Post by Christopher J Gould on Jul 14, 2013 6:28:24 GMT -5
Hi Moonites.
I am sorry I have been out of action for a while. I won't go into the reasons again but leaving work, getting the new workshop up and running, organising (with Anthony) the Evening of Mystery, performing and trying to get some stuff sold accounts for most of it!
Still - I have been having some thoughts about rearranging things here on this forum. But it is your forum so I am consulting and will follow what you say you want, so please discuss - I am listening.
These are my thoughts:
1. Reorganisation of the Alchemy Moon Forum.
The basic aim of this is to make it a forum independent of Alchemy Moon - you guys have made this your forum and made it into something unique and special. So I want to help it along that path.
I also want to tidy it up so that navigation is more simple and more intuitive.
So what will this leave us with?
A streamlined experience.
You come in and chat on the one thread - just like on the Cafe, but without the shit.
However, in the second section 'Magician's Studio' there are areas for specific themes. So, if you want to talk about performance or Tarot for example, you would post here.
So, one area for general chat and one area for more topic based discussion.
Entertainment will stay the same - just a place to post anything that you find that is cool and you would like to share with others.
If I want to find out more about one of the specific projects - I go and read in the Library.
A note about Libraries.
Each Section will have ONE subsection - consistent in each section - called the Library. The aim of this is simple. If a post is made that anyone thinks has value, it is edited and pasted into the Library. The idea is that we form a repository of knowledge for each section. So each thread in the library is a separate 'book'. A book that you are the author of.
My original idea was to have a single librarian for each section. I still think this is the best way, but I think it is asking too much of one person. So my idea is that the moderators of each section remain - their job is to just look after that section - this is what you moderators already do, so I am just stating what already happens. So anyone can start compiling a 'book' or thread in any of the libraries. However, the moderators have final control - they can edit and remove 'bad books'.
One final thing about the Library - for this to work will take some dedication on behalf of the members here - it is asking a lot to spend some time sorting thought threads, editing copying and pasting to compile books in the library. So, it may be a fanciful dream on my part. IF everyone thinks it is a good idea and puts some work into it, it will happen. IF not, then we will chop 'burn down the libraries' for the sake of simplicity.
So what now?
First off - please post your thoughts - this can be a simple 'yay' or 'nay'. Or if you have better ideas, post them.
Next - assuming this is approved - I will make one big repository and stick everything that would otherwise be deleted in there.
Most stuff will stay the same of course - so all the chat threads and all the Magician Studio threads can stay the same. But anything else can be put in an open repository, so that it is not simply lost.
So next job (and I will need help with this!) is for people to cut and paste anything they want from this repository into the main forum.
Next - I will need to confirm that the moderators want to stay the same - I hope this is the case. But this is a good time to say if you want someone else to take over your section.
Magic Marketplace.
Anthony and I have been talking about this. The upshot is, we are not sure that it is viable.
It is a great idea, and having an alternative forum for dealers to promote there wares in a more logical and ethical manner is well overdue.
BUT
To make this work, the whole community needs to really get behind it. Both financially and in terms of practical help.
Let's put it this way - I can either spend a day working on the Marketplace and earn nothing, or the same time making and selling Alchemy Moon products and earning the money I need to pay the bills.
I have to take these considerations seriously now, as this is my only source of income.
So, without dealers paying for banners and thinking that it is worth their time and money to support the Market Place, it will not survive.
The alternative to this is that we keep the Market place where it is and make it a totally free resource.
Maybe keep the banner system the same - i.e. genuine donations to help with time for the upkeep. But keep the shops simple and free - a single section with a single thread for each shop.
If this works - then it makes more sense to have the 'non-bumping' review section there rather than here.
Finally, what about Alchemy Moon?
The original idea of this forum was to promote my work and put out news of new stuff, as well as give customer support.
I still need this facility - so I am thinking of constructing a third forum that will be specifically for this.
So, InnerI (what was that anyway?) will disappear from the menu and Alchemy Moon will go there instead. This means that it is a seamless experience to go from here to the Marketplace and to Alchemy Moon. At the same time, this forum is cleaned up by getting rid of all those loose ends.
I hope that this all makes sense. If not ask questions below.
Let me know if you agree/disagree/have other ideas.
I am going to give everyone ONE WEEK to discuss. No feedback means that you all agree and I will sart making these changes next Sunday.
Chris
I am sorry I have been out of action for a while. I won't go into the reasons again but leaving work, getting the new workshop up and running, organising (with Anthony) the Evening of Mystery, performing and trying to get some stuff sold accounts for most of it!
Still - I have been having some thoughts about rearranging things here on this forum. But it is your forum so I am consulting and will follow what you say you want, so please discuss - I am listening.
These are my thoughts:
1. Reorganisation of the Alchemy Moon Forum.
The basic aim of this is to make it a forum independent of Alchemy Moon - you guys have made this your forum and made it into something unique and special. So I want to help it along that path.
I also want to tidy it up so that navigation is more simple and more intuitive.
- I am thinking of making it independent of the 'Alchemy Moon Brand', as much as possible. However, I do not want to change the name or address 'Moon.boards.net' as this will just be another 'too big' upheaval. So keep the address and keep the banner graphics - only change the title to Moon Forums.
