I know the programming for this might be seen as impossible (via a coding/legal standpoint), but I thought it would be a good idea to explore/discuss since it would make beta'ng on the site so much more advanced/community-driven.

I've been a long-time beta for a long time in other fandoms and very occasionally I'll help beta a SessKag story, but frankly, I mostly only have time to read through a story these days, like so many others. I'll usually see a few (and sometimes many) errors on my first read-through, and usually I just skip over/ignore them since I don't have the time to go to the author's profile, copy and paste and give a complete run-through on why this-and-this needs to be corrected. As any avid reader and beta knows, this process can take quite a while.

So, I thought: Wouldn't it be so much easier if the site was somewhat like Google Docs and its revision capabilities? Each user, if it were to be tried, could have an option where they put the story in 'revision mode' and as they read through the story, they could highlight the grammar/spelling errors as they go and have their own comments on them to briefly explain why/how certain things need correction. Then, when they have all their revisions complete, they can 'send' the revision to the author for them to look through and correct what they see fit. This, imo, could help stories in a community-beta setting for stories that are lacking a beta and just need help, period. Even some well-written stories that *have* a beta are known for having quite a few errors throughout their writing, even ones their betas can't spot. If this option were available on the site, I (and possibly many others) would be able to more efficiently help beta chapters/stories for authors without having to take all the steps needed to help out with only minor issues like grammar/spelling.

Would this option be plausible, and, if so, would other readers/betas be willing to give their own corrections if they can spot them through their first and second read-throughs? I won't deny that some stories need a full beta on their stories and most of the time those betas do their jobs very well. However... we also mustn't forget that not all betas are created equal and some of the best betas in fandom can get sloppy (I myself am guilty of this, as well). Community Beta'ng would help smooth the edges for not only well-written stories but for authors who do not have a steady beta and need a hand with their writing's basics.

Just thought I'd throw this idea out there and see where it lands... Thoughts? ^^

So, not that I've really beta'd a lot, or am any good at it, but I can see how this idea would work and I like it a lot. I actually use Google drive/docs for some personal writing and a friend of mine and I role-play there as well. So far, it's the best interface we can find that allows multiple people to made edits/changes at the same time. The only big concerns would be to make sure that A, the copy on drive/docs isn't the original copy and is in fact only a copy and B, that not everyone was able to copy, because that would only make it all the more simple for that work to be plagiarized.

I still think it could work though, if the site had this kind of feature. I'm not entirely sure how it would work exactly, but I think it's a really good idea. I don't use a beta, as most of my readers are probably aware, mostly because the beta's either take too long to edit, or they try and change/nitpick every single detail about the story, rather than worrying about mistakes. But that's more preference than anything. However, if the site offered this feature, I'd probably try and make use of it.

It would be a challenge to make a platform like that for Dokuga, no doubt about it. It would also be challenging to make it so the original chapters were unchanged while the 'copy' would be only viewable by the author (or, if readers/beta want to see others' changes, that should also be an option).

However, when it comes to plagiarism, I'm afraid that the Google Docs Beta feature wouldn't make a bit of difference. This would be a chapter-by-chapter beta doc, so people wouldn't be able to download/copy the entire story. Most authors freak out at making things 'too easy' for plagiarizers, but the truth is this: Dokuga already has an easy way for people to steal stories (as does the rest of the net)---it's called copy and paste. All one has to do is highlight the text they want (chapter by chapter), copy it and then paste it into Word/Notepad. If there was a Beta feature this wouldn't be any different than just copying the chapters via the copy and paste function that people already use.

However, the risks (miniscule as they are) are far outweighed by the rewards that having a Community Beta Feature would have. Thanks for your thoughts, tho! This is turning into an interesting discussion