[Tutorial] For new users of Scribble Hub!

Corty

Spaghetti Monster
Joined
Oct 7, 2022
Messages
2,221
Points
128
As someone who had to deal with that exact scheduler issue a few days ago, I wish I had this guide when I first started out 🤣
Yep, I also learned it the hard way. Even worse: if you then turn it into a draft immediately and reschedule it to a later date, trying to fix the mistake, you just made it worse. It won't show up on the main page as one of the "latest" chapters.

Because the site only takes the first publicization moment into consideration. So you just played yourself. It does not show up because you were quick to modify it. Then when its supposed release date comes, it also won't show up on the front page because it was already published once.
 

Notadate

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 28, 2022
Messages
827
Points
108
Sus, but finally no more people will ask how to do something.
 

taigan-snow

New member
Joined
Apr 18, 2023
Messages
2
Points
3
Thank You so much, I don't want to start posting writing yet, but this is perfect for when I do.
 

Cube518

New member
Joined
May 15, 2023
Messages
2
Points
1
I saw threads pop up occasionally from new users asking about some features. I decided to create this thread so it can be linked when the same questions pop up once in a while. So, if you are new, here are some tips that you may find helpful! Use the titles in the table of contents and ctrl+f them to jump to the desired section!​

Table of Contents:

  • Section-A - For Readers
    • How to protect your eyes
    • About release filtering
    • How to search for stories more efficiently
    • About reading lists
      • Addendum #1
    • About RSS
    • Short description of the main genres
    • About titles
    • About forum avatars & banners
  • Section-B - For Authors
    • Releasing a new series & starting tips
    • Adding & sorting
    • Scheduling
    • Editing Tools
    • Glossary function
    • Polls


Section-A - For readers



How to protect your eyes


Click to your Profile » Choose the Preferences tab » Topmost option will be Style: Choose the Default Dark mode and never look back.

About Release Filtering

  1. When logged in, go to your profile and click the "Release Filtering" option.


After this, you will be taken to a new page where you can see all the major genres!



  1. You can click on the box to set it to green, meaning you will see those.
  2. Red means no-no; you don't want these types of books to show up for you on the front page!
  3. Leaving them empty is the default; you are going to see them. After you are done, don't forget to SAVE SETTINGS! Otherwise, it won't work!


How to search for stories more efficiently

by Cipiteca396
Please use the links to see the images, as I reached the limit of images and media files permitted to be put into one post! Open them in a new window to see them! Thank you for your understanding! If you scroll down in this thread, you can find Cipiteca396's original message with the images displayed instead of links!

To search for stories on the main site:
https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/series-finder-jpg.17525/


You can use the And/Or box to include examples that fit all or some of your desires. A green check means you want to see it, and a red ex means you don't want it.
https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/genre-jpg.17526/

https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/tags-jpg.17527/

https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/story-status-jpg.17528/


You choose how you want the stories to be sorted at the bottom. I advise by Total Word or Pages if you want a long read.
https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/sort-png.17529/


If you make any mistakes, you can always modify the search by clicking the gear in the top right.
https://forum.scribblehub.com/attachments/search-settings-jpg.17530/


About Reading Lists


  1. Once again, click on your profile and go to your reading list. All books you put on it will show up there. There is a little trick I'd like to show you when you are there!


  1. See that little gear? Click and voila! A whole new world opens up! You can create many lists, customize them to your liking, etc.! I just want you to pay attention to some neat little features.
  2. Enable alerts will notify you if books on your reading list get a new chapter! No more manual checking! How neat is that?
  3. Auto Bookmark! You can set it to your desired time-intervallum, and it will bookmark the chapter you are reading. You can then pick the story back up where you left it off! Let the authors know you are keeping up with the story!
  4. As always, SAVE SETTINGS after you make changes!
If you have done it correctly when a new chapter drops... you won't miss it:



You can also manually bookmark stuff at the end of every chapter:



  1. Don't forget to like the chapters; it means a lot to authors!
  2. Bookmark it manually if you want!


Addendum #1:


Please use the links, as I reached the limit of images and media files permitted to be put into one post! Open them in a new window to see! Thank you for your understanding!


