Implementing a "Random Series" div under the "Latest Series" div?

LinXueLian

Always Handsome
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Hi, hello~ :blob_aww: I've been poking around and I haven't seen it yet, but would it be possible to implement a "Random Series" div under the "Trending" and "Latest Series" div?

Something like this (marked in red):
sh_mainpage.jpg


It will change each time someone visits or refreshes the page.

I accidentally copied the "View More" link into the image, but it's not necessary to have it since just the front page is probably enough. :blob_okay:

I noticed people were worried about not being trending/popular and being forgotten. Right now there are over 6000++ stories on the site. Would adding this feature perhaps help advertise older stories that are not at the top or allow people to randomly pick a title to try out? It might also help the site look more varied on the front page, giving it an edge to similar sites like RR.

Thank you~ :blob_melt:


Edit:

Alternatively, if you want the site to look more diverse/varied, you can apply a "Forced Variation" technique to encourage more different types of people to join (either as readers or writers, makes it look more inviting to them)

Also re-labeled "Random" to "Other Available Titles". Looks friendlier!

Below is a suggestion, but as there are too many genres on the site, I wouldn't recommend it too highly.

Untitled-1.jpg
 
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PunishedKom

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How in the hell is this not a feature already.. Would also be great if it worked on an algorithm and showed you things from tags you like, based on your reading list.
 

LinXueLian

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How in the hell is this not a feature already.. Would also be great if it worked on an algorithm and showed you things from tags you like, based on your reading list.
Oh, you mean like a Recommended For You list? That's pretty nifty too, ngl.
 

BenJepheneT

Light Up Gold - Parquet Courts
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Hi, hello~ :blob_aww: I've been poking around and I haven't seen it yet, but would it be possible to implement a "Random Series" div under the "Trending" and "Latest Series" div?

Something like this (marked in red):
View attachment 6451

It will change each time someone visits or refreshes the page.

I accidentally copied the "View More" link into the image, but it's not necessary to have it since just the front page is probably enough. :blob_okay:

I noticed people were worried about not being trending/popular and being forgotten. Right now there are over 6000++ stories on the site. Would adding this feature perhaps help advertise older stories that are not at the top or allow people to randomly pick a title to try out?

Thank you~ :blob_melt:
She really said
 

AliceShiki

Magical Girl of Love and Justice
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How in the hell is this not a feature already.. Would also be great if it worked on an algorithm and showed you things from tags you like, based on your reading list.
Tony has two sites to develop and his time is limited. Right now he is focusing on the Scribblehub app.

That's why.
 

PunishedKom

Active member
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Tony has two sites to develop and his time is limited. Right now he is focusing on the Scribblehub app.

That's why.
An app is good and all but the site is sooooooooo barebones. I‘m a little disheartened to hear that.
 

LinXueLian

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An app is good and all but the site is sooooooooo barebones. I‘m a little disheartened to hear that.
Awww if it helps I think the app's being developed so it can pull more users to the site first. More users mean more views in general when you publish.

The Random Series feature will enjoy more views once there are more users using the site. Hopefully it can be added to the app too~
 
D

Deleted member 45782

Guest
I haven't been writing code in over two years. I'm embarrassed! :blob_sweat:
I wanna high-five you....I should know some parts after taking some classes....but at last, been working on getting motivation back to write and learn something useful.
 

CadmarLegend

@Agentt found a key in the skeletons.
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Hi, hello~ :blob_aww: I've been poking around and I haven't seen it yet, but would it be possible to implement a "Random Series" div under the "Trending" and "Latest Series" div?

Something like this (marked in red):
View attachment 6451

It will change each time someone visits or refreshes the page.

I accidentally copied the "View More" link into the image, but it's not necessary to have it since just the front page is probably enough. :blob_okay:

I noticed people were worried about not being trending/popular and being forgotten. Right now there are over 6000++ stories on the site. Would adding this feature perhaps help advertise older stories that are not at the top or allow people to randomly pick a title to try out?

Thank you~ :blob_melt:
This is a genius idea.....
 

TunTun

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I really don't like this idea. It clogs the main page with work that isn't relevant.

