Tuesday, July 28, 2009

PLEASE READ -- NEED YOUR OPINIONS ON OUR BLOG

We have 34 authors now -- all Ex-Foxsportsters with about 15 yet to respond. I think we have the bulk of folks here so we need to make some decisions on how to run the blog moving forward...Speedbeagle inspired me with her Constitution questions!

***Right now I (klvalus) am the only administrator on the blog. This means I am the only one that can approve changes to the appearance of the blog and approve new authors (if we keep this private). Do you want to all be administrators? Do you think I should continue as the only one? Have a few people?

***Do we want to keep this blog private (which means you must be an approved author to read, post or comment) or do you want to make it public? Public means anyone can comment/read. If we go public I think we need to be careful about referencing Foxsports.

***Do you want to invite non-ex-Foxsports blogger that have similar interests or you know from other websites/places or keep this primarily "the gang"?

***What changes do you want to make to the blog? Any additional gadgets you would like on here? Color changes? Anything??

_________________________________________________
For what is worth -- my opinions.

My "vision" for this blog was to recreate our Foxsports community here and have a central place to have the group blogs and to drive traffic to our individual blogs.

I am happy to continue as the sole administrator or share these duties with some or all of you.

I am torn on public v. private. My other blog is public and is what I am using to try to get into the NASCAR Citizen Journalist thingy...it is nice to know who is on here and to not have to watch what you say as much however keeping it private means no fresh blood too. If we go public, like I said above, I think we need to be careful about referencing Foxsports (I'll take out the subtitle for example).

I am open to any new members -- I trust you guys to have cool friends! LOL If we keep it private I do have "banning" power...maybe if public too...not sure about that.


So SPEAK UP!! Let me know what you guys want to do...simple majority rules I guess!

25 comments:

  1. Good ideas and questions Kristen. I think the FOX thing is pretty much over even though people are still there. Public or private ? That is a tuffy .... Public would be good to see what other people think but in my time here and in other forums, there is a not of traffic in specific blogs other than the regular's. I think that this is true of a lot of smaller blog communities.

    Right now Kristen you have set it up correctly with each of us having a duel dashboard, private and public at our choosing.

    Concerning how many site administrators I might suggest having 3 or 4 moderators for logistical reasons and just to keep it clean. Kristen, you will be running the show, other moderators can be there for back up etc...

    Rick

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  2. I haven't even been on FoxSports in forever...

    I don't know about the public v. private thing either. What would it hurt to go public if FoxSports references were removed?

    I'll pass on any administrative duties and trust others with that responsibility.

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  3. Are there settings where the blog is public but only blog members can post comments? That might be nice to allow public readers but still protect against unwanted comment spamming.

    As far as the number of admin's, I don't really have a preference. Kristen set up the blog so I'm fine with her being the only admin.

    I say keep the look of the group blog basic and simple ... if we want to do anything flashy we can always do that on personal blogs.

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  4. I am having a devil of a time trying to figure out how to add music to the list on here....I get a blank screen and nothing more :(

    on to the PvP thing; I see no reason to make this one public to be honest since we can have individual ones anyway, but I don't mind either way, lol

    and I'm the same as Lori, I only go to fox now to see the power rankings :P

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  5. I like it that the blog is private and exclusive. I'm not sure how everyone else feels though...

    I agree with Lori on the administrator thing. You should be in charge of it all but maybe we could hold an election for secondary administrators to step in as needed.

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  6. RE: Foxsports -- I am not on Foxsports at all anymore either just to try to find lost souls...I think my wording was wonky in the blog...recreate the foxsports community HERE I meant...

    I am fine being the only admin with a backup as needed if I am gone...but if others *want* to be thats fine too.

    I'll look into public read only option but not comments option but sounds like more prefer it to be private (with generous invites perhaps?)

    Tez I will figure out the music thing. I dont use it so perhaps RA6AN or Beverly can help cuz they were able to post music.

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  7. Priate vs public... I agree with the new blood aspect, as long as no vampires show up! If things become stale, like everyone knows what will be said before it's said, then I would be in favor of public.

    A couple moderators is fine with me. But only if you (Kristen) want it.

