Ask a Moderator -- Part VIII

[songbook99]

Please view our Frequently Asked Questions (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=774) before posting your questions here, and also make sure your question has not already been asked.

[The more people ask the same question, the more pages there are, which cause more people to not take the time to read it, causing them to post the same question and the vicious cycle continues]

Please, allow MODERATORS ONLY to answer the questions in this thread.

[iluvtosurf94]

Hi! I heard you can ask someone to make a banner advertising your story here on the Beta Boards. Well, I'm kind of new so, where would I find people willing to make me a free banner? :confused:

[songbook99]

iluvtosurf94, you would find people to make a banner in the Bannermaker's Association (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=20). There is a place there to make banner requests.

[joybelle423]

At the bottom of the home page, under MuggleNet FanFiction Beta Boards Statistics, it lists the current count for Members and then Active Members. What's the difference -- what makes a member active or inactive? And why don't you delete the inactive members' accounts? Or do you? Sorry, I got curious again ... :o

~ Abigail

Edit: Thanks, Jan! That was fast ...

[Magical Maeve]

I believe it goes on length of time without a post.

We do occasionally go through and delete very old members, but it is monstrously time consuming and not all that productive for the site, so it's a rare occurence indeed.

[kehribar]

Hi,

I was wondering if we could delete our own reviews for a story. Under each review there's a "delete" link but all it does is to open a blank page and not delete the review.

Could someone explain this, please? Thank you.

[songbook99]

kehribar, only moderators can delete reviews. If you need a review deleted, please contact a moderator to have them remove it.

[AurorGirl101]

I also have a question about reviews.

For reviews we find offensive or rude, are we to ask to have them removed? How do we deal with it? Like, responding to them?

EDIT:: Thanks, Kasey!

One more, contact as in email or PM?

[hogwartsduchess]

Jess,

Contact a moderator. If the review is a flame, it can be removed by the moderator for you. Also, the best policy is to ignore the reviewer. Replying only encourages the person responsible.

[Ginny Potter 71331]

I hope this is the right way to submit a question; I can't find another way to do it.

When I log into my account and click on "account info" and the "view statistics", my story shows up as it should.

However, I can't access it from anywhere else (i.e., "authors", "search", "titles", "most recent").

Thanks for your help, and sorry if I did this the wrong way. (if this is the wrong way, what's the right way?)

[myownmuggle]

Ginny Potter 71331: If your story has not yet been validated by a moderator, it is still in the queue and cannot be accessed from anywhere other than your account. When you click on View Statistics, look at the column titled Validated. If your story is still listed in your account and there is a "No" in the validated column, your story is still in the queue. Once your story has been validated, other readers will be able to see it in the various places you have listed.

[shihtzu71894]

I have a question (well duh, why else would I be here?) Anyway, I have no problem posting around the site, but when I try to post in the SPEW section of the site, it won't allow me. I just created a banner for it, and I would really like to display my work. Why can't I post there?:confused:

[sirius_rocks]

Help me help me help me help me help me *runs like chook with no head*

I was in Gryffindor about an hour ago, and I'm not anymore. Help me help me help me!

I changed my email address this afternoon and once I did, I wasn't sorted!

Eep.:confused:

[Potterphile12]

shihtzu71894

The SPEW forum is for members only, so you need to join in order to post there. But if you've made a banner, try contacting GringottsVault711 or Fantasium as they are in charge of SPEW.

sirius_rocks

I have no idea why you've seemed to have switched houses. PM songbook99 as she's in charge of Sorting.

[babekitty_92]

Um, I just wondering, with the Beta mentoring program, it says only Ravenclaws can join in the description of what it is, yet with the joining conditions it says "Open to anyone".

My question is, does that mean it's open to any Ravenclaw or does it mean the trial period is over and any member on the site can join?

Thanks!
Abbi :)

Edit: Also, another question about the Resticted section - what is happening with that? As I am a member of it I was wondering if I should start a new discussion in there or is that sub-forum gettting deleted?

[Roxy Black]

babekitty_92 as far as I know the Ravenclaw trial period is now over but I'm afraid the mentoring program is not open to everyone yet. We will be posting with more details of this and other exciting new features sometime in the near future. I don't know what is happening about the Restricted Section but I will raise it with the other moderators.

[Loralie]

I promise I read the submission rules before asking this!

It says no images... Do smilies count as an image? :) My story is the journal of a first year, and eleven year old girls do stuff like that. It wouldn't be all over the place, just one or two.

thanks!

[*Oh-so-lovely*]

I was wondering...when you have a story that's posted, and a chapter is up on the site, and your next chapter is rejected, does your entire story get deleted? Because I had a chapter get rejected for grammatical things, and I came back to find that my entire story was gone and I had to start over. I mean, if you reject stories for things like grammar (which is understandable), then it seems like it'd be a waste of time for both the authors and the mods to have to go through the validation process for the good chapters every time a chapter is rejected. And also, I was wondering, when you say that multiple categories are not allowed, does that include sub-categories?

[childofpotter13]

Hello, I have been trying to sign up for a couple of classes, but they are locked up and I can't do so. If you could either explain to me why I can't sign up to the classes or fix my problem, that would be great. childofpotter13:)

EDIT: After receiving my answer, I checked in the classes forum and even the classes that weren't locked I couldn't post in, could a mod please help me with this problem. Thx

[marjer4]

OK, so about a week ago, I started my first ever story, and I uplouded the first chapter. A few days later, the story vanished from my "Manage Stories" page. I immediatly clicked 'View Revews', but it said I had none. Then I clicked "View Statistics", and it said that I had 1 Review! I checked my email, and my junk folder, but it was nowhere to be found. I found this quite odd, and began to search through all the help guides and FAQ. It said that I was supposed to receive an email from the moderator saying why they'd rejected it, and tips to help me improve. About a week later, I still had no email. So I entered my story again, about two days ago. To my dissapointment, today, the same thing happened. My story vanished and I still have one review and no emails. What's going on??? :confused:

[kehribar]

Is it possible for a story to be rejected because of style? Everything else is fine, but can the mods reject a story because they don't think the writer "manages to pull off" a style?