  1. The edit list will take you where you can customize your own reading list to your liking!
  1. You can give lists a new icon!
  2. Color it!
  3. Name it as you wish!
  4. Give it a short description, so you and others know what you meant by this list!
  5. The type is important; it shows up for the author and others on the book's page!
    • This shows up on all books as information; I am going to illustrate this for you down below! They are self-explanatory.
  6. Click, and you create your unique list!
  7. You can order them around like everything else! Check for the points for authors if you want to learn more!
  8. You can change the icons and their colors later on if you change your mind!
  9. Same with names and descriptions!
  10. If you make changes, don't forget to SAVE!
Now, after you customize your reading list, you can select novels in your default, a current reading list to move them around!
  1. Click here to choose the lists and where you want to move the books you saved!
Now, the next part is both for readers and authors. As there was a little bit of confusion about what it means, I am going to try and give you a brief explanation! Look at the right, the bottom part of the image, where I numbered the text in question under "User Stats!"

https://i.imgur.com/wIv4OEj.png
  1. Reading - This many people put the book in a list that, as in the few images above, was marked as a current reading list. They are counted as active readers!
  2. Plan to Read - These are those people who put the book on a list that is marked as such. This tells how many people are interested in the book, saved it for a future read!
  3. Completed - Don't let this confuse you! This can show up even on ongoing books! This many people deem they completed said book. Even if it's ongoing... maybe they are time travelers. You never know~
  4. Paused - This many decided to put the book on hold. They may wait for a new batch of chapters to pile up before picking it up again!
  5. Dropped - This many decided the book was not for them. Yet they keep it on their lists. Maybe later on, they will give it a second try. Who knows~
If there are further questions, feel free to ask them, I may update or expand on the tutorial!


About RSS


  • You can read novels and be notified about new chapters without having to log in; just use RSS.
  • To access it, open your reading list, click on the gear, and you'll see a button (traced over with red)


  • After clicking on the button, you'll be taken to this page:

  • Copy the URL and paste it into your feed reader, and voila!


  • WARNING: This feed will NOT work with a VPN on! You will be notified about new chapters but won't be able to read them in your feed reader!ű


Short Description of the main Genres

Please note while reading this that these descriptions are very subjective. Many writers interpret them in their own ways... But after seeing questions about it, I feel brave enough to give you a short and concise summary of each of them. Oh, and for authors, a quick note here: You can only tag nine genres!

