shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
|
Post by shaxper on Jun 3, 2014 19:09:28 GMT -5
When we first began this site, the primary goal was to create a new home for the old community and rock the boat as little as possible in order to create a smooth transition.
A full month later, I wonder if it's time to start looking for ways to improve upon things (says the guy who still hasn't solved the rotating banner issue!).
One suggestion that popped up on Day 1 was to create a frontpage for the site, making us more visible to search engines and giving us greater flexibility in creating content for the site -- but what content to put on that frontpage?
Another issue that came up was the cumbersome and ineffective process of manually moving over review threads, post by post. Having now spent a full month moving over my Batman thread, I can tell you the process is arduous and, worse yet, quotes do not accurately capture the flavor of the original back-and-forth conversations. It's all lost in translation.
So, a possible solution for addressing both solutions at once: What if authors of review threads started blogs in place of review threads, delivered their reviews via blog posts, and the frontpage for the site maintained a a constant feed that automatically posted links to the newest blog posts first, along with a handy index for viewing all blogs available? Any blog post would link back to a discussion thread where posters could converse about the article/review. In my mind, the greatest advantage would be that older posts would be easily searchable and not buried in the discussion.
There would be logistics issues, of course: someone has to set up the frontpage, someone has to know how to create the automatic (rss?) feed and make the whole thing look appealing, and what would be the requirements/qualifications/restrictions for who gets a blog that feeds directly into the frontpage?
I guess what I'd like to know from the community at this point is not whether or not you like the idea, but rather:
1. What are the pros of taking such an approach?
2. What are the cons?
3. Do you have the expertise to help with any of the webpage building involved?
4. Would you actually read review threads and other relevant articles of interest by fellow posters as blog posts and then click on a link to make a comment in a correlating discussion thread?
5. Would you be interested in maintaining a blog for the site (either for reviews or for classic comics related articles of another nature?)
Bring on the feedback!
|
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 3, 2014 20:15:45 GMT -5
I don't really do social media (discussion boards is it) so I'm not to into blogs at all. If it's all self contained (like CBR) I guess it'd be ok... not sure I'd do one, though. Of course, the comments on the 'blog' stories over there are always pretty disjointed and, to be honest, not very interesting, so I think some of the back and forth discussion would be lost. If it brings in more people, though, (and thus more interesting discussion) it's good  |
|
|
|
Post by Ish Kabbible on Jun 3, 2014 20:23:21 GMT -5
Similar to Wildfire,I don't blog or tweet.I don't use Facebook or any other social media. Won't be of much use
|
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Jun 3, 2014 21:11:22 GMT -5
Though my wife is on Facebook every day, I used to be on and pulled back.
Really, the only thing I've been on the last few years has been the CBR boards. I'm still on CBR, mostly the DC and indie boards, but 95 % down from what it was.
CBR doesn't feel the same any more.
These boards are home now, and I'm really comfortable here. I've never done any blog thing myself, but could maybe do something. I like the blog / thread idea.
Wish I could pitch in some technical, but that's not me. Would if I could though.
|
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
|
Post by shaxper on Jun 3, 2014 21:18:59 GMT -5
I don't really do social media (discussion boards is it) so I'm not to into blogs at all. If it's all self contained (like CBR) I guess it'd be ok... Right. It would work more like the articles on CBR than isolated blogs. At least that's the concept. To be totally fair, I seldom ever read an article on CBR, but I would absolutely read articles being written by our community about classic comics related topics. This is good feedback. I wonder, though, if it wouldn't be different for us because: 1. We have a more thoughtful community that says things that are generally worth responding to. 2. The author of the article in question would likely participate in the discussion, much like they always have in the review threads. I'm not sure the CBR columnists were even members of the discussion forum. |
|
|
|
Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 3, 2014 22:42:06 GMT -5
It varied... Brian Cronin (who writes about 1/2 of them under various titles) generally participated, but only a bit. Alot of the people that do op/ed type pieces read and respond to comments, but they also seem edited some... the comments are often kinda disjointed.
The stuff I most enjoyed from CBR are the themed columns, like Abandoned and Forsaken, Gimmick or Good, Legends revealed were all stuff I read every time. The more op/ed stuff, like the guy that complains about DC, and the woman that likes to complain about women in comics, that stuff I generally skip unless it's a really interesting tag line, then I'm mostly disappointed.
|
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 3, 2014 22:53:40 GMT -5
It's an interesting idea, but I have a very bad track record of keeping blogs going (worse than my track record of keeping review threads going) so I would likely bow out of that style of review thread, because I know I wouldn't keep up.
-M
|
|
|
|
Post by Hoosier X on Jun 3, 2014 23:40:08 GMT -5
Here's my idea for a blog:
Get seven people who are interested in old comics, and each of them commits to posting one day a week. You can post more often than that if you want, but there is one day a week that you are responsible for. That way, you have something new every day, but it's not that big a time commitment to any of the seven people.
I used to have a feature on my blog (which I haven't done for a while) called Batman Friday where I did stuff like this post about the Riddler.
And I did some posts about the Dibnys, like this and this.