- Simplify - it is too messy and difficult to get around here.
So I am thinking this.
keep the Lunar Lounge and the two subsections - 'Talk Beneath the Moon' and 'Entertainment' - however get rid of the subsections as they do not really serve a purpose. This means that the experience will be more straight forward - a single thread for chat. - Do we need to add a review section? This will keep all of the product hype out of the main forum. Also, a good place to genuinely let us know if you have fond something worth buying. I think this is a good idea and I have a devastatingly simple way of getting it hype free; make the threads non-bump-able.
- Keep the Magician's Studio and all of the subsections. I think this still has great value. However, I do not think anyone is sure of what the subsections are for and it is therefore confusing. The idea was to have a library of valuable contributions. This means that if an important point is made, it does not get pushed down and get lost. I wanted, and still want this forum to be a repository of knowledge, a sort of library. So this is what I propose - each section has one sub-forum called 'library'. More on the libraries later.
- Get rid of the 'Projects' subsection altogether. but move the subsection 'special projects' into the magicians studio.
- Get rid of 'Magic Market' altogether.
- Keep 'The Hidden' section - but just have two sections - 1. The Lodge - this will just be for admins of the board to chat or discuss ideas (such as this one!) and 2. Projects - this will be for members to discuss specific project they want help with of feed back on. We have some great ideas in there, none of them realised. One of the reasons for this is that it was too messy and too confusing. So a single section for projects and playtesting - a thread in the section for each project etc. This section would be restricted to 'the team' of admins - i.e. close friends. This will be the only password protected area.
So what will this leave us with?
A streamlined experience.
You come in and chat on the one thread - just like on the Cafe, but without the shit.
However, in the second section 'Magician's Studio' there are areas for specific themes. So, if you want to talk about performance or Tarot for example, you would post here.
So, one area for general chat and one area for more topic based discussion.
Entertainment will stay the same - just a place to post anything that you find that is cool and you would like to share with others.
If I want to find out more about one of the specific projects - I go and read in the Library.
A note about Libraries.
Each Section will have ONE subsection - consistent in each section - called the Library. The aim of this is simple. If a post is made that anyone thinks has value, it is edited and pasted into the Library. The idea is that we form a repository of knowledge for each section. So each thread in the library is a separate 'book'. A book that you are the author of.
My original idea was to have a single librarian for each section. I still think this is the best way, but I think it is asking too much of one person. So my idea is that the moderators of each section remain - their job is to just look after that section - this is what you moderators already do, so I am just stating what already happens. So anyone can start compiling a 'book' or thread in any of the libraries. However, the moderators have final control - they can edit and remove 'bad books'.
One final thing about the Library - for this to work will take some dedication on behalf of the members here - it is asking a lot to spend some time sorting thought threads, editing copying and pasting to compile books in the library. So, it may be a fanciful dream on my part. IF everyone thinks it is a good idea and puts some work into it, it will happen. IF not, then we will chop 'burn down the libraries' for the sake of simplicity.
So what now?
First off - please post your thoughts - this can be a simple 'yay' or 'nay'. Or if you have better ideas, post them.
Next - assuming this is approved - I will make one big repository and stick everything that would otherwise be deleted in there.
Most stuff will stay the same of course - so all the chat threads and all the Magician Studio threads can stay the same. But anything else can be put in an open repository, so that it is not simply lost.
So next job (and I will need help with this!) is for people to cut and paste anything they want from this repository into the main forum.
Next - I will need to confirm that the moderators want to stay the same - I hope this is the case. But this is a good time to say if you want someone else to take over your section.
Magic Marketplace.
Anthony and I have been talking about this. The upshot is, we are not sure that it is viable.
It is a great idea, and having an alternative forum for dealers to promote there wares in a more logical and ethical manner is well overdue.
BUT
To make this work, the whole community needs to really get behind it. Both financially and in terms of practical help.
Let's put it this way - I can either spend a day working on the Marketplace and earn nothing, or the same time making and selling Alchemy Moon products and earning the money I need to pay the bills.
I have to take these considerations seriously now, as this is my only source of income.
So, without dealers paying for banners and thinking that it is worth their time and money to support the Market Place, it will not survive.
The alternative to this is that we keep the Market place where it is and make it a totally free resource.
Maybe keep the banner system the same - i.e. genuine donations to help with time for the upkeep. But keep the shops simple and free - a single section with a single thread for each shop.
If this works - then it makes more sense to have the 'non-bumping' review section there rather than here.
Finally, what about Alchemy Moon?
The original idea of this forum was to promote my work and put out news of new stuff, as well as give customer support.
I still need this facility - so I am thinking of constructing a third forum that will be specifically for this.
So, InnerI (what was that anyway?) will disappear from the menu and Alchemy Moon will go there instead. This means that it is a seamless experience to go from here to the Marketplace and to Alchemy Moon. At the same time, this forum is cleaned up by getting rid of all those loose ends.
I hope that this all makes sense. If not ask questions below.
Let me know if you agree/disagree/have other ideas.
I am going to give everyone ONE WEEK to discuss. No feedback means that you all agree and I will sart making these changes next Sunday.
Chris