eFiction

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Synonyms:
See also: Automated Archive
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eFiction is an open source automated archiving software that is written in PHP, combined with a MySQL database. eFiction was originally developed by Rebecca Smallwood in 2003. Versions 2.0 (2007) through 3.5.6 (2018) were developed by Tammy Keefer, Artphilia, and Sheepcontrol.[1][2] It has since been adopted by new maintainer Tyler Harvey.[3] The current version is 3.5.6.

While eFiction is designed to support multi-author archives, some authors use the software for their personal fic archive, as it is the one of the few open-source options for automated fanfic archiving.[4]

History

eFiction's early predecessor, Fanfiction Module 1.0, was a PHP module written for Postnuke by Rebecca in 2002.[5] Though originally created for her own fansites, it was later made available for download via her personal script site on May 12, 2002.[6]

The modules available for download from this site are ones that were created for my various fan sites: Council of Elrond, Danger Room, Lavender Eyes. Postnuke is a great system for news, downloads, etc., but is somewhat lacking when it comes to mods that would be useful for fan sites. Hence, my decision to start making some mods that I needed for my various sites. If you have an idea for a module that would be useful specifically for a fan site, let me know, and I'll consider doing it, especially if it's something that I could use on one of my sites ;)

In August, Rebecca announced that she was working on a "stand-alone fanfiction program"[7], which would likely later become version 1.0 of eFiction. By October, she officially abandoned Fanfiction Module 1.0, citing multiple issues, including trouble with the new API code.[8] While other programmers would continue developing the module[9], Rebecca turned her attention to the stand-alone program;

In answer to other questions, the stand alone fanfiction program is not dead in the water. I'm still plinking away at it occasionally when my wrist is feeling okay, but I wouldn't expect to see anything usable anytime soon :)

The script was officially named eFiction in March 2003, and publicly released on May 11.[10] Version 1.1 was released on September 2.[11]

Developer Change

In November 2004, Rebecca announced she would no longer be developing eFiction, due to medical and financial issues. In the post, she expressed her wish that the project be handed over to a new team of developers.[12] In December, chirho was selected to take over development.

By 2005, Rebecca's script page redirected to the new eFiction site. Development on Version 1.5 would continue through 2005.

Site Changes

After September 9, 2005 the eFiction site redirected[13] to forums hosted at a different url. The site moved servers on June 24, 2006, and changed it's url to efiction.org, which the old site now redirected to.[14]

Versions

Version 1.xx

The first version of the script had the following key features:

  • multi-level categories
  • members can post stories and chapters
  • members can add stories and authors as favourites
  • stories can be rated, recommended and reviewed either by all users or only by members
  • view count to indicate how often a story has been read
  • basic news system

You can see this version still in action on Mirrormere.

The first and second versions can not be downloaded anymore on the eFiction website.

Version 2.xx

Key Features of this version are:

  • supports sorting stories into series
  • view count was dropped for this version
  • random story display
  • TinyMCE for all text fields - can be turned on or off
  • allows users to post challenges
  • overall wordcount can now easily be displayed
  • RSS feed for latest submissions

You can have a look at this version by visiting VOLA. The last stable release was 2.07, which could previously be downloaded from the eFiction site.

Version 3.xx

  • ability to add new classifications like pairing or story length
  • ability to browse by classifications
  • story view count is back
  • multiple author support
  • can be bridged with other scripts

An install of version 3 can be viewed here.

Customization

Since eFiction is open source, users are invited to change and customize the code. The resulting modifications are called mods. The eFiction Wiki has a list of all available mods.

The look of an eFiction install is also customizable since the software works with templates. Users have full control over the layout and if they are not comfortable editing the template files, they can also choose from a lot of free templates. A good place to start looking for skins is the official eFiction forum. More skins can be found here:

Links and Resources

For more information, see the eFiction project site. A list of fanfiction archives running on eFiction can be found here.

References

  1. ^ eFiction v3 README.txt on Github, Archived version
  2. ^ Up for adoption - Site news & updates - eFiction Community Forums, Archived version
  3. ^ Hey All, Tyler Here - Efiction, Archived version
  4. ^ Mhalachei's Writing is an example for such one-author archive. Accessed January 31rst.
  5. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020925123814/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net:80/
  6. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20021115225533/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=Downloads&file=index&req=viewsdownload&sid=1
  7. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20021004200239/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=10&mode=thread&order=0
  8. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20030206204905/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=12&mode=thread&order=0
  9. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20030206172047/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net:80/ Second post from the top
  10. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20030809071000/http://orodruin.sourceforge.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=17&mode=thread&order=0
  11. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20130823074708/http://efiction.org/downloads.php?cssfile=styleblue.css
  12. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20041202140930/http://orodruin.rivkashome.com:80/
  13. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20051001005637/http://efiction.sourceforge.net:80/
  14. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20060711073841/http://efiction.sourceforge.net/
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