EDIT: Thanks Roxy Black, but I don't mean category by style. I mean the author's personal writing style regardless of the category. And I'm afraid I've just been adivesed by a mod to change my style because apparently I couldn't manage to pull it off (as can be understood from the rejection letter), but the whole point of the story is the style. Seemed a bit weird to me... ?

[Roxy Black]

Loralie - I believe that smilies are not included as images, however we don't want to see a fiction made up of smilies. If it is just one or two, I guess that would be ok. I'll check and get back to you.

*Oh-so-lovely*- An entire fiction is not usually deleted because of one chapter. If this has happened to you, it was most likely an accident on the moderators part. If you have you chapters saved to your PC then contact a moderator explaining what has happened and they should be able to sort it out for you.

childofpotter13 - If the sign up thread for a class is locked it is because that class is full. I believe you can sign up to a waiting list, which can be found in the Study Hall, incase any student drops out or you can sign up to any of the classes that are still open. Sorry.

kehribar - it depends what you mean by style. No moderator will reject a fiction because of the Author's writing style however if you are attempting to write a dark/angsty fiction which doesn't seem dark or angsty I believe we can reject it and advise you to submit it to a more suitable category.

[joybelle423]

Well, to kind of expand on kehribar's question ... what if that happens -- that a mod has rejected a fic because they didn't like the writing style? And if it's not just me that disagrees with the mod, but my betas and other people around the forums, too? Should we contact another mod?

[lily_evans34]

Abigail [which I hope I spelled right]: A mod really won't reject just because they don't like the author's style. It can be rejected if, say, the author uses fragments or run-ons too often, in which case, they really should edit their fic. If, however, you really don't see why your fic was rejected for having a certain style, I would contact the mod who rejected it for more clarification as to what you need to do to improve.

[JewellPotterFan]

Just curious - Why the 13 age limit? Because my friend is eleven (don't ask) and she's an amazing writer. She loves Harry Potter as well and was very annoyed that she was too young for MNFF.

[Phoenix5225]

As someone who has been writing since the age of ten and finished a chaptered novel at the age of eleven, I can understand this frustration. However, it is not just our site policy, it is a legal requirement. I understand how there can be very mature eleven year olds and very immature eighteen year olds, but the law says that someone under the age of thirteen is not legally capable of making a decision to post an original work on the internet. (I believe that's a really brief, simple summary.)

My best wishes to your friend, and encourage her to keep writing, because if she has this much talent at age eleven, I'm sure she will astound us one day in the future, either through fanfiction or original work.

[Roxy Black]

JewellPotterFan - I'm afraid we have to have a 13 age limit due to legal reasons. It is the same all over the net. I found it very annoying when I was younger too but we will still be here in years to come.

Edit: oops, posted at the same time :D Sorry.

[MissPurplePen]

I don't know if this is the right place to put this, but here goes:

Last time I was online, my post count was 43--Beset By Owls level. I haven't made any posts in the sections that tally posts since then, but now all of a sudden it says I have 93 posts, and it's still stuck at Beset By Owls level. Is there a way I can fix this and bring it back down to 43?

Thanks.

--Mariah

[parsleycat]

Is this the right place to ask? How can you put links into banners?

Edited by Potterphile12: This question has been answered many times. Please be sure to check the FAQ and previous Ask a Moderator threads before you ask a question.

[Vindictus Viridian]

Some of these posts were apparently unapproved and therefore unseen -- I'll try to catch up a little.

Childofpotter13, you still haven't joined the Student usergroup; the option is under User CP. There's a Questions thread for that in this subforum.

marjer4, the site has had problems with getting letters out, especially to people with certain email addresses (it seems to like no hotmail account but mine, for instance.) For some reason, it has also been allowing reviews of unposted chapters, which are currently being classed as spam reviews -- at least, they are when I catch them. There's a thread for this in Questions also, under "I didn't get my rejection letter..." so you should post there with your category and so on. You should also go down to General Fanfiction Discussion, where there is a list of reasons a fic might be rejected.

As for 'style,' that's a very all-encompassing word. If you pick up something called a style manual, it will be mostly grammar and punctuation rules. If you submit a diary fic, for instance, style is a concern because it has to SOUND like a diary and yet still follow all the other site rules about mechanics and so on. Yes, that means no smilies. It also means very little dialogue, as only future writers spend much time trying to copy people's conversations down word-for-word. This is a good argument for thinking long and hard about whether you really want to write a diary fic or stick with good old-fashioned narrative. If the muse insists, then the muse wins, but you've given yourself a hard row to hoe.

If your style happens to include eight-mile-long words that are almost used correctly, you might get rejected for that, too. Unique personal style still has to follow the rules.

[Potterphile12]

MissPurplePen:

Your post count went up because someone moved threads from a non-post counting area to the Graveyard. Please don't worry too much about the post count. It's just for fun.

[nikkiolapotter]

I have a question: Why was the Insomniac's Thread in the RoR locked?

[Roxy Black]

nikkiolapotter: The Insomniacs thread has been locked as it has been deemed a bit spammy and unrelated to Harry Potter. You guys have your own boards now so you can carry on your club there. The Room of Requirement is really for Off-Topic Harry Potter chatter, this means any theories or ideas about the Harry Potter series that aren't to do with fanfiction can go there. The Insomniacs and other similar clubs don't fit this criteria. The "usergroup threads" that are referred to in the forum summary are threads such as the Bannermakers Association which was started in the RoR and similar clubs like SPEW and the SBBC. All of these have a fanfiction and Potterverse based mission, unlike the Insomniacs. I'm sorry.

[MissBean]

I'm not sure if this is the most easily answered question in the world but... how do I change my user title? Is it not possible to yet-- have I not been on long enough?

[WhittyLeah]

MissBean: What exactly do you mean by 'user title'? If you mean your s/n (MissBean), you can't. If you mean the thing under your s/n (In the Rubble at Godric's Hollow), that changes with the amount of posts you make in the Hospital Wing. But, your post count isn't what matters, it is giving good and helpful advice to other fanfic writers.

~L

[AurorGirl101]

I know there is a Canon Characters forum in the Hospital Wing, but is there one for Canon Parings? I'm trying to do some research on James and Lily (as a couple) and haven't found anything of much help. Thanks in advance!!

