- Joined
- Nov 5, 2005
- Messages
- 68
- Main Job
- Secondary Job
- Third Job
- Server
- Quetzalcoatl
- Linkshell
- United
So, as you all can tell by my post count I prefer to keep my personal posting on this community to a minimum. Only commenting were I see a need or can provide a positive note (and shameless recruiting when our roster runs low). That being said, I have had several ideas for content / updates that I would like to bring up and get some feedback on. Some of these have been mentioned (or performed and trailed off) before and I do not want to step on any toes, so please let me know if plans are underway elsewhere. Hopefully if that is the case I can provide some input and experience to get it set up and running quicker if deemed worthwhile.
This was a fun event for everyone that actually participated. I would only recommend a couple of modifications to the previous system.
1) "Pic" would include artistic creations from people such as JustinP, Isollde, and Kayleen (just to name a few) provided they adhered to a non-offensive status.
2) Reward could be included on a monthly post for announcements or incorporated into another content system (see below).
3) 2nd and 3rd place would receive an "honorable mention" system to include them.
Once a month release included into a 2-page maximum publication. This seems like a lot, but after dedication to the format below (minimum 1/4 page per section) the layout would fill quickly and be able to be filled by contributers for each section. Operated much like a company newsletter this could be built into a format that would require 1-2 hours of work per month for each contributer / editor.
1) Banner - Utilize current header or allow submissions from content provider for the banners, allowing for monthly rotation possibly.
2) "Mods Corner" - Nice spot for quick updates / announcements to be repeated.
3) "Board Stats" - 1/4 entry for some forum statistics, could provide a nice spot to keep trending records on high-level statistics.
4) "Creativity Entry" - Could use the Pic of the month and 2 runnerups from above, or allow separate entries.
5) "Ask Mr. Endgame" - Allow an entry from frequenters of the end-game section to provide a brief (1/4 page) entry around end-game topics, or a "tip of the month" for standard play.
6) "Main Article" - Editor provided submission about random subjects, this would be copied into a forum thread to allow for month-long conversation if the topic was worth-while and possibly spur some positive discussion.
That's a quick two pages, allowing for input from several sources and keeping content rich. Any of these types of projects get old over time, but if the architecture is well-laid out and processes are in place this is also easy to hand off to a new editor as your 6-9 months come to an end. If the time put in each month is actually 1-2 hours after the initial build this shouldn't be hard to keep going.
I personally find RSS feeds to be a much easier way to view the forums (can be reached via any news reader at http://www.qcdn.org/ffxi/external.php?type=rss). This only works for non-private forums, but to be honest when I want to sit down for a long "Flameboard" session I would rather use the website directly. This allows for instant notification of new threads in public areas and direct link, solving the "hit F5" issue and not as bulky as email thread notification.
I propose you incorporate one of the fancy RSS hacks for vBulletin that would allow you to set up individual public forum feeds and nice little buttons to subscribe. This also works better for SmartPhone users that support RSS much better than .php browsers (granted you can do this directly by using the ?forumids=xx,yy, but most don't know how to find forumids / utilize this). There is some development work that could be done to make even the private sections available via RSS, but this may pose some security risks and I am not positive you would like direct modification to your thread .phps that would require this in a "non-released" code development.
Even if you decide not to use this, an informational post could be drafted for people to be aware its available.
*** Removing this as I type as a duplicate item and really not feasible without a fulltime chat moderation staff.
In my opinion (verbally bolded), QCDN utilizes what means are available to ensure community members are not attempting to conceal their identity. As you probably know, this can be easily routed around using an open protocol proxy or even worse through advanced proxy nesting. While those that know how to do this are very hard to track, I believe the continuity of the board could be kept in tact by simply adding a rule stating "Use of open proxies must be approved on a case-by-case basis by members of this community"
Taking into account this is a small group that have the technical understanding to do it without googling the idea (or the ones that are just too damned stoopid to use it even when they know), it would give moderators something to ensure those that they are removed or attempting to cause drama secretly are not successful. There are many, many public scanners that you can just plug a posters IP into and determine if they are coming from an open proxy. And in the event their place of work or home hosts an open proxy intentionally, they can just inform that and be allowed. The effort is much smaller than it sounds, but can keep the environment "true" in its members more effectively in my opinion.