Why can't we just not add a second row for trending? I.e show the top 16 trending works, instead of the top 8 trending works that we currently have.
 

LinXueLian

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I really don't like this idea. It clogs the main page with work that isn't relevant.

Why can't we just not add a second row for trending? I.e show the top 16 trending works, instead of the top 8 trending works that we currently have.
Old works are relevant too!
 

TunTun

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Old works are relevant too!

  • 80% of all novels in SH are in a ~3 months Hiatus. Source
So, as it is - if SH implements a fully random series divider, you will end up having a 80% probability of filling the divider with dropped novels.

Crunching in the numbers, at least half of the novels in the divider will always be a dropped novel.

  • 20% of all novels in SH are 1 chapter long. Source
  • 60% of all novels fail to reach chapter 10. Source
  • 83% of all novels never reach chapter 30. Source
  • Only 50% of all novels have an average chapter length higher than 1,500 words. Source
If we assume that a light novel volume is normally 50,000 words long. The probability that a random novel in SH is long enough for a reader to get the full experience is of 13.5% [0.27 x 0.5]

If the novel falls within the 86.5% probability of not being long enough. Then assuming the novel was picked at random, there is only a 11.6% probability that the novel is actively been updated.

  • 50% of Novels in SH are downright hated by the community. Source

If your story gets an average of 3 likes per chapter, congrats! You barely outperformed BL novels by a +1 like per chapter. But subjectively, BL novels are the most hated genre on the website.

:blob_sir: These are the reasons why I believe that implementing a random divider is downright horrible for readers. It shouldn't be random. I just want to make it clear that I am not against the idea of implementing an extra divider. But it has to have a specific merit to it, randomness doesn't cut it.
 
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COLOC_Kid

morphing-state
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  • 80% of all novels in SH are in a ~3 months Hiatus. Source
So, as it is - if SH implements a fully random series divider, you will end up having a 80% probability of filling the divider with dropped novels.

Crunching in the numbers, at least half of the novels in the divider will always be a dropped novel.

  • 20% of all novels in SH are 1 chapter long. Source
  • 60% of all novels fail to reach chapter 10. Source
  • 83% of all novels never reach chapter 30. Source
  • Only 50% of all novels have an average chapter length higher than 1,500 words. Source
If we assume that a light novel volume is normally 50,000 words long. The probability that a random novel in SH is long enough for a reader to get the full experience is of 13.5% [0.27 x 0.5]

If the novel falls within the 86.5% probability of not being long enough. Then assuming the novel was picked at random, there is only a 11.6% probability that the novel is actively been updated.

  • 50% of Novels in SH are downright hated by the community. Source

If your story gets an average of 3 likes per chapter, congrats! You barely outperformed BL novels by a +1 like per chapter. But subjectively, BL novels are the most hated genre on the website.

:blob_sir: These are the reasons why I believe that implementing a random divider is downright horrible for readers. It shouldn't be random. I just want to make it clear that I am not against the idea of implementing an extra divider. But it has to have a specific merit to it, randomness doesn't cut it.
random novel will be helpful to authors who feel their work is being unappreciated. the reason most novels are dropped is because authors assume people wont read it leading to loss of motivation. plus like novel updates, scribble hub can have a random series that meets some criteria that you chose. anyways random novel setting will only benefit rising authors while destabilizing the status quo allowing more gems to rise out of the junk.
I should know I literally made sure humans experience pain to the fullest when I was on probation.
 

LinXueLian

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If your story gets an average of 3 likes per chapter, congrats! You barely outperformed BL novels by a +1 like per chapter. But subjectively, BL novels are the most hated genre on the website.
I'm sorry, but... what does BL have to do with anything? The objective of the divider isn't specifically for BL or any other "hated" genre as you so like to call them or even outperforming them. They're lesser-known genres or don't generate as much interest - but that's fine. The true objective of the feature is so that older, lesser-known works, whichever they are, or whatever they might be, whatever their statuses are, won't fade into obscurity, and to provide variety to the front page.


I believe that implementing a random divider is downright horrible for readers.