[childofpotter13]

I have been pondering this question for a while now; who was/were the first mods, and when did mugglenet fanfiction open?
Thanks, cop

[hinds]

I'm just wondering what the average length of time it takes for a story to be noticed when submitted, the FAQ says it takes a few minutes when found, but i submitted mine 4 days ago, is this normal?

[songbook99]

AurorGirl101, I don't think there is a forum for Canon Pairings. You may want to contact the mod in charge of Madam Pomfrey's Character Clinic to see if that would be something she might consider adding. Otherwise, you may just want to ask questions in the characters' individual threads.

childofpotter13, MuggleNet Fan Fiction opened up in November 2004. I'm not sure who the original mods are, but there are still a few around. If you want to know which original mods are still here, you might want to look through the Meet the Mods 2007 (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5722) thread.

hinds, I'm not sure which FAQ you were looking at that said a story is noticed within a few minutes. It takes up to seven to ten days for a moderator to look over it, but once a moderator has gotten to your story, it only takes them a few minutes to read through and make a determination about whether or not your story is ready to be posted.

[hinds]

just a quick question, why does it say underneath my name in the posts i have done, In the Rubble at Godric's Hollow, is this some kind of ranking system, or just a little humorous random thing?

[Eponine]

Hinds - It goes up with your post count. It's just for fun! It follows the plot of the books.

Ron x Hermione - Taken care of. Thanks for telling us!

GinnyPotter - Taken care of as well. :)

[Lily of the US]

Okay- are links the same thing as hotlinks? Because I got a banner made by sayiansirius and they said "hotlinks are evil" and not to use them... does that mean that I can't put a link on my banner? Thanks so much! ~megan~

[childofpotter13]

Okay, my wonderful question is . . .
At the bottom of my screen, and probably a lot of other people's too, there is a little box that says, and I quote, "Posting Rules." Inside the box are for statements, but the one that concerns me states "You may not post attatchments." Does mugglenet just not let the average person post attatchments, or do you have to have a certain amount of posts or something. Thank you so much for the time you spent answering my question,
-Sam-

Edit: Yeah, there was no real reason for me asking, I was just curious . . .

[Eponine]

Lily of the US -- Hotlinking is when you just use the same link that the file is uploaded onto when somebody gives you a banner in your signature. For example, if I made a banner for you and uploaded it onto my photobucket account, using the same link from the photobucket I used just to show you the banner would be hotlinking. Hotlinking is bad because it's using other people's bandwidth. So you're welcome to use a link, just make sure it's your own. :)

[*Oh-so-lovely*]

I submitted a chapter and got a validation letter five days ago, but it hasn't shown up on the forum. I've emailed the moderator who validated my story twice, but I haven't gotten a response or anything. What should I do?

[Roxy Black]

childofpotter13 - Your ability to add attatchments depends on the forum you are in, in some places, such as this forum, attachments are not allowed but in others they are. I'm not quite sure what the reason for this is but I'm guessing its just a way of stopping spam and any unwanted links on the site. Is there a specific attachment you wished to add? If not, is it really a problem that you can't attach it? PM a moderator if you want more information, but I don't see the need for attachments myself when you can just say it in a post. :) Most members explore the boards happily without ever noticing the attachment button. :)

Oh-so-lovely - you mean your story hasn't shown up after validation? PM me the details and I'll try and sort it out for you now.

[Unregistered]

I'm sort of new to this, so excuse the strange question, but:

If I get my story checked through a beta, what exactly are the kind of things that they can point out in the story, besides grammatical errors? Can they tell me areas where the plot, sort of "loses it" or characters that act slightly OOC, or just if aspects of the story aren't correct?

I'm not really sure how important this is.

[joybelle423]

Quick question -- who is ciaranfirebolt? It says he/she is an Unspeakable ... ?

And I noticed that the list of Heads of House and Prefects is not up to date in the House Sorting - OPEN (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=858) thread, but it seems correct in the FAQs (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=774).

~ Abigail

Edit: Oh, okay! Thanks Jan!

[Magical Maeve]

Ciaran is a staffer on the main MuggleNet site. His status as admin here is as a link between us and the main site. You won't see him around too often though.

I'll go update the HoH thread.

[Estellia]

Are we allowed to post a new topic in '
The Language and Cultural Corner of the Desk' or do we ask a moderator to do it for us? I'm a bit confused about the abilities of members.

[nikkiolapotter]

Are the new BA members going to be announced today, because the 'How to join the BA' thread said that the new members will be announced every first of the month. I really don't mind, I was just wondering- I know RL is hectic.

[sirius_black__]

I have a question,(but then you already know that) what exactly is SPEW here? I've read some of the info, but it's not completly clear to me. Sorry if this has already been asked. Thanks!

[Unregistered]

i am not yet a member of this site, but i was thinking about joining. and i have a question: are you allowed to submit stories that take place in hogwarts but include some harry potter characters, some made-up ones, and some characters taken from other books (with all the right work citations in place of course)?

[nysuperstarz]

One question.

Now that we know the release date of Deathly Hallows and all I've heard that Mugglenet closes for a few day's after the release of a new book. For obvious reasons of course with all the spoilers and all. I wasn't around for the release of HBP so I was wondering if the Beta Boards and MNFF closes also and for how long?

~Roop

[childofpotter13]

After scanning through this thread for any info., I noticed something about Deathly Hollows. That got me thinking, after DH, will there be more MNFF, because the story would be over and everything else would either be AU, Post-Hogwarts, or Historical. Any help on this would be great, thanks,
Sam

[shihtzu71894]

hi, I have a question. I have a story on another fanfiction site and it is not yet validated on mugglenet. Can I link a banner in my signature to that other site with my story in it until it is validated on mugglenet? Or should I just wait until it is validated? Thanks.

[Potterphile12]

Nikkiola:

I'm not sure when the new members will be announced. Perhaps try PMing those in charge of the BA.

sirius_black:

SPEW is a group that encourages better writing and evaluation through reviewing.

Unregistered:

Crossover fics aren't allowed on MNFF.

nysuperstarz:

When HBP was released, the queue was closed but I think the forums remained open. For good measure, we didn't allow any discussion of HBP (in fics or on the forums) without spoiler warnings for a few months. However, the release it still several months away so we'll see what happens. ;)

childofpotter13:

I'm sure that people will continue to write fanfic after the HP series is over, so I'm sure that MNFF will be around after the release. :)

shihtzu71894:

No, offsite links are not allowed. I'm afraid you're just going to have to wait until your story is validated.

