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"Either the Macromedia application server is unreachable or it does not have a mapping to process this request."

I'm getting that error message. Anybody else?

Dwim

Yes, I've been getting the same error today. So, I've been reading where I can
get on instead. Always frustrating!

Larner

--Original Message Text---
From: dwimmer_laik
Date: Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:56:14 -0000



"Either the Macromedia application server is unreachable or it does not have a
mapping to process this request."

I'm getting that error message. Anybody else?

Dwim



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I got that error this evening also. Anyone know what's happening at HASA?


Sandra Graves, Isis Rising
IsisRising08 @ aol.com
Artistic Endeavors with Wings of Light

Blog at _http://sandragravesisisrising.blogspot.com/_
(http://sandragravesisisrising.blogspot.com/)

Stormcloud Trading Co (Beadstorm)
More than "Just" a Beadstore
<_http://www.beadstorm.com/_ (http://www.beadstorm.com/) >
Saint Paul, Minnesota USA
651-645-0343


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I've sent an email to HASA tech support, in case no one else has.

- Barbara


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

You're brilliant, you know that, right? I mean it. So often this stuff happens and everyone talks about it without anyone trying to contact the people in charge. 8D

Meanwhile, yeah, I'm having the same problem, and was initially told about it by someone from ff.net who messaged me to find out if I knew what was going on. (S)he had followed a link to HASA and was happily reading Orc stories when the server error started. A cruel fate indeed!

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Elena Tiriel <ElenaTiriel@...> wrote:
>
> I've sent an email to HASA tech support, in case no one else has.
>
> - Barbara
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I was earlier today. I tried three stories before I realized it was HASA
they had in common.

Dreamflower

On Tue, Aug 3, 2010 at 6:56 PM, dwimmer_laik <dwimmer_laik@yahoo.com> wrote:

>
>
> "Either the Macromedia application server is unreachable or it does not
> have a mapping to process this request."
>
> I'm getting that error message. Anybody else?
>
> Dwim
>
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I just got on and pulled up a few stories. It seems to be working now. Though earlier this week, I kept getting this > That's all. Just a white screen and a greater than sign. Go figure. Actually, didn't Raksha mention a similar problem about a month or so ago? Maybe it's related...

Thundera Tiger

---------------------------------------------
"No one can get the truth out of me because even I don't know what it is. I keep myself in a constant state of utter confusion."
Colonel Flagg - M*A*S*H
---------------------------------------------

On 8/3/2010 7:56 PM, dwimmer_laik wrote:

>
>
> "Either the Macromedia application server is unreachable or it does not
> have a mapping to process this request."
>
> I'm getting that error message. Anybody else?
>
> Dwim
>

Hi Dwim and everyone else,

Thanks for alerting us to this problem. You're not the only one,
obviously. I tried to access the site about 11:45 PM EDT, with an error
message saying the website is unavailable. Then around 12:15 AM EDT
(just a few minutes ago) I did a test. I searched Google for
"site:henneth-annun.net marta". This brings up the HASA pages listing
me, including several stories. Clicking on the little "Cached" link
beside the page title showed me what Google described as "a snapshot of
the page as it appeared on Jul 29, 2010 04:51:54 GMT." I could then
click on links to get to other HASA pages without difficulty. I don't
know if HASA has since fixed the technical problem, or if I stumbled on
a way around the mapping error you mentioned above.

I'd appreciate it if people could keep an eye on this site. If it is
still giving people trouble in a few days, we can look into changing the
URLs like we did for SOA. In the meantime, if epople have alternate
non-HASA URLs and want me to switch their links, just email me the story
#, story title, and new URLs. I'll get it done as quickly as possible.

(FYI, I have a RL obligation and am traveling on Thurssday, and so I may
not get the changes made right away. But I'll do it as quickly as I can.)

P.S. @ Elena Tiriel: Thanks for contacting Ang. I don't want to pester
her with another email to reply to, but please do keep me up to date on
whatever you hear. I appreciate it.

Marta

Marta,

I'm so sorry that I dropped the ball and didn't give you a status update
right away. Ang brought HASA back up within minutes of my reporting it early
this evening.

The server restarts have been very frustrating for her, as you might well
imagine!

- Barbara


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Barbara,

Thanks for the update. :-) And no worries about the "delay" - you're
doing a public service by getting us the news at all.

I can imagine it is *very* frustrating to have problems with a project
you work hard on, but moreso for webmasters than anyone else. Technical
development is such a labor of love, involving *at least* as much work
and creativity as fanfic-writing, but people take the sites for granted
unless there's a problem. And aside from that, problems that aren't your
fault and you can't track down why? No fun at all.

Marta

On 8/4/2010 12:38 AM, Elena Tiriel wrote:
>
>
> Marta,
>
> I'm so sorry that I dropped the ball and didn't give you a status update
> right away. Ang brought HASA back up within minutes of my reporting it early
> this evening.
>
> The server restarts have been very frustrating for her, as you might well
> imagine!
>
> - Barbara
>

Hey guys,

We are now well into the voting phase of the MEFAs. The categories are
set, all the nominations listed will be competing, and many people have
set a reviewing goal. Of course it's not too late to get involved, but
it's also not too early to start working toward reading and reviewing
the stories.

