CrossoverFic.com

Archive Updated: Many of the bugs plaguing eFiction 3.4 have been corrected.  Challenges may be issued again.  If you experience any further issues, feel free to contact me .

Iowa Floods:

My home town, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has been devastated by catastrophic flooding from the Cedar River.

While we knew there would be some flooding no one expected the river to crest at 31.11 feet. The previous record, set in 1929, was 20 feet. There are wide swaths of the city flooded that have never seen water before. 9,000 evacuated was the latest number I've heard. Some are my friends.

My family and I live far from the river, and our homes are dry, but we're feeling the effects of the flood even on the far NE side.

So far I have power, and don't think I'll lose it, but the city might have the water shut off in certain areas. Right now we're asked only to use tap water to drink.

Businesses far from the river are closing because of the water shortage, and then there are those who've lost power. I've heard the one route across the river to the other side of the city is going to be closed tonight.

There are a lot of rumors flying around as the reality of what has happened to our city--is happening across our state--sinks in. There are those who are afraid, especially those who've had to evacuate their homes and watched the water rising on the local news. There are a lot of people without power. We're all shocked. Mostly, we want to help our fellow Cedar Rapidians, want to save something of our beautiful downtown and the homes.

We wait for the water to fall so we can rebuild what could not be saved.

I'm not certain if the water will be shut off where I live. They've shut off the ability to make outgoing calls, but the internet still works. I'll be checking the archive for as long as the power is on and the modem light is green.

If you also live in an affected area of Iowa, which seems like everywhere in the state, or wherever the rivers are flooding in the Midwest--my thoughts and prayers go out to you.

-Celeste

New Skin:

We have a brand new look for the archive that should improve navigation and reading. If you have the previous skin set as your default, you can change to the new look by visiting the Edit Preferences page in your Member Account , going down to Skin and choosing 'center' as your default.

CFA has set up a LiveJournal feed that LJ users can add to their friend's page to receive story updates.

Recommend Off-Site Stories, Beta-Reader List, End Notes:

I've added three new features to the archive.

The off-site recommendation feature allows members to recommend crossover stories they enjoy which are hosted anywhere else on the web from their member pages. Feel free to spread the word about your favorite crossover fics.

You can see a list of these recommendations here. The next skin will have a much more prominent link on the home page. Of course, you can always see recs on individual member profiles.

The Beta-Reader List serves up an easy list of members who have marked yes on the beta-reader box. Authors are encouraged to visit their profiles and see whether or not they might be interested in beta-reading your fic (check out their own stories or their favorites, and of course their bios). You can find the list on the drop-down menu on the members page, or just click here.

Now on stories, you'll find either 'The End' or 'The End...Maybe?' at the end of the last chapter posted. Beneath that will be a link to the author's profile, the number of stories they've written, and a link to a listing of stories other members who favored this story also enjoyed.

Finally, I'd like to remind members to use the contact form or post in the forums if they experience a problem with the archive. The news posts are unreliable places to comment with issues, as site administrators are not notified of new comments--and past bugs in the script have not updated comment counts.

Thanks, and hope you all enjoy the new features!

CAPTCHA System Implemented:

Because there have been spam bots registering accounts on the site to do nothing but advertise products, the CAPTCHA system has been turned on for the archive.

CAPTCHA is a program that generates a random set of numbers (in an image) that must be manually entered into the forms for registration and non-member reviews before the information is accepted. So far it's working to curtail these spam-accounts.

I apologize for the inconvenience to any unregistered readers who want to leave reviews. Happily, it only takes a few extra seconds to your review time. You can also bypass CAPTCHA by registering with the site. Members do not have to deal with CAPTCHA when leaving reviews.

READ AND REVIEW!

For New Authors & Link Graphics:

Just a reminder to our new members that new category requests should be submitted at the Fandom Requests forum.  There've been a few sent to the Admins through the Contact form--and they tend to get lost in the bulk of email.

Also, don't forget to include a list of characters when submitting new categories.  Also, if you find a category that lacks a list of characters, feel free to give a list at Fandom Requests and we'll add them for you.

I also want to take a moment to thank all the members who have spread the word about CFA.  I've seen an increase in new authors, so you're all really helping out!

Since we are beginning to see some interest in the archive, I've decided to start making some link buttons/banners for interested members to use on their own websites or blogs.  Also, since I know there are some talented graphic makers here on CFA, I'm also taking link button/banner donations.  Hopefully, we'll get a very diverse selection of graphics people can use, as diverse as the fandoms we host here at CFA!

If you're interested in requesting a button/banner or helping creating them, you can read more about it here.

Finally, let's get that review count up!  Read and Review! 

Updated the Archive:

The Archive has been updated, and a new skin, CFA3, has been designed.  If you find yourself using Forumalike, instead of CFA3, please make the switch in your profile.  Forumalike has yet to be updated for use with eFiction 3.0.

There are still a few tweaks for me to make, and if you find anything amiss with the archive, please let me know via the contact link. 

eFiction 3.0:

The latest eFiction script has been released. I'll be working on converting the archive from running on 2.0 to 3.0--which is pretty exciting given all the new features on both the author's end and for admins. However, this will be my first time upgrading a live archive, so I'm going to be extra careful with the database backup. It's a good time to remind all of CFA's authors to always keep a copy of a story on your own drives, just in case. Though, I don't anticipate any problems.

So all the authors know what they can look forward to, here's a small sample of 3.0's author-end features:
- Story counts are back.
- Co-authors.
- Chapter end notes.
- Story notes.
- TinyMCE can now be toggled on/off on the page.
- Stories updated within the time frame of your "recent days" setting will now also be marked as "New!"

I'll also be designing a new skin (layout) for the archive.

Getting the Word Out:

The archive has grown pretty well for its first few months, but we still need members to spread the word about.

If you find a good crossover fanfic on another site (fanfic.net, livejournal, etc), drop an invitation to the author to archive their fic here.

Also, if y'all have any ideas, be sure to share them in the forum. :) 

Reviews: Remember, if you read a story please leave a review. Only takes a moment, and it encourages the author to write more for you to enjoy.

New Skin :D: Another new skin, this one designed to mesh with the forums. ^^

Forums:

Well, we've got a forum now. Questions and requests for new categories/character lists should go there :)

Crossover FanFiction Archive Forums

Looking for Admins:

I need some help with the archive, so if you would like to volunteer, comment with your name and the category you'd like to lord over. I'd be greatful for any help! ^^

Update: We've enough mods for now :)  Thanks to all who offered to help.

Brand New Skin: I have updated the archive with a brand new skin.  Hope y'all like it :)