Ideas so far

Discussion of other water gun websites.
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SSCBen
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Ideas so far

Post by SSCBen » Tue Aug 30, 2005 10:01 pm

This is a forum most don't have access to, but that can change if requested. My main thoughts is that things such as passwords which I will be posting and such should be kept secret.

Links to previous threads:

- http://www.isoaker.com/cgi-bin/Ikonboar ... t=110;st=0
- http://s8.invisionfree.com/soakermedia/ ... wtopic=426
- http://forums.sscentral.org/t3294/

I am trying to bring together all webmasters of popular water gun websites to give ideas and help in the development of this community site. Previous attempts at a similar concept (community forum) have failed and I think a newsletter would support itself much better given that it is constantly being updated.

This is a serious effort - please put as much time and effort into it as you would for your regular websites.

Again, I will offer hosting for such a site if it is needed. I am paying for the next few years and I haven't seen our new host down yet (and I've been using it for near a year for another site).

I imagine (and hope somewhat) that a site like this will have a large newsletter archive in a clean design (or lack thereof). A modest design in short. Here's something that's almost what I am thinking of (you may have seen this site before): http://www.straightdope.com/

I'm taking the time to contact a few people about this forum to help out with this project right now, so it may be hours to days before a response is seen.
Last edited by SSCBen on Sat Sep 03, 2005 1:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:19 pm

Okay, now I'm thinking a webring would be a good idea too. I can install (or move) the webring script we have right now to the other site easily.

Also, I am considering making the newsletter mailing list more than just for the newsletter... it could easily be setup to also be for discussion like old mailing lists were (like the NerfList).

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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Thu Sep 01, 2005 12:35 am

Newsletters are pseudo-conflicts of interest for website masters in that usually website builders prefer pushing new content into a site as opposed to a newsletter. Granted, one can always write shorter articles for newsletters, but then there are also only so many hours in a day. I could foresee myself trying to offer help in the form of various articles and insights I have on stock soakers (well, that's what I find myself babbling about for the most part, anyhow :P ). As for set-up, organization, editing, maintenance, etc., I leave thatto those who are really organizing it. With SSW/MaXStaR, tried running one before... worked for awhile, but the hardest thing was getting others apart from ourselves to write articles and keep things relatively fresh.

As for webrings, perhaps an okay idea, but I'll admit I don't believe I come across many sites anymore that list themselves as part of a ring. Even when co-running the Aquatica Webring, I'll admit I think I actually only clicked the ring once to twice and those were to verify it worked. These days, I prefer exploring Recommend Links pages as opposed to clicking through an unknown webring navigational panel. Maybe that's just my browsing preference.
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DX
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Post by DX » Thu Sep 01, 2005 4:12 am

This newsletter is planned to be more interesting than those of the past, or at least in format. It should be in a real newspaper format, "columns" rather than "articles." There would be headlines, several sections, and only the frontpage headlines would be one time usage. The other sections would have new columns every issue, but constant to their section.

Having a newsletter webring could also mean finally having that "central links hub" many have chased for so long...
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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Thu Sep 01, 2005 10:18 am

I have setup an account here, but not Majordomo yet.

Account information (for FTP, SSH, Control Panel)

Hostname: linear.apisnetworks.com
Username: newsletter@sscentral.org
Password (for now): newsletter

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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Thu Sep 01, 2005 2:08 pm

I'm happy to offer various thoughts, feedback, and some articles as things progress. However, can't do much else for the Newsletter development apart from that. Too many other obligations as I'm sure others have as well.

Soak on!
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DX
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Post by DX » Fri Sep 02, 2005 3:22 pm

I'm going away again, be back on Monday, don't let the idea die out while I'm gone! ;)
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Hunt_and_Annoy
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Post by Hunt_and_Annoy » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:37 am

Well, one way to sort of help the problem of people needing to spend time on their sites instead of the newsletter is: have have sites submit some of their new articles for the newsletter, and have something like -ssnation.net at the end of the article so they will know where it is from. I think that the articles should only be posted on the site after they have been on the newsletter for a few days, so stuff doesn't seem to repetative. Sites should only submit a few of their new articles, so they will remain up to date on most stuff. Opinions?

