Yahoo Forum Archive

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.)

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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.


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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 So it's a little out of date.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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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Yours,

Marta