Friday, November 27, 2009

Donations needed for November and December site hosing

Hi all,

HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Our monthly hosting costs are $150 US. We're still short on donations for site hosting for the rest of the year. If you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so. This pays for the dedicated server HASA needs to provide the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more. Every penny donated to HASA goes directly to paying the hosting costs.

Donations will get combined with matching funds, so currently we need donations totalling $10 for November and $75 for December. If you do not have spare change for hosting, please be sure to donate some time to the site. Review a story, post a comment, join a discussion, share a tale, create a playlist, and help make HASA a great place to visit.

Julie

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Donations needed for November and December site hosting

Hi all,

HASA is an ad-free, fee-free Web site, run for the enjoyment of quality JRRT fanfiction. Our monthly hosting costs are $150 US. This pays for the dedicated server HASA needs to provide the features and fun visitors love - stories, comments, forums, alerts, challenges and more. We're still short on donations for site hosting for November and, in a few weeks, the December bill will need to be paid. If you haven't donated yet, please consider doing so. Every penny donated to HASA goes directly to paying the hosting costs.

Donations will get combined with matching funds, so currently we need donations totalling $30. If you do not have spare change for hosting, please be sure to donate some time to the site. Review a story, post a comment, join a discussion, share a tale, create a playlist, and help make HASA a great place to visit.

Julie

Saturday, November 14, 2009

HASA Reviews November 2009

10 reviewed stories since the October bulletin, and 4 stories currently in review...

Welcome to the November reviews bulletin.

Reviews are an important part of the site: there are the authors who sit waiting with baited breath and fraying nerves, and there are our intrepid reviewers to think of. So before looking at the stories: Thank you all for your work, authors and reviewers alike!

Stories in review
As I type this, there are 4 stories waiting for reviewers (remember to log in before you follow the link).

Of course, member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in reviewing, the more opinions are represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.

If you are an active reviewer, why not go and check out a story?

Becoming a reviewer
If you're not an active reviewer, but think you can spare a bit of time... – even if you just review one or two stories in a month, every review is welcome. If you are logged in, you can sign up here if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.

Put one in, take one out
By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do for the other authors who have a story in review what you'd like other reviewers to do for you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out...

Reviewed story spotlight
These stories have passed through review since the previous bulletin. Congratulations to all authors; well done!

Gentlemen's Agreement by Khazar-Khum
Rating: Adult
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - The Kings
Summary: What really happened to Earnur? Earnur, the Witch-king, Gothmog & assorted orcs.


Expectations by Raksha
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: The birth of a second child does not always fulfill the expectations of complacent fathers; as Faramir soon learns…


A Mother's Day by Larner
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 3rd Age - The Stewards
Summary: So far her birthday hasn't gone precisely as planned. But a visit from Mr. Bilbo will change that for Bell Gamgee.


The Ring-day Fete by Larner
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Here it is, the Birthday, and Sam Gamgee is hundreds of leagues from Bag End. A matter to make a Hobbit feel...unsettled!


Hues of Middle-earth by lindahoyland
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: Multi-Age
Summary: A series of drabbles inspired by the colours of the Rainbow. Written for the Tolkien Weekly "Rainbow" challenge. With thanks To Raksha.


The Thawing by JDE
Rating: Adult
Genre: Romance
Era: 1st Age
Summary: Turgon is mourning his wife's death. He is determined never to forgive his Fëanorion cousins for their father's madness at Losgar. Curufin is repentant for the first time in his life, but cannot bring himself to admit that to his cousin. From pride, anger and grief into irritation, exasperation and ...


Tracking Monsters by Nieriel Raina
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: 4th Age
Summary: Legolas searches out a new and possibly evil creature in Ithilien. A companion to another story. Written for a challenge. Part of a series.


Many Hands by Russandol
Rating: General
Genre: General
Era: Multi-Age
Summary: The story of a mighty weapon and heirloom, spanning the younger ages of the world. My heartfelt thanks to JDE for the thorough beta work!


The Tides of the World by Raksha
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: As the long day and night of March 15, 3019 ends, an exhausted Aragorn seeks rest, and ponders the changes that have come to pass.


Day's Ending by Raksha
Rating: General
Genre: Drama
Era: 3rd Age - Ring War
Summary: What sight gladdens Halbarad's dying eyes? Share the northern Ranger's last moments.