But how exactly do you do that? This week I want to talk about the
practical side of entering a vote.

**************************************

GETTING READY TO REVIEW

The first step is to find the story you want to review. To do this, you
should

--- 1. Log in to www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/
--- 2. Click the "Stories" link at the top of the page.

From here, you can find the story in several ways. You can browse the
stories listed. You can also do a text search to find a certain keyword
in the title, author's name, or summary. If you know the story ID #, you
can pull up that exact story by doing a search for that number, followed
by the # sign. (So searching for "425#" brings up story #425.) You can
also use the filter to find stories using a variety of items - length,
characters involved, category choice, and so on.

Once you've found a story to vote for, you can read it by clicking on
the title. When you've done that, close the tab where you read it and
you will go back to the MEFA website. Then just click on the link to
"Enter a New Review" on the website. Once you've done that, you're ready
to review.

***********************************

ENTERING YOUR REVIEW

The first thing you need to do is actually type in what you want to say.
There are different strategies for different people, on how to write an
affective review. Over the years I have developed a sense for when I've
written 300-350 characters worth of text, and so use that as my
guideline. If I want to give an author three points I write that much
about the thing I most liked about the story (its pacing,
characterization, theme, whatever). For 6-7 points, I do that for the
two things I most like, and three elements usually gets me to ten
points. Other veteran reiewers have different strategies, some of which
are detailed in the FAQ (link at the bottom of this post). Ultimately
it's up to you, how to decide what to write.

If you enter reviews you should enclose them in blockquotes, like so:
["In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit."] This includes quotes
from the story as well as from Tolkien or any other source - basically,
anything other than your own words needs to be quoted off. Links, too,
if you want to paste in a URL. You should also avoid including HTML,
since MEFA reviews are text-only. So typing in "<b>wow!</b>" won't make
that word bold, it will actually display the <b>. We're old school in
that regard. Use text keys like asterisks and underscores, that people
used to mark formatted text in Usenet and text-only email.

It's also a good practice to copy your review to your clipboard, if
you're typing it directly into the website. Otherwise you will lose what
you've typed if you run into a problem in the next step.

***************************************

SUBMITTING YOUR REVIEW

Once you've typed in your review, it's time to preview it. I you've
included spoilers, check that box. In either case, then click the
"preview" button. This will show you the text you've just typed.
Double-check that the title name is correct and that you didn't stop
mid-sentence or anything.

If you're satisfied, you just need to give it a status.

--- Draft reviews are never counted or displayed. If you want it to give
the author any points, you'll need to change the status later on.
--- Hidden reviews can be edited until the end of the awards. But at
that time, they'll be displayed and counting.
--- Final reviews are displayed immediately, but can't be edited after
you submit the review.

Which you choose is up to you. I personally choose hidden most of the
time, but it really depends on how satisfied I am with the particular
review. Once you've chosen your status, click the "Save Validated
Review" link.

You'll be redirected to the main page you see when first logging in -
but with a green text box at the top, saying your review has been saved.
When you see that you're done with your review. Congrats!

**********************************

For more information:

--- How do I find a story to vote for?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_15
--- How do I vote?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_1
--- What status should I give my reviews?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_3
--- Strategies for Reviewing
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQreviewing

**********************************

P.S. - Don't forget, the deadline to set your reviewing goal is August
15. (As in, 11:59 PM GMT on August 15.) Don't put it off until the last
minute.

P.P.S. - Also don't forget, Annmarwalk is posting reviews to the
[mefa-reviews] Yahoo group and the [mefas] LJ community. Join up to get
MEFA reviews displayed on your LJ friends page, or sent to you by email.

**********************************

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hey guys,

Conga-rats to Shirebound, who informed me her story #50 "Starship"
(previously competing as a WIP) is now finished.

Per MEFA policy, it has now been moved to a subcategory with completed
fics. It was previously in Genres: Alternate Universe: Incomplete, but
can now be found in Genres: Alternate Universe: General.

Marta

I tried this morning (Thursday am) and again was unable to access. <sigh>


Sandra Graves - Erulisse (one L)
Isis Rising
Artistic Endeavors with Wings of Light

Blog at _http://sandragravesisisrising.blogspot.com/_
(http://sandragravesisisrising.blogspot.com/)
Website at _http://IsisRising08.com_ (http://isisrising08.com/)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I would add one other reviewing tip to this, Marta: I create a document in WORD and write my reviews out first and then copy and paste them into the review box on MEFA. It seems every year there is at least one person complaining about how they were typing in their review when their two hours came up and the system shut down, so they lost their review. Writing it out beforehand in WORD, or whatever wordprocessing program you use, eliminates that particular problem.

