Forum Suggestions Box

New member introductions, suggestions for the Forums, questions about posting, and important announcements.
Sam
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Sam » February 23rd, 2010, 2:02 am

IMHO...

There should be a Weclome "Sticky" in the procrastination area for noobs "such as myself" to say hello and be welcomed by the members of the board.

Maybe it's too early to have Regs welcome Noobs though? Are there any Regs yet? I'm guessing there are from the comments section of the blog, huh?

And.. Hello I'm Sam and I'm new to the board, I run on at the mouth a bit, but I mean no hard, most-of-the-time!!:D

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Jaime
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Jaime » February 23rd, 2010, 2:12 am

Welcome, Noob Sam.

We definitely have regs, and we have a makeshift Introduction thread in All Things Procrastination. You may have to scroll down a bit to find it . . . a lot of us procrastinate and create new threads there . . .

Jaime :)

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Seamus
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Seamus » February 23rd, 2010, 8:55 am

I noticed on the "all things writing" forum, there have been lots of language grammar and style-guide discussions recently. Seems like you could have an "all things language and word usage" forum. Long riffs on the evil adverb or the much-to-be-avoided opening a story by commenting on the weather might be fun and interesting.
J. Seamus Welsh
welsh.john.seamus@gmail.com
Blog (a playful place to experiment with character voices): http://oh-thereyouare.blogspot.com/
Website (shameless self-promotion): http://www.inwrittenform.com

Sam
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Sam » February 25th, 2010, 3:41 am

Thanks Jaime..

I did miss it, although its at the top now.

There should be an option on the board to Sticky that Topic and it will stay at the very top of the line so it doesn't wind up on the second page. Noobs might not know in which section to look for the Intro thread.

Thanx again!!

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Nathan Bransford » February 26th, 2010, 1:07 pm

Sam wrote:Thanks Jaime..

I did miss it, although its at the top now.

There should be an option on the board to Sticky that Topic and it will stay at the very top of the line so it doesn't wind up on the second page. Noobs might not know in which section to look for the Intro thread.

Thanx again!!
Okay, Introduction thread stickied now!

Also, if you'd like to make a topic sticky, feel free to contact me or Ink.

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Mira
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Mira » March 2nd, 2010, 5:20 pm

Actually, I think it would be helpful to sticky this thread - as a suggestion.

Leila
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Leila » March 7th, 2010, 1:10 pm

Don't mind me.

I worked out that the suggestion I'd made was probably a bit too much along the lines of splitting hairs. So I have, in the absence of an ability to delete (or at least that I can see), just tossed it out.
Last edited by Leila on March 10th, 2010, 1:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

Sam
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Sam » March 9th, 2010, 6:08 am

I believe that "Quick Reply" would benefit the board greatly..

With the length of post and the amounts of information members place in their posts quick reply makes a response window at the bottom of each thread. If someone wants to reply to a particular post that references two of three ideas or 4 or 5 books you have to remember each and every word unless you copy and paste the post in a notepad (remembering, what an inconvenience).

I think most versions of phpBB come with the option of quick reply built in?

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Nathan Bransford
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Nathan Bransford » March 9th, 2010, 7:09 pm

Sam wrote:I believe that "Quick Reply" would benefit the board greatly..

With the length of post and the amounts of information members place in their posts quick reply makes a response window at the bottom of each thread. If someone wants to reply to a particular post that references two of three ideas or 4 or 5 books you have to remember each and every word unless you copy and paste the post in a notepad (remembering, what an inconvenience).

I think most versions of phpBB come with the option of quick reply built in?
I'll see what I can do - it's not a quick fix but will hope to do this when I update phpBB

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Holly
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Holly » March 9th, 2010, 7:29 pm

What about... the three "best" forum posts of the month (Ink could pick them), people vote, and the winner gets a query critique (or first page, whatever applies). If that fries your mind, Ink could critique the winning entry (I'm making a lot of work for Ink).

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Seamus
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Seamus » March 9th, 2010, 7:54 pm

Holly's contest idea is not bad. Traffic seems to be decreasing a little. Things like the guest blogger contest of a few weeks back seem to have a lasting effect. I also feel like we need to energize the subject matter some. Is it possible we've run out of new topics? Is there a such thing as topic recycling? Maybe a contest could be to look over the earlier posts and re-energize a thread. Winner gets the most responses.
J. Seamus Welsh
welsh.john.seamus@gmail.com
Blog (a playful place to experiment with character voices): http://oh-thereyouare.blogspot.com/
Website (shameless self-promotion): http://www.inwrittenform.com

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Seamus
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Seamus » March 9th, 2010, 8:00 pm

Could we add a forum called "All Things Improv?" Each new thread would be a conversation started by someone who sets a fictional scene and then starts a dialog sequence with the first voice. Other voices come from responses. We'd have to create protocols, like someone would have to call the conversation finished at some point. It's a way of showing off a little and practicing character and scene development. It might be pretty funny.
J. Seamus Welsh
welsh.john.seamus@gmail.com
Blog (a playful place to experiment with character voices): http://oh-thereyouare.blogspot.com/
Website (shameless self-promotion): http://www.inwrittenform.com

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Bryan Russell/Ink
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Bryan Russell/Ink » March 9th, 2010, 8:16 pm

Lol, Holly. I think my brain just melted.
The Alchemy of Writing at www.alchemyofwriting.blogspot.com

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Bryan Russell/Ink
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by Bryan Russell/Ink » March 9th, 2010, 8:20 pm

Seamus,

I think there's a natural sort of ebb and flow to forums. They get busy, they die down a little bit, they get busy, they die down a little bit... I think it's pretty normal. For example, a couple weeks back the query section was on fire. A bunch of people had queries they wanted critiqued, and so there was a query frenzy. But as those people worked their queries into shape and started submitting them, well, things died down a bit. But all it takes is a few more people hopping in at the right time and the frenzy starts again. I've noticed it on other forums, a sort of wave rhythm of peaks and troughs.

Just my take on it.

Ink
The Alchemy of Writing at www.alchemyofwriting.blogspot.com

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marilyn peake
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Re: Forum Suggestions?

Post by marilyn peake » March 9th, 2010, 8:37 pm

I like Holly's and Seamus's ideas very much, although I know it would be a lot of work for the contest judge.
Marilyn Peake

Novels: THE FISHERMAN’S SON TRILOGY and GODS IN THE MACHINE. Numerous short stories. Contributor to BOOK: THE SEQUEL. Editor of several additional books. Awards include Silver Award, 2007 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.

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