The Heel Press - features i really liked that are gone

Forums : The Heel Press : features i really liked that are gone

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Hunter Says
	Silver
3,266 points

October 23, 2007 - 11:17 PM

1) being able to see who wrote what on the front page! i dont know if you guys are making a concerted effort to make this site more about CONTENT than about ARTISTS and AUTHORS, but i think quite a few people looking at the front page will be more likely to find something to read by skimming the list of authors rather than the list of titles. also, i just have an overall bad feeling that the front page, the cover of the site to the world, lists a bunch of content without showing who did what - it's disingenuous for an amateur writing site. thus, i think this feature has both a functional and a theoretical purpose. please put it back!

2) showing recent comments in the critique panel - i don't know about anyone else but i like reading comments in the critique panel and, unfortunately, i will not have time to read everything pending. i try to read a few a day. i'll be sure to take note of something receiving a bunch of comments, because i'll know its notable, controversial, or some such interesting adjective.

3) the ability to make generalized critique. i don't like the fact that the 10 i give for spelling counts the same in my critique as the 6 i give for imagery. these things shouldn't, and in reality don't, average to an 8. it's a good idea to diversify critique to give authors a better idea about what's good and what isn't, but the system has taken huge steps away from what it used to do very well - being intuitive! my suggestion is for the effect a vote has on the actual decision to publish, each critique should be a 50-50 average, with 50% being the general rating and 50% being a weighted average of the other scores.

Crystal Lancaster
	Silver
4,542 points

October 24, 2007 - 11:12 AM

You raise a lot of good points. And I have to say I second all his requests, or at least I would like to ask why these features have changed.

I, too, have had some issues with the whole critique panel process. For one thing, since there are so many submissions that come in at a time (particularly with the Poetry genre), many of the pieces hardly even get read, so they expire with hardly even a chance for exposure. And often times, if say one person votes on a piece out of the 10 people who actually read it, that piece gets stuck with whatever rating that one person gave them.

To be honest, I felt the old method was a bit more effective. I felt more people had their pieces read by a greater amount of people. I wish there was a better way for submitted pieces to get critiqued.

And Hunter raises a really good point about how some of the ratings are unjustly weighted against the others--a 10 given for spelling should not count the same as a 6 given for imagery.

Also, if a reader gives a critique comment for just one of the points of critique--like say if he only commented on the imagery in the poem, the author of the poem has no way of responding to that critique. If he or she tried to defend his or her work by adding a general comment at the end of the overall critique, the reader who made the comment may not even realize it, thus, cannot make the appropriate response.

I don't mean to knock the new format of Heel Press at all. It's an awesome way for upcoming writers to get exposure, and I love (and am grateful for) being a part of it. I do think the new heel press looks amazing and is a vast improvement for what it was before, and there are a lot of other great features that it has taken up over the past year, (a lot of other things work), but as for the things aforementioned, maybe they can be taken into consideration?

Nick Miller (admin)
	Elite Blue
96,520 points

October 24, 2007 - 12:59 PM

Hunter and Crystal,

Awesome. You are being heard and your suggestions will absolutely be taken into consideration. We will go to the drawing board and try to further develope these concepts. Also, I will see what we can do about bringing more writer and artist identification to the front page asap. Would you rather see a name than tags displayed on the Front Page? There are spacing and display issues to consider, but I do agree with you about the display of the names.

We created the "Critique Panel" to foster a much more personal experience for those looking for suggestions and those willing to give them. Something deeper than just voting. Of course, we need to keep improving the experience to get it right. We are working to really customize that process. What we have right now is a start at a completely customizable critique process where creative people can truly help eachother out. That being said, we will look at your proposals for more weighted and balanced score measures. I appreciate the comments and suggestions. If we work together, we can really improve the experience on here. Anyone else have any ideas?

Hunter Says
	Silver
3,266 points

October 24, 2007 - 02:30 PM

"Would you rather see a name than tags displayed on the Front Page?"

undoubtedly, absolutely, completely and unreservedly, yes.

Debra
	Silver
1,253 points

October 24, 2007 - 04:44 PM

I agree. I also think that the questions asked, aside from being tedious, force the reader to judge the writing as if only one structure existed. Who says that good writing has to have the points A, B, and C covered to be good? I find myself skipping a lot of the questions when I read someone's writing, and not because I don't think something doesn't apply, but because I'm not sure if I'm right to think it does or doesn't apply or if I am authorized to judge them on a skill/quality they are or aren't specifically using.

You talk about customizing, so does that mean that every time someone submits a piece, they can choose any or all of the critique questions they want to accompany their peice?

Nick Miller (admin)
	Elite Blue
96,520 points

October 24, 2007 - 05:00 PM

To answer your question Debra: in a sense, yes. I think the direction we want to take involves some general questions that will accompany everyone's piece (like overall rating) but then allow the individual writer or artist to select questions from a list that they want, and even, better, write their own set of questions. This is generally what I mean about customization. Thoughts?

Crystal Lancaster
	Silver
4,542 points

October 24, 2007 - 05:08 PM

a name instead of tags sounds good to me, too. =)

jillbrownlee
	Silver
2,151 points

October 25, 2007 - 01:40 AM

As I read the concerns about critique I can't help but think from my days of English class.� There are two kinds of feedback, one is constructive for the benefit of the author to consider for improvement of the piece.� The other is for a rating (like a grade) that gives the author a score (toward publishing).� So I wonder if there is a way that an author can choose to have one or the other or both.� For example, if I submit a piece can I choose to have people respond to questions A, C, and F for my benefit as an author and not have it scored for publication? Could I also, after some time for "critical feedback", submit my refined piece for individuals to score by some process that can earn it a "publishable score"?��

There was also a comment by Debra that stated concern about using a standard critique process for all pieces in that genre when many pieces don't fit a uniform structure. (Correct me if I misread you.) Perhaps there is a way to allow an author some space to offer insight into the piece, like you give the creators of the artwork and photography.� For example, if I am an author I might offer this disclaimer to my readers, "My piece lacks imagery intentionally because of ....� Therefore I encourage you, the reader to not score the imagery question, but instead focus on the style of language scoring." (this of course is assuming a "no score" or "this question does not apply" mark doesn't count against an author's total score).�

Would either of these be possible? Is this what you mean by customization?�

Nick Miller (admin)
	Elite Blue
96,520 points

October 25, 2007 - 04:58 PM

Your requests for the names to be placed on the pieces seen on the Front Page have been satisfied. Does that work better? For Art, just rollover the piece and the name will appear.

please keep the feedback coming.. I will check back daily to record any new notes...