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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 13:30:34 GMT -7
Pardon me, I'm frickin' tired, just had a shower, and I'm probably not thinking the slightest bit straight.
I like to visit these boards. It's nice to talk to people in the area and surrounding about comics and it's good to know the locals and all that.
But I'm finding it more and more confusing to navigate here. The Sub-boards, especially, are difficult for me, because I don't know where they are until I've gone into the forum that contains them.
It seems to me that they need to be organized better. Obviously, this is no slight on Gerald whatsoever, I'm just looking for opinions on the matter.
Do you think they need to be organized differently? Do you have any suggestions? Or do you like 'em just as they are?
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Mr. Vince
MIC AGENT
Friendly Giant
Posts: 249
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Post by Mr. Vince on Jul 4, 2005 13:45:09 GMT -7
I'd agree with you there. There's more categories than needs be for a forum of this size. I think the Talk-Talk boards should still be in one board, not split into three. There's not enough posts in all of them to warrant splitting them up. Things like Comic Jams and BBQs should be under a catergory like PUBLIC EVENTS. The Job Board should be under Creative Connections and the Other Artistic Persuits and B.S. and T. should be under a MISC category at the bottom.
That's what I'd recommend.
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 13:52:49 GMT -7
I would have to concure. I just haven't bothered to say anything.
The sub-boards seem a bit too much. There are other boards here that just seem a bit redundant or way too specific that it may as well just be a thread.
But over-all I'd say the sub-boards are too much to have to dig 2 levels just to read a post ... then back out 2 levels.
also what's a bit bothersome is the pulldown menu for going to the next page ... I don't know if that's a feature or an option, but I'd rather just click a text link than pull down a menu, especially when I just want to get to another page.
I've been (and am) on forums that have hundreds of people posting topics and threads every day ... nowhere near as comlpex (complicated?) as these boards are becoming. I'd say if it's something important like an announcement or barbeque, just 'sticky it' to the top/ make it an announcement thread
well ... my 2 cents.
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Post by dutton on Jul 4, 2005 14:17:41 GMT -7
Hear, hear.
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 14:25:27 GMT -7
Ok, head a little clearer.
So basically, we all (so far) seem to be agreeing that the size of the board doesn't justify being split into as many seperate forums as it currently is.
All of the studios having their own forum may not be practical. Having one forum for all the various studios that participate in MIC may be more practical -- however, no harm, I would think, in having private sub-forums. But then, I don't know what the private sub-forums are for?
I agree anything related to a "Public Event", should simply be under the header PUBLIC EVENTS. That makes sense. And three "talk-talk" (I don't much understand what "TALK-TALK" means?) forums seems pointless.
Good suggestions so far, I'd say.
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ledsoul
Junior Member
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
Posts: 65
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Post by ledsoul on Jul 4, 2005 15:06:34 GMT -7
Heh, I was hesitant to speak up too much about the lack of organomics on this board. I can understand the limitations of these proboards. (If this group gets much larger, proboards really cant handle too many 'connections' as it were.)
The Subforums really did feel redundant to me also. I think I made a side comment to Gerald the other day, but didnt pursue it as I know how much work these things can be. If you need any help, let me know, Im no stranger to administration and organizing as I used to work as a file clerk for a bank... dont ask...
My Suggestion:
TALK ON THE COFFEE TABLE
- Introductions Please (Join in the Guestbook here)
- Chit Chat General (Talk Talk)
- Comics & Books
- Flix and Tunes
- Business (The Comic Biz)
TALK ON THE DRAWING TABLE
- Artist Gallery (I would combine Draw Draw Draw more here.)
- Writers Journal
- Inkers
- Letter and Colours
MIC COMMUNITY
- MIC JAMS and MEETINGS
- MIC CANADA (Nothing against Edmonton, but that area feels redundant as I would think the whole site is primarily centered around all of Canada, correct me if Im wrong, although many of us reside in Calgary, having an area that is city specific seems to defeat the national direction of the site. This area would be to look for people in your own local area. Say a thread in that area call MIC Edmonton.)
