Suggestions for the Current Forum!

[chrizz]

imho:

look at http://www.teamliquid.net/

it offers
open forums, calendar, streams, wiki
and still is like a portal site.

the website of this professional starcraft 2 team became the main info hub for everything starcraft.


test squadron:

open forums = check (and open forums are really the key to everything, shutting people out, even if they're in other orgs, will make us one of those srs bsns orgs)
streams = check
wiki = ???
calendar = ???

the more information our site offers surrounding star citizen, the more members we'll have.

 

[Star Pilgrim]

imho:

look at http://www.teamliquid.net/

it offers
open forums, calendar, streams, wiki
and still is like a portal site.

the website of this professional starcraft 2 team became the main info hub for everything starcraft.


test squadron:

open forums = check (and open forums are really the key to everything, shutting people out, even if they're in other orgs, will make us one of those srs bsns orgs)
streams = check
wiki = ???
calendar = ???

the more information our site offers surrounding star citizen, the more members we'll have.

http://www.teamliquid.net/
Seriously fuggly site.
How can you compare that old dinosaur to TEST forums?

wiki = for what? TEST wiki would be about different beers we got wasted on etc.
calendar = Yeah? Because we have so many events going, right?

 

[Beef Squatch]

imho:

look at http://www.teamliquid.net/

it offers
open forums, calendar, streams, wiki
and still is like a portal site.

the website of this professional starcraft 2 team became the main info hub for everything starcraft.


test squadron:

open forums = check (and open forums are really the key to everything, shutting people out, even if they're in other orgs, will make us one of those srs bsns orgs)
streams = check
wiki = ???
calendar = ???

the more information our site offers surrounding star citizen, the more members we'll have.

I can't read a single thing on that site without getting distracted by something else....

 

[SeungRyul]

The portal feature has always been divisive I will look into it but no promises :p If we do end up getting one though, we need a dedicated team of posters sharing the latest snippets from Star Citizen news etc.

 

[Halvix]

I can't read a single thing on that site without getting distracted by something else....

It looks like one of those cookie cutter guild hosting sites that were popular for upstart WoW guilds...

 

[Montoya]

If we do end up getting one though, we need a dedicated team of posters sharing the latest snippets from Star Citizen news etc.

I believe we are pretty much there WRT generating enough content.

The TESTies Times and Black Sunders ship talk series for starters.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

The portal feature has always been divisive I will look into it but no promises :p If we do end up getting one though, we need a dedicated team of posters sharing the latest snippets from Star Citizen news etc.

It doesn't seem like it would be difficult to set up a script for a lot of content from CiG (10 for whoever, AtV, etc). I'm currently sitting on about half a dozen propaganda images that I'm prepping to post so I'm sure something could be done with some kind of gallery showcase.

 

[chrizz]

http://www.teamliquid.net/
Seriously fuggly site.
How can you compare that old dinosaur to TEST forums?

wiki = for what? TEST wiki would be about different beers we got wasted on etc.
calendar = Yeah? Because we have so many events going, right?

wiki for all things test, fittings, fleet doctrines, how to join mumble etc, a forum is not very suited for that. more content, more traffic. you can upload media, test propaganda with a link back to wiki.testsquadron.com, not effing imgur. we control our own content with a wiki.

and even if the wiki-squad posts info about ships, that has been posted on 2 other wikis, so what. we stay in the google index.


calendar for everything SC related, test events, SC events, streamers events, montoya's monthly drunk stream.


don't look at the design, that's not what i meant. the design of this page is 90ties, i concur. design can be changed, content has to be created.

 

[Star Pilgrim]

Calendar is not necessary until launch and it should be only about Org matters concerning SC.
If you want SC news go to SC site I say. They do it better than we ever could.

We don't need a wiki section, just a help page, forum rules and Org canon (rules of behaviour, laws?).
I think we have most of this already.

 

[thanatos73]

imho:

look at http://www.teamliquid.net/

it offers
open forums, calendar, streams, wiki
and still is like a portal site.

the website of this professional starcraft 2 team became the main info hub for everything starcraft.


test squadron:

open forums = check (and open forums are really the key to everything, shutting people out, even if they're in other orgs, will make us one of those srs bsns orgs)
streams = check
wiki = ???
calendar = ???

the more information our site offers surrounding star citizen, the more members we'll have.

My major issue with that site is it looks like it was put together by someone with ADHD that just mainlined 12 doses of meth.....WOW!!!! I like the TEST site, after SC/PU launch, then maybe throw up a wiki, some maps of OUR stuff, and a calendar behind some authentication. Then you could have some open stuff, like a general wiki and open events calendar and general SC/PU news that's, well, open. Just don't try to cram 30 gigs of text onto the landing page...... :)

Just my 2 credits.