[shihtzu71894]

Sorry about this, but I have another question. It has been asked before, but has never been fully answered. Yesterday my post count was 24, and now it is 19. It really is important in this case, as I need 75 posts to get into the BA. Everytime I get above 24 my post count goes back down to 19. Why is this? I really want to get into the BA and am unable to do so because of this.

[Ron x Hermione]

Hey there!

Uh.. weird question, but m'kay.

Is there some reason that MNFF keeps going off server? I've tried literally all day to get on (from 8 in the morning), and it wouldn't let me! I finally managed to get on around 3 o'clock. it did this last week too, but it was only for a few minutes. Mine wasn't the only one to do this, because my friends commented on it too.

Does anyone know why this is happening?

~Lindsey :)

[Soggney]

This isen't actually a question but more of a bug report.
If you review a story or a chapter on the main site, you have an option to delete it.
But that option doesn't work, if you press delete you're being send to a blanc page and with no indication that there was an action performed (in this case, the deletion of the review).
So readers can't edit or delete their reviews and are forced to commence with double posting. I hope a moderator can adress this to an administrator so he/she can fix it. (It shouldn't be more work then an half an hour)

And for another question, why isen't there a section to report bugs from the website.
Readers and authors use the website daily, and with the help of all of us, we should be able to make the website bugfree. Maybe a Hagrid's Cabin or something likewise could be a perfect spot for such reports.

[desertromantic]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask, but when authors disappear from MNFF, shouldn't there be a message to say so-and-so has withdrawn from MNFF etc.? One of my favourite authors disappeared (ironically straight after she had updated her story) and I assume she deleted her account and stories. BTW the author in question is Harriet Evans and her story More than Treasure.
Thanks for any input!

[Dumbledora]

Oh I hope someone can help me!
I have just started writing, its my first fanfic, and I have had chapter 1 approved. I had chapter 2 rejected today, but when I made the requested changes and went to resubmit, I logged in and it said I had no stories. I did a search for my title (harry Potter and the Power of One) and my author name (Dumbledora) but I can't find it anywhere.
Can someone please help me?
I can repost but I assume that means I have to go through the approval process again and that I have lost the reviews and favorites that had been established.
If there is help to be had, please let me know right away!

Dumbledora

[dragonwings]

Sorry if someone has asked this already... (realizes that sorry sometimes doesn't help anything) but I'm a bit confused. Are site members allowed to have moving avatars? Some do, some don't and I kind of want one. I'm okay with it if it's not allowed, but I'm also want to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong when I try to enter in the "custom avatar" info.

[songbook99]

shihtzu71894, the reason the post count keeps fluctuating is that some of the threads you are posting in are being deleted. When a thread gets a deleted, which happens to keep the boards clutter-free, then the posts you have made in the thread will be removed from your post count.

Ron x Hermione, we are aware of the server problem and are fairly sure it has been taken care of. If you are still having problems, please let me know.

Soggney, that is not really a bug. It is set so that only moderators can delete reviews. If you have a review that needs to be deleted, please contact a moderator to do so. There isn't a section to report bugs daily because we have not been made aware that there are that many bugs for it to be necessary.

desertromantic, there is not a message to alert users to when another user leaves MNFF. It is up to that user to alert the people following his or her story that they have left. And, yes, Harriet Evans did ask for her account to be removed from the archive.

Dumbledora, if your story has completely disappeared, you have lost all of the reviews on your first chapter. The only way to avoid going through the whole approval process for your approved first chapter would be to contact the moderator who approved and to make sure they remember approving it so that when you add it to the queue, they can validated it again.

dragonwings, site members are not allowed to have moving avatars. The only people allowed animated avatars are the moderators.

[nikkiolapotter]

I have a question...

I wrote a Lavender/Neville fic, and it mentions Alice, but she's sleeping through the whole fic. Do I still need to put a Mental Disorder Warning on it? :confused:

[WhittyLeah]

I have a question...

I wrote a Lavender/Neville fic, and it mentions Alice, but she's sleeping through the whole fic. Do I still need to put a Mental Disorder Warning on it? :confused:

Um...I didn't know sleeping was considered a mental disorder now.

I am sorry, I don't understand the question. Could you explain more? Does Alice have a mental disorder?

~Leah

EDIT: *headdesk* Thank you, Roxy. For some odd reason when I read Alice, it registered as Alicia in my brain. *shakes head at self*

[Roxy Black]

Leah, you've forgotten Alice Longbottom is Neville's mum who was tortured.

In answer to your question, I don't think you would need the warning unless you discuss the disorder within your fiction and give some examples of her behaviour. It is obvious to anyone who has read the books that Alice has the disorder and I think the warning is there for fictions that deeply explore mental disorders.
It depends on your fiction but I think you should be fine without.
~ Roxy

[Magical Maeve]

I've used Alice in my fic in much the same way. She's sleeping but we do enter her head on occasion. It never even occured to me to add a mental disorders warning because we know Alice's situation. So, yes, I totally agree with Roxy; you don't need one.

[kehribar]

Um, I have a question quite similar to Nikkiolapotter's: my New Year's Challenge entry story is going to deal with some... confusions in one's mind - as The Sign of the Green Dragon prompt is really close something like this - but I don't know if there should be a Mental Disorder warning. Actually there is no Mental Disorder at all - it's about Sirius right after he escapes from Azkaban and he is... well, confused. He is not insane, but there are times his mind's a bit too confused. I think Mental Disorder is really too harsh for it, but I thought it's better to be sure. What do you think, dear mods?

[Magical Maeve]

Mental disorders is a warning for mental disorders such as serious depression, schizophrenia etc. If you are dealing with a disorder of that type, then it needs a warning. Someone feeling confused, sad or deeply upset does not need a warning.

[Lurid]

Just a question about the MNFF store (I wasn;t sure where to post it, exactly).

What happened to all the other journals? Is there still the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor/Hufflepuff journals somewhere?

Also, how long would it take to get to Australia, do you think? :o

[LucillaJoanna]

they have these cute ribbons in their summaries, even beat contest winners!

