About HiveStory.com

What is HiveStory?

HiveStory is an online collaborative dynamic story or set of stories. Every member of HiveStory.com has the opportunity to contribute words (or nodes) and vote on them to create and shape infinite possible story threads. The top ranking story threat at any given time is displayed on the front page of site. Visitors can explore all possible story threads. Contributors receive points for contributing nodes and when their contributed nodes receive votes from other users.

How do I participate?

To participate just register for your free account and log in. Then click on any node on the front page story or any other story thread. Enter a word in the text input field below to add another node to the story thread. Continue adding words for as long as you like to create your branch of the story. Anyone is free to add alternative branches starting from any of your nodes. Just as important as actually writing nodes, is voting. Voting determines which nodes form the front page story. Nodes with more votes will generally be more visible on the site, so it's important to vote for the nodes that you like. Each user receives one binary vote per node. That is, they can choose to either vote for it, or to not vote for it. Abstention from voting is essentially the same as choosing not to up-vote any nodes, so if you want your votes to count, you must actually vote for one or more alternatives. The author who contributed the node will receive one point for every vote their node receives. The end result will be a large 'tree' of possible story branches spreading in any and every possible direction.

How do I do punctuation, or paragraphs?

Punctuation can be added at the end of your node. This means that the node 'goodbye' would be treated as a distinct node from 'goodbye.' Paragraphs can be added by typing the short-code '[p]'.

Can I edit or delete my nodes?

If you are contributing to the story and wish to edit or delete your nodes, you may do so only when that node belongs to you and does not yet have any children. Once a child is added the buttons to delete and edit will no longer be available to you. If the children are deleted first you may then delete or edit the node again. If you find that you have mis-typed something or you change your mind, but are unable to delete the node we suggest that you simply create an alternative child node from the same parent and build on that.

What about moderation?

HiveStory is a democratic community and the main kind of moderation we have in place is the community based moderation of voting. Nodes which do not make sense or are in poor taste will generally not be voted for. However, we have included a report function to account for cases where HiveStory might unfortunately be used as a platform for abusive or spammy behaviour. If you see a node or branch that appears to have abusive, malicious, obscene or spammy behaviour you can click the 'report' button to report this to us. Our moderators will make a judgment call about what action should be taken including but not limited to removing the nodes and banning the users. Please note that not all reported nodes will be removed, and all decisions are final. Do not report nodes which you simply do not like, as they will not be removed without sufficient reason. Excessive misuse of the report function may result in banning. The moderation process will prioritize making sure that HiveStory is a safe and friendly community for all its users. Please understand that this is the internet, and instant complete moderation of all content is not realistic, but we will do our best.

What if I don't like the front page 'story'?

The brief is pretty broad, we understand: "Write a story." What genre is it? What style of narrative? From whose perspective is it written? We have not proscribed the answers to any of these questions. If you aren't inspired by the branch that forms the front page story at any given time, why not start your own? Click the 'Start' button on the top menu to create a new top level node. This node, if voted for enough times, could spawn a whole new generation of story branches or even become the basis for the new front page story.

If you just don't like reading the front page story and would like to explore deeper try hitting the 'random' button on the top menu. This will take you to a random node somewhere in the tree structure and allow you to experience a completely different story branch.

Will you be adding more features?

Absolutely! HiveStory.com is currently in beta mode. We have a host of new features in the queue for development. Initially we wanted to get the core function of the site working well, but you'll see new features being introduced over time. We plan to provide better opportunities for contributors to discuss the story threads and form a community around them. We also plan to introduce new ways of traversing the hidden tree of stories that aren't necessarily on the front page. If you have ideas that you'd like to see incorporated in feel free to let us know via the contact page.

How is HiveStory supported?

While in beta mode we have opted to make the site free of charge without advertising. Our expenses will be covered by donations from the user-base. As we improve the code base we'll look at the possibility of introducing advertising to help cover the costs. If we do so it will be in conjunction with an affordable premium membership to be able to use the site without ads. It will always be possible to use HiveStory for free.

If you've enjoyed the site, please consider making a small donation to aid development and cover the costs of running our servers etc. Every single dollar helps and is much appreciated.