categories
Perverts, in my observation, tend towards the geeky. People who like very specific things in a sexual context tend to think in precise ways. We know what we like, and we probably have a rich inner system for categorising the things we like and the things we don't like.
Given my intention to have a wide variety of content on my own site, I'm currently thinking about how to make it easy as possible for people to ignore the stuff they don't like and find the stuff they do. Adele has suggested a checkbox system for the gender of the participants - a form at the top of the page, or on an intro page, inviting people to tick the boxes they want to be able to see, from a choice of M/f, F/f, F/mf, F/m, and possibly M/m (although I'm still struggling to find male tops happy to work with other men). I really like this idea.
My other idea is to tag content in the way one tags blogposts. A movie or photoset would be tagged with a collection of keywords, from different categories - "school", "historical", "tawse", etc. Those keywords could then be typed into a search form. But I don't want keyword search to be the only way users can find content: I also want browsable categories.
Some are obvious: browsing by model and implement, for instance, is fairly standard. But the others are harder. Could I have a "genre" category? What would that include? Historical, school, domestic, judicial ... what would you consider to be the "standard" spanking genres? The problem I run into is that most of my ideas don't neatly fit one of these categories. I suppose a film that bridges two genres could be in both lists, but what about fantastical scenarios? Erotic D/s? Would it be appropriate for me to just invent categories which fit the films I'm making, or would that confuse people?
I can think of plenty of tags which wouldn't fit into a neat category like "genre". Edgy non-consent scenes, for instance. Scenes containing explicit sexual content. Silly or satirical scenes. Romantic stories. Deserved, fair punishments and undeserved, unfair ones. I want to have this sort of category on the site, but I'm not sure how to organise it.
Then there's the problem of scenes-within-a-scene; stories about a character indulging in a fantasy, or reading a story, remembering a past event or daydreaming. I really like this sort of embedded scenario because it allows me to have nasty, horrible things happen to my submissive models, but keep the focus on their desires, keep them humanised with wishes and personalities, rather than just objects to be mistreated. (Even if their wishes involve being objects to be mistreated!) This makes categorising even more complicated: which scene do I tag? The external/real-world scenario, or the inner scenario which everyone is here to see?
You've proved time and again that you are an intelligent, thoughtful bunch; I continue to be impressed with the knowledge and insight which you guys offer in the comments on this blog. So I'm wondering if you can help me with this one. If you were building a multi-genre spanking site, what categories would you use? When you visit a site, what categories do you find most helpful? Any advice or suggestions you have about the best way to approach this would be gratefully received!
I suspect orientation, tone, motivation and setting are all you need.
ReplyDeleteE.g.
"f/m, dark, non-consensual, Ancient Roman."
"m/m, playful, romantic, Urban contemporary."
"f/f, kitsch, retro-active consent, Girls School"
Frames, such as "it's all a fantasy" don't really impact on the erotic content, so I'd be surprised if anybody browsed for them.
Bonus themes such as fetish wear, or masturbation would only be worth tagging if you kept using them.
Of course, if you want to engage the viewers, how about getting them to suggest tags?
The M/f M/f/f M/F/f F/f (etc.) stuff can be handled by tags at the back end, even if the front end uses check boxes.
ReplyDeleteThe tagging approach works IF you apply it consistently AND you make the list of tags in use available.
One thing that is valuable with these sorts of systems is a NOT option: you really want to be able to specify "Must Have" and "Must Not Have"!
I suspect for sanity and ease of use for updating you'll want a system that allows "macro tags", so that if you tag an update as "F/m/f" it will also tag the entry as "Femtop", "malesub", "femsub", "2subs", "1top", "3players", "maleplayer", and "femaleplayer". Notice that many of those may seem redundant, but they facilitate searches such as "3players NOT maleplayer" to get all-women threesomes, and "2subs NOT malesub" to get scenes with two girls bottoming to anyone!