==
Nath

Friday, November 13, 2009

Chapter display problem SOLVED

UPDATE: the problem is solved, and you should be able to access chapters normally again.
---
A needed security update to the HASA database is currently preventing story chapters from displaying.

Please note: no data has been lost!

The chapters are fine, and will be restored to view as soon as possible.

It is all a retrieval error, and Tech Support is working on it. It may be a few hours before the data is displaying correctly again.

We apologize for the inconvenience...

---
Nath

Sunday, November 1, 2009

HASA news - November 2009

The November news focuses on Birthdays, Reviews, Playlists and Challenges.
But first, to misquote Bilbo: I have to make an ANNOUNCEMENT: in December there will be a site update. Read immediately below for more details.


Site update

In late December, HASA will undergo a code refresh. Most of this work is behind the scenes and deals with database optimization, security and JavaScript support. Some changes will affect end users. There will be some changes to page layout to work better with newer browsers and handheld devices, IE6 support is being phased out, and there will be more choices in the top navigation bar.

There will be one HUGE change that will directly affect site readers. The cookie based bookmark system is going away. The code behind it is breaking under various browsers, the cookie interaction with the server is causing performance issues, and there are new tools out there that do a better job. The bookmarks will be replaced with AddThis ( http://www.addthis.com/ ) buttons on each story. AddThis supports dozens of social networking sites, allows you to bookmark directly to your browser, has browser toolbars, and many other features that HASA support can't possibly provide.

This means you need to prepare your bookmarks ahead of the code change so that you don't lose them. Over the next few weeks, instructions will be posted to help you figure out what to do with those bookmarks.


Birthday Cards

If it’s your birthday in November, and you would like a drabble about your favourite character or topic? You can request it here.

Not sure what the birthday cards are about? Have a look at the stories written for previous requests.


Reviews

You’ll find a list of stories in review at the top of the members home page. If you are an active reviewer, log in to see the list of 6 new stories that are waiting for reviewers.

Or, if you are not yet a reviewer, why not sign up to become one? Reviewing is not nearly as daunting as it may seem, and you're eligible if you've been a member of HASA for thirty days or more.

Member participation is crucial for reviews. The more people are involved in the review process, the more opinions will be represented. Just as importantly, having more people involved means that stories pass through review more quickly - which is good for everyone.

By submitting a story for review, you are asking nine other members to read and evaluate it. So why not do unto other authors in reviews as you'd like other reviewers to do unto you: check out one of the stories already in review and give it a read. Put more simply: put one in, take one out


Playlists

Playlists are lists of HASA stories put together by authors and readers, just as music lovers put together lists of their favorite songs.

For example:
- An author uses playlists to put the stories in a series in reading order.
- A reader puts her ‘favourites’ in a playlist and explains why they are listed
- A reader makes a list of similarly themed stories, for instance Hobbit romance or critical essays on Men.
- ...

Anyone can create a playlist!

As a reader, you can collect your favorite stories by different authors together in one place. As an author, you can put one together of your own stories. Using the Workshop, a group of authors can put together joint playlists of their work.

If you are logged in, go to My Playlists for more information on creating your own lists.

Playlists are meant to be shared!

Once you publish your playlist, other HASA members can add your list to a playlist favorites collection. You can collect playlists by authors and other readers even if you don't have any of your own. On every playlist overview page is an "Add to My Collection" button. Click, and that list is added to your collection. If you don't see the button, check to see if you are logged in.


Challenges and Nuzgul

Click here for the Challenges homepage.

If you have an idea that you'd like at least five people take on, grab that nuzgul by the scruff of the neck (mind the teeth!) and see if you can get four others to make it a Challenge. Prospective Challenges can be found here

There are currently no open Challenges (except Birthdays), so if you have any spare Nuzgul lying around, don’t hesitate to see how many others it can bite!


October Stories

All of us writers love feedback. It is the lembas and miruvor that sustains us as we write our story, and leaving a few words about a story you read is always a nice thing to do, whether the story is new or old.

Every fifteen minutes HASA highlights a story chosen at random from the Reviewed and General stories in the archive. Read the currently featured story on our front page.

Many talented writers are publishing every day. In October:

--- 11 Reviewed Stories were published or updated.
--- 47 General Stories were published or updated.
--- 1 Beta Story was published or updated.
(Please note, you need to be logged in to view beta stories.)

Thank you for reading at HASA. Enjoy!