Updating NWWBW

[Colossal Cockhole]

So, its been over a year since we've seen some real usage of the place, might be time for a coat of fresh paint, maybe rearrange the living room, breath some new life into here.

Suggestions for new sections, features, etc? What to keep, what to get rid of? Please share.

[Suzanne]

I love the banner. please lets keep that.

ulitimately I do think this is pretty much a bad hosting service. I just confused the crap out of myself trying to change my avatar, and is STILL DOESNT WORK. Thats not usually something that trips me up.

[Colossal Cockhole]

I would definitely like to move away from using proboards. there are free forums out there that are high quality, but they require server space to install them on, and unfortunately I don't have the working knowledge needed to get it working. something like Vbulletin (think CMX/Palisades forums) would be nice, but it requires one to pay for a license, and again requires working knowledge as to how to do it. I messaged Chad this morning regarding this and what it would take, but have not heard back from him yet.

I'm all for keeping the header, but didn't we have a blue one too?

[Luke]

The biggest thing for me would be the ability to see ALL the new posts easily, not just the last ten. That part always gets tedious and confusing when the board is amped.

As for the colours/skins I'm happy for anyone to change this whenever they want. Not attached to anything anymore.

My big question though is sghould the forums go private? Or at least the project areas? It allows us to post a greater breadth of in progress work more freely - stuff not ready for the public yet.

I similarly think membership should be by invite/request if it isnt already.

I am closing the iron curtain!

Thoughts? Can it be done?

[JTagmire]

I told Mike already that I'm ok with whatever you guys decide as far as a format goes. I'm more interested in the content and pretty familiar with proboards, so I don't have any major complaints.

As far as privacy goes, I'm ok with invite only. I think most forum formats will allow for multiple levels of privacy. We could most likely have 1 thread that is available to anyone who accesses the site. That thread can explain how to get access (could be one of our email addresses, or a new NWWBW address). And then it could be approved if it's someone we know or feel comfortable with.

[JTagmire]

Also, I don't think I saw this before but there is a link at the top for "new topics". It only shows thread titles (not actual posts) in the order they were posted. It may have been there forever, but I never noticed it.

[Colossal Cockhole]

I'm playing around with some new forum software (if you got the email from me you can check it out) I am fairly certain that we can do all that, and I know it definitely has the "new posts since your last visit" search option.

Luke, are you thinking of a private "in production" area? wouldn't that limit the amount of input that could be done, or would that be the point of it, so its more focused? Also why have it invite only? spambots? just curious as I don't want to limit, unless its for that thing that I think I know

[Luke]

There's a few reasons why I think private is the way to go:

- Diminishes random spam posts and unwanted attacks (wink)

- Some of these projects have an actual commercial component and it would be good to meter out what the public sees and at what stage.

- Many of us have dedicated sites where we showcase our stuff. It would be nice to do all the work and collaborating and sharing behind the scenes here and then post our finished work to the public on our respective sites. (A big reason for me drifting from here was the juggling between content for my blog and content for here. Would be nice to know I could post my finished stuff on my blog exclusively without people seeing how the sausage was made here).

When I say private/invited membership I don't mean curated or exclusive. If there's anyone out there that you want to join for any reason then you are welcome to add them into the loop. People are welcome to participate, or even just observe if its someone you know, but I don't think we benefit from being exposed to everyone all of the time.

[grug]

I think he might mean more of a things-that-aren't-ready-for-prime-time protection thing so that people don't swoop in and run with your idea before you've had a chance to, maybe?

I feel that making the whole forum invite only is a pretty good idea, rather than restricted areas - the point of the boards is to be able to a) collaborate and b) (more importantly?) spur each other on/get inspired to create?

So if you have a group of people who do that thing and only add like-minded folks, it seems like everything will be smooth sailing - yes?

[Luke]

To further clarify: I think that once you're a registered member you have access to all areas and can see everything, but I think you should have to register and be approved first. (And I mean that in very simple terms: e.g. :"Hey I've got a friend who wants to join" "Sure! They're in!" Zero judgment on who they are or what they do.

[Colossal Cockhole]

I have the basic layout of the other forum set up, and I started copying threads over to it to populate it, but its pretty slow going since it requires one to pretty much copy/paste from here to there (one of the long term issues we would run into using proboards I believe - can't export/save the data). membership can be set up to membership approval, so no one can join/post without first being approved to do so. once they are in, they are in.

I think I also have it set that only regular members can see the group/solo projects sections. if not, they are the only ones who can post to it, but I know we can get it to do that if needed.

I have not posted the link to the new board here yet only because I have been trying to set it up, but also because its a full on server address, and don't know if that should be publicly shared (guess it doesn't really matter though, if someones going to want to mess with it they'd know how to do it anyways), so if you want to see the new forum and you haven't yet (grug) let me know and I can get the link to you one way or another

oh, also, you can have a star wars avatar if you like.

[Luke]

We should each be randomly assigned another member's name and have to create an avatar for them.

GOOD WORK, SOLDIER!!

[Colossal Cockhole]

Sept 7, 2010 6:55:19 GMT -5 @Luke said:

We should each be randomly assigned another member's name and have to create an avatar for them.

GOOD WORK, SOLDIER!!

our first new group challenge on the new board perhaps? right along with porting everything over by hand.

[Colossal Cockhole]

Ok, so heres the plan....

1 - go here: www.noweekwillbewasted.com

2 - sign up

3 - start posting up a storm

4 - if theres threads here that you want there, either cut/paste them over, or provide a link back here, as these shouldn't be going anywhere.

I think I saw that I can email everyone directly, so we can send out a forum email blast to let folks know whats going on.

[grug]

That link isn't working for me