I notice a lot of fiction journals consider any online posting of stories a form of publication and disqualify them as a result. But yet I also see that many of us post stories here for feedback (and just to test them on a random audience). If you post a story on a forum, is that considered an exception? With the exceedingly long submission response times of most publications, I can't imagine submitting a story without getting some constructive feedback first. That's too much time to waste on a piece that may not be ready.
It depends. If the story is posted behind a password protected login, many, although not all, publications will not consider that publication, especially if a piece is workshopped. It's always best to check with the venue in question. But if the piece is freely available without a login, then that will usually disqualify it.
