Message Board Sales Pitch
In order to properly explain my crazy ideas for the “Hunter’s Lounge”, I actually went and created a message board. Nothing there is set in stone nor is the actual idea of having a message board finalized.
A bit of a recap:
Awhile ago, cherry916 made a post about bringing more hurt!Jared to the community. My suggestion was a comment fic meme, which ( Read more... )
A bit of a recap:
Awhile ago, cherry916 made a post about bringing more hurt!Jared to the community. My suggestion was a comment fic meme, which ( Read more... )
And the canon room is a perfect example of how the board could essentially bring more that just hurt. Sometimes you really want to ask how other fans think Dean would react to a certain situation, or you can't remember an exact quote that you want to use in a story. It's a great thing that could help MOSTLY hurt!Sam or hurt!Jared writers, but could branch out as well.
I was toying with the idea of a title, but it's kind of silly... since the com's name makes you think more of spn, what if the board just reminded people of Jared? Not saying one does more spn and the other more rps... I'm just thinking the name could help? But then it could end up doing the opposite. Anyways, I thought of the Moose Lounge.
Someone has probably already used that, but I don't know. Everyone is on the whole moose kick lol. Or if we stick with the hunter's lounge which I really like too, I'm thinking of making a Sasquatch room or something. Just so people are more aware of the Jared aspect. The whole thing started to bring more Jared fans to the com, and I'm still dedicated to that!
I'm guessing we need to decide on the newsletter next. I hadn't really thought of that much when I created the board. I thought of linking to each news letter on the board. Like having a newsletter topic with a copy of each newsletter. So there would be a post first on LJ, and then the board would just be another place to find it. Like Ash said, it would help those from ff.net or other sites that might not be comfortable with LJ to get more involved.
I could also open a rec shelf (haha more library terms love it) under the spn_littlebro room, where people could share recs, but I don't want to take form the com. I would of course repost the rec to the com, but it would be a source if someone is possible more comfortable posting in that style. I honestly feel like that's a bit much, and I'd feel better just directing people to the com. But I could keep the rec room general. Like someone read's something they could just say "hey so and so just posted this great hurt Sam! I wanted to rec it." Then it's out there, but either I or the rec'er would repost it to the com? Kind of up to Ash on that one though!
I unfortunately have to work =(. But I'm going to play with the board more tonight. And I also want to get the new board up to show you all as well. I'm just holding off on that one because it's much more permanent lol. You can't change the URL unless you pay. There are a lot more tools to use on this new domain though, and I personally think it's more attractive. Presentation is of course very important!
Anyways, I had mentioned to Cherry about using the beta board to show members of spn_littlebro. Does that sound like a good idea? I mean essentially it kind of sold most people here right? It's a rather hard thing to explain without a visual, and it could be intimidating too, until they're given the chance to kind of play with it, and see how easy it can be.
Just a thought.
Thank you guys so much for all the help and encouragement! I'm very excited. Feels like I'm adding to something great haha, and I think it'll be a lot of fun! =)
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Logically they could be TABLES rather than Rooms if that helps? - one big room is the board and each thread header a different table in the room...
And yes, I think it would be a good idea to copy the theme posts and the Newsletter posts into the little-bro table/room as a secondary place to talk about things.
i'll be back later and go through this properly - sorry to have to run! Take your time to think things through though, a cooling off period and many trial runs pays off in the long run.
Ellie
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You are and it will be! :D
HAHA... The Moose Lounge... made me chuckle. :) Actually "moose" refers to both Jared and Sam (he was called a "moose" in the show after all) so it could work.
Hee... I like Sasquatch Room as well.
I'm guessing we need to decide on the newsletter next.
I wouldn't give yourself such a tight time limit. I'd say there was no hurry... it's probably better to get it set up probably rather than try to get it all sorted by a certain time. when it's ready, the newsletter can be involved. I'd say when it's ready we make a huge song and dance about it!
I've read ellie's response below and I can see that "tables" might be more logical but I think "rooms" sound better. But I'm not sure if she is suggesting "table" instead of "room".... maybe that's just the thread that would come under the heading of each room.
Also... are you saying that the one you showed us is not the place where the eventual board would be held? So you'll wait for a name before you go somewhere else? (sorry... I am pretty naive when it comes to how this stuff works... though I love learning about it. I've learned HEAPS since starting up littlebro with everybody).
This is SO exciting. Hopefully it will fulfill a real need in the community.
xx
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BUT...
I could be wrong, but I think what dontknowmyname is talking about regarding the newsletter is not so much announcing the board but more as in - do we want the newsletter itself to be copied and pasted to a thread on the board in the littlebro room? Right now, I'm thinking yes, for those on the board who might join the comm from the board, if they read the newsletter and what's going on. Certainly no need to rush that decision yet either, but it might be a good opportunity for the comm to snag board posters!
Yep, I was suggesting replacing room with table for the headers, but I agree, I think room does sound better, screw logic! I was thinking out load again there. Heh
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Yeah. .... Room has a nice ring to it. The same way I love the word lounge. It conjures up a place to relax ...
Xx
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1. Patience is a virtue I have...sometimes! I think it's important to get the organization up before talking about what would specifically go on there. But yeah, I was just wondering about copying and pasting, and in that case I would have a thread for the newsletters. I did get a bit ahead of myself though lol.
