[Legilmalith]

[dolarabee]

You didn't bother me. It's an open forum here and in that spirit, people can pretty much muse about everything. And me being one of the Admins, it's my job to answer when the musing is about site functionality. I still feel the same on the subject though. Go to the Search page.

Wicklow... such a nice country you have. But nope, we didn't sleep there. It was a day trip from Dun Laoghaire, if I remember correctly. That's where we were based. It rained but trust me, it can't be raining anymore than it does in the Midlands, England, where Robbie is from. In fact, I thought that for winter, Dublin and the surroundings were sunnier and warmer at the time.

do.

[Robbie]

We chatted about your request last night - we can't make it any simpler than the search engine. Sorry! Hopefully the search in now functioning correctly.

Do - I bet you had the check up on the web how to spell Dun Laoghaire! But yeah, lovely country.

For those not had a the pleasure of visiting Ireland - it's pronounced "Dunn Leerie". That's third in terms of weird spelling after:
a) Welsh place names
b) my typing.

[dolarabee]

[Legilmalith]

WoW! You know so much about Ireland! I am so honoured that someone thinks of my country in such a way! My personal favourites are the Conor Pass and Dingle Bay (with the dolphin Fungi, not named after the plant to the surprise of many, but it was the last name of the man that found him.) I also love the Cliffs of Moher. They are beautiful, but many people die from falling or driving off its magnificent cliffs. Just a few days before I had visited it, an entire family accidentally drove off the cliffs. The parents died, but their three children survived. It was a very sad moment for us all, gazing at the cliffs' brilliance, but remembering those who had lost their lives.

I leave you with words of wisdom from Ireland's native language, Irish-Gaelic: Tá mo bhríste trí thine! (which means "My trousers are on fire!" If anyone would like to know Irish-Gaelic, there are some neccessary (and rather some unneccessary) phrases that you might need to know at http://www.irishgaelictranslator.com/
)

[Robbie]

I've just finished reading a book called "Larkin Around Ireland". Written by a stand-up comic, lives in Sydney Australia, but was originally born in Ireland. This was his return trip now he's married, got kids etc. Very funny book, but covers some of the history too.

Good luck finding it, though, as even Amazon don't sell it!

[Elentari]

Oh, well...
I was visiting the beta section and (being the irritatingly meddlesome restless creature that I am it got me thinking) I though that it's a bit confusing.
hold on! let me speak everything before you use that metal pointy stick on me!

there are posts of people asking for beta. and some posts of people offering to beta. what i though was, why don't we make a database for the people willing to beta? that should be handier (is that even a word) for those of us who are looking for a beta.
but that doesn't stop anyone from asking for a beta for that specific story/genre/etc.

that was it.

[Viv]

I'm a member of another archive that has a beta page showing volunteers. I was once on that list of volunteers and was absolutely inundated with pieces that had obviously not even been spell-checked. In addition, folks thought that because my name was up there, of course I'd be willing to read their 4th-grade vampire story and all their poetry as well.

I love betaing, but I've had to limit myself to just betaing for a few authors who have really impressed me and whose work I enjoy reading and (hopefully!) improving.

So just because someone is willing to beta doesn't necessarily mean they want to be publicly volunteered for any old project.

I like the beta thread on this forum: it helps betas locate specific stories/writers that they're interested in (and vice versa).

[Robbie]

Elentari, point noted. We'll hold that in reserve for now. The forum is a pretty suitable place (as Viv indicated) and I know dolarabee enjoys beta-ing for certain authors and/or certain story types only.

Having said that, could be something to add in a bonus site for active/contributing members:)?

Nudge us again in a a few months.

*************
Request of my own, start a new thread for a new request. Easier to keep track of!

[Gaslight]

The current rating system is place is only one rating per user per fic, correct? At least that's my understanding. What if the first chapter of a fic was just OK or pretty bad and you reviewed it on that basis, but over time as it's been updated, it has improved markedly? You're stuck with that rating from Chapter 1. Right?

[Scribe]

[dolarabee]

No, you won't have to wait 'cause Do is coming to the rescue. (She does know a few things, y'know!).

It is one rating per member per fic... but if you rate the same story again, what is kept is the last entry. So just go right on ahead and re-rate the story. It should automatically update the old rating you gave it some yonks ago.

Or at least, this is how Rob and I meant to set it up...

do.

[Gaslight]

OK, bec. the number next to the stars didn't go up and it wasn't enough to make the story jump any star in rating, so it looked like it didn't go through at all. Glad to clear that up! Thanks.

[dolarabee]

Well, the number next to it wouldn't go up as you're not effectively adding a rating to the lot but changing an existing one. Why the overall rating, ie number of stars, hasn't changed could be just because your new rating hasn't changed the average...

do.

[Gaslight]

[quote="dolarabee"]Well, the number next to it wouldn't go up as you're not effectively adding a rating to the lot but changing an existing one. Why the overall rating, ie number of stars, hasn't changed could be just because your new rating hasn't changed the average...

do.[/quote]

I had gathered that from the explanation. Sorry, I didn't make it clear that it had clicked.