Your Library, Following, and Notifications

Your library, following, and notifications

Signing in gives you a personal reading library and several ways to keep up with stories and authors. On a tablet or larger screen, open the Favorites star in the header to browse saved reading without leaving the current page. Switch between Favorite stories and Bookmarks at the top of the dropdown. Scroll toward the bottom and CHYOA automatically loads the next group; you can also choose Load more favorites or Load more bookmarks. Choose Show all to open the complete page for the selected list.

Favorite Stories remains available from the profile menu on every screen and is the way to open the list on a phone. The profile menu also includes Bookmarks, Notifications, and Game mode reports, a private list for Game Mode stories you own or edit.

Adding a new favorite or bookmark requires a fully active account. If your account is waiting for email confirmation or review, you can still remove a favorite or bookmark saved earlier, but you cannot add a new one yet.

Favorite a whole story

Choose the star icon below a chapter's continuation choices to add the story to Favorite Stories. Choose it again to remove the favorite.

Favorites are useful when you want to:

• keep the whole story in your library;
• see which saved stories have been updated;
• receive notifications when chapters are added, if that notification is enabled.

The header preview lists favorites by title and marks stories that have been updated since you last opened them. The Favorite stories page can be sorted by Title, Date added, or Recently updated. Opening a favorite marks its current update as read.

Bookmark one chapter

Choose the bookmark icon below a chapter's choices to save that exact chapter. Choose it again to remove the bookmark.

Bookmarks are useful for a particular branch, scene, or place you want to continue from. In the header dropdown, choose Bookmarks to see your most recently saved chapters first. Each entry shows the chapter title, author when available, and its place in the story; select it to return to that chapter. The Bookmarks page can be sorted by Title or Date added.

A story can be both a favorite and contain one or more bookmarks. Removing a favorite does not remove its chapter bookmarks, and removing a bookmark does not remove the story from favorites.

When someone bookmarks a chapter you wrote, its notification names and links to that chapter. Each chapter bookmark appears separately, even when one member bookmarks several of your chapters in the same story.

Follow an author

Open an author's profile and choose Follow. The control changes to Following; use it again when you want to unfollow the author.

Following an author can notify you when that author publishes a story or chapter, depending on your Notification Settings. It does not automatically favorite all of that author's stories.

Profiles show Followers and Following lists. The Show online status preference hides your online activity; it does not hide these lists or make the profile private.

Read notifications

The bell in the header shows when you have unread notifications. Open it for recent items, or choose Notifications to see the full list. Opening the full list marks the displayed unread items as viewed; Mark all as read clears the remaining unread count.

Notifications can include:

• updates to your stories or chapters;
• new chapters on favorite stories or bookmarked branches;
• likes, comments, and replies;
• a poll you created closing;
• new followers and awards;
• a Game Mode error reported in a story you own or edit;
• stories and chapters published by authors you follow.

Chapter bookmarks remain separate notifications, and each one names and links to the affected chapter. Chapter-like notifications also link to the exact affected chapter, but likes from several members on that same chapter may be combined. Likes on different chapters stay separate. To keep bursts of similar activity shorter, CHYOA groups:

• likes from several members on the same chapter;
• likes from several members on the same comment;
• members adding the same story to their favorites;
• new followers.

A grouped notification for a chapter like still links to that one chapter, and a grouped notification for a comment like links directly to that one comment. Likes on different chapters or comments stay separate. When several members are included, choose the 2 more part of text such as and 2 more to open the additional-members list. Names with available profiles link to those profiles; a member whose profile is no longer available appears as plain text. Activity received after you view a grouped notification begins a new notification.

To stop one of these alerts entirely, turn off its matching choice in Notification Settings. The choices are My story is added to favorites under Story notifications; My chapter is added to bookmarks, Someone likes my chapter, and Someone likes my comment under Chapter notifications; and I receive a new follower under Community notifications.

Follow Game Mode reports

A Game Mode error creates a system notification for the story's current Owner and Editors. Select the linked story title to open that story's Game mode reports page.

For one combined list, open the profile menu and choose Game mode reports, or choose that tab from another Library page. It includes reports from every Game Mode story you currently own or edit. Select Load Save Game on a report to investigate the copy that the reader agreed to provide.

Assistant Editors, Reviewers, and Authors do not receive report access from those roles.

Choose which notifications you receive

Open Notification Settings from the profile menu or the Notifications page. The choices are grouped into Story notifications, Chapter notifications, and Community notifications.

Turn off an event when you no longer want that kind of site notification. This does not remove the related favorite, bookmark, followed author, or chapter from your review list. The Chapters have been waiting for my review choice controls the recurring reminder for review work; it does not turn off the immediate notification for a newly submitted chapter.

The two discussion choices have different scopes. Someone starts a new discussion on a chapter I commented on alerts you when another member adds a new discussion after you have commented anywhere on that chapter. Someone replies to my comment alerts you when another member directly answers one of your comments or replies.

News Feed is different

The News Feed shows public activity from across CHYOA, including stories, chapters, discussions, follows, and awards. It is not a personalized list of only your favorites or followed authors. Use your library and Notifications for account-specific updates.

Your public profile's Activity tab shows new public comments and replies you post. Replies stay out of the site-wide News Feed.