!! We've built a New Forum at writingforum.org (no S) !!

Thanks for letting me know. I'll stand by.

 

I reckon people post in the Showcase in the hope of getting crits or mistakenly, instead of the workshop - that definitely happens in the other place.

 

The showcase mostly happened when I was on hiatus so I don't think I'm up on all the rules/reasoning, but if something like that were to continue it might be worth considering restricting it very lightly, like to the "regular member" level (ten posts and ten days or whatever).

 

FIFY

 

Jannert here. I just became aware of this development today, as I’ve not been an active forum member for years now. I have to say, this development been in the making for a long time. Huge thank-you to Homer Potvin for making this possible AND to Moose, whose dedication to keeping this place going actually kept it going.

I’ve not been active here for a long time, mainly because I am no longer doing any serious writing. At my age (76 next month) I have no desire to carve out a writing career for myself! I probably won’t be joining the new site, for that reason. I don’t do beta reading any more either, so I’m kinda voluntarily out of the loop now. But it was quite a loop! And I’ve made many friends here, many of whom I’m still in touch with. Grateful for all I’ve learned and gained from the forum. But it’s definitely time for a reboot, isn’t it?

I certainly wish you all well for the future. I was heartened to read that contentious areas like the Debate Room will NOT be a part of the new venture. It’s a chance to start clean, with a clean slate and a new philosophy. Writing is still very much something people do, and a good writing forum is part of the backbone that keeps writing alive.

All the best!

 

For what it's worth: I copied some of the fun threads from the "Word Games" sub-forum, like the "Write an atrocious opening to a novel" thread, the "Wonky dictionary" thread, and so on.

I saved them in text files, so unfortunately we won't be able to reproduce them in their entirety. But at least we'll have (some of) the contents.

 

I'm glad to hear about the move! Despite the struggles it will certainly cause on the short term, the forum will be stronger for the change in the long term!

Is there any chance our profiles can be ported or will those also need to be started fresh?

 

We could if the current owner let us, but alas.

This seems to be a common question. It might be a good idea to create a FAQ sticky thread.

 

Or what he used to do, say "I'm going to do xyz," followed by a brief burst of activity without consulting with or even informing his mods, then another disappearing act. Anybody who's read In Conquest Born will know the phrase "the blessings of an active god upon you."

 

I've been here almost 17 (!) years, and while I'm sad to see this site go, it's for the best. Daniel was fairly active when I first joined but stopped posting as much maybe a couple years in. Even back then, it was hard to get a hold of him. I think, at the time, he was the only "super mod," so none of the other mods could do much about some of the larger issues that would pop up.

I'll make an announcement in the flash fiction contest subforum in case anyone missed this announcement. The current contest will be the final one. It's been fun being a part of that over the last few years, and I want to thank everyone who participated in the various contests.

I'll try to remember to join the other site when it's live. I don't write as much as I used to because life/my career took a different trajectory, so I haven't been very active on this site over the past few years. However, it'll still be good to be part of the writing community. Good luck, and a big thank you to Homer and moose for keeping the community alive and to the entire mod team for everything they've done to keep the site running smoothly over the years!

 

I tell ya, ya go blind for a few days, take a trip to London for another few days and come back to find water pouring in, ship's going down, everyone scrambling into lifeboats, checking to see if there's space for one more while trying to work out if you're Jack or Rose on this particular trip...

Anyway, fair play to @Homer Potvin and @big soft moose and the other mods. It's been coming, thanks for meeting our debts and must express appreciation for all the effort.

I'd make a couple of notes that may or may not resonate. Flashy and animatronic are the enemy of computer illiterates, like me, who liked the almost pen-to-paper quality of the current set up. Less is more on the medals front. Energy has been needed, though, and at least the team in charge can put focus where needed to encourage participation.

Most of any writing I've posted here is available to me elsewhere and I'm not concerned about what might happen to it if the site does sink. If Daniel or anyone else find something useful to do with it, I only hope they get back to me on how I might do the same. There's a few I'll be glad to disappear. I don't know that it makes a difference, but I can extend my permission for anything I've put on this current site to be transposed or whatever in the set up of the new community, even if testing out new applications, fora or whatever.

I'm not a lover of change, have to say, but with the same people involved, maybe that French adage might prove true,
Plus ca change and all that.

 

That's a good point. I know it's early to be discussing stuff like that, but down the road, it will be super awesome if the site is made to look similar to this. I know that there are modern design standards to follow but it's still possible to make a lookalike without compromising on those drastically.

 

I used to think the same. When the site I'm a mod on changed from vBulletin to XF, I didn't like the new layout and was dead against it.

But over time, I've come to believe that the new layout is much better. If you're only a member here, you may not know what that looks like, but I can assure you, it does work better. It's as if the New Posts page is the default (if the guys decide they want it to be), but there are also other options like having a banner page or looking more like vBulletin/XF1.

 

It it possible to have a dyslexic font option in an accessiblity tab?

 

This +10.

 

My main hope is that your AI policy remains the same, and you won't go around suggesting that people use AI to actually generate their "writing". And I do hope you won't allow people to use LLMs to generate all their posts and replies either.