I saw a site somewhere where each 'category' was listed and represented by a check box, and checking a box crossed-out the categories that were incompatible with your previous selections; so checking "victorian" might update the display such that "futuristic" was struck-through (assuming you aren't shooting a scene inspired by the likes of Neil Stephenson's Diamond Age).
Malc.
FWIW, RealSpankings updated their members areas backend a while back (last year maybe?) with features along the lines you're discussing. In addition, Xerotics have used their clone site Strict Spanking to trial "advanced" member area technology.
ReplyDeleteBeing an amateur history enthusiast I would think that some tags based on timeliness might be appropriate "Historical", "Contemporary" and "Futuristic" or simply "Past", "Present" and "Future" might do it.
ReplyDeleteThe only site that I have joined, so far, that had browsable categories was Montrose Academy. Although the design was a little dated, their layout of having the categories in a plan of a school was very comfortable and easy to use. Something else, perhaps a library, might be more appropriate to your site but anything along these lines is more inviting to a user than a simple list of categories. You might consider something like this for your browsable category section.
Prefectdt
The site I've used which has a usable and helpful categories system is http://lu.scio.us/hentai/
ReplyDeleteIt has lists of 'Include' and 'Exclude' topics sorted by frequency, so you select things and the numbers go down. It could be improved on - it could be a little better linked into the search system, I think, although that does work - but on the whole it makes it easy to find what one is looking for.
This isn't what you asked, of course, which was about types of categories. Harder for me to say as I look less at the kind of thing you'll be producing, but probably Giles English has it about right.
The Realspankings sites have done this long ago, with a search for certain categories. Such as model (spankee, but why not also the spanker), implement, position assumed for the spanking, where (in the rooms of the Institute). But they left out the most interesting category (for me, the pervert, in this site), the 'uncomfortable corner time) which was (is again some times) their specialty, with ways of kneeling that are an ordeal if performed for half an hour, like the story says, and not only the 1-2 minutes actually shot.
ReplyDelete- Also they left out the degree of severity, for obvbious reasons, it is difficult to pinpoint. But when we know who the spanker is, we learn to know what to expect!
- and one more: if you plan to have stories with consensual spank play (couples, girl friends, parties?) as well as non consensual punishment (school, governess, domestic), you should have them selectable separately. Some like all, some prefer one of them. (I of course prefer non consensual, the darker and more sinster the better!)
ReplyDeleteSomething other: you have so many scene friends - why not make a school soap, with some characters appearing in more or less all episodes? And each episode ending with a question to be answered in the following: will X win the heart of Y? Will Z get the 48 cane strokes? Will A be found out? Will Y be expelled? Is the new girl B really a baroness? What is mistress C hiding in her closet, and does girl P know?
ReplyDeleteWell, i was going to try to think of something helpful, but now I can't think of anything but the bit about doing nasty, horrible things to your models while you focus on their desires. However you manage the categories, I'm going to like this site!
ReplyDeleteI like Giles English's approach and would definitely like to be able to search by spanker as well as by spankee.
Guys, this is brilliant stuff - I knew you would come through! Thanks so much for all your contributions :)
ReplyDeleteGiles - Those four categories are a really helpful starting point, and I agree that between them they give a pretty good indication of the scene. I wonder if I could have a "misc" category for off-beat tags which don't fit into these four sections?
Frames, such as "it's all a fantasy" don't really impact on the erotic content, so I'd be surprised if anybody browsed for them.
Not necessarily: what about a hot bondage D/s fucking scene, where the top whispers threats into the bottom's ear, and the scene fades out to the CP scene he's describing? The explicit sex / D/s / bondage aspects of that scene all impact on the erotic content. Or a lesbian oral sex scene which fades out into the fantasies of the recipient, cutting back as she arrives at her climax? I'm really interested in creating this sort of tension between erotic sexual consent and fantasised non-consent. It'll put some hardcore spankos off, but who knows, it might attract some people who hadn't considered spanking hot before (like Zille's erotic, consensual spanking scene for I Feel Myself).
