Separate tab for serialized stories?

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Is a separate tab possible on the main page, somehow, to separate serialized stories (with chapters)? I’m drowning in all the ongoing sagas, and when new chapters are released for one of the serials, it pushes others down the page and finding what I’m looking for becomes even more difficult.

Also, it’s a lot of scrolling in general. There’s just a ton of STUFF on the main page as it stands, and it feels really disorganized to me.

If a new tab isn’t possible, perhaps a new tag could be added for “serialized stories,” so that I can better sort out the ongoing chapters from the new single-story material? I’ve looked, but haven’t been able to find a way to do this with existing sort options, so if it already exists, I apologize.

If this is just a personal issue, I am happy to shut up about it, but if there’s others who feel the same way, perhaps something can be done?

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I agree that we’re getting so much new stuff that it becomes increasingly difficult to navigate.

So I’m open for suggestions in general.

But I’m afraid that many changes would make things more difficult than easier. Like having to select a category first, i.e. that by default only stories from one selected categories would be shown (and therefor much less new entries).

The separation of series and one-shot stories would also make things more difficult to navigate, but I’m open to anything if enough people support it.

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“Also, it’s a lot of scrolling in general. There’s just a ton of STUFF on the main page as it stands, and it feels really disorganized to me.”

This paragraph hits the nail on the head for me.

Rewinding a few years, I used to frequently read stories both here on GSS as well as over at mcstories.com. These days, I’m still writing stories and still reading them on mcstories - so it’s not like I’ve grown uninterested in the scene as a whole - I just stopped reading them on here for some reason. In fact I can’t actually remember the last time I read a new story on GSS.

There’s just too much visual noise. I don’t really need profile pics or these shiny ratings icons or the big picture of the guy at the top. I dunno, none of these additions were individually a big problem but add it all together and I’m overwhelmed.

I also don’t need tags, I think they add to the clutter and do more harm than good. The only thing a tag can do, IMO, is make someone not click on the story. At least that’s how it is for me. When I visit mcstories (which in lieu of unlimited tags has just a few basic categories) and I see an interesting title/description I think “hmm, that looks interesting” and so long as it’s not in the incest category I’ll check it out. Often times there are elements to the story that typically aren’t what I go for, like magical muscle growth or something, but if the mind control/hypnosis is well written I can still enjoy it. Whereas here if there are several tags with things that don’t interest me, I don’t even bother to click on it.

I’d like a permanent option in the settings that reverts the site to a more basic state. Just words, no pictures, and ideally no endless scrolling, which was basically the final nail in the coffin for me as a reader here.

Of course, this is just MY OPINION and I realize I might be in the minority. And I truly hope none of this feedback is discouraging.

Martin, has the overall number of people visiting and engaging with the site increased since the implementation of these changes? If so, then I will happily shut the fuck up and acknowledge that I’m the problem. :slight_smile:

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Well, I wouldn’t mind offering a page with a very condensed list of stories.

The question is just what to display there and how to organize that list.

You can already get a bit of a condensed list with the story view: All Stories - Gay Spiral Stories. Just bookmark this, if you don’t want to get bothered with any of the other stuff.

I’m not sure though if that will resolve your problem, though. After a while, after having read so much, it becomes more and more difficult to rekindle the amazing feeling you had when reading stories on NCMC for the first time. One could say “been the read that”.

I’m afraid that’s a problem of growing old… (at least my problem).

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Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to piss in your cereal here, Martin. :slight_smile: Really appreciate you keeping the site going and all the effort you’ve put into it. I am basically just responding to the line in your previous post about being open for suggestions.

And along those lines, for me, if we’re going to make the ‘all stories’ page the alternative for fussy people like me, would it be possible to hide the pictures above the authors’ names on that page? To me, it’s just a distraction that adds to the clutter and probably makes each posting a little thicker than it needs to be.

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I don’t see this as pissing in my cereal, don’t worry. I do listen.

Creating a tuned down page is much easier than adding some fancy new options. So just go ahead and create an official Feature Request here in the forum. I’m aware that I’m terribly behind implementing the stuff suggested there, but I still want you to collect your ideas. There will be a time when I’ll be able to put more time into the site again.

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I just wanted to put in my voice and say that all the things that Swizzington identified — the tags, the author icons, the endless scrolling — are in fact why I really like this site. And also, the lack of those things are why I essentially stopped using MCStories completely. GSS’s tagging system especially is a huge boon, for me at least. Being able to see tags alongside the summary has encouraged me to avoid stories I’d definitely find unpleasant if I started reading them, but it has also encouraged me to click stories that I might not otherwise have tried out if going on the title/summary alone. The tags allow me to guide my reading experience, and to do so in a way that I struggled with on MCStories, and which eventually led me to stop using MCStories completely.

Also, if there is a larger interest in separating series-stories from one-shorts — perhaps it could be done in an easy way by adding a button to the “All Stories” page? It could perhaps be a button that works as a toggle between showing only series, or only one-shots, or all stories at once. There are already filter buttons at the top of that page, so if it becomes a feature that Martin decides to add, perhaps it would be simplest to implement it via another filter button. I’m not sure, though, since I’m not a programmer! I’m just thinking in terms of intuitive usage, I guess.

