[ellisk]

I think it's kind of interesting to look at the hit counter on the stories I post just to get an idea of how many people are reading (gives you some idea if you are being interesting, going to slow if interest drops off etc). My question is: when I click on my own story, does that make the hit counter go up? If so, is there a way to look to see how many hits you have without going to the first page of the story to look and generating a hit yourself (it kind of distorts the number and you forget how many times you looked). Its no big deal. I'm just curious.

Also, how is the way most people reply to reviews? Alot of the time people write really interesting things and you want to answer...sometimes you even feel inspired to drop a little hint about the story in response to a review that you might want everyone to read if they are the sort that likes to look at reviews. I had been responding to reviews using the review function but then I read somewhere on the forum that annoys people because it makes you look like you have more reviews than you really have. I can see that point so I don't want to do that anymore. How else can you have a little dialogue though. I kind of like that (former lit teacher and all that).

Thanks for any suggestions.

[dolarabee]

As far as I know, and I'm sure hubby will correct me if I'm wrong, you cannot see the hit counter without going to the story page itself and, as you gathered, generate another hit for yourself. That said, once you're logged in, you can go back to your story as many times as you want and the hit will only be registered once for that whole logging period.

Sorry, that counter is really just a silly indicator and in no way accurate or really linked to how many times the story is actually read. For all we know, some authors might log in every day and go click on their stories just to bump up the number of hits...

As for your other question considering reviews, here's my two pence. Don't worry about annoying people with replying to reviews within the review feature itself. (Actually, I cannot believe people have actually complained about this. *rolls eyes* ) I think it's the best way to explain a point a reviewer might have raised and, in doing so, lets everyone else see that explanation or clarification. If it's just a thank you to a review, then, by all means, the best way to address that is probably using the PM feature or e-mail. And there are some reviews you might prefer discuss one on one with the reviewer. It all depends. But yeah - thinking out loud here - if it's a response to a review you think other readers/reviewers should see, why not post it in the reviews? It'll save you repeating yourself off-site.

Don't let whomever might have complained about the fact it makes you look like you have more reviews than you really have deter you from answering though. As a reviewer, I like hearing back from the author. And besides, when does the number of reviews is indicative of the quality of a fic? The reviews themselves, yes, not their number.

do.

[Thuriniel]

[Yavanie]

I frequently read reviews and have never been bothered at reading an author's reply to questions and comments about their story. I took it as a natural progression from the reviews. Why comment or make suggestions if you think author might not take it into account or think about clarifying a point or even just basking in a little well deserved attention. That said, I have also much appreciated the private messages I have received just saying thanks for reviewing and telling me new chapters will be up soon.


Stay true to your personality and let your feelings guide you.

[SpaceWeavil]

I must admit that I've held off replying to reviews using the review function because I thought that was a no-no and might annoy people. I can see the logic behind doing that though.

As for hit counters, I noticed that I knock it up one when I look at the story, as usually I am hit number 1, when I go to check the thing has uploaded properly. I check them every so often just to see how many people have looked. I've just upgraded my account on FF.Net to get a hit counter there but it's depressing, as it gives individual hit counters for each chapter, so you can see how many people didn't get past chapter 1.

It's also depressing to have something with 95+ hits and 0 reviews But it goes up if you look at your own story as well.

[Robbie]

One of the largest purveyors of the stories are search engine robots (e.g. google, msn, yahoo!). Each time they visit, up goes the hit counter.

The hit counter, rating etc are just meant to be some harmless fun. Neither of them really mean very much at all.

[inglor]

[ellisk]

Thank you all for the feedback on this. Sorry it took me so long to get back in and thank you. My power has been out due to Hurricane Jeanne and I just got back on. Everyone's comments have been very helpful. I do like communicating with reviewers so I'm glad to know people's suggestions on good ways to do it. Thanks again!

[SpaceWeavil]

[Ilmatar]

[ellisk]

Yeah, what I do at FF is put answers at the end of my chapters if I think its something everyone might want to see. If its just 'thanks for the review' and they left a signed review, I click on their name and then click on their email address and send them an email. If its not signed, there's not a lot you can do. It does make me feel badt though--if people take the time to review, I am more than happy to show my appreciation.

[ellisk]

[Ariel]

A while back, I heard about one of your authors complaining that someone was going into all her stories and ranking them down. The rumor was that she was quite upset about it but I never heard what the resolution was. Is there an update on this situation and is there was any mechanism in place to discourage people from doing this to others?

Thank you for your time.

Ariel

[Robbie]

We monitor for such behaviour and don't react nicely when it occurs.

[VanatheEverYoung]

Personally, I reply via e-mail (although there is now a PM function) to signed reviews. Unsigned reviews I still appreciate, but I'm not going to include lengthy notes. I detest lengthy thank you's before or after chapters, so I will not do it myself.

About the hit counters at ff.net. Ignore them! Seriously, take a closer look. I have something like 5000 hits overall. When I add up the numbers per chapter, it's more like 2000. How is it at all possible that 70 people read Chapter 20 and 233 read Chapter 21? It's not logical. I didn't have to pay for the hit counter, so I'm not bothered by it. I judge by reviews, not hits.