The young one is acting like he might go to bed at a decent hour, so maybe I can get some writing done tonight. No luck last night.
Finished the comments page earlier, and it’s working as expected. Only thing left on that page is to add in some code to push me an email when a new comment is made ( so I know to come approve it ) and to add in the spam database check.
The next step will be my moderation utilities for the comments. I decided to make myself two easy utilities: One to approve comments, which will only show unapproved comments, and allow me to delete them from my admin panel if they’re spam or pure asshattery. A second will work off another bit in the database that will show me new comments I haven’t responded to. That way, I’ll always know when I’ve thanked someone for making a comment.
On the comment page, if you’re logged in, you’ll have the option to comment under your member profile. If you tick that box, all you need to do is enter a comment, and it will link up to your profile for me to respond. It won’t be linked on the public side.
If you aren’t logged in, or don’t tick the box, you have the option of leaving an email, so I can respond, but it’s not required. You can also choose a name to attach to the comment, but it isn’t required either. The comment will be listed as anonymous ( even if you enter an email ) if you don’t choose a name.
The only thing you have to enter on the comment form is a comment. Everything else is optional, and only the comment plus your chosen name ( if any ) will be displayed to anyone but me. Never your email, for sure.
I’m going to code the backend utility for the shorts database to import from the story database, where the information for the short stories will reside along with the stories posted on the story sites. That way, all I have to do is enter the information once, as I always do, and it will import what’s necessary to make the short stories page work.
As I’ve mentioned ( at least indirectly ) short stories will show up on the “My Work” and “Latest Updates” pages the same way stories I’ve posted to the story sites do. If a short is part of a series, it will also show up there. If it’s in Danica’s World, it will show up on the Danica Timeline page.
Each short story has a “Chronology” listing, which will let you know where it fits in with other stories, as these will almost certainly be connected to existing stories. They may be prequels ( like the Devan triad I’m working on ), sequels, fall between chapters of a story, or even be expanded scenes from within a chapter or story where I ‘faded to black’ or only mentioned something happening in passing.
So if there’s a scene in one of my stories where the characters hop into bed and I don’t give you the details, feel free to suggest that as a short story for me to write 🙂
I do believe the young one is down for the night. He’s been in the bedroom and quiet for a little while. I’ll take a brief wind down from coding, then open Lowborn and SOTM to see if my muse is singing tonight.
