#B2BCyCon Think Tank discussion

[7 April 2016 - The map is now finalized! If there are problems with it, please message me!]

Earlier info below...

Update!

The Booth Map is up and running!

I request that everyone tag their booths with the appropriate categories.

Note: the tags are per booth (or author), not per comment in your thread.

Please put one or more of the tags below into any of the posts in your booth. I'd really appreciate it if you also linked to the map: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

Map Categories:
#Children
#Comedy
#Fantasy
#Horror
#Historical
#Memoir
#MiddleGrade (new!)
#Mystery
#Nonfiction
#Paranormal (new!)
#Poetry
#Romance
#ScienceFiction
#Steampunk
#Suspense
#Thriller
#WomensFiction
#YA

Note: I have to run a tool to regenerate the map periodically, so you won't see your booth sorted right away.

[Original post below]

I would like to have an image map navigation of the booths. I'm imagining it would be something like a "tag cloud" so you would, for example, see blocks such as "Fantasy," "Romance," Giveways," etc. Then you could click on one and see another map with the next level down of tags. So, for example, you could reach a Fantasy Romance booth either by exploring Fantasy>Romance or Romance>Fantasy. (For those not familiar with tag clouds, the size of the blocks would give you an idea of how much content there was within that group, similar to a map of physical booths at a fair where they're grouped by category. The advantage over a physical map, of course, is that the same booth can appear under different navigation paths).

I'm researching the Goodreads API and trying to figure out if this idea is feasible. I have programming experience, but I've never built an HTML navigation image from forum data before.

If I make progress, I'll post more about it here. Suggestions (and tips if you know of any web technologies that make this easier!) are welcome.

Progress report: I've figured out how to get a list of the topics in the fairgrounds programmatically.

The posts don't have tags that I could use for sorting, though. If I can get the final map image navigation working, do you think authors would be willing to add something to the bottom of their booth post like "Map keys: #fantasy #romance #giveaway"?

C.C. wrote: "I would like to have an image map navigation of the booths. I'm imagining it would be something like a "tag cloud" so you would, for example, see blocks such as "Fantasy," "Romance," Giveways," etc..."


Wow! You're referring to a category that shows hierarchy! Wonderful idea!!! If there is anything I can do to help, let me know :)

I do recommend something like:

Genres
Romance
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Memoir
Events
Facebook
Games
Interviews
Giveaways
Romance
Fantasy
Science Fiction
Memoir

Etc....

C.C. wrote: "Progress report: I've figured out how to get a list of the topics in the fairgrounds programmatically.

The posts don't have tags that I could use for sorting, though. If I can get the final map im..."


I would most definitely do this. Anything to boost traffic to my booth. I imagine there are many others who would take advantage of the work you are doing.

C.C. wrote: "do you think authors would be willing to add something to the bottom of their booth post like "Map keys: #fantasy #romance #giveaway"?"

Absolutely! It's a phenomenal idea. I for one would be happy to tag my booth.

Progress report!
Here's something to give you an idea of what I'm working on:
http://riverfiction.com/backstage/ind...

It's only one level deep at this point and it's not very pretty, but I'm learning quite a bit. I'm optimistic about getting something usable before April.

Please note: the content of my current "map" is wrong, since the booths don't have real #tags yet (and I'm faking them), and the data is going to go "stale" so the images and links might be broken. Also, some non-ASCII characters are getting scrambled. Don't worry about any of that at this point! It's a work in progress! :-D

Angela: We could recommend your tags to people, but the system would be dynamic so that people could put literally anything they wanted in #tags and the map would adjust. I'm not sure I'm explaining this very well, so let me get the hierarchy working so we can see if it makes sense...

C.C. wrote: "Progress report!
Here's something to give you an idea of what I'm working on:
http://riverfiction.com/backstage/ind...

It's only one level deep at this point and it's not very pretty, but I'm..."

I LOVE THIS, CC!!! Excellent job!!!

When it's ready, let me know and I will blast it to the group! :)

I'd be happy to tag my booth. It would work similar to hashtags on Twitter, yes?

Hi A.F.,

Yes, the hastags would be similar to Twitter. Now that I've thought about this some more, though, I worry about people using different tags for the same thing (e.g. #SF and #SciFi) so maybe we'd need a "master list" of approved tags after all.

Progress report: I have the hierarchy working! Check it out at http://riverfiction.com/backstage/

So now the big question is: how do we decide on the "master list" of tags so that we can ask everyone to #tag their posts?

I would think genre tags would probably be easiest.
Things like:
#Comedy #DarkFantasy #Dystopian #Erotica #Historical #Literature #Mystery #NonFiction #Paranormal #Poetry #Romance #RomanticSuspense #TrueStories #ScienceFiction #ShortStory #Anthology #Steampunk #Suspense #UrbanFantasy
#WomensFiction #YA #Memoir #Thriller #Horror

Thanks, A.F.! I've updated my tool to support all of these, plus #Fantasy, #Giveaway, and #FreeRead. I can add more if there are requests. Also, I made it so #NoMap will exclude a topic from the map (which we may want to do for the Sign Post, for example).

