Library!

The Library has arrived! It was a long wait of over three years, but a basic form of the Library app is now up. It is to be released on both DSiPaint and 3DSPaint. Basic summary as follows.

Users can submit entries from "Library Publish" in My Zone, and view accepted entries directly from the app link on the homepage. The Library works separately from blogs yet alongside them. Editor admins are in charge of accepting and rejecting submissions. It also maintains the "eBook" format present from the beginning. Public domain works will no longer be included, as the app will be only for original works. Currently among things to be done are search, titles, table of contents, and best seller list. Presumably abandoned items are Savii usage, bookmarking, separate profiles, and ratings.

What are your thoughts or suggestions on the new website feature?

Catch my drift.

I like it but as Hullbreach said the page turny buttons dont always work

England is so funny,we have disabled spaces outside a ICE SKATING RINK!

'Librarian' that helps you choose different literature based on what you like

That's a cool idea. Maybe an even simpler way would be to have a suggestions module, a "you might also like" sort of thing. Various sites for shopping, videos, social media, news, literature, and so-on commonly have that to encourage one to continue browsing. It makes much more sense once the thumbnails get hitched with titles, so a suggestion box containing 2 or 3 items could present itself on the last page of a library piece. Suggestions based on entire reading histories might be tough to implement, but a basic system using short tags could work.

the page turny buttons dont always work

Hmm, for me at least, they all technically work. It's the small icon size that makes screen pecking inconsistent, I believe. Larger, more spaced out icons along with condensing the font size modifiers into A- and A+; that might do the trick.

Catch my drift.

While it might be logical to factor pieces' popularity by views into a suggestions box, a pattern of imbalance could develop. The pieces with 1000 views keep racking up views, and the ones with 15 views never show. A system that looks for stories with at least one identical tag and randomly picks three from that pool will avoid that problem, so as the suggestions can be as fair as possible. The best seller feature will be taking advantage of views anyway. Tags might be all over the place, so if a tag match fails, use titles, then body text. I can't think of any way to optimise tags other than forcing them to be single-word.

Of course, only when the Library collection grows to a nice size would a feature like this be useful.

Catch my drift.

If the books got a view counter, I think it should only count the view if you actually flip the page and go to the second page. I, and most likely several others, will click a book to see what the title is, but sometimes I won't actually read it. So if several people do that to the same book, it would end up on the popular list, without actually being read.

Sayeth whaaat?

Here are a few more ideas:
- Sorting. Simple sorting by category or genre. Maybe via tab buttons. Search function could be more advanced to include other criteria.
- Title page. Instead of going directly to the piece, you see a clean page showing title/author/date in the centre. As it shows now, they look like essay headers.
- Random story. Not sure what to read? Have the app pick one for you.
- Saved preferences. Font size and page orientation are remembered so you don't have to set them repeatedly.
- Dark mode. This one is kind of a stretch, the contrast can be switched from black text on white to white text on black/grey.
- Indent tag. Paragraphs may not be necessary anywhere else on the site, but library stories could certainly use them.
- Profile link to a list of your books. Standard, to follow suit with Saviis, art, blogs, etc.
- Reviews. Submitted by readers as a form of feedback.
- Bookmarking.
- Return to bookshelf. The icon is currently a "restricted" symbol. Picture of a house or bookshelf might make more sense.

Catch my drift.

The Library Publish icon can get overlooked. Similar to the blog menu, I'd like to see a link (e.g. "Submit new book") on the Bookshelf page leading directly to the submission page. Making obvious the fact that you can enter your own stories might bring in more submissions.

Catch my drift.

Do I need a card for this?

Moo.

Yes, Raisons. You need a Skater Approved Epicness Card of Epicness to read the books in the library.

Sayeth whaaat?

No, Luis. 5 pieces of toast.

Sayeth whaaat?

Transparent ratings is one thing. Ratings only viewable by the author is taking it further, and in the wrong direction I think. An explanation is courteous, but it should not be made an obligation. There would be a whole new can of worms in member-to-member drama, plus the added cries of admin bias. The ratings are supposed to serve a dual purpose: simple feedback, and advising other users on what to read. Twisting those purposes is harmful.

More importantly, if rating for blogs as it is now causes so much trouble, then we may as well skip it entirely for library entries.

Catch my drift.

Thanks a lot, guys. Since you guys haven't submitted any literature in a long time, Hull won't check the Library anymore even when I do.

I'm back, I guess. Whatever.

I had hoped the librarian/editor admin job would be right around the corner from release, and it never happened.

Catch my drift.

All cover pictures come from users' own uploads. Uploading a painting drawn with any of the paint applications here is perfectly acceptable.

Catch my drift.