Usually, as soon as I am satisfied with the review I will copy and paste it to MEFA and choose 'final'. Even if I'm not quite satisfied, once I have something written for a particular story, I'll copy it into MEFA and choose 'hidden' and then I know that even if I don't do anything more with the review, it will still be counted at the end of the voting period.

Writing reviews this way I find is less stressful since I'm not writing under a time constraint. It's not as frustrating and makes the entire voting process (for me) more enjoyable.

Just thought I would share this tip with everyone.

Fiondil

> On Wed, 8/4/10, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com> wrote:

> The first step is to find the story you want to review.
> From here, you can find the story in several ways.

 
 
Is it OK to describe a little bit of personal experience in finding and reviewing stories? *unsure*




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Fiondil,

Those are all good suggestions. I left them off because I felt like the post was getting a little long, and some people have not been able to use that suggestion because of older computers. But by all means, feel free to use it (Fiondiul or anyone) if it works for you.

Marta

+++++++

I would add one other reviewing tip to this, Marta: I create a document in WORD and write my reviews out first and then copy and paste them into the review box on MEFA. It seems every year there is at least one person complaining about how they were typing in their review when their two hours came up and the system shut down, so they lost their review. Writing it out beforehand in WORD, or whatever wordprocessing program you use, eliminates that particular problem.Usually, as soon as I am satisfied with the review I will copy and paste it to MEFA and choose 'final'. Even if I'm not quite satisfied, once I have something written for a particular story, I'll copy it into MEFA and choose 'hidden' and then I know that even if I don't do anything more with the review, it will still be counted at the end of the voting period.Writing reviews this way I find is less stressful since I'm not writing under a time constraint. It's not as frustrating and makes the entire voting process (for me) more enjoyable.Just thought I would share this tip with everyone.Fiondil
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

On 8/5/2010 1:47 PM, Ellin Ithilwen wrote:

>
>
> > On Wed, 8/4/10, telperion1 <marta.fandom@gmail.com
> <mailto:marta.fandom%40gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> > The first step is to find the story you want to review.
> > From here, you can find the story in several ways.
>
>
> Is it OK to describe a little bit of personal experience in finding and
> reviewing stories? *unsure*
>

Hi Ellynn,

I don't have a problem with it. But please change the subject line so
that people can find my original post more easily.

Marta

Hi everyone!
 
I certainly don't think that my way is the best, but it suits me. I did so last year, when I was a newbie to MEFA, and I do the same way this year.
I reviewed some stories when nominating them; not all, though, but ony because it didn't have enough time in that moment, and I will do that later. But that was in the nominating season, and now I want to describe the way I do it in the voting season. I start immidiately after nominating season is finished.
I log in and go to stories, and then click on the ID, so that the stories are sorted by their numbers (#). And from that point, I simply scroll down and read. ;) I take a look at the summary, characters involved, genre and all other details, and then decide if it interests me or not (for example, I am not a fan of hobbits, or of poetry, so I skip such stories). Of course, many stories are familiar to me, I've read them throughout the year, while some are new to me. So, if I've read that particular story before, the title and summary simply remind me of it, and I enter the review. If the story is new to me, and if I see that it will be interesting to me from its summary and other details, I read it. After reviewing, I go to the next story on the list, read details, and so on... you get the picture. :)
I usually do that during my break at work. And sometimes I make my break a little bit longer, so that I can read more... *blush* The next day, I simply go on where I stopped last time. ;) And that's it! :)
 
Perhaps this is not convenient for all readers, and perhaps others will find the ways more suitable for them, but this works just fine for me. I never use filters and sort stories by genre, races etc. As I said, there are some genres that are not my cup of tea, but there are always exceptions, so I want to give a chance to all stories.
 
That's it from me. Bye! :)
 
Ellynn




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Just thought I'd mention something new I am trying this year! It will not
be possible for everyone, and I don't know how well it will work for me, as
it is so new.

We recently got a Nook, an e-reader from Barnes & Noble similar to the
Kindle from Amazon. So I'm trying the idea of downloading stories on my
wish list that I have not yet read into it. Meanwhile, I am working on
reviews for stories I've already read, mostly in a Word file. Any others I
am keeping hidden until I have a certain portion of my goal met.

Time will tell if this new strategy is any better than the old.

Dreamflower


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I tend to skip around a good deal, although this year I'm mostly reading from
back to front according to the order the website has sorted itself for me. I
prefer to read stories that involve members of the Fellowship during most of the
year; MEFA time is my time to spread my wings and read all kinds of stories by
authors who don't necessarily post on the archives where I do most of my
reading, and in genres I don't necessarily read the rest of the year. I work on
one longer story at a time, and intersperse short stories and ficlets in
between. I usually put off works in progress until near the end unless they are
a story I'm following anyway. I've been averaging about five reviews a day, and
I hope to get well beyond my review goal again this year. And when one of the
stories that comes up in the random suggestion on the home page for me, I will
sometimes read that. I always use the "Have not reviewed" filter, and am now
down to 19 pages coming up--will probably be down to eighteen tomorrow or Sunday
evening.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large

"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR

"Don't go where I can't follow."