Here's the page with "real" data (which means just my booth is tagged, at the moment): http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/
[Note: we'll need to figure out if we want to host it somewhere else before we make this widely public].

I still have some issues to debug, but I'd appreciate it if some folks would #tag their booths so I can work with more real data.

Note that I have to manually re-generate the map (by running my tool) to update it with the latest data, so you won't see your booth sorted right away after you #tag it.

Thanks!

C.C. wrote: "Thanks, A.F.! I've updated my tool to support all of these, plus #Fantasy, #Giveaway, and #FreeRead. I can add more if there are requests. Also, I made it so #NoMap will exclude a topic from the ma..."

I added a few tags to my booth.

Thanks, A.F., that was extremely helpful!

It turns out that this many categories generates WAY TOO MANY FILES.

Unfortunately, because of the technology I'm using, I'm generating all the files statically instead of having the server create the content when the user follows a link.

So I think we need to pare down the list.

Also note that the #tags aren't per post, they're per "booth."

C.C. wrote: "Thanks, A.F., that was extremely helpful!

It turns out that this many categories generates WAY TOO MANY FILES.

Unfortunately, because of the technology I'm using, I'm generating all the files sta..."

Okay. Maybe main genres only, and a tag limit per booth?

http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/ is updated (with A.F.'s tags).

Here's my current tag list:
#Comedy
#Fantasy
#Horror
#Historical
#Memoir
#Mystery
#Nonfiction
#Poetry
#Romance
#ScienceFiction
#Steampunk
#Suspense
#Thriller
#WomensFiction
#YA

(I'm treating the DarkFantasy tag as Fantasy).

I also added code to "prune" the navigation tree when we get to landing pages with only one booth. (Sorry, that was a stupid mistake on my part for not doing that earlier). So maybe we'll be able to add more categories. I think we should start with a minimal list, though.

C.C. wrote: "http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/ is updated (with A.F.'s tags).

Here's my current tag list:
#Comedy
#Fantasy
#Horror
#Historical
#Memoir
#Mystery
#Nonfiction
#Poetry
#Romance
#ScienceFiction
#Ste..."

I've trimmed down my tags to match your latest list. Hope it helps.

I've gone ahead and tagged my booth. But just so I know I'm not doing it incorrectly somehow, will a hashtag at the bottom of my first post do?

Yes, a hashtag at the bottom of the first post is fine. Thanks for tagging!

I've updated the map, and it seems to be working: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

C.C. wrote: "Yes, a hashtag at the bottom of the first post is fine. Thanks for tagging!

I've updated the map, and it seems to be working: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/"

Hello, C.C.

I've added the following tags to my booth!

Map Tags:
#Fantasy
#Historical
#Memoir
#Romance
#Thriller
#WomensFiction


Thank you for your hard work!!! WOW!! Let me know if you want me to mass message the group. Please note: You could have 200+ people swarming you.

Thanks, Angela! I updated the site: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

I don't think I'm ready to message everyone yet, but I'd appreciate it if a few more people would tag their booths. I'm still not 100% sure this is going to work (or if the number of files is going to go out of control). [Edit - it occurs to me that I can limit the "depth" of the navigation if the number of files becomes a problem, so I'm going to add this feature and then we can open the floodgates!]

Also, are you OK with me hosting the map at my site (RiverFiction.com) or is there somewhere else it should go?

Awesome I will tag my booth right now! I hope it helps.

Cheers

MTM

Thank you! Map updated: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

C.C. wrote: "Thanks, Angela! I updated the site: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

I don't think I'm ready to message everyone yet, but I'd appreciate it if a few more people would tag their booths. I'm still ..."

I have no problems with you hosting the map at your site :) This is your baby :) I will be adding a comment, directing people to the map on the Fairgrounds so you get that added "boost" to draw in awareness.

Angela, I'd appreciate it if you'd message everyone about the Booth Map now. Thanks!

------

The Booth Map is up and running!

I request that everyone tag their booths with the appropriate categories.

Note: the tags are per booth (or author), not per comment in your thread.

Please put one or more of the tags below into any of the posts in your booth. I'd really appreciate it if you also linked to the map: http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/

Map Categories:
#Children
#Comedy
#Fantasy
#Horror
#Historical
#Memoir
#MiddleGrade (new!)
#Mystery
#Nonfiction
#Paranormal (new!)
#Poetry
#Romance
#ScienceFiction
#Steampunk
#Suspense
#Thriller
#WomensFiction
#YA

Note: I have to run a tool to regenerate the map periodically, so you won't see your booth sorted right away.

Questions you might have:
Q1) Do the #tags need to be in a specific location?
A1) The #tags can be in any comment in your booth's thread (as long as the post is authored by you). You can inline them in your text. I chose to put them all in one line at the bottom of my booth's main post.

Q2) Can we add additional #tags?
A2) I can add tags, but to be fair I think there should be more than one person requesting a particular tag. I don't want an overwhelming number of tags, but I want to have a set that represents our authors well. See the requested tag list at the end of this post.