In closing, sorry for the wall of text but let me know what you think and I would be more than happy to provide some sample work on any front to show the feasibility of this and I will be doing it anyway for some private communities that I work with. I think QCDN could benefit from some of this as well, if its implemented and followed through with care.
Thanks,
Method (aka tl;dr)
Pic of the Month
This was a fun event for everyone that actually participated. I would only recommend a couple of modifications to the previous system.
1) "Pic" would include artistic creations from people such as JustinP, Isollde, and Kayleen (just to name a few) provided they adhered to a non-offensive status.
2) Reward could be included on a monthly post for announcements or incorporated into another content system (see below).
3) 2nd and 3rd place would receive an "honorable mention" system to include them.
QCDN Newsletter
Once a month release included into a 2-page maximum publication. This seems like a lot, but after dedication to the format below (minimum 1/4 page per section) the layout would fill quickly and be able to be filled by contributers for each section. Operated much like a company newsletter this could be built into a format that would require 1-2 hours of work per month for each contributer / editor.
1) Banner - Utilize current header or allow submissions from content provider for the banners, allowing for monthly rotation possibly.
2) "Mods Corner" - Nice spot for quick updates / announcements to be repeated.
3) "Board Stats" - 1/4 entry for some forum statistics, could provide a nice spot to keep trending records on high-level statistics.
4) "Creativity Entry" - Could use the Pic of the month and 2 runnerups from above, or allow separate entries.
5) "Ask Mr. Endgame" - Allow an entry from frequenters of the end-game section to provide a brief (1/4 page) entry around end-game topics, or a "tip of the month" for standard play.
6) "Main Article" - Editor provided submission about random subjects, this would be copied into a forum thread to allow for month-long conversation if the topic was worth-while and possibly spur some positive discussion.
That's a quick two pages, allowing for input from several sources and keeping content rich. Any of these types of projects get old over time, but if the architecture is well-laid out and processes are in place this is also easy to hand off to a new editor as your 6-9 months come to an end. If the time put in each month is actually 1-2 hours after the initial build this shouldn't be hard to keep going.
RSS Feeds
I personally find RSS feeds to be a much easier way to view the forums (can be reached via any news reader at http://www.qcdn.org/ffxi/external.php?type=rss). This only works for non-private forums, but to be honest when I want to sit down for a long "Flameboard" session I would rather use the website directly. This allows for instant notification of new threads in public areas and direct link, solving the "hit F5" issue and not as bulky as email thread notification.
I propose you incorporate one of the fancy RSS hacks for vBulletin that would allow you to set up individual public forum feeds and nice little buttons to subscribe. This also works better for SmartPhone users that support RSS much better than .php browsers (granted you can do this directly by using the ?forumids=xx,yy, but most don't know how to find forumids / utilize this). There is some development work that could be done to make even the private sections available via RSS, but this may pose some security risks and I am not positive you would like direct modification to your thread .phps that would require this in a "non-released" code development.
Even if you decide not to use this, an informational post could be drafted for people to be aware its available.
Chatbox / IRC Channel (with adjoining web interface)
*** Removing this as I type as a duplicate item and really not feasible without a fulltime chat moderation staff.
"Advanced" SockPuppet Moderation
In my opinion (verbally bolded), QCDN utilizes what means are available to ensure community members are not attempting to conceal their identity. As you probably know, this can be easily routed around using an open protocol proxy or even worse through advanced proxy nesting. While those that know how to do this are very hard to track, I believe the continuity of the board could be kept in tact by simply adding a rule stating "Use of open proxies must be approved on a case-by-case basis by members of this community"
Taking into account this is a small group that have the technical understanding to do it without googling the idea (or the ones that are just too damned stoopid to use it even when they know), it would give moderators something to ensure those that they are removed or attempting to cause drama secretly are not successful. There are many, many public scanners that you can just plug a posters IP into and determine if they are coming from an open proxy. And in the event their place of work or home hosts an open proxy intentionally, they can just inform that and be allowed. The effort is much smaller than it sounds, but can keep the environment "true" in its members more effectively in my opinion.
In closing, sorry for the wall of text but let me know what you think and I would be more than happy to provide some sample work on any front to show the feasibility of this and I will be doing it anyway for some private communities that I work with. I think QCDN could benefit from some of this as well, if its implemented and followed through with care.
Thanks,
Method (aka tl;dr)
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