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DX
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Post by DX » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:09 am

Once an edition of the newsletter is posted, the articles should not be on the archive seperate. Editions of the letter should be there, no splitting the articles.

This isn't going to be like old newsletters. I can't say this enough. All others have failed, and this one must not fail. Therefore it will NOT have the same old, boring, article after article format like all the others did! Think actual newspaper format! Columns, not articles!
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Post by Hunt_and_Annoy » Sat Sep 03, 2005 4:18 am

Ok we get the point! Actually, it's good to keep reminding us that so we don't change it and die. I am getting a sort of paintball newsletter via email right now, I could forward it to someone if they want to see how its formatted.

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SSCBen
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Post by SSCBen » Sat Sep 03, 2005 2:09 pm

Hunter, I don't feel that we should base our newsletter off a Paintball one. This is our newsletter and we should do it as we'd like to. I agree with Duxburian, columns would provide almost something to expect, and if we cover several columns we would have something for everyone. These columns would be written by more than one person, hopefully a different person each time.

Here's how I see this (in no specific order):
  • News from manufacturers (when available)
  • Homemade/modification/physics writings
  • Reviews
  • Editorials
  • Website development writings
  • Links to sites we have in our links page
I myself am planning on writing something about what I've been working on because some people don't have an ounce of patience.

I do think that in the newsletter archives that each article should be divided up when put in the HTML format. That would aid in printing and search engines. A text-only format could easily be available to preserve how the original newsletter looked.

Now my main concern is what to call this site. I already suggested waterfights.org for it's search engine compatibility, availability and simplicity. Does anyone have any suggestions for domain names and website names, or comments or criticisms? I think we should get going as soon as possible.

Edit:

I got another idea that people have talked about but never done... an IRC chatroom. I do know that Neuro had tried to get one for Super Soaker Central, so I'll ask him about this too. Seems like it couldn't do any harm and would be worth a try.
Last edited by SSCBen on Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Hunt_and_Annoy
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Post by Hunt_and_Annoy » Sat Sep 03, 2005 5:48 pm

Yes! I love chat rooms. It would be really great if SSC had one.

And I didn't say we should model it after a paintball newsletter, just look at it to see how others do it.

EDIT: if we did have a chat room could I be a chat moderator?

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isoaker_com
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Post by isoaker_com » Sat Sep 03, 2005 6:16 pm

"I got another idea that people have talked about but never done... an IRC chatroom."
It had been done, but it nevergot popular so it was disbanded. Perhaps it can be tried again, but while good for some things, chat rooms also have the effect of lessening activity on boards since, well, people can only be at once place at a time (even with multiple browser windows open).

As for the name of the newsletter, perhaps it should have 'Newsletter' or 'Post' or 'Times' or something in its title to also denote that it is a newsletter-type site/creation/mailing list as opposed to a water warfare site. Waterfights.org, while a good name, makes me think it's about a group of people who have a domain on water fighting as opposed to being a water fight newsletter-related site.

My 6.2941 cents...
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DX
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Post by DX » Sat Sep 03, 2005 10:13 pm

And I didn't say we should model it after a paintball newsletter, just look at it to see how others do it.


Again, we don't want to do what others have done. If you want to see a good model format, pick up a copy of the NY Times, USA Today, any of that.

As for the chat rooms, the one on H2O failed, the one on WGN failed, etc. We will have to get lucky, then.
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Post by isoaker_com » Mon Sep 05, 2005 2:41 pm

The major stumbling block in chat rooms, apart from setting up shop and gaining popularity of use, is moderating them. Unlike posts that can be deleted, real time chats are a lot more open to abuse and without a good core of moderators watching over things, chats can degrade horribly very quickly.

Due to the current average age of the online soaker crowd, I'd currently advise against setting up public chat rooms and just let some members communicate with who they wish using currently available instant messaging programs like MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, etc.
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