Not many people read the portfolios, do they?

[Feo Takahari]

By my math, there are now 126 entries in the portfolios. Of these, if we exclude all comments made on each entry by that entry's author, only 4 have more than 1 comment. Of the 122 remaining, the majority have 0 comments not by the author, and the minority have 1 such comment.

I could discuss this as something to fix, but to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what the purpose of the portfolios is, so I don't know whether this is even something to fix. Is there any problem with portfolios remaining largely uncommented? If so, how can mods and users encourage more commenting?

 

[Philip Overby]

I'll be honest, I've only glanced at the Portfolio one time, but I think it's a good feature to share writing or whatever. Something that may help viewership and commenting would be to maybe do a Portfolio Entry of the Week, where we can all visit a certain entry and give our thoughts to it. We can choose the entry randomly every week and hopefully that can get people reading them more.

I think comments tend to be "you scratch my back, I scratch yours" type of thing. If we can get comment trading going in some way, then maybe more people will be encouraged to give their thoughts.

 

[robertbevan]

I'll be honest, I've only glanced at the Portfolio one time, but I think it's a good feature to share writing or whatever.

i've never looked at the portfolios. it's a place to share writing? how does it differ from the showcase forum?

 

[Black Dragon]

Actually, a lot of people do read the portfolios. Many have been read hundreds or even thousands of times. But only a fraction of the readers comment on them. In most cases, a reader will be unlikely to comment on a portfolio entry unless the author specifically asks for comments.

The portfolios aren't necessarily there to get comments or critiques. You can use them that way, but many people are happy just to share their work for others to read and enjoy. That's their primary purpose: they exist so that you can gather several different pieces of your writing in one place, and conveniently share them with an audience.

 

[Svrtnsse]

There's also something to be said for just putting your work out there, where others can read it - especially for new or inexperienced writers such as myself. Before discovering this forum I used to put up a link to my new stories on Facebook so that my friends could read them. No one ever actually commented on anything but the page views went up by one or two for each post I made.
For me it wasn't even about whether or not anyone read it; just sharing my stories with others and knowing that they could be read was a big step.

 

[Ireth]

i've never looked at the portfolios. it's a place to share writing? how does it differ from the showcase forum?

For one thing, there's a much higher character limit, so you don't have to chop up your work so much to be able to submit it. That's the biggest difference I can see. Though I really wish there was some kind of notification about comments; I have one comment from another user on one of my posts, and they had to actually tell me they commented, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it until I happened to go looking for it.

 

[Black Dragon]

Though I really wish there was some kind of notification about comments; I have one comment from another user on one of my posts, and they had to actually tell me they commented, otherwise I wouldn't have seen it until I happened to go looking for it.

Hi Ireth,

You can change your settings, so that you will be notified via email whenever a member comments on your portfolio entries. You want to set Default Subscription Mode: Portfolio Entries to "Instantly, by Email."

You can find these options here:

http://mythicscribes.com/forums/blog_usercp.php

You can also get there by selecting Settings > My Settings > Portfolio.

 

[Ireth]

Ooh, I see. Thanks.

 

[Androxine Vortex]

I've read a portfolio entry and left a comment. Ireth can vouch for me

 

[Chime85]

There's also something to be said for just putting your work out there, where others can read it - especially for new or inexperienced writers such as myself. Before discovering this forum I used to put up a link to my new stories on Facebook so that my friends could read them. No one ever actually commented on anything but the page views went up by one or two for each post I made.
For me it wasn't even about whether or not anyone read it; just sharing my stories with others and knowing that they could be read was a big step.

I do this also. I would comment saying "chapter xiz is out of the way, the wars have begun". Some peeps like or comment, I enjoy that. My main frustration is that someone who gives a status about his or her wait at a bus stop gets more facebook credit that my good self lol. That said, I think thats a good thing haha

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