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I am genuinely happy to hear that people are enjoying these features! I always assumed that was probably the case. That’s why it’s important to get as many different voices as possible in these discussions.

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This is an interesting discussion! Briefly, for organization, I think this has essentially split into two different topics (both of which I have comments on): separating periodic/chapter-based stories from one-shots, and having an option for a generally paired down or less visually cluttered UI for browsing new stories.

On the former topic, I do actually think that implementing an option to filter to “no new chapters for ongoing stories” on the main browsing page would be really nice at some point in the future. I check the site less often these days than I used to just because my life is a bit busier, and often my browsing experience involves a lot of scrolling through new chapters in stories I’ve already decided aren’t for me and accidentally missing new stories I may like along the way. Having at least some place to go where readers can look for completely new stories, not just new installments, might be nice. I personally would also like to still be able to see things like tags while doing that, which is why I’d prefer some sort of filter on the main page as opposed to combining this feature with a “minimalist” all stories page.

As for the all stories page and the issue of visual clutter, I mostly agree with what Nutiper said — for me, tags are a really useful tool, and one of the reasons I’ve kept using GSS while some other sites have left my daily browsing rotation is that it’s organized and easy to navigate and search with. On the other hand, though, I do think the idea of trimming down some of the info on the homepage may be nice. The header picture for instance, while fun, is a bit distracting (and a lot less covert when I accidentally leave a GSS tab open and then try to open my browser in front of other people lol), and especially for recent stories which often don’t have many ratings yet the glowing rating categories can at times feel unnecessary. Overall I like far more about the current UI than I dislike, but I think there may be ways to revise and tweak it with functionality in mind.

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Long time GSS reader, first time commenter.

Anteros mimics my thoughts on both topics

In terms of the one-off/serial discussion, could be implemented by automatically assuming all first chapters are “one-offs” and then once the second chapter is published, automatically migrate to the serial subcategory. This would also avoid the risk of an author starting out as a one-off, and then deciding to expand their story in the future.

I find with the large amount of stories being created (especially since COVID), I’m loosing track of which serials I enjoyed. I seem to be reading (and scrolling past) many of the one-off stories.

In terms of page clutter, the word count (and the colour code) I would remove. As someone who doesn’t create stories, I don’t have a sense of what a the difference is in a 1,000 vs 25,000 word story. You can tell once you go into the story and see the size of the scroll bar.

I love the tags, especially with the large amount of new content. But I can see that others find them as a spoiler or sometimes as a bit of misdirection. Possibly limiting to displaying the top 5/6 instead of the full list (page clutter). There is an art to selecting tags that I think many authors leave as an after thought.

Anyway, Martin, keep up the awesome work. I will try and improve my giving of story feedback in future. Thanks all for contributing to this community.

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I can’t add much that someone else hasn’t said, but would it be possible to use Themes to reduce some of the visual clutter? In CSS terms, set style=display:none for whatever items people generally find to be too cluttering. This might require a limited set of “X (plain)” styles, but if it could be implemented as a checkbox instead, so much the better…people can have their Themes and still have a “plain” option.

Also, another +1 for tags here. I don’t read many stories either here or on mcstories, but when I do, I find tags invaluable to help me pre-filter to stories I’m likely to enjoy.

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Just to let you all know, I’m reading all your postings with a lot of interest and try to collect all the ideas.

I can’t promise any changes in the near future, though, but I see the potential for improvement. Just give me some time, my life will eventually become a bit more relaxing at some point…

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Just wanted to say: Martin, thank you for all your hard work on this site. It’s really great to have someone so committed to making this an easier browse, not to mention most likely the foremost repository of such genre work on the internet.

I’ll second, third, fourth, in favor of the “tags” argument. Often, I use the tag system solely for narrowing down by topic and then I’ll browse accordingly, but this presumes that I have a topic in mind every time, which is not always the case. In fact, I’ve found some of my favorite stories by simply reading something that looked interesting on the main page under “Latest.” However, for tried & true, the tag system is a very handy, very reliable tool - I even love how it manages, somehow, to also be customizable to include “related tags” - i.e. “weight gain” will also bring up stories tagged with “fat” or “chubby,” if those tags exist. Not only this, but this related function filter can be toggled on or off!

I appreciate knowing what the word count on a story is up front, to be honest, so I love this feature - I also love how it is color-coded, but that I don’t find as necessary. A word count gives me a sense of the commitment I’ll need to invest in order to read that story, and this comes from someone who posts 10,000+ word stories on this site. Word count up front is invaluable to me as a reader, especially if I don’t have much time and I just want to quickly scroll through a story or two.

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This site is as far beyond every other erotic fiction site as cars are beyond horse drawn carriages. This isn’t the only story site I go to, but it’s the only one that doesn’t have a bad UX.

I mean just look at Nifty, which used to be my favorite. It doesn’t even have descriptions!

I’ll admit the UI feels a little busy here sometimes but it’s still so much better than everywhere else.

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I myself would like to be able to separate the one-shots from the series. Somtimes I don’t have time to read a whole series, and trying to find the one-shots is getting progressively harder with all the new chapters.

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