The subtitle was Why We Love Detective Comics, and there are a lot of issues of Detective Comics to write about. So I could easily bring that back if there were six other people who wanted to write about old comics on a regular basis.
We could call it The Seven Soldiers of Victory. (I call dibs on The Crimson Avenger!) Anybody else interested? |
|
|
|
Post by coke & comics on Jun 3, 2014 23:52:50 GMT -5
When we first began this site, the primary goal was to create a new home for the old community and rock the boat as little as possible in order to create a smooth transition. A full month later, I wonder if it's time to start looking for ways to improve upon things (says the guy who still hasn't solved the rotating banner issue!). One suggestion that popped up on Day 1 was to create a frontpage for the site, making us more visible to search engines and giving us greater flexibility in creating content for the site -- but what content to put on that frontpage? Another issue that came up was the cumbersome and ineffective process of manually moving over review threads, post by post. Having now spent a full month moving over my Batman thread, I can tell you the process is arduous and, worse yet, quotes do not accurately capture the flavor of the original back-and-forth conversations. It's all lost in translation. So, a possible solution for addressing both solutions at once: What if authors of review threads started blogs in place of review threads, delivered their reviews via blog posts, and the frontpage for the site maintained a a constant feed that automatically posted links to the newest blog posts first, along with a handy index for viewing all blogs available? Any blog post would link back to a discussion thread where posters could converse about the article/review. In my mind, the greatest advantage would be that older posts would be easily searchable and not buried in the discussion. There would be logistics issues, of course: someone has to set up the frontpage, someone has to know how to create the automatic (rss?) feed and make the whole thing look appealing, and what would be the requirements/qualifications/restrictions for who gets a blog that feeds directly into the frontpage? I guess what I'd like to know from the community at this point is not whether or not you like the idea, but rather: 1. What are the pros of taking such an approach? 2. What are the cons? 3. Do you have the expertise to help with any of the webpage building involved? 4. Would you actually read review threads and other relevant articles of interest by fellow posters as blog posts and then click on a link to make a comment in a correlating discussion thread? 5. Would you be interested in maintaining a blog for the site (either for reviews or for classic comics related articles of another nature?) Bring on the feedback! This seems like a good idea, but possibly a bit soon. I'm open to the idea of talking about one now and would even like to contribute one day, but, even though things are running smoothly, I would feel inclined to make sure the new board has its footing and all kinks worked out before any major new undertakings. |
|
|
|
Post by thecolortechnic on Jun 4, 2014 0:09:21 GMT -5
It's an interesting idea, but I have a very bad track record of keeping blogs going (worse than my track record of keeping review threads going) so I would likely bow out of that style of review thread, because I know I wouldn't keep up. -M This is the biggest issue I've run into. It's a big commitment and responsibility. And the only way it'll work is if you had people who actually approached it as if it were a kind of journalism job where they have a weekly deadline to keep the content flowing (that or have enough contributors to where it wouldn't matter). Just like an empty forum, an infrequently updated blog/news/article site is uninviting. That said a front page is a fantastic idea. I may even say that it could eventually be a necessity to keep the forum going. The people who are already here are great. But in reality we won't be here forever. Real life needs attention. Internet activity wanes. Things happen. People are what makes these things run, though. It'd be nice if it were easier to find. |
|
shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
|
Post by shaxper on Jun 4, 2014 4:52:52 GMT -5
Regarding the commitment issue, I don't see how it's any different than starting a review thread. The frontpage would be maintaining a feed, so what would be featured would be whatever blogs had been updated. The ones that hadn't been touched for two months would sit at the bottom, just like with the forums now.
I really DO like Hoosier X's 7 Soldiers suggestion, but that does sound like a commitment. My goal here is to add as little new work as possible beyond site design and simply optimize the format through which we do what we're already doing. We have a lot of posters doing review threads and looking for a simple way to bring them back to the new forum, and we have several posters who produce thoughtful in-depth thread starters that could easily translate into articles.
|
|
|
|
Post by adamwarlock2099 on Jun 4, 2014 10:46:13 GMT -5
What about a blog if other subjects that technically aren't comic books or could be in some fashion that would attract other people to the forum. The threads we have varied subjects that show that even we have other interests than just comic books. Would that be distracting or inviting? A blog for novels (whether they be of comic characters or not) or movies (likewise) or music.
I mean way back when the Bendis Board was tolerable I was doing a google search on a non comic related subject and found my answer in a thread. It ended up being a place I enjoyed being a member for at one time. Thankfully I found y'all too shortly after that. Just a thought.
|
|
|
|
Post by antoine on Jun 4, 2014 11:12:56 GMT -5
I like Hoosier X idea too. My english is too bad and my knowledge on old comics is very limited, but I would read it for sure!
|
|
|
|
Post by hondobrode on Jun 4, 2014 11:49:49 GMT -5
I like Hoosier's idea and would probably consider being one of the seven. Dibs on the Shining Knight.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ozymandias on Jun 4, 2014 11:59:46 GMT -5
create a frontpage for the site, making us more visible to search engines If I google "classic comics forum", it already tops the results. How can you improve that? |
|
