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Questions for The Revival

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 10:09 am
by bookworm
It's been a while since we've needed one of these threads. :)


Was the Faction forum integration just a general idea that you proposed and will be figuring out details of how it will work during your term, or did you already have a process for it in mind? If so, please give an overview of your vision.

I had some new ideas come to me for how it could be achieved since the last time the topic was seriously discussed, I am interested in hearing what you think the best options are.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 10:24 pm
by Jehoshaphat
I remember you mentioning increasing the money per post, what, if any, are the specifics of this plan?

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:50 am
by The Top Crusader
Image

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 7:20 am
by Marvin D.
can I have a cookie? \:D/

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 7:21 pm
by Bren
The Top Crusader wrote:Image
I immediately thought the same thing when I saw the title. :yes:

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 9:16 pm
by Tea Ess
Thanks for posting this thread bookworm!
bookworm wrote:Was the Faction forum integration just a general idea that you proposed and will be figuring out details of how it will work during your term, or did you already have a process for it in mind? If so, please give an overview of your vision.

I had some new ideas come to me for how it could be achieved since the last time the topic was seriously discussed, I am interested in hearing what you think the best options are.
We would love to hear your new ideas. :yes: This is a fairly big change, so we would like to discuss it as a community before it's implemented. (for others, this was last discussed in 2016 in the Eco/Tech Committee here)

As I see it, there are a few main ways to do it:

1. A cold integration where we just immediately move all faction content into appropriate forums.
2. Temporarily moving faction content into some kind of holding tank(s), then integrating it into existing forums/subforums.
3. Establishing new permanent subforums that will host faction content on the main board.

My own preference is towards 2. This will let ToOers peruse and bump faction content for a period of time (say six weeks), but won't result in a granular and rigid division of board content. My concern with establishing more permanent subforums is that people are not going to be inclined to visit them. If we can get some of the faction threads reactivated, they will stay on the front pages of their respective forums and will hopefully get attention that way.

If we want to keep some kind of record of what threads were in each faction, I believe we talked about creating shadow links for topics. It's possible we could create a space in the Ruins where the factions and threads therein could be preserved and link to the integrated threads on the rest of the board.
Jehoshaphat wrote:I remember you mentioning increasing the money per post, what, if any, are the specifics of this plan?
Yes! We want to increase the cents earned per word to encourage longer posts. The flat fee has already been increased in some forums, and we may increase it in others to standardize it.
Marvin D. wrote:can I have a cookie? \:D/
Absolutely <3
Image

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Thu May 09, 2019 4:22 pm
by bookworm
I agree with your breakdown of the different approaches to the Factions TS, and the prevailing idea from before seemed to be the one you mention, having a holding period where the Factions are public so people can take stock of what's in them before their threads are dispersed to their various new locations because otherwise as you say they'll get dumped into the bottom of forums and no one will know and it didn't really accomplish much. This proposal overall makes good sense, but something I couldn't put my finger on before was nagging at me. I realize what it is now.

The end goal here is slightly misidentified, in my view. It's thought to be moving Faction threads into whatever public forum they belong. The problem is many, possibly most, don't belong.

Taking the Land of Narnia Faction as an example, consider this thread. The only reason that thread was created was because there was a designated 'thoughts about whatever Narnia' area where it fit. Its purpose was to present a single thought, with specific scope, directly to the Narnia community and get their immediate responses, then it was pretty much done with. Its very different than a thread that is posted to one of the public forums, where the topic is more broad and discussion is intended to continue for a good amount of time. If there was not a Narnia Faction I never would have posted that as its own thread; it doesn't meet the public forum standards. Retroactively relocating it now, putting the logistical difficulties aside of figuring out where it belongs in content (does it go into books? movies?), wherever it finally ended up it wouldn't belong in feeling. If at the time of posting it would have been out of place on the main board, that is still the case now. Its a quintessential Faction forum thread: not fitting, and not intended to fit, in any of the primary forums.

There are multiple similar cases in that Faction, and the other Faction boards are filled with their own examples of these kinds of 'mini threads', because that's precisely what Factions are for. Things that would be out of place in the main forums because they are either too fleeting or too laser focused on a single idea or thought someone had and wanted to just put out there. They don't fit in the public forums; that's why they were posted in a Faction rather than a standard forum to begin with.