- ACCA Yakka
- Other Conventions and Events
- Collaborations Team Building (Creative Connections)
CANADIAN SMALL STUDIOS AND PUBLISHERS
- Konsequentail Studio (Calgary)
- Dork Boy Comics (Calgary)
- Vitious Ambitions (Calgary)
- Self Promotions (Small and independant)
JOB BOARDS
- Employer seeking Artist
- Artist seeking Employer
BUY SELL and TRADE BOARDS
- For Sale or Trade
- Wanted
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 15:16:57 GMT -7
I don't know the limitations of the Proboards. I would love, assuming this grows in the future (which, I assume it will) to eventually move to an actual domain name (for the record, mapleinkcomics.ca is available) with hosting and some better board software. But that's a ways away. For now, let's get things organized.  |
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 15:20:22 GMT -7
well, domain hosting with tons of features including making forums ... multiple forums even plus many other features costs as little as $5 US/month ...
this is how much I'm paying to run Radioactive City ...
all it takes is 10 people pitching in $1 a month and you have the hosting and boards paid for, with no ads or anything.
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Post by Temperance on Jul 4, 2005 15:23:29 GMT -7
Agreed. It took me forever to even realize there WAS a subforum. I couldn't figure out where I could find info for the BBQ for the longest time before I found the sub board, which... if stuff doesn't have a "new" label on it, I don't bother looking at it, thus missed it completely. ^_^;;;
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 15:39:57 GMT -7
FOCUS, man, FOCUS!
;D
My overall suggestion:
GENERAL
- Introduce Yourself
(Who is on Board?)
- Chatter
(Talk about .. well, whatever you want.)
- Comic Business
(Discussing the various aspects of publishing comics.)
- Conventions and Events
(What events are up'n'coming and who's going?)
MAPLE INK COMIC TALENT
- Artists
(Post your artwork and/or discuss other artist pursuits.)
- Writers
(Stories in development, proposals, thoughts.)
- Inking/Lettering/Coloring
(Tools of the trade, samples.)
- Creative Connections & Job Postings
(Looking for someone to work with on a particular project?)
That eliminates a lot of forums I would consider redundant for the time being. Thoughts? Suggestions?
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ledsoul
Junior Member
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
Posts: 65
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Post by ledsoul on Jul 4, 2005 15:43:01 GMT -7
Whoa, looks like I wasnt looking when I modified my post above. Ive added my suggestions to my previous post. But it comes down to simplification, elimination and consistency in titles.
IMO...
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 15:47:52 GMT -7
Whoa, looks like I wasnt looking when I modified my post above. Ive added my suggestions to my previous post. But it comes down to simplification, elimination and consistency in titles. IMO... I agree, especially about the consistency. I would "suggest" a level of professionalism with the titles, also. Not that they're horribly unprofessional now, of course, but there could be improvements. Too long of a title or info can be confusing, misleading, and look, well, unprofessional. |
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 15:56:14 GMT -7
... and just on a small picky note, having the table cell change color (rollover) to the same color as the title of the forum throws things off sometimes.
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Mr. Vince
MIC AGENT
Friendly Giant
Posts: 249
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Post by Mr. Vince on Jul 4, 2005 16:00:33 GMT -7
Yeah, the red on red really makes it confusing the next time you want to click on something. Things like the '<< page arrows >>' and so forth.
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FC
MIC AGENT
life is a journey, not a destination.
Posts: 77
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Post by FC on Jul 4, 2005 17:01:37 GMT -7
Re. forming an actual board to work from that is completely free of ads, I'd be willing to offer some space for a phpBB board (I have about 400MB of a 800MB account i'm not using). I can set up either a subdomain or you can purchase a domain name from enom and point it to the appropriate space.
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Post by G. Gerald Garcia on Jul 4, 2005 17:35:06 GMT -7
Hey Everyone...
I agree with better re-organization of the board as well. Ledsoul mentioned "better forums are out there".
Proboards was the first one I saw offered at no cost. So I took a chance, with a long contact list, to see what could be done about establishing better communication in the comic creator community. Or if there is even a place for it.
I threw it out there, to see what would happen...then it grew on it's own.
I had no clear plan or structure to the board right away, learning on the fly,finding all the new toys...spending way too much time on this.MIC has grown beyond my hands,( I have stated that elsewhere)
and having other members step in to help manage and re-organize the board would be a good direction.
I have done this all on my own time.
If we have the funds raised for the domain name and monthly fees, or we can make FC's offer work. I am all for it. Clearly there is a place for Maple Ink Comics in Calgary, maybe even Canada.