I usually start reviewing in earnest once the review season starts as I visit the site most days to check for reviews and write a few while I'm there.

I use Google Chrome browser for reviewing as it shows any spelling errors, which as a dreadful typist, I make a lot!

I usually first review stories that I enjoyed during the year and have already read, but if anything in the random story or review takes my eye I'll check it out,especially later in the season. It is a feature I especially like.

Linda

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Bonnie L. Sherrell" <blslarner@...> wrote:
>
> I tend to skip around a good deal, although this year I'm mostly reading from
> back to front according to the order the website has sorted itself for me. I
> prefer to read stories that involve members of the Fellowship during most of the
> year; MEFA time is my time to spread my wings and read all kinds of stories by
> authors who don't necessarily post on the archives where I do most of my
> reading, and in genres I don't necessarily read the rest of the year. I work on
> one longer story at a time, and intersperse short stories and ficlets in
> between. I usually put off works in progress until near the end unless they are
> a story I'm following anyway. I've been averaging about five reviews a day, and
> I hope to get well beyond my review goal again this year. And when one of the
> stories that comes up in the random suggestion on the home page for me, I will
> sometimes read that. I always use the "Have not reviewed" filter, and am now
> down to 19 pages coming up--will probably be down to eighteen tomorrow or Sunday
> evening.
> Bonnie L. Sherrell
> Teacher at Large
>
> "Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
>
> "Don't go where I can't follow."
>

Hi all,

As we are having a run of technical problems at HASA, there will unfortunately be occasional errors and such for people using the site, but we are trying to get on top of stuff. In the meantime, if you do run into something, either a problem on one page or something bigger, if you can, please try to notify tech support.

Since addresses are not at hand should the site be down, I'm posting a link to this month's 'How to' news at LJ, so people can find the address.

HASA LJ is here: http://community.livejournal.com/hasalj/

For anyone reading for the MEFAs at HASA, we're glad if you can let us know if you run into any problems, though of course we'd rather you didn't have them.

Nath

Hey guys,

Here is your weekly admin post, which this week is going to talk about
how your reviews are scored and how that decides which pieces win
which awards.

-- The first step is that each story is awarded points based on the
number of characters in your review. You can find a table showing the
number of characters needed for each points score at the "How are
votes scored?" FAQ at
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_11.
Only certain characters count towards the total - you can find a list
of which ones count in the same FAQ.

You'll see the actual number of characters that count (according to
the site), and the points that will be awarded, near the top of the
page when you preview your review.

-- The second step involves adding together all the points awarded to
each story. The story in each subcategory that earns the most points
gets first place, second highest gets second place, and third highest
gets third place.

-- If two pieces have the same number of points, the story which has
the greater number of reviews  meaning more people voted for it  is
placed above the story with fewer reviews. If each story received the
same number of reviews, we add together the number of counted
characters in all the reviews for each story, and the story which has
received the most number of characters overall is placed higher. If
there's still no way to break the tie, they will receive the same
award. You can find out more about how ties are broken in the FAQ at
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_12.

-- As well as first, second or third places in a subcategory, stories
may also be awarded an "Honorable Mention". This recognizes that some
categories are larger or more competitive than others. Honorable
mentions will be awarded to each of the next highest scoring stories
until such time as half the stories in the subcategory have received
an award (either first, second, or third place or honorable mention).
Additionally, any story with the same number of points as the
third-place story in that subcategory will get an honorable mention.
There's more about how Honorable Mentions are awarded in the FAQ at
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_11.

***IMPORTANT***

Remember that stories only receive points for FINAL or HIDDEN reviews.
Draft reviews will not be counted. Make sure you CONVERT ALL DRAFT
REVIEWS to FINAL or HIDDEN by the end of Voting if you want them to
count.

*****************************

Also, a couple of quick reminders:

1. If you intend to set a reviewing goal you need to do this by 11:59
PM GMT, on 15-August. That's fast approaching. Don't let this deadline
pass you by.

2. Annmarwalk is continuing to post reviews to the [mefa-reviews]
Yahoo group and the [mefas] LJ comm. If you want to get reviews by
email or on your friends' list, feel free to join one of those groups.

Marta
MEFA Admin.

Hello Everyone!

The MEFA site is getting a makeover, a complete re-write from the ground
up! Nothing about how the awards function will be changing (except for
the usual little tweaks we have each year), but the 2011 MEFA website
will be entirely new!

So why am I posting about this now, when the 2011 awards is so far away?

I have the new site to the point where it's kinda sorta functional,
so now I need input from you, our MEFA participants, to help test and
refine how the new site will work!

I need testers of every level of computer experience, whether you're
new to the MEFAs or a veteran This will be spread out over several
months as I work on the new site, so this won't be time intensive.
I'll just need some testing and feedback whenever new features are
added to the test site <http://mefawards.fancrone.net> .