  • Action
    • Pretty self-explanatory. You will find battles in these stories, be it with guns, swords, magic or hand-to-hand.
  • Adult
    • This is a tricky one, and many threads have already defined it differently. So don't take my word as gospel here! Adult topics can range from sexuality to dealing with heavy, morally ambiguous questions or simply grotesque, gory descriptions. An adult tag does not mean you will get full-on porn, but it can include nudity and/or sex.
  • Adventure
    • Another easy one. The MC (main character) and/or his/her group travels around, getting into different adventures and exciting situations.
  • Boys Love
    • Yaoi. Boy-on-boy love. Penis-to-penis, "sword-fighting," you get the gist of it. PS: No, it does not mean it focuses on sex. It's just my funnybone acting up.
  • Comedy
    • It wants to make you laugh. It may be a parody. A light-hearted fun story. Easy.
  • Drama
    • Dramatic stories, so get your tissue ready. Unlike tragedy at the bottom of the list, this does not mean everyone dies. But they could. Depends on the author. Anyway, get ready for some heavy shit.
  • Ecchi
    • Sexy girls, boys, and events. Not sex. But sexy. Panty flashing, nudity, etc. Softcore stuff.
  • Fanfiction
    • Stories that bring you into an already existing IP (intellectual property), be it movies, books, games, comics, or whatever that someone else thought up once. They can give their own spin to already existing stories, self-insert, world traveling, alter original timelines, and the list could go on.
  • Fantasy
    • It can range from western fantasy to eastern. Sword and magic stories mostly, but it can be a modern-day setting with some fantastic elements to it, like catgirls. Or magic devices. With catgirls.
  • Gender Bender
    • Going from male to female or female to male.
  • Girls Love
    • Same as the boy's love one, only this time it's yuri time. Wet hole against wet hole, rubbing the beans together, strap-on action, you get it. PS: No, it does not mean it focuses on sex. It's just my funnybone acting up.
  • Harem
    • MC has many love interests. That is it. One guy/girl with a multitude of hearts conquered.
  • Historical
    • Based on real-life history. Simple.
  • Horror
    • Scary-spooky-skeletons. Demons. Monsters. SCP abominations. Anything that makes you want to sleep with the lights on.
  • Isekai
    • Truck-kun transported the MC into a different world. The main point: The MC finds him or herself in a completely different world/reality.
  • Josei
    • Stories aimed at more mature women. Usually romance-based stories but not strictly.
  • LitRPG
    • Stories where the MC has some kind of system to him or herself. Gamefied fantasy stories mostly (but not strictly), where many elements include leveling, point allocations, and special skills. As if playing a video game.
  • Martial Arts
    • Stories focused on fighting. Be it real-world martial arts or fantasy-like Kamehameha battles.
  • Mature
    • Another tricky one, and many things true here that were true on the adult tag. But most importantly, in my humble opinion, authors using this tag expect their readers to come in with a mature attitude towards their story. To look at issues with an open mind.
  • Mecha
    • Big robots go boom-boom. Whether in space or not, it doesn't matter. It has to have big fucking machines battling it out. Hell yeah.
  • Mystery
    • Problem-solving. Detective work. Puzzles and whatnot. Where the unknown and its exploration is the story itself.
  • Psychological
    • Usually, this goes along with other heavy genres, so it is usually not for the faint-hearted.
  • Romance
    • Love stories. Easy.
  • School Life
    • Another easy one. The characters are still attending school, and the story is focused on their life.
  • Sci-Fi
    • Pew-pew, lasers, spaceships or cybernetics, futuristic Earth, or different futuristic reality. Anything that futuristic.
  • Seinen
    • Stories aimed at adult men. Which sounds weird, but think of Berserk. That is also a seinen. It is hard to categorize it; it is the same as Josei, just for males.
  • Slice of Life
    • Stories about the everyday life of the MCs. Simple.
  • Smut
    • Porn. Nuff said.
  • Sports
    • Ehm. Sports? Sports. Play with balls. Take that as you wish.
  • Supernatural
    • The unexplainable. Be it superpowers or ghosts. A pretty broad thing, so... yeah.
  • Tragedy
    • Get ready for feels. These stories are about raising death flags.
Here is my personal tip for you:

Look at them in pairs. You can identify what the author means when you look at the tags relative to each other. (if we are talking about someone who gives two cents about his/her story)

Examples:

Mature, Psychological, Horror
-- A story that most probably depicts gore and graphic horror.
Mature, Slice of Life, Drama -- A story where heavy issues may be the focus of the story. But if it's not drama but comedy, then it can be kinky fun or a story filled with dark humor.
LitRPG, Sci-fi, Smut -- this probably has fucking robots and leveling up their peepees and boobies.
Adult, Fantasy, Mature -- Probably a story where you can run into sex, slavery, drugs, racism, and the like. It does not mean it focuses on them but won't shy away from heavy topics.

I hope with this; you can start identifying a story before going in and realizing you don't like it ahead of time~! There is nothing wrong with not liking some genres; the problem starts when people drop a 1-star rating without understanding the tags the author specified for this exact reason. By reading this far in my tutorial, you are already on the right way to enjoy reading! :blob_highfive: And for authors: Start using them. Bad ratings are warranted if you miss informing your possible reader base!


About Titles

Please use the links, as I reached the limit of images and media files permitted to be put into one post! Open them in a new window to see! Thank you for your understanding!

There are two titles on this site, one that has to be earned and one that also has to be earned, but then you can customize it! Let me explain!

On the main site, under your avatar, you can have the following (this is from my experience and my probably, wrong calculation, looking at my and other author's reader numbers. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong):

https://i.imgur.com/FQvfS6D.png

  • Member - You have not published any works yet
  • Author - You have your own story created and published
  • Rising Author - You have 500+ readers
  • Well-Known Author - You have 1000+ readers
  • Famous Author - You have 1500+ readers

These numbers are cumulative. If you have two works, one with 200 readers and another with 400 readers, you will get the Rising Author title. So on and so on.

