New Potterverse Website -- myHogwarts
The following site was just posted the the Severus_Snape_Is_Hot email list; not sure how long it's been around, it seems to be fairly new:
http://myhogwarts.co.uk/
It's described as being an online site for Potter fans by Potter fans.
Here are some of it's features:
myHogwarts Library:
Read and write your own books for the myHogwarts Library.
Wizard Cities:
Meet and connect with other fans in your local area.
The Auditorium:
Attend live, online events and fanfilm screenings.
wrockBOX Wizarding Radio:
An entirely-online, in-character wizarding radio station.
Social Networking:
Meet so many new friends that all share the same passion.
Book Discussions:
Discuss and debate the series from start to finish.
Further information on myHogwarts Library:
Read and write books for the myHogwarts Library
Taking fan-fiction one step further, we encourage users to read and write books for the myHogwarts library.
On MH, every user is able to create an Author Profile which consists of a specific headshot and literary biography. This Author Profile is displayed on every book you write, and when viewed, will display a list of books you have written for the library.
Books are written and published directly on the website as text, meaning there's no software or downloads necessary to view the material. Books can be in-character (fanfiction) such as your own version of Rita Skeeter's 'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore', or out-of-character, like a study of Voldemort's path of destruction.
Not only can you search for books about particular topics (even in specific categories), but you can also mark your favorites, share, rate and review any book as well.
Wizard Cities:
Connect with Potter fans in your local area
It's great meeting fans online, but because of the amount of people using myHogwarts, we thought it would be a neat idea to offer fans a way to connect with each other in person... so began Wizard Cities.
Once logged in, you can search for any city in the world (with a population over 1,000). Each city has its own page containing a community wall, event board and resident list.
You are able to join multiple cities as well, making it easy to keep track of what's going on in neighboring areas!
This feature is entirely optional. You do not need to provide any location information to register or use MH. This feature is primarily intended for fans to create group hangouts and events.
The Auditorium:
Watch and attend live events, discussions, fanfilm screenings, concerts and more
The Auditorium is a common gathering place for MH users to socialize over a common stream of video. The Auditorium will be used to showcase events, broadcast Quidditch matches, host wizard rock concerts, air live podcasts, debut or air fan films and so much more.
The Auditorium consists of only two areas: the video feed and the event calendar. The event calendar will always display a list of upcoming events, as well as offer an area for you to apply to host your own program in the Auditorium.
The goal of the Auditorium is to share fan-created content for the entire myHogwarts audience to enjoy.
=====================================
So I decided to check the site out. You need to sign up to be able to access the features, but it's a simple process, and you get to choose what House you'd like to be in, no tests or anything, just a drop-down menu choice. Of course I chose Slytherin! ;-)
The library looks interesting, a fairly large selection for what seems to be a relatively new site. A fair amount of textbooks such as Magical Drafts and Potions, a smattering of recipes (Butterbeer, Cauldron Cakes), and the beginning chapters of various offerings of fanfic of various flavors.
The books are e-books, and are displayed by icons of their "covers". My gripe in this area is that the site doesn't give any description of the book when you hover your cursor over the cover, only displays its link. And the link only displays myHogwarts' version of an ISBN number, not the title, problematic for the books that don't even have covers yet!
You have to actually click on the book's icon to get to a page that displays a larger icon of the cover, then text of the title and author (useful for those books that while having a cover, the cover doesn't really say much, such as Salazar Slytherin's diary, the cover of which is just worn black leather with the initials "SS").
This page also gives the "WISBN" number of the book, a count of how many times it has been read, the word count, and what book category/categories it belongs to. But again, no description of the book itself.
There is also a button to click that brings up the actual book itself to read.
There are actually quite a few "books" in the library already, many look very interesting just based on their covers...but like I said, many books don't even have covers yet (if they ever will), and I think the lack of descriptions is a serious drawback, one that will hopefully be corrected sometime in the future if the site takes hold with fandom.
Since I like to maintain my privacy online, I didn't list my actual hometown in my profile, but instead listed the nearest big city. I discovered 3 others listed in that city, 2 affiliated with Ravenclaw and 1 with Slytherin! LOL
The idea of the site is that we all can get in touch and do things locally if we so desire; I just signed up so I haven't been in touch with these Ravenclaws and Slytherin in my area yet.
The Auditorium is the place for live chat, according to a posting by a moderator on the site; nothing was going on last night when I checked it out, other than someone else who was on the site posting "Is anyone here?" According to the site, there will be a live event in The Auditorium this coming Thursday, a "Sirius Black Fanfilm Screening & Live Q&A With The Director". No time is given for the event, though.
