User blog:EmpyrealInvective/Main Page Stories and You

As many of you know, a few months ago we had another issue with someone abusing the PotM system and with other instances of users abusing the polls and ballot box stuffing, we had to discontinue PotM temporarily while we tried to come up with an alternative that didn’t allow for unscrupulous users to ruin it for everyone else.

Unfortunately we can’t bring back PotM to the site with pinkie swears and promises as it seems there will always be someone trying to be underhanded who don't seem to care that cheating the system does not equal an achievement. That being said, the admins here also want stories to get attention and to allow for community involvement.

We’ve reached a temporary solution that we’d like to try starting in February for March (as a current contest winner will be spotlighted next month). Basically we would like users to nominate their favorite story by another author and we will compile a list that the admins will choose from each month. The selected story will be the spotlighted pasta of the month and will be featured on the main page. This will help in drawing attention to authors whose hard work deserves attention and it will allow for the community to have a bit more of a choice.

So how do users go about nominating stories? As some astute users have noticed, the nomination page is still open. So basically every month, admins will clear that page and open the nominations. All the old rules we set up will still apply. (Admins will also be adding stories to the list as we’re part of the community too.) At the end, the admins will each vote and select a story to be featured on the main page.

We’re posting this early to allow for suggestions. Maybe you have an idea for increasing community participation without issues of cheating. This is a bit of a sounding board, so sound off and let us know if you want some method of drawing attention to stories or if you’re fine with the way things currently are. We have time to discuss this before we enact it in February for March.