Hi kind mods. i hope i'm not repeating this question, and again, i hope im not being stupid or impertinent--my biggest fear. anyway, please tell us how we get our stories featured. they seem real special, because i noticed they do beat contest winners, who don't have ribbons at all. and i also noticed, with not a little asperity because they're good, that some of these featured stories take so long to be updated.

thanks very much,
~joanna

Just Perfect (http://www.fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=63414)
You-And-Me Nuggets (http://www.fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=59896)
To Love Life Again (http://www.fanfiction.mugglenet.com/viewstory.php?sid=63151)

[songbook99]

Steph, I'm not sure about the MNFF store. I'll let one of the mods who does know about it answer your question. Sorry.

LucillaJoanna, the Featured Stories are chosen by the moderators on a weekly basis. Each moderator chooses stories he or she thinks are great stories.

[ChrissyOfGryffindor]

Sorry, this is kind of a random question, and most likely just a cast of me being stupid, but where it says "Today's Birthdays," it lists one user. However, if I click on the "View Birthdays" icon, three users are listed as having their birthdays today. Does anyone know why this is?

(Sorry, I'm just curious.)

EDIT: Never mind, I figured it out. It only shows active users unless you click. How clever. ;)

[SnowyHedwig112]

Okay, this is a rather silly question for someone who's been here since September 2006, but it just struck me today.

What exactly do the red envelopes (hot threads) mean? And how are they different from blue envelopes and yellow envelopes?

[darkveils5]

I cannot figure out what the queue is or how it works! Can somone please explain this to me? That would be greatly appriciated. Thanks!

[myownmuggle]

SnowyHedwig112: The red envelopes, or hot threads, are those that have a certain level of activity or posts in them. Blue envelopes are the default colour. Yellow envelopes are threads with with new posts that you have not read in them.

darkveils5: The queue is the location where authors at MNFF submit their stories. An author submits a story to the appropriate category, and in waits in line (the queue) for manual approval by a moderator. Only moderators can acutally view the queue.

[Valentinia]

My question is, how can I put a story link in my banner?

Okay, I feel really stupid posting this question, as I am 100% sure it must have been answered somewhere else before, but I've read through the whole FAQ (more than once) and I've searched all of the previous Ask A Moderator Threads with variations on "story link in banner" and I haven't found anything. So, I'm really, really sorry for any inconvience I'm causing with my stupidity here, but could someone just point me in the right direction? Thanks.

~ Valentinia

[WhittyLeah]

Valentinia: You are not stupid! It took me a while to figure this out as well.

Make a link to your fic or authors page: [ URL="webpage"]webpage[ /URL] It will look something like this, but with the real web address. Take the link to the banner, put it in IMG brackets: [IMG ]Link to image[/ IMG]. Now, put that in the 'webpage' link like this:

[ URL="webpage'][ IMG]Link to banner[ /IMG][/ URL]

Minus the spaces of course, and that is it. I hope that made some sense...

~Leah

[pandora's box]

I'm thinking of deleting a chapter to a story and resubmitting it because I'm going to make some drastic changes and take the story in a new direction. My question is, if I delete the chapter, will the reviews for it disappear too? Is there a way to make them stay?

[lily_evans34]

pandora's box: Unfortunately, your reviews will disappear as well if you delete a fic. You could always copy and paste them to a Word document, so you'll have them if you wish to save them.

[pandora's box]

Thank you! One more question, is there any way to resubmit an already validated chapter? I want to do some major editing.

And also, for another story, is there a way to change the title?

[Eponine]

Pandora's Box: You can edit it now that the chapter is already posted. The chapter won't go through the queue, since it's already been validated.

[Chaser921]

Okay, I'm relativly new to Mugglenet Fan Fiction and not very computer savy. I've tried looking through the threads and FAQ and I still can't get it to work. How do I put a banner on my author's page that links to the story it was made for? The banner is at photobucket. I've seen people do it, but every time I try it messes up. I've managed to get the banner on the page, but not link it. Please help!

[lily_evans34]

Chaser, on photobucket, you'll find the "HTML tag" option. C & P that one onto your author page, but change the link that says "www.photobucket.com" to the link of your story.

[Unregistered]

I heard that there is going to be a forum switch. Is it true?

[madam pudifoot]

I have a problem. At least I think it's a problem. On my stat page it says that I've got four people who have me as a favorite author, but when I click to see who they are, there are only two names listed. The names are also directly on top of each other so I can't actually read them, although that seems like more of a page sizing error than anything.

I don't know, one of the two people showing has a [0] next to their name and they don't have any stories listed on their page... The other one has one story though. I really have no idea what's going on... unless the one with [0] has other favorite stories and the other two don't... :confused:

[WhittyLeah]

Unregistered: I have heard nothing of a forum switch...and admin could answer this better.


madam pudifoot: Only the people who have favourited you and have stories up come up on the list. The other two people who have favourited you do not have fics posted, that is why they don't show up. It is probably a sizing error.

[Venna Black]

Hello,
My name is Venna, and I'm a new member of this forum. I've tried to post a fic search, but it said I was not autorised to start a new discussion. Do I need to do something to fix this problem?

[murgatroid]

I have just submitted a fic that is a romance shipping Hedwig and Pigwidgeon. I'm not familiar with the rules enough to judge whether this alloed or not - is it?
Someone said to me that it is too anti-canon, shipping animals, but my story is completely possible within the boundaries of canon.

Just wanted to make sure before I get an email saying it is all wrong

[childofpotter13]

Another random, out of the blue question for you mods, but, why is their an advanced option when editing your fics. Wouldn't it be simpilar to just go straight to the advanced option, instead of having to click on advanced option. I dunno why I'm asking this, just trying to help the conveinency of other anti-clickers like me.

[comrade little john]

Where are they? I would love to do them, but I have no clue where they are. It says the great hall, but I can't find it. It also says to look in the beta forums, i can't find those either.:(

[deanine]

Venna Black - After sorting your permissions become more expansve.

Murgatroid - Inter-species relationships, beastiality, ect is not allowed. Romance beween two owls is fine as long as it doesn't cross the NC-17 line.

childofpotter - We are mods not coders. We don't write the software. We don't design the buttons. None of us knows what was in the head of the software designer that makes eFiction.

Comrade little john - Get sorted and you can see the challenges.

[JewellPotterFan]

I have a question. It is addressed in the FAQ but I'm unsure of the meaning. If you want to join a group that you have to be approved for, do you just click on it in the CP and they'll recieve it?