If you are interested, you will need an account at the mefa-discussion
Yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion> , which is
where all of the New Site discussion will take place. I have a "sign
up" post
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> over
there, so I can create an account for you at the test site, plus
I'll explain more about what is involved and expected.

Thanks!

Aranel Took

MEFA Tech Support



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Ok, my first impression is - I love it! :))))) Black&white layout is sort of unusual on the first sight, and my first thought was - hey, where are the colours? But then, it is ok this way too. :) I really love images of Minas Tirith and White Tree in the header, and black&white design fits in because of them... or is it the other way round? :p
 
Anyway, I hope I'll be able to help with testing. ;)
 
Ellynn
 
 
 
P.s. When the time comes, I'll have a few suggestions, too. ;)

--- On Tue, 8/17/10, Aranel <araneltook@gmail.com> wrote:


From: Aranel <araneltook@gmail.com>
Subject: [MEFAwards] MEFA 2011 Web Site: Volunteers needed for testing!
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 2:31 PM


 




Hello Everyone!

The MEFA site is getting a makeover, a complete re-write from the ground
up! Nothing about how the awards function will be changing (except for
the usual little tweaks we have each year), but the 2011 MEFA website
will be entirely new!

So why am I posting about this now, when the 2011 awards is so far away?

I have the new site to the point where it's kinda sorta functional,
so now I need input from you, our MEFA participants, to help test and
refine how the new site will work!

I need testers of every level of computer experience, whether you're
new to the MEFAs or a veteran This will be spread out over several
months as I work on the new site, so this won't be time intensive.
I'll just need some testing and feedback whenever new features are
added to the test site <http://mefawards.fancrone.net> .

If you are interested, you will need an account at the mefa-discussion
Yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion> , which is
where all of the New Site discussion will take place. I have a "sign
up" post
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> over
there, so I can create an account for you at the test site, plus
I'll explain more about what is involved and expected.

Thanks!

Aranel Took

MEFA Tech Support

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]











[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Ellynn,
If you're interested in volunteering, I'll need you to sign up over at
mefa-discussion
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> (so I can
keep a list of volunteers in one place). Once you reply to the sign-up
post with the requested information, I can make you an account on the
test site.
Thanks!Aranel
--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, Ellin Ithilwen <ellin_revenger@...>
wrote:

>
> Ok, my first impression is - I love it! :))))) Black&white layout is

sort of unusual on the first sight, and my first thought was - hey,
where are the colours? But then, it is ok this way too. :) I really love
images of Minas Tirith and White Tree in the header, and black&white
design fits in because of them... or is it the other way round? :p

> Â
> Anyway, I hope I'll be able to help with testing. ;)
> Â
> Ellynn
> Â
> Â
> Â
> P.s. When the time comes, I'll have a few suggestions, too. ;)
>
>
> --- On Tue, 8/17/10, Aranel araneltook@... wrote:
>
>
> From: Aranel araneltook@...
> Subject: [MEFAwards] MEFA 2011 Web Site: Volunteers needed for

testing!

> To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Tuesday, August 17, 2010, 2:31 PM
>
>
> Â
>
>
>
>
> Hello Everyone!
>
> The MEFA site is getting a makeover, a complete re-write from the

ground

> up! Nothing about how the awards function will be changing (except for
> the usual little tweaks we have each year), but the 2011 MEFA website
> will be entirely new!
>
> So why am I posting about this now, when the 2011 awards is so far

away?

>
> I have the new site to the point where it's kinda sorta functional,
> so now I need input from you, our MEFA participants, to help test and
> refine how the new site will work!
>
> I need testers of every level of computer experience, whether you're
> new to the MEFAs or a veteran This will be spread out over several
> months as I work on the new site, so this won't be time intensive.
> I'll just need some testing and feedback whenever new features are
> added to the test site <http://mefawards.fancrone.net> .
>
> If you are interested, you will need an account at the mefa-discussion
> Yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion> , which is
> where all of the New Site discussion will take place. I have a "sign
> up" post
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> over
> there, so I can create an account for you at the test site, plus
> I'll explain more about what is involved and expected.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Aranel Took
>
> MEFA Tech Support
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Aranel,
Well, I think the home page looks fabulous!
~elfscribe

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Aranel" <araneltook@...> wrote:
>
>
> Hello Everyone!
>
> The MEFA site is getting a makeover, a complete re-write from the ground
> up! Nothing about how the awards function will be changing (except for
> the usual little tweaks we have each year), but the 2011 MEFA website
> will be entirely new!
>
> So why am I posting about this now, when the 2011 awards is so far away?
>
> I have the new site to the point where it's kinda sorta functional,
> so now I need input from you, our MEFA participants, to help test and
> refine how the new site will work!
>
> I need testers of every level of computer experience, whether you're
> new to the MEFAs or a veteran This will be spread out over several
> months as I work on the new site, so this won't be time intensive.
> I'll just need some testing and feedback whenever new features are
> added to the test site <http://mefawards.fancrone.net> .
>
> If you are interested, you will need an account at the mefa-discussion
> Yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion> , which is
> where all of the New Site discussion will take place. I have a "sign
> up" post
> <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> over
> there, so I can create an account for you at the test site, plus
> I'll explain more about what is involved and expected.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Aranel Took
>
> MEFA Tech Support
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

I'd be willing to check it out as I can.

Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large

"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR

"Don't go where I can't follow."

Hey guys,

Currently, there are over 1,500 reviews displayed at the MEFA website.
That's amazing in many ways - thanks to all reviewers! But as with most
things in life, a blessing in one area can mean increased responsibility
in others. Every year we get more MEFA reviews than I could read on my
own. That makes it a bit hard to see where reviews don't follow all of
our rules.

Now, there are lots of reasons why people could break a rule without
meaning to. Maybe they haven't read all of the rules, or maybe the rules
changed and they missed the announcement. Or they could have just
forgotten one. Nearly all of the mistakes are good-faith errors. But
even in those cases the problems need to be fixed, and we can't fix what
we're not aware of. You can help the awards by keeping an eye out for
reviews that contain mistakes, and bringing them to my attention.

*****************************************

WHAT KIND OF ISSUES NEED ADDRESSING?

Here are some of the most common mistakes in reviews.

----- 1. If a review contains a spoiler for the story being reviewed, it
should be marked as such. This alerts people reading the reviews, that
they may want to skip over that review until after they've read the story.

----- 2. Reviews shouldn't contain HTML markup. Some people
automatically enter < b > and other tags, thinking this will make their
text show up formatted, but our website doesn't work that way. If
anything, those tags just make the reviews a little harder to read.

----- 3. If a review-writer quotes from a source (canon books, the
fanfic story, or something else entirely), that quote shouldn't give the
review more points. The quoted phrase needs to be included in [square
brackets].

----- 4. Review-writers can include URLs, but the URLs shouldn't give
the review more points. Again, URLs should be included in [square brackets].

----- 5. Reviews are posted to LJ and Yahoo, so anything you write
should be suitable for general groups like that. Even if the story is
Mature, keep your discussion of it PG13 at most.

----- 6. Occasionally, a review-writer may enter the review for the
wrong story. If a review describes the story as set in Gondor but it's
really set in Doriath, maybe the reviewer clicked the wrong link by
mistake! And we want to know about situations like that.

----- 7. If you see the same reviewer using the same review (in whole or
in part) in reviews for more than one story, that's a big no-no. They
can reuse reviews from other sites, but there can't be any carry-over
between different reviews on the MEFA site.

Flames are a bit more tricky. The MEFA rule is that reviews can contain
criticism, but if a review is entirely or nearly all negative, it's a
flame. Authors can ask to have a flame about their story removed, and if
I agree it's a flame I'll do it. The catch is the author loses the
points they would have earned from that review. So for readers beside
the author, I will only take down the review if (a) I think it's a
flame, and (b) the author wants it take down. Obviously they don't want
that in every case.

Those are just the most common issues. If you see something that doesn't
seem quite kosher, I'll look into it.

***********************************

HOW TO REPORT REVIEWING ISSUES

It's quite simple, really. Just send an email to
mefasupportATgmailDOTcom, with the review "information" and an
explanation of what you think is wrong. The easiest way to do this is to
highlight the "grey" text above the review. At a minimum, include the
story ID # and the reviewer's name.

Authors, you will see a link to "Reply to this review." Do NOT use this
link to report a problem. That link will let you send a response back to
your reviewer. They're forwarded on by a volunteer, but not by me. Our
volunteer is usually pretty good about getting me those emails, but it
creates a delay, and it means more work for her if you report trouble
reviews to that address. Just email me directly at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom.

************************************

WHAT HAPPENS AFTER A REVIEW IS REPORTED?

I or some other volunteer will look at the review. For most issues, if
we agree with you, we'll edit the review to fix the mistake and reset
the review to "hidden." That way the review-writer can add to the review
if they want, in case the change made the review worth less points.
We'll also email the review-writer, to explain why the review was
changed and explain how to edit the review if they want.

With flames there's sometimes another step. If someone else reports a
flame, I'll look over it and first decide whether I think it's a flame.
At that point I'll email the author and explain the situation, and offer
to take down the review - but only if the auhor wants me to. If the
author wants it down I'll do it. If the author wants it to stay up,
though, nothing will happen.

I will usually email you back when you first report the review, but not
after the problem is actually handled. (I sometimes need to discuss it
with other volunteers.) It's just simpler for me that way.

***************************************

P.S. - Don't forget, Annmarwalk is posting MEFA reviews to the Yahoo
Group [mefa-reviews] and to the LJ community [mefas]. Sign up at one or
the other if you'd like to read MEFA reviews in your inbox or on your LJ
friends' list.

