To say I am happy with the revamp that occurred this weekend is an understatement. I am thrilled at all the new features, relieved at the ease of use (both for users and for admins) of the new forums, and thankful that it all worked out smoothly with no borked servers!
Yes, I said borked. I want to copyright borked (or is it trademark?) because it is the perfect expression of something not just broken but so broken you can’t even speak! Oh, but that is besides the point…
A LITTLE HISTORY
When I first thought about moving to my domain it was with the idea to have a more interactive site. I enjoy the comments, I like more of a discussion rather than just passive readers, and I like the support other writers/bloggers are willing to give each other. Not that I don’t enjoy having readers as well! But I always felt the website was more than just to express my grumbles, share my stories or cry my woes into the web-o-verse.
That was why I started Sunday Picture Press, my first foray into creating a writers community by providing visual prompts. I am a visual person, as many people are nowadays, so the photos work to wake up my muse quicker than word prompts.
Recently I started a virtual writers group, the Wednesday Writers Group, as another way to create community with fellow writers. I was excited to find the ability to create forums and thought it would be a perfect complement to having a virtual writers group.
Unfortunately, they were cumbersome on the server, unmanageable from an admin perspective, and as a user I found it difficult to quickly find what I wanted! Instead of enjoying this new foray I was frustrated and spent more time behind the scenes trying to make it work better.
Finally, this past weekend, with the help of Dave Farmer, I revamped the set-up and believe I achieved what I dreamed — a user-friendly backbone to create a great community for writers/bloggers!
A QUICK TOUR
Before I begin the tour — for anyone on their own domain looking for a highly customizable theme, I highly recommend Graphene! I have no connection whatsoever with the developers of Graphene, nor do I get paid for mentioning. I stumbled serendipitously upon it during the revamp but it is the best theme I’ve ever used. Plus, it is free!
Now, let me show you around a bit. The background and header images are a little more prominent thanks to Dave Farmer’s help. He tweaked the images for me because, to be blunt here, I suck at any kind of photo manipulation no matter how simple!
There is a nifty new slider or news feed, that you will notice. It rotates between the last five posts so you can click on anything that strikes your fancy. I cleaned up the sidebars making it less busy. Up at the very top you will find the links to RSS, Twitter and Google+ for easy following. For those that prefer email notification, the sign-up is still there on the right.
Overall, I believe it is a cleaner look with just enough eye candy to make it interesting!
THE BIG CHANGE
The biggest change is with the forums. You will find a tab on the menu for the Forums which brings you to a much more organized set-up then the previous forums. Anyone can read the forums but only members can comment. On the top right side bar is the link to sign-up (or login).
Current members should have no problems signing in but if you do, drop me a note (with the nifty new contact form available on the menu). Previously, there were a few more options available to members but they were superfluous and not very user-friendly anyway. Everything is streamlined so now members have the ability to update/change their profiles, passwords, bio, etc., but that is all.
If you want to change anything on your profile simply click your name, then click the edit hyperlink. Simple, right? I like simple! There is a Suggestion Box in The Lobby and I urge everyone to drop suggestions since this is a community, not just my place. Members can create their own topics in various forums but forum creation is left for admins.
Speaking of admins, I would like to mention that I, of course, am an admin but so is Dave Farmer. We will not monitor as far as no bad language, stop that you rotten children in the playground, but spam, trolling, abusive or bullying behavior will not be tolerated. You can find Forum Guidelines posted in The Lobby.
THE FORUMS AND CHAT
Members have the ability to comment on any topic within the forums as well as create new topics. As mentioned above, forum creation itself is left up to admins but drop a comment in the Suggestion Box for any new forums to be considered. A secret surprise that only members can see — there is a chat feature! Once you sign in you can see the chat windows on the bottom, similar to that social media site, the one with a book, or face, or something.. you know the one I mean. Be respectful — not everyone likes to chat so if your invite is ignored, don’t take it personally.
In future, I am hoping to host a virtual writers group chat. Last night there was an impromptu gathering that was fantastic! We got to know each other a little better and we talked about our current works in progress (WIPs). We discussed traditional publishing vs. self-publishing, NaNoWriMo, and a little about how we fell into the particular genres we prefer writing. So, feel free to jump in, ask questions, start a topic thread, chat, leave links to sites worth checking out, or just pick up a little information.