Now, the other one, is on the forums. I will be honest with you, I don't remember how many posts you need to be allowed to change your title. Maybe 50? Or a 100? Somewhere around there. After it becomes available to you, you can head to your profile settings and change it!

https://i.imgur.com/CRWbW4d.png

  1. Go to Account Details
  2. Custom Title - Just type in what you want to appear in the forums! It is that easy~!


About Forum Avatars & Banners


You can change your avatar any time you wish so, but your banner and the background behind your profile are only unlocked later on. By @AliceShiki's words, you can only edit your own banner after making 150 posts on the forum. To reach that number, take @tiaf's points into account:​

  1. Have more than five words in a message, or it won't count.
  2. Community games only add to the counter for the first post.
  3. Immediate posts in the same thread cause two subsequent posts of the same member to be merged.


Section-B - For Authors

Now, here are some tips for starting out authors to help you out if you are unsure how some things work!


Releasing a new series & Starting tips


When you release your first series, it has to be manually approved. Until then, you can access it and edit it to your liking, but others won't see it and its stats regarding views, and all won't register, not even if you start linking it for others. After review and getting the green light, it will appear on the front page, amongst the "Latest Series" tab. As for how long it stays there? Until other, new, and coming series push it out. Good luck! When you post your story, you can add multiple chapters one after the other; you won't be flagged as spam, as your story still needs reviewing! But after you are "live," try to space out your chapters. If you post multiple chapters a day, leave at least an hour between them, or you will be flagged, and your newest chapters won't show up on the front page!​

Now, something that is not based on luck and some tips for starting out:

  • Have a good cover. (Read the rules about what is allowed and not. Preferably, resize it before submitting it so it won't get badly warped)​
  • If you are in need of a cover, there are threads here offering services in the forums. You can try asking for help there.​
  • Have a good synopsis that makes people think, "Oh... that is interesting." Think about what makes YOU start reading a book and try mimicking that or take inspiration from other, successful books' synopses.​
  • Use your tags correctly. You can have 25 tags and select those that match your story now and in the future.​
  • Best to start with five or more chapters so readers have something to dig in.​
  • Don't expect immediate success if you are a newcomer. Many readers only pick up a story if it is past a certain amount of chapters. Stay strong, and don't give up.​
  • If you want immediate feedback, there are free 1st chapter review/feedback threads here. Give it a shot.​
  • The consensus amongst authors here seems to be that the chapters are best if they are at least somewhere around 1000-1500 words. I say this after observing many threads asking about it. My personal sweet spot is 2000ish words per chapter.​
  • A consistent release schedule is what keeps a book alive, in my experience. If you are consistent in releasing your chapters, readers can get into the habit of reading them. They will know on which day and at which hour there will be a chapter of your story, and they will come back reading it. Believe me; consistency is one of the biggest help to let your story grow.​
  • Asking how Trending works is useless. Nobody knows. And that is by design to avoid exploiting the system.​
  • Try to get your grammar to an adequate level. I'm not telling you to be Shakespearian, but it is best not to make native English speakers frown and try to guess what you want to convey. You can use many tools to do so, be it free or paid; if nothing else, you can even ask the many AI software on the web to help you out if nothing else.​
  • Don't be afraid of asking for help and feedback; people are willing to help if asked. (Asking in the correct places and demanding/spamming your story in the forums are not the same. The latter will have an adverse effect.)​
  • Keep at it. Writing is not easy and is not where you get instant success. It may take years. If you want to grow your reader base relatively quickly, first, try to write something in the most popular genres. Then when you have a good enough follower base, you can start something unique.​
  • Lastly: Try to have fun. If you enjoy writing, it will show in your story. 1-star ratings are not the end of the world. Trolls will be trolls; It is your story, your world. Own it.​


Adding & Sorting



  1. You can add chapters; it is pretty simple. After saving it or publishing it, you made a mistake?
  2. Then the 2nd step is for you! Click on it and start dragging! You can reposition a chapter that way in the story. Added a new extra chapter that falls between some earlier chapters? Drag it down the list!
  3. Don't forget to SAVE SORTING after you are done!


Scheduling


  1. Click here, and you can save a future date for your chapter and not publish it immediately!
  2. Or save it as a draft if you are still working on it! Use the previously discussed sorting feature if you want it to move around your published chapters or different drafts!