Anyhoo, if anyone's interested, I'm also MajorJune on myHogwarts.
http://myhogwarts.co.uk/
It's described as being an online site for Potter fans by Potter fans.
Here are some of it's features:
myHogwarts Library:
Read and write your own books for the myHogwarts Library.
Wizard Cities:
Meet and connect with other fans in your local area.
The Auditorium:
Attend live, online events and fanfilm screenings.
wrockBOX Wizarding Radio:
An entirely-online, in-character wizarding radio station.
Social Networking:
Meet so many new friends that all share the same passion.
Book Discussions:
Discuss and debate the series from start to finish.
Further information on myHogwarts Library:
Read and write books for the myHogwarts Library
Taking fan-fiction one step further, we encourage users to read and write books for the myHogwarts library.
On MH, every user is able to create an Author Profile which consists of a specific headshot and literary biography. This Author Profile is displayed on every book you write, and when viewed, will display a list of books you have written for the library.
Books are written and published directly on the website as text, meaning there's no software or downloads necessary to view the material. Books can be in-character (fanfiction) such as your own version of Rita Skeeter's 'The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore', or out-of-character, like a study of Voldemort's path of destruction.
Not only can you search for books about particular topics (even in specific categories), but you can also mark your favorites, share, rate and review any book as well.
Wizard Cities:
Connect with Potter fans in your local area
It's great meeting fans online, but because of the amount of people using myHogwarts, we thought it would be a neat idea to offer fans a way to connect with each other in person... so began Wizard Cities.
Once logged in, you can search for any city in the world (with a population over 1,000). Each city has its own page containing a community wall, event board and resident list.
You are able to join multiple cities as well, making it easy to keep track of what's going on in neighboring areas!
This feature is entirely optional. You do not need to provide any location information to register or use MH. This feature is primarily intended for fans to create group hangouts and events.
The Auditorium:
Watch and attend live events, discussions, fanfilm screenings, concerts and more
The Auditorium is a common gathering place for MH users to socialize over a common stream of video. The Auditorium will be used to showcase events, broadcast Quidditch matches, host wizard rock concerts, air live podcasts, debut or air fan films and so much more.
The Auditorium consists of only two areas: the video feed and the event calendar. The event calendar will always display a list of upcoming events, as well as offer an area for you to apply to host your own program in the Auditorium.
The goal of the Auditorium is to share fan-created content for the entire myHogwarts audience to enjoy.
=====================================
So I decided to check the site out. You need to sign up to be able to access the features, but it's a simple process, and you get to choose what House you'd like to be in, no tests or anything, just a drop-down menu choice. Of course I chose Slytherin! ;-)
The library looks interesting, a fairly large selection for what seems to be a relatively new site. A fair amount of textbooks such as Magical Drafts and Potions, a smattering of recipes (Butterbeer, Cauldron Cakes), and the beginning chapters of various offerings of fanfic of various flavors.
The books are e-books, and are displayed by icons of their "covers". My gripe in this area is that the site doesn't give any description of the book when you hover your cursor over the cover, only displays its link. And the link only displays myHogwarts' version of an ISBN number, not the title, problematic for the books that don't even have covers yet!
You have to actually click on the book's icon to get to a page that displays a larger icon of the cover, then text of the title and author (useful for those books that while having a cover, the cover doesn't really say much, such as Salazar Slytherin's diary, the cover of which is just worn black leather with the initials "SS").
This page also gives the "WISBN" number of the book, a count of how many times it has been read, the word count, and what book category/categories it belongs to. But again, no description of the book itself.
There is also a button to click that brings up the actual book itself to read.
There are actually quite a few "books" in the library already, many look very interesting just based on their covers...but like I said, many books don't even have covers yet (if they ever will), and I think the lack of descriptions is a serious drawback, one that will hopefully be corrected sometime in the future if the site takes hold with fandom.
Since I like to maintain my privacy online, I didn't list my actual hometown in my profile, but instead listed the nearest big city. I discovered 3 others listed in that city, 2 affiliated with Ravenclaw and 1 with Slytherin! LOL
The idea of the site is that we all can get in touch and do things locally if we so desire; I just signed up so I haven't been in touch with these Ravenclaws and Slytherin in my area yet.
The Auditorium is the place for live chat, according to a posting by a moderator on the site; nothing was going on last night when I checked it out, other than someone else who was on the site posting "Is anyone here?" According to the site, there will be a live event in The Auditorium this coming Thursday, a "Sirius Black Fanfilm Screening & Live Q&A With The Director". No time is given for the event, though.
Anyhoo, if anyone's interested, I'm also MajorJune on myHogwarts.