Even if the Random div doesn't get used as often as say, the Trending div, one can't be sure if it won't be used at all. I've come across really good titles using the random dividers of other sites, including video sites. Some of these films don't sort to the top because they're buried by other titles. Not every reader's looking for completed titles either. I'm one of those who don't mind reading abandoned work, and I've met others who don't - we're still able to enjoy the writing quality and style. Above all, some people just want to try new things.

Humans are complex. So are readers. I don't think you can speak for all readers, especially potential ones who have yet to join the site.

For example, you brought up BL as the most hated genre on the site. But I'm looking at trends outside the site and saw that BL is actually a growing niche and versatile market. In fact, following the success of series like The Untamed, many more have popped up. WeTV and YOUKU, for example, have begun creating and airing more BL dramas, and there are more BL readers and novels getting translated on NovelUpdates. These are all potential readers, users and potential ad revenue for the site.

Look, I get that you're trying to quote and link all those posts with numbers to.... um, look sharp and knowledgable (you are; not saying you're not!), but I wouldn't really quote those mostly blind onsite-only data pulls like they're the Bible or concrete evidence. These "graphs" and "charts" don't seem to be constructed or presented well enough to be truly used for analysis, and I say this with over a decade of corporate data analytics under my belt. They don't seem to have a lot of direction in terms of actual business use or readability, which is the basis of data analytics and decision-making systems. I'm not saying they're bad, but they're also not something one should use blindly as "proof" or even market data - data about potential or targeted segments of readers, meaning, especially one for features.

While it's true that whenever we write algorithms for items in the market we do tend include what the consumer has already browsed through or purchased to recommend them subsequently, there's nothing to say that a random item placed on a separate area like Sitewide Hot Deals (which is quite often random) won't sometimes pique the interest of a potential purchaser. Suggesting toys randomly to an adult, for example, might get them interested to buy one for their child or friend's child. I can vouch for this since I had to write code for storefronts at one point, before I was moved backend to work with loading and processing raw data.... and then to the front again, and then to the back... and then to the front and then.... Yeah I got moved around a lot.

Likewise, works being accessed and read amount to more that just those figures you see pulled in those posts. Having a random div adds a different flow to the whole thing; variety, for example, which seems to be missing from the Trending and New divs.

I know how to market my work and I can definitely do well enough even without a random div, if I wanted to. That said, I didn't suggest the feature for myself or for other BL works - I suggested this div for other authors here who are finding it difficult to get their works seen at all, even those writing for popular tropes and tags. If someone posts on a time or day where it isn't the best for them, even those tropes won't help them and they'll be buried under the volume of new works or updates. Some works that aren't updated daily have very, very good quality and I'd say they deserve even a 1% chance of being potentially seen.

I also suggested the feature for the site itself, for its owner, to make the site look more varied on the surface, and more like a site that's catered towards different groups of people who share a love for web novels. It'll potentially attract more writers - a varied pool, for one, and some of these writers might pull different types of readers in. It'll make the site look more well-rounded, and it'll offer something other sites don't.

I'm suggesting potential here as a marketeer. Just like Tony, I want to see this site grow outside just its current small pool. I've grown to like the place, and I want its authors and subsets of readers to be happy too and have something, a chance no matter how slim or tiny, for all of them, no matter how small or marginalized they currently are.

I know some of them would be happy with just one view. Or just one reader. Just that one thing to make their day. That's what I suggested it for.

That's about it. You can wax numbers all you want, but I'm more interested in bringing numbers in.
 
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LinXueLian

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Why not add a button that takes you to a random novel instead of dedicating an entire section to it?
That's not a bad idea, but a dedicated section can help make the site look immediately more varied to readers/writers of other genres at one glance. It makes it look more inviting to a periphery audience to join and write for.

I went to check and RR already has a Surprise Me feature. Having an entire dedicated div might help make SH stand out as a site that considers, thinks about and advocates smaller, lesser-known genres and writers. Kills two birds with one stone!


I'd end up spamming that button way too much... An entire section would be more efficient for me.

I just added a suggestion for a forced variation technique. Not entirely sure how efficient this is, though, since there are a lot of lesser-known genres. EDIT: I just pulled whatever genre I saw from the front tab.... lol

 
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