So I submit that the goal of this process should not in fact be moving Faction threads into the main forums, but moving Faction forums into the main board. Saying just dump the threads where they would belong makes sense at first, but after actually looking at the specifics of trying to do that with a few test cases I've realized that they are already where they belong: with their other Faction threads that share a common subject matter.

I would propose a new subforum called Former Factions is created which is like the Ruins, but open for posting, and contains whatever Faction forums are decided to make public. Still self contained, where fleeting threads make sense among their own kind, but now visible to all with the opportunity for new input. And for new threads - which wouldn't be the case if the existing ones were just dumped out into one of the main forums. By preserving the Faction structure in this way people seeing these areas for the first time would feel comfortable adding their own 'passing thought' threads now that there's a place that actually makes sense to do. It would be like re-energizing the Factions themselves, with the added bonus that now that they are public that also re-energizes the board as a whole.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 9:42 pm
by Jehoshaphat
Do you guys want to make all factions public? I think most of them should be made available to the eyes of the public but there are some that have mature content or have other things that should be accounted for.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Fri May 10, 2019 11:35 pm
by snubs
bookworm wrote:I would propose a new subforum called Former Factions is created which is like the Ruins, but open for posting, and contains whatever Faction forums are decided to make public. Still self contained, where fleeting threads make sense among their own kind, but now visible to all with the opportunity for new input. And for new threads - which wouldn't be the case if the existing ones were just dumped out into one of the main forums. By preserving the Faction structure in this way people seeing these areas for the first time would feel comfortable adding their own 'passing thought' threads now that there's a place that actually makes sense to do. It would be like re-energizing the Factions themselves, with the added bonus that now that they are public that also re-energizes the board as a whole.
So far this is the best idea I've heard about "what to do with old Factions." Because I know a lot of people didn't want to just "delete" them or even archive them (because people could only look and not post). But this idea opens them all up for everyone to see (and post) while also keeping them in their own section.

I don't know if this is what you were thinking but.. what if instead of a subforum we made it a forum, like Crestwood, Whit's End, etc. and you only saw all the subforums/factions when you clicked on it. I know this is essentially what it is now, but maybe somehow making it more integrated into the board. It really lengthens the index when you are a member of so many factions (like I am) to have them all show. However, personally, I do like seeing them all a quickly being about to see which ones have new posts, but one could just as easily do that by clicking on the forum. *shrugs*

Also.. not all of the factions should be made public. Because there are ones that are only exclusive to girls, guys, and older/younger members. Factions like those should remain as factions you can request to join. Maybe put them.. if they are not already, in the "Clan Headquarters" section.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Sat May 11, 2019 9:11 am
by Bren
Personally, I'm looking forward to Culinary Delicacies being public. It's a great area that could possibly spark discussion among the older generation in terms of great new meals to try.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Sun May 12, 2019 8:33 pm
by bookworm
I mistyped; as snubs said Former Factions would be a new forum, not subforum. And as she also suggested, having it just be one link until you click in rather than everything being visible from the index and stretching the page is what I had in mind. (As I understand this is already the plan for tweaking the rest of the forums anyway?)

And yeah, I think it goes without saying we're not dumping every single forum into the public. Some need to stay in the actual Faction system be it due to privacy or content. The vast majority are okay to release though.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Fri Jul 05, 2019 8:31 pm
by snubs
:-

..so, umm, how come we haven't heard anything from you guys in like 2 months? :(

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 11:56 am
by Bren
I could be wrong but I believe TS is out of the country.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:13 pm
by bookworm
Catsville coup :-$

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:41 pm
by Bren
I honestly wonder if we should've had another Town Council.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 9:01 am
by bookworm
We're lucky there wasn't a crime wave, with both admins disappearing before the new police were even in place.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:45 am
by Bren
I thought about vandalizing Whit's End. :-

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 12:59 pm
by Marvin D.
i want to let everyone out of Hillingdale Haven \:D/

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Thu Jul 11, 2019 3:08 pm
by Monty_Whittaker
I am secretly the vigilante that stopped all crime.
I'm Batman.

Re: Questions for The Revival

Posted: Fri Aug 09, 2019 5:29 pm
by EK
The Goof Club wishes to remain autonomous and private. \:D/