Q3) What should I do if I see a problem with the map?
A3) If it's not loading for you, please give it a couple minutes and try again (as I might be in the process of uploading new files). If you see other problems (e.g. overlapping text), please send me a message and let me know what web browser and operating system you're using.

Q4) What should I do if I have a suggestion to improve the map?
A4) Please message me so we can discuss it!

Q5) Can a booth be excluded from the map?
A5) Yes, if it is tagged with #NoMap

Requested tags that haven't been added yet (due to not enough requests):
#DarkRomance
#AnimalMemoir
#Pets
#Parenting
#Educators
#KidsLit
#PB
#Comics
#LGBT
#Dystopian
#Erotica
(Let me know if you, too, want one of the above)

OK, I added the #tags to my page, and checked the map. I am on the general map, but not showing up under the tags. I tried back and hour later and still not.

Do we have to do something more to make sure we are tagged in the guide, or do I simply need to give it more time?

I will be the first to admit that I am not super technologically savvy... thanks for the help!

To tag we put the tag in the comment box? Or? Don't want to mes it up!

Heidi wrote: "OK, I added the #tags to my page, and checked the map. I am on the general map, but not showing up under the tags. I tried back and hour later and still not.

Hi Heidi, updating is a manual process, so you won't see your changes right away. But, if I'm looking at your booth correctly, I don't think you included the # in front of your tags, so my tool won't pick them up.

Marie wrote: "To tag we put the tag in the comment box? Or? Don't want to mes it up!"
Hi Marie, you can put the tags in any of the posts in your own "booth" (which is your thread in the fairgrounds). You can look at the bottom of my "booth" post for an example: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

ok, I thought we were supposed to use the tags in goodreads. I will fix that in a bit. thanks so much!

C.C. wrote: "Marie wrote: "To tag we put the tag in the comment box? Or? Don't want to mes it up!"
Hi Marie, you can put the tags in any of the posts in your own "booth" (which is your thread in the fairgrounds..."

Thank you!!!! I think I get it now!! Will take care of it tomorrow morning!

Hello! I just made my booth -- is there anything I have to do, other than adding the tags, to get it on the map?

Thanks!
(Link, just in case you need it)
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

V.S. wrote: "Hello! I just made my booth..."
Hi V.S.,
I just updated the map and it looks like you're all set!

C.C. wrote: "V.S. wrote: "Hello! I just made my booth..."
Hi V.S.,
I just updated the map and it looks like you're all set!"

Thanks so much!

Got tags in my booth though they have no tag for animal memoirs or Pets. How do I get Map to link properly> I can't seem to insert the link in MAP in my Booth.

Hello,
Tagged my booth with #Fantasy. Do I also need to add the link?
Anything else, just let me know.
Thanks!
C

Links to the map are appreciated, but not required. :-)

I updated the map and it looks like your newly-tagged booths are showing up correctly.

Thanks so much for doing the map! It's fabulous and I'll make sure to share it. I've updated my author pics on Goodreads and I think I stuffed up the image link on your map. Will the new pic pop in when the map regenerates.

Cheers,

Tracy

I'm having trouble with the Map Link -- it's giving me the 403: Forbidden Error message. Is there a new or working one?

V.S. wrote: "I'm having trouble with the Map Link -- it's giving me the 403: Forbidden Error message. Is there a new or working one?"
As I said in the Q&A section, the map will be down when I'm updating it. It's up again now. Sorry!

Tracy wrote: "Thanks so much for doing the map! It's fabulous and I'll make sure to share it. I've updated my author pics on Goodreads and I think I stuffed up the image link on your map. Will the new pic pop in..."
I updated the map and your new picture seems to be working now.

How do I get on and direct others to get on the Map?
Cheers!

Charlene wrote: "How do I get on and direct others to get on the Map?
Cheers!"
Every "booth" in the fairgrounds will appear on the top-level page (http://riverfiction.com/bookfair/inde...). [Note: newly-added booths won't appear until the next time I manually update the map. The creation date for the page is at the bottom for reference].

If you want to appear on the filtered pages (when users click categories in the image) then your booth needs to include one of the Twitter-like hashtags that I list in the first post in this thread. There's also a Q&A post in this thread. If you need more help, please message me!

Thanks so much C.C. I'm off and running so to speak...

fell right away off my horse...how do I link those twitter words, memoir, nonfiction, poetry, womensfiction and historical to my page?
thanks again...

Charlene wrote: "how do I link those twitter words..."
Hi Charlene, I updated the map and your booth is categorized correctly. If I might make a suggestion, though, you can move the hashtags all the way to the bottom of your post so that they don't distract your readers. For example, look at how I made them like a footnote on my booth: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thank you C.C. and I am going in to move them now...cheers!

C.C. wrote: "Tracy wrote: "Thanks so much for doing the map! It's fabulous and I'll make sure to share it. I've updated my author pics on Goodreads and I think I stuffed up the image link on your map. Will the ..."
Thanks!

Can we add to tags ... #parenting #educators ?