At the moment, the forums are a little empty. Sadly, with the switch to the current set-up, conversations from the previous forums were lost. So, first, stop in The Lobby, read the guidelines then introduce yourself. A few topics are waiting to begin and Evelyn (from Filling a Hole) has already jumped in creating a new thread in the Poets Corner asking for thoughts about the usage of cursing in poetry!
THANK YOUs, HELP AND OTHER TIDBITS
Now that things are settled behind the scenes, the focus can be on the community. With that in mind, this Friday I will be introducing another idea that I hope will really get everyone involved and excited. So be sure to check out Friday’s post!
Finally, a big thank you to Dave Farmer for all his help. He helped with the graphics for the background and header, he created the various forums and topics, and he was a great sounding board to discuss the good, or bad, of a particular choice. Together we worked on creating the Forums tab, which seems so simple but it took two days of talking it out to fully understand the concept before we could get it working.
Also, thank you to Evelyn for being our little guinea pig! She was patiently willing to refresh endlessly to make sure things worked, she signed in and out multiple times and she let us know when something didn’t look right on her end.
Which is what I hope to create with all this Forums, chat and virtual writers group stuff — a place for writers to talk about ideas, get feedback on work, share information and just offer support when needed. Over the next few weeks and months there will be even more unveiled so stick around.
15 comments
1 ping
Danita Cahill
February 15, 2012 at 11:32 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Looks great! Thanks for following my photography blog, Marita.
Danita
IndigoSpider
February 15, 2012 at 11:50 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks Danita. Discovered your photography blog this morning, enjoyed looking through all your beautiful photos.
heike
February 14, 2012 at 8:21 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
looks really really awesome, Marita! Congratulations on creating something SO many people are going to just LOVE! i am paying 1400 pounds for my distance writing course at the OU right now and their forums look like kindergarten play corner compared to what you created here! you rock! i so hope for you that this will take off in a very big way.
IndigoSpider
February 14, 2012 at 4:21 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I took some online courses a few years back and the forums were pretty awful. To me it sent the message “no fun in learning here”! I think the place will really start rocking once everyone starts mingling, creating new forums, jumping in and getting to know each other. People are joining from all over the world and that can create a great dynamic, I’m excited!
Lynnette Ng
February 14, 2012 at 6:53 AM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
SEXY LOOK!!! GOOD JOB INDIGO SPIDER AND DAVE FARMER!!
OH SO SEXYY~~
IndigoSpider
February 14, 2012 at 4:17 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ha, sexy look — never thought of it that way, thanks!
toplessdriver
February 13, 2012 at 10:19 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s fabulous! Definitely a place I am gonna hang out. When do we open the bubbly?
IndigoSpider
February 14, 2012 at 4:16 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Ooooh, never thought of opening the bubbly! Love champagne!
Evelyn
February 13, 2012 at 7:57 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
so much fun to be a part of this.
I love hanging out on the chat…
I liked helping
and I have to agree. Ive always really wanted to get into something like this,
but this FEELS right.
Like home!
IndigoSpider
February 14, 2012 at 4:15 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks Eve, that is the best to hear, that it feels like home
Dave
February 13, 2012 at 4:39 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
It’s looking pretty darned funky right now! All singing and dancing and raring to go! May the forums swell with eager voices and let the good times roll!
IndigoSpider
February 13, 2012 at 5:15 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
No doubt once a few brave souls take the plunge and start some discussions they will swell happily
Thanks again for all the help!
Hudson Howl
February 13, 2012 at 3:51 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Looks marvelous from here. Bon Voyage.
IndigoSpider
February 13, 2012 at 5:13 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Thanks Hudson. My tone is subdued in the post but I’m quite exuberant about it all! I had to force myself to focus so I could write the post because otherwise it would have sounded more like:
all this happened, oh, and over there, look, a big… then, we had to… oh, streaming posts… the colors, see.. then wow, amazing, right… don’t forget… like the overexcited child telling a story — makes sense in my brain but not to anyone else!
Hudson Howl
February 13, 2012 at 9:07 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Been around the block. Knows to read between the lines. Quietly sits in the shadows, smiles and applauds.
NoCZ week seven | Crowing Crone Joss
February 13, 2012 at 7:58 PM (UTC -4) Link to this comment
[...] was really excited a few weeks ago when Indigo Spider announced she was going to create a virtual writer’s group and having just spent some time on the newly revamped site, I am so impressed with how it’s [...]