NEED A CONSULT!

[geekygecko.livejournal.com]

When we first started sick_wilson, we set up a tagging system to help people find fics for a particular illness or injury.

It was a very good idea, but it had a significant limitation: we couldn't tag recced stories that were posted to other communities, authors' personal LJs, etc.  So to make it easier to get your sick!Wilson fix, we decided to create a list that included fics posted to sick_wilson, as well as recced fics posted elsewhere.  Thus, the first sick!fic thread was born.

Now two years and nearly 600 fics later, less than half of the stories on the sick!fic lists can be accessed by clicking the diagnosis tags in the sidebar, and we're wondering if we're creating unnecessary confusion and frustration by listing the tags on the main pages.

So we'd greatly appreciate it if you'd answer a few questions to help us determine if we need to make any changes.

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If none of the options best describes your answer, please provide your response(s) in the comments section below.

[Poll #1419177]

Thanks much for your help!
 

Comments

[heledren.livejournal.com]

When posting my fics, I generally use the auto-tag thingy that fills in the rest of what you're typing. If the tag I'm looking for doesn't pop up, I try a few different wordings, and then I try looking through the diagnosis table to find something that fits.

An opinion: I don't think that the tags on the front page are outdated at all. I have, once or twice, thought, "I feel like a ___!fic right now." The tags are useful as a quick link fix in that situation.

[haruechan.livejournal.com]

I only use the diagnosis thread when looking for fics, never the tags itself. But that doesn't mean I think they are useless.

I did thing about it the other day. If member could rec fics as single posts, instead of replies on a thread, then the tags would work just fine. I've seen it working on recc-communities, but I don't know if it would serve the purpose of sick_wilson...

Specially because it would demand some attentive moderation about people recc the same fic multiple times...

[alanwolfmoon.livejournal.com]

I personally find the tags list on the main page very helpful--I rarely use anything else.

[rslworks.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I feel like reading a fic along a certain 'diagnosis' line, like asthma, migraine, etc. so I find it useful.