I've reorganized the forums to an extent, as was suggested. I thought about it for a while and decided that logically these changes make sense. Now, instead of having the discussion of the writing separate from the critique, they're now located together. In each forum (Short Stories, Poetry, Novels, Non-Fiction, Scripts) you can discuss the writing as normal - within each of those forums are the forums to get your work critiqued/reviewed. This change has been made to help save space on the homepage and to make it easier to navigate, as well as make it less confusing for new users.This new organization is not set-in-stone; if for some reason it simply doesn't work out, it's possible I may revert back to how we previously had it set up. However, I'm willing to give this a try. Chances are I may have ordered some things in the wrong place or such, so if that's the case please tell me. Moreover, there might be some additional changes, reorganization, and forum merging in the next few days. Please direct any questions or comments regarding this in this thread.
It's a good start, Daniel. Thanks for taking my advice seriously and considering it. You should have grouped the forums for writing together in subforums of the "General Writing" forum--that would have condensed all that you could. You could also make "Word Games" a sub-forum of The Lounge, although I don't know if Word Games is an extension of the Lounge or if it's supposed to be an entirely different beast. I feel like the "Writing Topics" Should be second or third (after Site Information definitely, but perhaps also after the General Writing forums). You should almost certainly have the Community Interaction section at the very bottom: You want to draw members in to post about writing, not to become a part of the off-topic community. Have the Community Interaction above the Writing Topics implies it is more important to the site.
This is an improvement. I agree the Community Interaction should be placed at the bottom of the page. I'm also wondering why the tab at the bottom which showed the site's highest posters and a variety of other information has been replaced with recent blog posts, considering there is already a bar for that along the side of the page? Also, are these new ads permanent? If you become a premium member do all advertisements on the site immediately disappear?
I did it to *try* to bring a little more attention to the blogs. The other information was primarily the recent posts (which are in the sidebar also) and the top posters/forums which can be found here. I'm not sure if I'll keep it with the blog or not, just experimenting with it. I very well may switch back or remove them both. For now I'm experimenting with them. It's highly likely they're remain there in some form or another. In the next few weeks we'll be upgrading to a larger server, which consequently costs much more per month, thus the ads. As soon as your payment process, all ads disappear, yes. (directly from a paypal account should make this instant: if you use an echeck through paypal it might take a few days)
Ughhh. These new ads are awful. I have never seen a writing forum that needs so many ads getting in the way of the content. Really awful.
I write but apparently I can't read. I went with habit and thought I'd selected the wrong button, twice. Now I see. I could go either way.
Good lord, will people stop moving the damn contests!! I get lost easily Nah, it looks interesting Daniel. It'll just take a little getting used to.
I think that the changes are great to be honest. Makes it look far more appealing to the eye and far more professional as well and less spralled out. Also I would just like to say that there are forums out there with a lot more ads than this one has got. Or could ever have. The ads didn't bother me what so ever and I don't honestly see why they should to be honest. Though I don't have to worry about them anymore
You guys wait until I get on there. Provided nothing happens in the mean time! Honestly, I don't think I really like the new layout but that's only because I'm not used to it. So once I get used to it it wouldn't bother me. Except the google adds. A brilliant stradigy though, bombard the forum with ads so they all pay for premium membership!
Well I would hope that you wouldn't leave over something so minor Robert. I would hope no member would leave over ads on the forum. But if that is what they want to do then that is their decision to do so. We can't expect everything to be ad free on a forum that we come to for free. Not everything can be perfect, bills don't pay themselves!
As the site grows, I'm sure it will cost more to maintain as well. It's a non-profit site, but up until now, the burden of hosting costs, contest prizes, and necessary upgrades have all fallen on one person. The ads are one way to help offset those costs. Subscriptions are another.
Under Writing Topics->Poetry, I think Song Lyrics should be Song Lyrics Critiques to be consistent with the rest.
Torana, I didn't ask that the place should be ad free, though some forums do achieve that. I understand the need for some forums to run ads to cover some of the costs of maintaining the site. I've never seen one that had to put ads between the posts the way this site currently is. I don't believe that's necessary, myself. It already carries ads in the banner at the top of the page, and now members can make voluntary contributions too, which is entirely reasonable.
Perhaps label the forum Poetry and Lyrics so as not to make Lyrics seem like the other child that gets hidden in the basement when guests are about. I'd also suggest that the Writing Topics be renamed to Writers' Workshop, to emphasize that it's not a display board but a place to pound out the dents and polish the finish. It will also help distinguish it from Writing Issues, which focuses more on writing in general than on dissecting concrete samples. It would be a shame to dilute the focus that makes our site so unique.