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)

Hi elfscribe,

Thank you! I'm glad you like it! :-)

Aranel

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "elfscribe5" <elfscribe5@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Aranel,
> Well, I think the home page looks fabulous!
> ~elfscribe
>
> --- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Aranel" <araneltook@> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Hello Everyone!
> >
> > The MEFA site is getting a makeover, a complete re-write from the ground
> > up! Nothing about how the awards function will be changing (except for
> > the usual little tweaks we have each year), but the 2011 MEFA website
> > will be entirely new!
> >
> > So why am I posting about this now, when the 2011 awards is so far away?
> >
> > I have the new site to the point where it's kinda sorta functional,
> > so now I need input from you, our MEFA participants, to help test and
> > refine how the new site will work!
> >
> > I need testers of every level of computer experience, whether you're
> > new to the MEFAs or a veteran This will be spread out over several
> > months as I work on the new site, so this won't be time intensive.
> > I'll just need some testing and feedback whenever new features are
> > added to the test site <http://mefawards.fancrone.net> .
> >
> > If you are interested, you will need an account at the mefa-discussion
> > Yahoo group <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion> , which is
> > where all of the New Site discussion will take place. I have a "sign
> > up" post
> > <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mefa-discussion/message/2410> over
> > there, so I can create an account for you at the test site, plus
> > I'll explain more about what is involved and expected.
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Aranel Took
> >
> > MEFA Tech Support
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>

Hey guys,

I hope you are all enjoying the MEFA review season. Over the next few
weeks I'd like to talk about ways to find stories to vote for. With
600+ nominations it is helpful to know how to pull up one type of
story or another, and just like any site, it sometimes takes some
practice to figure out how to do everything the MEFA site is capable
of.

This week? We're talking about how to find stories based on the
category and subcategory they are competing in.

(Btw - I often use story interchangeably with nomination. Not
technically accurate, I know. These strategies can be used for poetry
and non-fiction as well.)

*************************************************

Method #1 - The Search Filters

This is the best way to find stories in the same subcategory for most
people because it guarantees you have the most up-to-date information.
To do this:

1. Log in to www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/
2. Click the "Stories" link at the top of the page.
3. If you don't see it, click the "Show Filter" link.
4. Click the "Clear All Filters" button.
5. Select the appropriate item from the Main Category drop-down list
and click "Display Selected Nominations."
6. Select the appropriate item from the SubCategory list and click
"Display Selected Nominations."

This will show you all the stories in the subcategory (assuming you
haven't told the website to skim them). You can tell whether you voted
for them or not by looking in the right-hand column. You will see a
link to enter a new review if you haven't yet voted, or a link to edit
an existing review if you have. (If you're the author you won't see
any link.)

You may also opt to use the other filters. For instance, you could use
the filter to display stories set in Gondor, or featuring Thingol. But
that will only bring up stories that are *both* in the selected
subcategoy, *and* meet that other criteria. And remember, the website
holds on to whatever you select. If you choose a character you'll need
to clear that choice before you use the filter again, or you may not
find everything you're looking for.


*************************************************

Method #2 - The Check Ballot

Back in July, I posted a series of check ballots to these lists. The
final check ballot shows how things were categorized at that point.
And only a few stories have moved around since then, when a WIP was
finished. So it's a little out of date. But some people who are less
comfortable with the website find it easier to work with.

1. Go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MEFAwards/
2. Click on "Files."
3. Click on "2010 Categorization."

(LJ members, you should be able to find this same list in the old posts.)

This will display a heading for each subcategory, and then it will
list the stories competing there. Halfway through the line it will
display a number in parentheses. That's the story ID #. To pull up the
story:

1. Go to http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/ and log in.
2. Click the "Stories" link at the top of the page.
3. Type that number, followed by the # sign into the "Search" bar and
click the "Search" button.

In most cases that will bring up the story for you. If you have been
searching for other stories you may need to click the "Clear All
Filters" button before Step 3. But unless you've told the website to
skip that story at some point, this should bring up the story you're
looking for. You can then find all the story information, read the
story and vote for it.

********************************

Why This Matters

You may be wondering right now why you would want to look up all the
stories in a certain subcategory. This will depend a lot on how you
use the MEFAs. Here are just a few reasons:

1. The MEFAs are a competition. We like to think of ourselves as a
giant feedback-generating machine, which is well and good, but we are
a contest with winners, too. So it's important to keep that in mind
when writing a review, and for some people that means knowing what a
story is competing against. Other people take a broader view and just
review set amounts of points based on how much they liked a story
without thinking about its specific category (that's my approach), but
a lot of people consider the category and subcategory when deciding
how to vote.

2. Subcategories help break up the awards into manageable chunks.
Maybe you feel weird voting for a story without knowing if it's better
or worse than the pieces it's competing against, but you don't have
the time to read all the stories competing. You're not alone! By
pulling up a subcategory you can limit yourself to ten or so stories,
and by reading them (or deciding not to read them), you can make a
real competition to the awards. Some people feel better knowing
they've considered all the stories competing against each other.

3. Subcategories are reader-friendly.Volunteers have put some thought
into these groupings, and so you know they have something in common.
Perhaps the groupings aren't perfect in every case, but they're a
place to start. Does a certain character, subgenre, setting, etc.
interest you? Find a subcategory built around it and go to town.

