Story Sorting
The biggest and most recent one are some quick links to sort topics by rating, views, author etc. Up until now, you had to scroll down to the bottom of a forum page, click on a button at the bottom left to open a drop down menu and could then choose how to sort topics. Now you can do the same by clicking on the downwards or upwards facing arrows next ro "Rating" or "Author".
So if you want to give specifically the highest rated stories a look, click on the downwards facing arrow next to rating. I myself was surprised to see that @LaLia's semi-final entry for the Ravished in a Flash tournament had secretly snuck past the 20 reputation points barrier.
But you can also sort stories by author in case you are looking for more stories of a specific author you like.
Story Index
We added a new extension to the forum that creates a story index for us. There, you see all stories from the Public Stories, Popular Stories and Community Favorites boards listed on one page in alphabetical order. If you are ever searching for a particular story and don't want to click through several pages of stories, then the story index might be a quick way to find what you are looking for. We also have plans to add a story index sorted by author, and to create further lists filtered by certain tag combinations, like (noncon+gang = gang rape) or (noncon + gay = gay rape).
Story Filters
Then you might have noticed that the public stories board now contains a few story filters. Those are actually just the same tag searches that you can conduct by clicking on one of the tags listed below a topic. But did you know that the tag extension allows you to search for combinations of tags? If you wanted to look for stories with the specific combination (noncon+gang+multipov), you could do that with this link here:
app.php/tag/Gang,NonCon,MultiPOV
The problem is, you have to type that URL manually. There is no simple user interface for the tag search that let's you click or drag and drop tags to customize your individual tag search. (Hopefully, we can add that at some point...)
The story filters you see on the Public Stories board are just some of those links added to the forum so that you don't have to type them yourself. So if you want to look explicitly for German stories, click on "Deutsche Geschichten". Interested primarily in gang rapes? The "Gang Rape" link searches for stories tagged both noncon and gang (which can technically include stories with a consensual gang bang and a solo rape). LGBT themed stories are still few and far between in our story list, but the few that do exist should now be easier to spot. And in case you are in the mood for something consensual, then you can find those sweet tales of precious love (or uninhibited adultery...) also with a single click now.
Easy Ratings
This change is a little older by now, but we never created an announcement for it, so I will mention it here: Rating stories should be really easy by now. At the end of each post by the author of the story, you now have the possibility to rate the story directly and not only the current post. No return to the first post necessary, no scrolling back to the beginning of the post either. You just finished reading a chapter and liked what you read? Give the story a new rating or upgrade your existing rating if your overall impression of the story was improved by what you read. I can only encourage you to rate the stories you liked. I hope we get a few stories passing the 30 reputation threshold soon so that we get our first few popular stories!
And that is about it for today. We will keep trying to make further improvements to the forum itself and we're always happy to hear feedback and suggestions about what else we could add. Our ability to add features to the forum is limited though, so I'm not promising that we can implement whatever might be suggested.
And finally a big shout out to @Vela Nanashi. Most of the big and small features that this forum has to offer would not exist without her. You have no idea how much time and effort she has put into this place. So show her some love.