  1. Clicking edit will bring you to this. The time you set is the SAME as your SET TIME ZONE in your profile!
  2. When you are done, press OK. You can't set chapters to date and time that has already passed!

  1. You can edit it at any time. But don't forget! If you edit an already scheduled post, ALWAYS RE-SCHEDULE it! Or else it will be published IMMEDIATELY!
  2. Now that your time is set, the publish button has changed! How cool, eh? Click it, and you are good to go!

  1. Now it is scheduled! You can schedule any number of chapters!
  2. You can still edit and delete them at any time!


Editing Tools

Most tools are simple and straightforward, but I want to introduce you to some of the cooler ones!


  1. Spoiler button.
    • Text put into these brackets will be hidden behind a spoiler... thingy! You will see this in the following image!
  2. Announcement button.
    • Text written here will be popping out brightly, you will see. Put important things you want your readers to see at first glance here, but I advise you not to overuse them! Announce things like schedule changing, story-related stuff like hiatus, nearing completion, etc.
  3. Author notes.
    • Put your thoughts here for your readers to read! I frequently use them at the end of the chapters to ask them for opinions or disclose some extra information, be it images, telling them about future plans, etc.
  4. Footnote. This is a neat little thing you will see in the following image!
    • Text here will be hidden behind a little blue button that auto-numbers itself! Clicking it will bring up a little box with what you wrote!

  1. This shows that it is a draft! If it is scheduled, it will show that or nothing if it's an already live chapter!
  2. This is the spoiler box! The default won't show what is inside; readers have to click on it to see what you wrote!
  3. This is how the announcement works! See? It pops~
  4. This is how I mainly interact with my readers and, of course, through comments!
  5. See the little "1" there? That is a footnote. If you place multiple, it is going to number itself automatically; you don't have to worry about it! Clicking will bring up that small neat box with your text! How awesome is that?!


Glossary Function


  1. A glossary is a great way for you to create lists for your readers and for yourself! Do you often forget the names of some guy or gal you introduced ages ago? Add them to your glossary, and you can look them up just as your readers can!
  2. Same as the chapters, you can re-arrange them any time!
  3. Edit them, delete them, and be the GOD of your story!
  4. You can add new items to your glossary, going into different categories!
  5. Don't forget to SAVE SORTING after you are done!
  6. This is for the ORDER of the CATEGORIES! Not the different topics you put into those categories!

  • Inside the glossary, you can put text in, but it is much more limited than what you can do with a chapter. Be brief, be direct. Make lists. This is best used for need-to-know information!

  • If you want, you can add new categories too or edit the existing ones!


Polls

Adding polls is easy; just click on the option right below the chapter's title! It is pretty straightforward, but seeing some questions before about it, I decided to add this little explanation here!


  1. This little pin icon means a poll is in the chapter. You will see it when checking your chapters!
    • This is how a chapter appears for you if you put a poll in it! That small pin is the symbol for a poll, not that you somehow pinned a chapter! So don't worry about it~! It will still show, even if the poll has expired, and it is easy to find where did you ask questions from your readers by looking at it! You can check it here how it looks:
  2. You can have many possible answers, just start typing, and new blank choices will pop up. Leave the last empty if you have finished adding options!
  3. You can time your polls if you want only a limited amount of days to be up for decision for your most loyal leaders, following all of the newest chapters! If you can't decide about something related to the story, it is a good way to ask for quick feedback.
  4. You can choose where to put the poll. At the start or at the end? I usually prefer the latter, especially if it is related to the current or upcoming chapters!

I think that is it for now. If anything new comes up, I will update this little tutorial. I hope I helped some of you out with this. Please feel free to add your own opinions or questions, and if I can, I'll answer/add them to the tutorial!

Oh, and don't forget to check these threads for rules:

How do I post on the forum? For the life of me I can't figure it out
 

Cipiteca396

🌺🌑🐉🪶 Anxiety Overdrive
Joined
Jun 6, 2021
Messages
2,138
Points
153
Added a section about:

  • Forum signatures
  • Follow/ignore function
Hmm. Looking at it, the signature section is missing one thing. SH actually has formal rules on signature making, not just unspoken ones.
 
Top