I like your idea of enabling viewers to tag content. They'd have to be moderated of course, but ... hrm. I will ask my developer if such a thing is possible.
Malc - When D read your comment he said "I approve of Malc. He has said everything I would have said, but more articulately and with some things I'd have missed." Geek <3
You are of course right that there's no point having a separate kind of database entry for the gender orientation stuff - that can be chucked in with the tags.
A "have not" hadn't occurred to me, but you are of course right. I might not even need the checkboxes, then, really. Hrm, the UI is going to take some thought - whether to allow the user to select what they want to see BEFORE displaying any content, or automatically show the most recent material with a prominent search function at the top of the page? What I kind of want is a smart list of categories in a side bar, which narrows the content visible on the page as you select/remove items from it, but I don't know how achievable that is...
I suspect for sanity and ease of use for updating you'll want a system that allows "macro tags", so that if you tag an update as "F/m/f" it will also tag the entry as "Femtop", "malesub", "femsub", "2subs", "1top", "3players", "maleplayer", and "femaleplayer".
This is TERRIFYINGLY close to the taglist I use in my personal scripts database, to make it easier to search for scrips appropriate to a shoot. (So for our shoot in Dec I searched by three person scene, M/ff, femsub, maletop, maleplayer, femaleplayer...)
I love the idea of a steampunk spanking scene, but I'm not sure I can afford the props yet. Although if I did, I would probably want to ask Hywel where he shot these sets...
iwasrobert - Good to know that other sites are getting wise to user's browsing and search needs! I can't wait for Northern Spanking's new site - apparently they've got Amy tagging all their own content and adding it to their search database. Great stuff. Next we just need to persuade sites to stop using gallery software that doesn't allow you to page through the images without clicking "back" the whole time, or having zips available for download where the content you want is buried inside three subfolders and you have to manually reconstruct the directory tree if you want any kind of sensible home browsing...
ReplyDeletePrefectdt - This being me, I'm inclined to have multiple historical tags - Wartime, Edwardian, Victorian, Regency, Elizabethan, Medieval, Ancient World - because I suspect a large proportion of my material is going to end up being set in the past. (Mostly because I love it, although partly because I have a "BBC period drama" face rather than the modern glamour face, so I tend to look out of place in contemporary settings.) But then, if I have fantastical scenarios - witches and wizards and magicians and princesses and peasants and so forth - would that be a sort of off-beat "timeline" category, or a separate kind of tag?
I like the idea of a pictorial category map, very much. Graphical interfaces are great if they're done well (although they're often not). I'll give it some thought - a library is a nice idea, I think that would suit me very well.
March - Oooh, yes, that kind of "refine your search" system is exactly what I was referring to to Malc in my previous comment. I've designed a few of them for work, but I imagine they're a pain to develop so it's ultimately going to be up to D (and how much of his time I can afford!)
Frants - Oh, I DEFINITELY want search for spanker! This site is partly about the female-gaze, but partly about the spankee's gaze - I want lots of focus on hot male and female spankers and they would certainly be listed in my "models" category.
As it happens, your school soap idea is something I've been considering for a number of years. In fact a photographer and I very nearly got together in producing a themed site a couple of years ago, but it fell through due to lack of funds. It's very very much on my list, though. Sort of similar to a filmed version of Lowewood, with new characters.
Indy - I'm so glad the idea appeals to someone other than me! The more you comment on my plans, the more I suspect that even though we have differing tastes in play, we have almost identical tastes in porn :) Your encouragement and support are very much appreciated!
@Pandora
ReplyDeleteIf the story has a frame, then you put it in all relevant categories.
You could also add a story-within-story category.
Pandora - pay particular attention to the work RealSpankings have done. According to a post on the co-owner's blog a while back, they track usage and can reconstruct individual users' browsing history. So chances are that their members area designs are based on actual usage trends & patterns, rather than just the usual guesswork and imitation.
ReplyDelete