I am in Ottawa this weekend, which doesn’t stop you from sounding off! And here’s the action topic!
We’re now in a situation where there are several multipart stories that are running here over Banter Lattes, no whip, with a shot of sugar free hazelnut. This includes some of the most popular stuff on the site. However, some folks are beginning to notice… well, some difficulty in reading them sequentially, because the blog navigation is designed to go to the next post instead of the next entry in that specific story.
Now, right now someone can use the category archives to follow along, at least on some of the stories, but that may not be ideal. So. How would folks want to navigate on stories like “Interviewing Leather” or The Old Ways, given their druthers? Webcomics style “first, next, last” link buttons? A serial-specific link page to the chapters? Some kind of pie-based medium?
Let me know, and keep looking up, Stargazers and Star Hustlers. Jack Horkheimer demands it.
I can’t really picture the serials put in a webcomics style archive page. Links to the chapters work best in my mind, separating each chapter cleanly, not very different from what you get when you do a search for “Interviewing Leather” or when you chose to see only the “Theftworld” category. Of course, a virtual book where you can flip through pages would rock, but I’m trying to be realistic here.
In a nutshell, I’d like it to be Irregular Webcomic style. David Morgan-Mar has it set up pretty well. For example, I’d like Interviewing Leather to have the navigation options next entry, next Interviewing Leather, next Justice Wing and next Random Day (Tuesdays and Thursdays) and of course having such things as a previous / first / last for each. Basically, give us the option of navigating by category – but go back to all things that are serial segments of a story and add a “Theftworld” or an “Old Ways” category.
I think that way it’d be a lot more accessible to newcomers and people interested in some of the stories and not others.
Yeah, mimic Morgan-Mar.
Also, isn’t that the greatest surname known to man?
And Tailsteak. It’s just a good system.
Definitely Pie.
I think a table of contents-type page for each serial would be the way to go. But I definitely think the new entries should show up on the front page, to make them easiest to find for your regular readers.
I think it would be good to include a series of links at the head of an article that is a continuation of a series. In the preamble to each article you could have such a navigational feature. People aren’t likely to need to go back and forth through the archive of a piece of serialized fiction. They will need to have a quick and easy handle to the beginning so they can start there and jump to the next one once they are done that.
When I click on the category I would like a beautiful Polynesian woman to come to my door and read to me from scrolls etched in silver and gold…
I vote for a Morgan-Mar system too, with “theme” (or what you’d prefer to call it) links in addition to normal daily links. I was on the verge of originating the suggestion independently when I saw Thomas had already said it. Honest.