 

[GameFleek]

I know you said improve the forums and not the website, but yeah... the home page should really show off our accomplishments such as Bad News Barron and Captain Richard on twitch, James Pew saying TEST Squadron Best Squadron, and so on. It is the first place where people come to check us out. As to your actual question... Make it look like a holotable?

 

[Flashwit]

If we do anything like the Team Liquid site I will probably not ever come to the website.

I think we probably want to more prominently focus on new members. That should be a big thing, and we want to shower new members with love and affection.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

This is an excellent topic to bring up at the meeting this Friday as well.

Outside of "moar widgets!" the forums at their core aren't in need of much changing. A lack of dedicated pages for other things is something that would make a much bigger impact than just changing how the forums are done.

It would be nice to have pages specifically for different things that are already well received (such as ship talk) or things that could use a better format than a pile of individual posts. Basically, use the forums for discussion, but not the origination of some pre-selected content. Even if that OC is eventually rotated out or completely removed from the main page, it will go a long way in showcasing our best content creators.

As far as comparing to different sites, we should get an idea of what people want to see when they first load the site, and worry about what that might look like only after there is some semblance of consensus (especially among the people that will be doing the work of building the damn thing).

 

[Crake]

The color scheme feels a bit.. sterile and vanilla to me as well. I think some design adjustments would make it seem much more inviting and tailored to our community.

 

[Fenrig]

Propaganda gallery? We need one.

Fuck Yes.

 

[Fenrig]

The color scheme feels a bit.. sterile and vanilla to me as well. I think some design adjustments would make it seem much more inviting and tailored to our community.

Scroll down to any page bottom. There is a drop down with three style choices. Immersion is my preferred one.

 

[Fenrig]

wiki for all things test, fittings, fleet doctrines, how to join mumble etc, a forum is not very suited for that. more content, more traffic. you can upload media, test propaganda with a link back to wiki.testsquadron.com, not effing imgur. we control our own content with a wiki.

and even if the wiki-squad posts info about ships, that has been posted on 2 other wikis, so what. we stay in the google index.


calendar for everything SC related, test events, SC events, streamers events, montoya's monthly drunk stream.


don't look at the design, that's not what i meant. the design of this page is 90ties, i concur. design can be changed, content has to be created.

All things TEST = inebriation and shitting stuff up

fittings/fleet doctrines = better discussed in any OP announcement or pre-flight mission brief. While it's nice to be able to call specific loadouts and roles by name, I don't see it as necessary.

instructions on how to use a service = a forum post is perfectly fine for that. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that a stickied forum post would be the perfect place for that stuff. I'd almost see if a link directly to a "Getting started in TEST" post could be sent in an email after the verification is complete.

I see no purpose to using a system intended to be updated by anyone and everyone when a lot of that information shouldn't be. At that point why aren't you just creating standard web pages? Wikis always wind up with stale pages that a likely to just have been ripped directly from the RSI site when a link there would have been just as useful (and we don't pay for that bandwidth).

A calendar could be useful, but to be honest I gloss over them because they wind up never being used properly (stupid irrelevant shit gets posted there, or nothing).

 

[Black Sunder]

Well here is my suggestion and it relates to testsquadron.com. Montoya has always talked about the extra money donated every month for the forum to go toward future infrastructure. Well that time is now. Hire a person or group of people to make an official website for us for testsquadron.com with the forum being a link off of that.

We would need an "About Us" section, link to the TEST org page on RSI. A history of TEST. The donation button.Links to various social things.A news section would be front and center on the page so people can easily find those items.

I think a pictures section documenting our GLORIOUS PROPAGANDA would be good, a section for signatures(along with code to use them) and avatars. I also think an articles section for Ship Talk along with TESTie Times wouldn't be bad. An articles section would also allow for floating pictures which I can't do here to wrap text :( and give me better formatting options. I would encourage people to write their own articles to submit for posting if they look good and say something. We would of course have a videos section with SOTS and others we've collected and posted over time.

Future additions could include scrolling text on top for up to date events happening in the PU, general news, warnings, etc.

Anyway thats my suggestion, I don't know if it fits into the 'portal' word category but I refer to it like what you see for the RSI home page.

 

[EpilepticCricket]

Black Sunder very accurately explained what I think several others (myself included) were trying to convey.

The home page needs a redesign not just for aesthetic purposes, but to improve the overall functionality for site admins, and for better "quality of life" features for content creators and consumers.

 

[Black Sunder]

This thread needs to be moved and stickied in the GD section so it can get more exposure.