[WhittyLeah]

JewellPotterFan: If you are joining a group that you need approval for you do one of two things. First, if it is a group like SPEW, the BA or SBBC, then you send your application to the appropriate people and then click on the user group button. Or, if you want to join the Student group, just click on it. The Mod in charge of that goes through and accepts students regularly.

~Leah

[kehribar]

Dear mods, I was wondering about the challenge deadlines. Unfortunately there are only twelve days left before the deadline for New Year's Challenge entries, but is it possible to have four chapters accepted in those twelve days? It doesn't seem likely to me, but I really did put a lot of effort in my story and... so, what happens if I have an uncomplete entry for a challenge prompt? If the story's finished but not validated because of queue and, what if the third chapter is still in queue on the deadline?It just... doesn't count? :(
Thanks...


EDIT: Thanks myownmuggle and Magical Meave... sorry, I know that we can't submit more than one chapters at a time. I was just wondering. Thanks, again.

[MrsRuebeusHagridDursley]

Sorry if this questions has been asked already.

I was thinking about writing a fic that's made up of a series of short letters. Is that alright?

Thanks!:)

[Snape's Talon]

Is there a limit to the number of banners one can plaster across their author's page? I know we have a limit here ... as many as one can squish into 300x500, correct?

[myownmuggle]

Kehribar: Magical Maeve can answer this one better than I can, since she is the chief overseer of challenge entries. Anything is possible in the queue, but dropping a lot of chapters on the mod all at once makes the job very difficult and time consuming. That's partly why the challenge deadlines were extended - in order to give authors time to sumbit multple chapters without overwhelming the mods.

MrsRuebeusHagridDursley: As long as the letters meet the MNFF standards (word count, characterization, plot, grammar, punctuation, etc.), that's fine.

Snape's Talon: Banners on your author's page should be kept to a reasonable amount as we are sharing server space with the MN main site. Multiple banners are acceptable, but an author's page should not be overwhelmed or completely dominated by them.

[Magical Maeve]

Kehribar - all questions relating to challenges belong in the Great Hall. There is a thread there specifically for general challenge questions.

Putting four chapters through the queue in that space of time is not likely to endear you to me. ;) However, I do keep the challenges fairly clear of backlog. You can give it a try but there are no guarantees. As Julie said, submitting in that way tends to clog the queue and make it harder for us to keep up. If your chapters aren't submitted in time, it is not the queue's fault.

If there is a minimum chapter limit on the challenge, then you must have the required amount validated for it to count. If there is no minimum, you can submit what you have and it will be judged on what is validated.

[Lady Granger]

Hi! My question is:

If you have a thread in the Beta Wanted section, but then post on it to tell the moderator to Lock & Grave, are you allowed to start a new thread for a different story?

Thanks,
Lady Granger

[Snape's Talon]

I know I asked a few Mods this via PM already on behalf of some of my students, but then realized that others may benefit from seeing the answer.

If a fic features a student going back in time and engaging in a romance with a student who later becomes one of their teachers (think Hermione/Snape meets Back to the Future), should the fic be flagged with the new Student/Teacher Relationship warning?

myownmuggles notes that you can't go wrong being playing it safe and putting up the warning. deanine informs me only if the student returns to their present (or the future) and continues the romance should it apply.

(Yes, I know ... I answered my own question, but hey, it was with Mod-given answers. Any other Mod may feel free to chime in!)

I'd also like to know what type of time limit is going to be given for authors to add this warning to their already validated stories. Are you giving folks a month or are warnings going out as we speak (or type ... or whatever)?

[myownmuggle]

Lady Granger: Yes, that's fine. Once your first thread has been locked and graved, you can post one for a new story.

Snape's Talon: I don't know that we've discussed applying the warning retroactively, but I'd like to hear from the other mods on that one as well.

[Phoenix5225]

Here's what I've been doing in HG/SS. (Leah may or may not be doing the same, we haven't talked about it.) For stories already published but still in progress, I've been asking my authors to add the warning as the chapters come through. For completed stories, I like to nose around and read and if I find one, I'll add the warning to it. Of course, all authors are encouraged to add an appropriate warning to completed works.

[sean45812]

Sorry if this is an annoying question, but how will we be notified if our story makes it into the database? Will I recieve an email saying it has been accepted?

[songbook99]

sean45812, you should receive an email notifying you of either validation or rejection of anything you submit to the queue.

[MJ_Padfoot]

If someone has asked this, I'm truly sorry. But you know these 'Plot Bunnies'

(\_/)
(o.o)
(><)

Are they part of a thread or just something random that people like? ~MJ :eek:

[Whylorinda]

I'm currently writing a story about Regulus Black's son, and I've had to move his date of death from 1980 (the offical one listed on the Lexicon) to 1985 so the events play out properly. Otherwise, the story will be entirely canonical. Would I have to put an AU warning when I submit it? Or is it a minor enough issue that a simple note will do? Since dates aren't a major focus of the books, I don't think it should really be an issue unless you think really hard about the timelines, but I'm not sure. Thank you!

[Unregistered]

I wrote a poem and it's 76 words long. Whenever I try to submit it however, it says it can't be under 100 words. I also read that poetry does not have a minimum word limit. What should I do?

[songbook99]

MJ_Padfoot, the plot bunnies are not a part of any thread I have seen. They are just things that random people like and put into their signatures.

Whylorinda, I think either an AU Warning or a note in the Summary of your story will do. However, you want to check with the moderator of the categor you are submitting to just in case. If you're submitting to General or another category modded by everyone, you may want to just include the Warning and a note explaining the warning to be on the safe side.

To answer the question about poem length, you might want to find a way to increase the word count to 100 words or you might want to contact MagicalMaeve, the moderator for poetry, and see if she has any suggestions for you.

[hogwartsduchess]

The last I heard on the poem length was that you needed to add an author's note to the body of the poem that brings the word count up to the 100 word minimum.

[MrsRuebeusHagridDursley]

I have a question about appropriatness of fics.

I've heard that we can't have crossovers or insertions of Jo. I was thinking about writing a fic where some Potter characters come in contact with a computer/the internet and stumble across Jo's website. I was wondering if that was allowed.