If you are interested in working towards a better Forum structure and presentation, please step up...
and we can get started.
Thank You.
GarSeeYa!!!
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 17:48:23 GMT -7
You've done a friggin' kick-ass job of it Gerald. I hope, and I'm sure, you didn't take this thread as a knock at what you've accomplished so far. You brought all of us together, like hasn't been done before. That's awesome. Now it just needs some refining in order to carry it forward. Call it a growing pain. I'm absolutely willing to "step up" and help out whever I can. I can register a domain easy enough. After San Diego, I'd even be willing to pay for it. I'm sure other people the board would be willing to pay me back for a share of it -- it wouldn't end up coming to much. And then we can take FC up on her offer for hosting. It's a start. We agree there has to be some changes. Now we just need to agree on a template for the forums. You did good Gerald. Could never thank you enough. Truly. |
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 17:51:31 GMT -7
Yeah, the red on red really makes it confusing the next time you want to click on something. Things like the '<< page arrows >>' and so forth. Haha, that's where my page menu goes ... I didn't even see that there were arrows there. |
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ledsoul
Junior Member
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis
Posts: 65
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Post by ledsoul on Jul 4, 2005 18:13:31 GMT -7
www.1and1.comHas domains for as little as 5.99 US a year and their one of the top rated servers out there. Now that said, thats just a domain name. Heck, even I could buy that for ya, LOL. But the server space is a whole other thing. FC has said she has extra space to spare, now we just need the forum coder willing to build it. Hey Ger, I give you full Kudos for building this thing too, its an awsome thing youve done.
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 18:17:52 GMT -7
These type of forums can be built with the click of a button ... then just a bit of elbow grease to cutom color the forum to your need.
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 18:28:12 GMT -7
I'm certainly willing to build the board, even though I have no idea what I'm doing. I can learn. But I'm sure there's others that could do it faster then I. I've downloaded phpbb2 now. I'm not even sure how to load it! Ha! |
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FC
MIC AGENT
life is a journey, not a destination.
Posts: 77
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Post by FC on Jul 4, 2005 18:50:06 GMT -7
I've had some experience playing around with and administering phpBBs...
I can throw one up on my space tonight after work if you'd like.
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 18:50:28 GMT -7
You can't, you have to upload it to the server and install it with a mySQL database ...
some website hosts have it preinstalled and all you have to do is click a button to turn it on.
EDIT: I just realized, this wasn't the response to FC, this was to the post above FC's ... ha, it looks like I"m being a jerk. sorry.
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 19:10:06 GMT -7
I uploaded it (found instructions on how to install), but couldn't connect to the database? Didn't know what that meant.  |
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 19:16:23 GMT -7
You can't, you have to upload it to the server and install it with a mySQL database ... |
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 19:21:32 GMT -7
Yes, well, I assumed the server HAD an MySQL database... whatever that is.. since it seemed to support PHP in the first place.
But I chose ever database thing in the options list and it wouldn't go through. So I guess I'd need a different server in order to set it up.
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Chris
Full Member
Posts: 211
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Post by Chris on Jul 4, 2005 19:25:53 GMT -7
Are you changing these options in a mySQL database? or in the PHP script?
I forget all the technicallities. I just know you have to set up a name of your database and match that to the options for setting up to the PHP script.
My server just lets me click a button and it was automatically set up.
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 19:27:13 GMT -7
I ran install.php off the server. That's about all I know. Maybe I'm not exactly suited for this. At least not in the condition my brain is in. Working 14 days in a row 'n all. |
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FC
MIC AGENT
life is a journey, not a destination.
Posts: 77
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Post by FC on Jul 4, 2005 19:42:03 GMT -7
Hmm.. if anything, it's definitely going to take some time to set up and configure to something as close as possible to what we have here on proboards. If anything, anything that goes up as a phpBB at this point should probably be considered a testing area until finalized by Gerald.
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Post by EmperorCharon on Jul 4, 2005 20:05:48 GMT -7
Oh absolutely. I was gonna spend some time, trying to make it fairly close in color and whatnot to this board, let the people see it and make suggestions. Take it slow. Right now... I'm going to sleep. Does anyone have a server where this can be installed and I can start customizing it tomorrow? Assuming.. I'm the one that's customizing it? I'm just trying to help. |
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