4. And finally, a practical concern. You may want to avoid voting in
subcategories you are competing in. Some authors don't care, but if
you do, pulling up the subcategory is a quick way to see what
subcategories you're competing in, and which ones you aren't. The
check-ballot method is actually even quicker.

Whatever your reasons, now you know how to find stories by their
category or subcategory. I hope it helps you in your reviewing.

*************************

Want more info?

--- How do I find a story to vote for?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_15
--- What are main categories?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQcategories#cat_8
--- What are optional subcategories?
http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQcategories#cat_5

**************************

P.S. - Don't forget, Annmarwalk is posting reviews to Yahoo and LJ.
Join up at the [mefas] LJ or the [mefa-reviews] Yahoo group, to see
the reviews on your friends list or email inbox.

**************************

Yours,

Marta

Hey guys,

Tomorrow's a busy day for me, so I'm going to do this week's
educational post a day early. Last week we talked about why you'd want
to vote for stories by their subcategory, and how to go about doing
that. But sometimes you just want to find pieces about a certain
character, or set in a certain region, or involving a certain
subgenre. That's fine. And the MEFA site gives you some tools to help
you do just that.

--- Log in to http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/
--- Click "Stories" at the top of the page.
--- Click "Show Filter" link if you don't see the list of drop-down
menus to begin with.

Near the bottom of the page you will see menus for "Character",
"Setting," "Sub-Genre," "Canonical Event or Time Period," and
"Sources." These let you choose pretty much any type of content you
like. Want to see all the entries about Frodo, or set during
Maedhros's childhood in Valinor? Select the character or time period
(or source, or sub-genre, or setting) and you can narrow down the list
of stories to a manageable size. You can even use more than one
option, for instance to find vignettes about Faramir.

==> Quick hint: Remember, the website holds on to what you selected
before. If you searched for Frodo stories, and then left the page and
came back and did a search for Doriath, the website would only display
stories involving both Frodo and Doriath. (Precious few, I'm sure!) To
avoid this problem click "Clear all filters" before doing a new
search.

Maybe the characters listed are too narrow. Perhaps you want to find
all the stories about hobbits. To do this using the character menu,
you'd have to search first for the first hobbit listed, then clear out
that page and do a search for the second hobbit, and on down the list.
But we provide another filter that lets you do something similar a lot
more easily. Right above the filters I mentioned you will see one
called "Genre, Race, Time." This lists all the main category choices,
and will pull up those stories that selected that main category.
Authors get to select *three* category choices, and volunteers only
put it into one of those choices. So if you selected "Races: Hobbits"
from the Main Categories menu this would pull up all those stories
that ended up competing in the Hobbits main category. If, however, you
made the same choice from this "Genre, Race, Time" menu, you'd see all
the stories that selected that "Races: Hobbits" choice AT ALL. No
matter what category they ended up competing in.

Now, it's possible that authors would choose not to select "Races:
Hobbits" for some reason. Maybe they don't want to compete against
other hobbit-centric stories, or they had other category choices that
were better fits. That's their right. But in most cases, if a story is
about a certain race, the author will select that race as *one* of the
three main categories. Which means, filtering for "Races: Hobbits"
will get you most of the stories involving Hobbits. Not all, but it's
a quicker way to get a broad grouping than working through the
characters one by one.

One caveat: these menus reflect what authors told us. There's no
guarantee that every story turned up by filtering for "Theoden" will
have Theoden as a major character, as some authors tend to list every
character that shows up in their story. Use your good judgment, look
at the summary and other story information, and see whether this story
is one you're likely to be interested in. Obviously the same goes for
the other filters as well.

**********************************

Another way to find stories based on content is using the "Quick Links" pages.

--- Log in to http://www.mefawards.net/MEFA2010/
--- Click "Stories" at the top of the page.
--- Click on one of the links beside "Quick links to lists of stories by".

These pages list all of the characters, locations, etc., along with
the number of stories involving that item. Click on the item you're
interested in, and you will automatically see all the stories
involving that item, along with links to vote for it and add it to
your skip/wish list. The page takes a while to load but once it's
loaded you won't have to reload it like you do every time you change
the main filter. It also provides a simpler user interface that some
folks find easier to navigate.

*****************************

Please remember, even if you search by characters or locations etc.,
when you vote you're still voting in a contest. People will have
different preferences and so you shouldn't worry if you only read
certain characters. But whatever stories you read, only vote for those
stories you like the best, and if you are able to vary the length of
your review, give the longest reviews to those stories you enjoyed the
most.
*****************************

More info?

--- How do I vote?
http://mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_1
--- How do I find a story to vote for?
http://mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_15
--- How do I find stories featuring a certain romantic pairing?
http://mefawards.net/MEFA2010/index.php?page=FAQvoting#vot_23

***************************

P.S. - Don't forget, Annmarwalk is posting reviews to the Yahoo group
[mefa-reviews] and the LJ community [mefas].

Marta
(MEFA Admin.)