Thanks Mods!:)

[Vindictus Viridian]

Referring to Rowling in the Potterverse in any way, including by way of her website, is not allowed on this site. Pretty much we stick with stories with her characters in her settings and leave it at that.

In fact, in general, don't put anyone real and still alive into your fics. Flamel is fair game, but Jessica Simpson is not. (For one thing, by the timeline in the Harry Potter Lexicon, (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/index-2.html) in most fics she would be an anachronism.) We're just all safer from the lawyers that way.

[Ron x Hermione]

To add onto MrsRuebeusHagridDursley's question, I ws just curious about something as well:

Would I be allowed to write a fic where Ron stumbled across Mugglenet fan fiction, and read the stories? It would kind of be a humor, but... yeah, that's it.

Thanks, and I really hope that this makes sense!

~Lindsey :)

[songbook99]

Lindsey, you would be allowed to do that, but it would have to be in either Humor or AU.

[childofpotter13]

As I was going to reply to one of my threads, Vampires, in The Filing Cabinet, I noticed that I couldn't reply to one of my replies. I then went to The Filing Cabinet and noticed how I couldn't post in it at all. Is there something wrong with my account that I haven't figured out, or has The Filing Cabinet been closed, I have been away for awhile now. So any help is great. Thanks,
Sam

[Gamer47]

I've always wondered what the difference is between a story with a red ribbon next to it and one with a blue ribbon next to it. Thanks

[songbook99]

childofpotter13, The Filing Cabinet is just a forum for storage. It is not open for posting for anyone. If you would like to add something to a thread there, you may want to contact the forum moderator, rita_skeeter, to see if the thread can be moved so you can add it.

Gamber47, stories with blue ribbons are the current Featured Fics. Stories with red ribbons are those stories that have been Featured Fics previously. All stories that are featured get to retain their ribbon, it's just that the color changes.

[hpluver365]

You know how when you edit a post and click "go advanced", you are supposed to be able to change the title? Well, on my post in the Beta Rent/Hire thing, I changed the title but it didn't change. What's up with that?
Thanks mods,
hpluver

[Potterphile12]

hpluver:

Only mods can change thread titles. PM the head of that forum (myownmuggle) and she'll change it for you.

[Loralie]

HI all!

I'm not sure if this goes to you or to the admins, but I thought I'd check here first.

My friend registered with the forums on Saturday 2-24 under the name FlymetoParis. It said she would recieve an e-mail in order for her to start posting in the threads. She has yet to recieve it, so she can't finish her registration, and she really wants to be sorted!

I searched for her under the Members list, and she doesn't show up. Does she need to
re-register, or can you guys push her account along?

thanks so much!!!
-Loralie

[songbook99]

Loralie, your friend's account is currently listed as 'Awaiting Email Confirmation.' If she hasn't yet received the email, it could be something with the email she listed when she registered or the email might've gone to her Bulk Folder and she might've accidentally deleted it. If you can have her contact me, I can verify her email address and get things straightened out.

[harry_kissed_ginny]

I have a question [okay that was dumb]

What happens to the One-Shot Challenge Submissions? When the March ones start coming in, will they delete the February one's? I am new-ish to the challenges, so I am not sure.

[myownmuggle]

harry_kissed_ginny: Regarding challenge submissions (this applies to all of them, not just the One-Shot Challenges), they are not deleted. When judging is complete and the winners are announced, you will move your story to the appropriate regular category - General, Historical, R/Hr, H/G, etc.

[harry_kissed_ginny]

Oooooh. That makes sense. Now a follow up question.

My February One-Shot Challenge involves Draco/Hermione and Ron/Hermione [Read it, I think it is really good! Username same on MNFF].

Should I put it in Various Pairings, or should I talk to Ravensgryff about this, since she has modded my story 5 times? The same story. So she knows it, and she is the person to go to about Challenges, supposedly.

[myownmuggle]

Specific questions related to the challenges should be posted in their appropriate threads. The February One-Shot challenge thread is here. (http://fanfiction.mugglenet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6293) Aternately, you can dicusss it with Ravensgryff or try contacting the mod that covers the category in question.

[apollo13]

Call me stupid but, what do I do with reviews that are against the review policy? I have one for a chapter that isn't validated yet, and I have had this happen in the past too. Who do I report these reviews, or any spam reviews, to? A mod?

~Evie

[Roxy Black]

apollo13 - Yes, send the details of your story to a moderator and we will sort out the offending reviews for you.

[Magical Maeve]

Thanks for letting us know. I've deleted the review and emailed the member regarding spam policy.

[shihtzu71894]

Hi Mods, I have a question! (Duh) My post count seems to be stuck at 39, I have posted at least 45 times by now, and it is still 39. Why is this? (This happened once when it was stuck at 24, and a mod was able to fix it. It's back again. Grr.:mad: )

[songbook99]

shihtzu71894, your post count does not go up with every post since there are some forums where the posts will not count toward your post count. Posts in your common room will not count towards your post count.

[pheonixflame]

A question recently popped up in a first years romance class I'm in about co-written stories. What's MNFF's policy on this? Obviously you wouldn't want the same story in the queue twice, so does that mean that the fic in question would be listed under one author's account?

Thanks!

~Mari

[lily_evans34]

Mari, you're right - don't both submit the story to the queue. I'm writing a co-written fic with one of my friends at the moment, and what we did was made a new account, and in the bio put that it was a shared account between the two of us. If you don't want to do that, then you should decide which one of your accounts to submit it to. :)

[Ron x Hermione]

Hi,

I was just wondering if the dates on how long your story can be in the queue can change. One of my chapters in the Post-Hogwarts cat has been in the queue since February 21st. I was just curious if 7 days had been changed to how long it could be.

Thanks very much,

~Lindsey :)

[nikkiolapotter]

I've been having a problem with the site. I'd be logged in, and then I'd edit bio, and when I'm FINALLY finished, then the Log In page will show, instead of changing what took me forever to do, and it's really getting frustrating. :mad: So, is there a bug?
EDIT: Never mind, I just had to delete my cookies. *headdesk*

[Soupdragon]

So, yeah, shoot me. There's a dreaded newbie in town!
I skimmed through just a couple of posts in this thread and now have a headache so please on't kill me if this question has been asked already.

