on site now.

Click your mini avatar on the right, settings, and it's at the bottom.

Thank you, Molly. Yes, I have tried that, but white text on a black background is as bad only in the opposite way. It is too dark. As Mendalla suggested, the white is too bright and I find the green too pale to bring the overall intensity down to a comfortable level. The previous colouring was more bearable.

Here is a rundown on the new features for publishing a story:

When you write a story, the Save button does just that: it saves where you are as a Draft and the story will show up in your Stories>Drafts area. Your editing session will remain on the Write panel so you can keep saving as you go.

The arrow alongside the Save button offers further resources that may help during the writing process: tips and links to forum threads to ask for advice/help, or to read about how others have approached storytelling.

Once you have added all the necessary fields, information at the bottom tells you the benefits of adding optional fields. Up to you if you choose to follow the advice.

When your story is ready, hit the Preview button. That will take you to a screen showing you what your story will look like on the site when published. This step helps because, sometimes, copy and paste from word processors or text editors can have unintended consequences in published material. For example:

1. Indenting lines can sometimes render an entire paragraph indented as a block quote.

2. Newlines / hard returns can creep in, which gives the text random line and paragraph breaks.

3. Hidden control characters copied from a word processor can sometimes render chunks of the story in bold or italics or in an odd paragraph style.

Etc...

So scroll/read through your story preview and check it looks good. It's your opportunity to make sure the cover looks fine, the one-liner reads right, the title and tags are spelled correctly, the story body text is formatted nicely, and so forth. If there's anything not quite right, you can go back to the draft and fix it prior to final submission.

Once you're happy with your work, hit the Submit button from the Preview panel and the story will be sent to the moderation queue.

That's it for editing/submitting, but there are a few peripheral extras now too:

A) Your draft stories are linked to the Edit step from your profile, allowing you to jump right back into editing mode.

B) If your story has not yet been locked by a moderator (i.e. it is still in the general queue) you can recall it back to your drafts and make changes. Handy if you spot something like a typo or incorrect quote mark/punctuation you missed the first time round. Once a story is locked by a moderator, it cannot be recalled. Edits can only be made after publication or after it has been returned for further work.

C) If you send a link to any of your draft stories to someone else, they can access it. Handy for getting assistance from editors.

That pretty much sums up the changes. Hope it helps.

The teal blue is pretty 😊