blah blah website nonsense

[rusty_halo]

This is a really random issue but I'm wondering if anyone has an opinion about it. (Or if you're just going to laugh at me for worrying about something completely irrelevant).

Right now on my website homepage I have works in progress listed below new stories, in a separate little section. I did this because I didn't want the works in progress to overshadow the new stories--a new story will only be on the homepage once, while a work in progress will be there repeatedly (every time it gets updated). (This matters, of course, because stories at the top of the homepage get the most readers.)

However, I've noticed that since I separated them, the updated works in progress are getting fewer readers (and fewer reviews, and fewer people are signing up for their update lists). I assume this is because, since they're listed at the bottom of the page, people just aren't noticing that they're being updated.

So, maybe I should just list everything together, updated works in progress and brand new stories, with no separation? Or should I them separated?

Comments

[xanphibian.livejournal.com]

I liked it better when they were together, and I sometimes forget to check the bottom for the updates.

[estepheia.livejournal.com]

I'd put them together. But you might consider making WIPs more blatantly obvious. I read Devilpiglet's new one because I overlooked the WIP acronym.

[elfgirl.livejournal.com]

I don't mind them separated, mainly because I don't read WIPs (or, I try not to). Plus, I know that you move the WIPs to the top update list when they're finished, so I know I won't miss them once they're completed. It looks like I'm in the minority so far, though, and it wouldn't bother me if it went back to having them together.

[kimberly-a.livejournal.com]

Personally, I really appreciate the separation. I prefer to avoid WIPs unless they've been enthusiastically recommended to me and might never get finished. So the separation allows me to make that decision for myself.

However, I would recommend that when a longer story gets its final update and is finished, it might be included in that top section. Just my 2¢ worth.

[mezzibelle.livejournal.com]

I prefer it when they're together because I'm always forgetting that updates are at the bottom. I look over the top list, see which new ones have been added, and then forget to look lower because I think I've already seen them. Did that make any sense?

[ex-devilpigl935.livejournal.com]

If the WIPs appear once on the regular update listing (when they are first added to the archive) and then again when they're completed, it seems to me that they're getting adequate exposure. But I may be underestimating the extent to which the serial nature of many stories affects this issue. Simply put, there are a lot of extended works that authors put a lot of time into (here I'm thinking of ginmar's 100,000 word-plus 'Affinity). These stories wouldn't exist but for the ability to serialize.

Maybe you could compromise: bump up the WIP every five chapters that are updated, or something. That's a pretty informal way of going about it, but it could refresh the stories in readers' minds.

Finally, thanks for soliciting our opinions! You could have monkeys organize the site and I'd still keep coming back. 'Cause I love it.