2. I missed the moose reference in the show. It's in my head, like I vaguely remember it now that you say something, but still not clicking lol. I just picked up on the twitter thing. I like "lounge" just because it sounds like a part of a library, but then a lot of libraries have coffee shops now too. I thought of "The Hunter's Wing", but hunter's lounge is what I go back too. I like the idea of the name giving the idea of something large of course, and then breaking it down into "Research Room", "Writer's room", "Reader's Room"(?), "SPN LittleBro room", "Show Room" or "Supernatural Room" (For all things show? and a "top secret section for spoilers?), a Rec-Creation Room (I'm lame but the play on words would imply that recs, and fanmade creations would go there. Maybe?). I don't want to make a specific room for RPS though, but I don't know. I especially want people to know that the Room for fan creations is for SPN and RPS, especially when it comes to doing a Fic Meme someday. What do you think? I want it to be all together, and I really want to promote hurt!Jared. I dunno, I guess it's something you take in stride.
3. I like the screen cap idea. Once I get the board organized I know of a program that you can make a screen cap of an entire website page, so I'll try that and test it here. As for the whole beta thing... the one I've shown you guys is the only one I have as of right now, but it's just feeling kind of blah. And the terms confuse me because it sounds like there's a chance that posts will be deleted when we exceed a certain limit. But then apparently that was the old version. I just would rather not take that chance. So I searched, and found that there's another server that is very popular. There's more that can be done, it's brighter, seem more user friendly because it has picture icons and such lol, and it's seems more legit since you get basic features, but can pay for more. Plus, if the board ends up being a big hit, there's the option to purchase more (plus, a some people may donate if the board does well).
2. As for the tables thing... I like the whole library lingo. I'm feeling the rooms though too. It sounds better, but it's still logic. Some of the big libraries do have designated rooms. I said shelves up there, but I was thinking of like the "racks" and "Shelves" as the treads inside the room. Like each room might go have different topic names, but I love the library references for some reason lol. Like in the Research Room we could have "Medical Resources" and the "Mythology Shelves"? That type of names.
3. Lastly, the sticky posts... Those are still slightly confusing to me. I know that sticky posts stay at the top, but I'm unclear if it's a post people would reply to. The way I see it is each room would have threads, and each thread would have a sticky post, that would explain what that specific thread is for. Maybe basic rules about posting, and such. Basically each sticky post would be very similar, but with specifics about that thread. And then as things come up that could be important, maybe reminders if the board is being misused, then I could create a new sticky. With the news letters, I'm thinking of having a Newsletter thread in the spn_littlebro room specifically for the newsletters. Then with each newsletter, I or someone else would copy the news letter over there in it's own post. Then members could check it out and comment there as well as livejournal.
I think I touched on Everything.
Loving all these ideas! I've gotta get the room organized.
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The board I have now lets me change the Title and URL as many times as I please. So I feel like it's best just to keep toying with this one at least for now. But I think everyone seems to like Hunter's Lounge so hopefully soon I'll get proboards up and running =).
Thank you for the suggestion! Glad to know I seem to be heading int he right direction lol.
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Right, name. Honestly I'd keep to something generic for the board name, you don't want to start off on the wrong foot and you need every single fan you can muster up to keep the place humming and alive and as we had the discussions around naming the comm, the same thing goes, RPF and RPS is still a very touchy subject for some, especially when it comes to fan works and many still like to fly under the radar and those that are comfortable with the AU stuff, often don't like the canon! That's just the way fandom is, it probably will change eventually, but easy does it! As SPN brought us all together, I would go with something like you had before - "Hunter's Lounge" or "LittleBro Coffee House" or "Library Meeting Room" or a slew of other things that feel more inclusive to everyone. Maybe ask around for suggestions, sometimes the best idea grow from there.
However, there's nothing saying you can't have 'The Moose Room' inside the board for all chat about Jared, or 'The News Room' for spoilers and chat about the show/cons etc. - things like that can be avoided by those that aren't interested in that side, without having it too much in your face.
As for showing the beta copy to all members of the comm - be very, very careful - never underestimate how confusing questions like that are, especially for those who don't have English as a first language. For every person that looks at it as a beta for a possible future board, you'll get three who will try to register and start serious posting because they hadn't understood what you were saying! Honest - it's happened so many times to others. Therefore, I would suggest you either just ask on the poll if it's something posters would enjoy or if you think they need a visual, and I agree, sometimes they do, it helps so much, then screencap your beta forum page - maybe after changing a few things around, getting the right headers in place so it's looking more like you hope it will be and post that. Playing with it for the general comm is not a good idea as at some point it's all going to change and then you'll have the trouble with registering again and moving everyone over to a new board.
And I agree presentation is important, if you can find somewhere that allows you a header image so much the better, it will look pretty and I agree on keeping things quite simply organized will always be in your favour, less is best sometimes as it's not so confusing where to post.
Good luck honey and feel free to keep asking questions and posting ideas.
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Sorry, didn't answer your question about recs.
As I understand it, under each heading (for example the LittleBro Room or The Writing Room) the threads will have a sticky post which remains at the top, which you will create, followed by each new topic as posters come in and want to post, they make their own post with their own heading - yes?
You have two options, make a first mod sticky post in each room, explaining what goes on in this particular room and then another sticky to put all the newsletters in together OR just post them in a new post every other week as they appear at the comm where they'll automatically go to the top of the section as the latest post.
For recs, I wouldn't bother making a post - two reasons, one, you'll have to put in yet another sticky post so it doesn't get lost and two, you'll end up with more work.
That's not to say you ban recs, just if someone makes a new thread - saying 'I just read this' or 'I really want to post this rec to the comm but I can't work out how to do it' - THEN you can step in, chat to the poster, ask them to leave a rec under their name or anonymously at the comm or find out the problem they're having, help them sort it out and from then on, and as others read that topic and see how you've helped, then you might not get too many others. Hopefully this won't always fall on you either as any poster who is around could help out with rec problem as they do with any other problems that arise for any posters.
Does that make sense?
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