I cannot post in the Classes Board. Why?
And everytime I try to, I get this message;
<b>Soupdragon, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation.</b>
ONLY I have activated my account and I am not trying to edit someone's post/access admin features/or any other system. (Unless of course posting is a system... >.>)

And this only happens when I go to the Study Hall and the other classes. Why is this?
And if this question has been answered, I would like to have that page number because I DO NOT want to go sifting through the boards like some thread... addict.

Thank you and beads of butterbeer corks,

-Soupy

[nikkiolapotter]

New question- can we start usergroups in the RoR if they are 'writing related'? Like, I wanted to start a songfic writing club, but I didn't know if it was allowed. :confused:

[Koroth]

My story, "The Professors I", in the Post-Hogwarts category has been in the queue since February 23rd, which is over a week now. Any reason why no one's gotten to moderating it yet?

[Potterphile12]

Ron x Hermione:

There is no set limit to how long your story can be in the queue. 7 days is the approximate date we give, but it all depends on the amount of stories in that category. We try to get to stories in a timely matter, but ti depends on the volume of fics we receive.

Soupdragon

First off, we don't expect you to read the entire thread but you could use the search option which will allow you search key words like "posting and classes" in this thread. Also, as far as I know you can only post in the Classes forum if you are registered in that usergroup. There is a separate FAQ for that.

nikkiolapotter

PM RobinMNFF. She is the moderator of that forum.

Koroth

Well, like I said before it depends on how many fics are in the queue. Also, the rudeness is not appreciated.

[childofpotter13]

Sorry about the Riddiculousness from this question, but if it is too much, you could just yell "Ridikulus," and I might turn into Snape wearing Gran's hat, but;
I'm in Hufflepuff, a great house, by the way, and we call ourselves Puffs.
In Ravenclaw, another great house, but they call themselves Claws.
But what do Slytherin and Gryffindor, the other two great houses, call themselves, instead of typing out their entire names, or is it this some secret codename that I am not allowed to know and I just revealed my house's and figured out Ravenclaw's.
If you think this is so random and idiotic, it's okay to delete it, but, I was just wondering.
Thanks so much for wasting time on a moron like me who can't think of a nickname for Slytherin and Gryffindor,
Sam.
P.S. I was saying this aloud as I typed, and after that sentence about Slytherin and Gryffindor, I sure am winded.

[WhittyLeah]

childofpotter13 HAHAHAHA! It is okay. Interesting question! Well, the Slytherins are the Slyths. Gryffindor, we are the Gryffs!

I think that is what you wanted to know...

:D

~Leah

[childofpotter13]

If a person, me, is writing a story in which 99% of it is flashbacks, does the flashback need to be in itallics. Because characters in the story are thinking, which involves itallics, so I wanted to see a mod's pov.
Thanks,
Sam

[Vindictus Viridian]

Well, Sam, thoughts should go in italics the same way quotations go into quote marks, so:

Harry said the Giant Squid would probably like some toast.
Harry said, "I'll bet the Giant Squid would like some of our toast."
and

Harry thought the Giant Squid would probably like some toast.
Harry thought, I'll bet the Giant Squid would like some of our toast.

Flashbacks -- if they're that much of the chapter, no, there are other ways to do that besides italics. The <hr> tag, for instance, makes a nice solid black line that exactly fits across the screen (unlike those lines of hyphens or asterisks people seem to like) and indicates to the reader that there is a change taking place. Follow that with a sentence that clearly shows this is the past, or a POV change, or whatever, which I'm stating because a section that starts with Lily's POV is one of those things that makes a mod go for another cup of coffee, possibly fortified. ;)

Another possibility in a multi-chaptered work is to alternate present and past chapters, and make the titles and beginnings of each type different. For instance, if the later-time chapters are all laundry items that tie into the story (I have actually seen this done in a published work, and it was wonderful) and the past tense ones are names of characters, probably the reader will be able to follow which is what pretty easily.

This is fast turning into better material for the Gen Fanfic Discussion thread on experimental forms than ask-a-moderator stuff. Huge flashbacks and changes of time are fair game for that.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

I have a very... unique... and silly piece of writing I would like to submit to MNFF. However, I'm not sure what category it belong in. Basically, I took the entire Beatles album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," and I spoofed every song to be performed by Voldemort and the Death Eaters. So the question is, would this be poetry (since it's technically songs) or humour? I'm leaning toward humour, but I don't know whether or not they only accept prose.

[myownmuggle]

Schmerg_The_Impaler: Poetry should ONLY be submitted to the poetry category. Submit it elsewhere (unless it's a special challenge category) and it's an automatic rejection. Each chapter will have to be strong enough to stand on it's own as well - MNFF does not accept crossovers and you cannot use copyrighted titles, so keep that in mind. I recommend contacting Magical Maeve since she mods poetry if you have more specific questions.

[fanficwriter]

Hi! I was wondering if anyone could tell me where the march one-shot challenge thread is. If you could tell me what it's under and everything, that would be great. I want to give the challenge a shot! Thanks!
fanficwriter

[myownmuggle]

fanficwriter: The challenges are posted in The Great Hall. You need to be Sorted in order to see them. Send a PM to songbook99 to request the Sorting Quiz.

[Secret Akasha]

The answer to my question may be completely obvious, but indulge me.

This is in regards to a fic I have posted on the forums under my old username, Lovely Fatima. I'm currently in the process of a major re-write of this work, and as I've progressed, chapters have merged, I've completely re-written entire scenes, cut others, re-assigned dialogue from one character to another, and fleshed out some things that were lacking. In my mind, these are completely different chapters from those that were validated originally.

Should I simply edit what's there with the new material, or should I submit these new chapters to the queue as I would any update to the story?

Your help is always appreciated. :)

[myownmuggle]

Secret Akasha: If you are making major substantive changes to the story, I recommend resubmitting the chapters to the queue since it's essentially a new story that you are writing. I would also recommend removing the old chapters/old story from the archive if you are planning to rewrite it.

[sayiansirius]

After a couple days ago, which was daylight savings, we had the message DST Settings Updated pop up when we visit the site. But everytime when I log on, that message pops up. Does it happen to everyone and if not, is it supposed to be happening to me everytime I log on. Just curious.

On a side note, you modlies are doing an excellent job. Really. I appreciate everything you do for the site. :)

~KC