    Overall, this is shaping up really well. So I don't see any need to rush into possible changes right now. JMO

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  8. as far as the public versus private goes, I think public for reading and commenting and private for posting. If the public can read and comment, we may find some other cool people. Plus as moderator (this means you Kristen) you can delete unwanted comments. Like this one. LOL

    As far as adding new members, I think as long as a current members can vouch for them, they will be ok. Like Kristen said, I trust the other bloggers to have cool friends.

    I agree with Kristen being moderator (if she wants) and having a couple of back ups. Just not me, I still haven't uploaded a pic or anything yet. LOL

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  9. If you want to post music you will have to go through the same process as we did on Fox.

    You will have to copy and paste to the blog or article.

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  10. Well maybe not. I don't see a problem with public . Besides it will be embeded with a meta tag that will allow search engines to find the site.

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  11. One of the gadgets is called project playlist. I created this playlist if anyone wants to go there and add any songs. The link is:
    http://www.playlist.com/playlist/17348918283?invite=MTM0MTE0ODY6MTczNDg5MTgyODM=

    If you add the gadget (Kristen), just put this number in and POOF, there it is! 17348918283 You can put it on autoplay to start when you log in and choose shuffle for a different song to play each time you log on.

    Our Groovy Tunes seems to just play a portion of the song.

    I'll be the secretary! I'll do a spreadsheet with real names, screen names, emails, birthdays, other sites you are on..... I don't even know some of your REAL NAMES! Although I think a couple of you might be imposters! LOL

    Why don't we TRY public? Someone from FOX came to do the live chat blog Sunday and couldn't get in. We have his email now but on Sunday, he was here and didn't understand what the trouble was. We could have a weekly meeting or a bi-weekly meeting just like this. That's all I've got.

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  12. EUREKA! IT'S ALIVE!

    I just figured out how to add music or video.

    On you post of an article, you have to switch your way to post. Click on HTML and copy and paste the tag onto the blog and save. It doesn't work on a post for a comment though.

    Now on the compose tag, you can also click on photo or video and list the URL and that should work too.

    Check on my article "Someone I want you to meet " and you will see how it works.

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  13. I really don't have an opinion one way or the other. I have my personal blog setup the way I want it and so, whatever you decide here is fine with.

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  14. Ok sounds like Photo understands the music player...if I need to download a different gadget to make it work I can.

    Bev - your enthusiasm is great! Not sure we need a secretary and some folks may not want to share that much "private info" but those who do you are certainly welcome to start a list and be the "social director" around here with bdays and the like...you can start with mine...July 30!

    So we can go public but not allow anyone but authors to comment -- that might defeat the purpose of going pubic and obtaining fresh blood however.

    Sounds like perhaps we try public with anyone being able to read/comment but not post -- only approved authors can post and if we get trolls I can moderate/block and if it gets unpleasant we can always go back to private?

    How does that sound??

    We still havent had lots of the regulars weigh in yet so will hold out on changes until we hear from more folks...

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  15. I like the idea of public for reading and commenting only. I know we had a lot of readers at FOX who never commented(my roommate, for one). I know on my personal blog I have the option of approving comments before they are posted. Do we have that same option here? That would stop the trolls.

    Moderators- 2 or 3 tops. Anymore than that I think could create problems.

    Glad I could provide inspiration(you got a 95).

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  16. I nominate Speedy, Han or Jon to be a moderators. They all seem to keep on top of stuff that goes on around here.

    As for the 'nuts going public, ok. I think the mods should be willing to be a contact for non-members to request membership.

    As for the music, don't ask me, I don't know what I did and after I did it, I couldn't figure out how to undo it. If you do change music players, my only request is that it not be set to auto start. If I wanna listen, I'll push play, thanks.

    That's mi dos centavos.

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  17. Great questions Kristen.

    Let's see....

    1. We should only have one administrator (maybe a second in the case that the administrator has computer problems, or goes on an extended vacation to the Bahamas or something and doesn't want to blog while she is there. Kristen, I think you have done a fine job here so I have no problem with you keeping the job.

    2. I would go public, at least as far as reading and commenting. If someone becomes a regular and we trust them, the administrator can send them an invite to become a contributor.

    Fox was a public site. That is how we found each ohter. There are other people who have similar interests who could enhance this site with their writing. Rude people can be blocked by the administrator. My wife has made a lot of friends in the international adoption world through her blogging here on blogspot.

    3. Whatever appearence is fine with me.

    Guess that's about it! Just my two cents.

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  18. I have way too much nervous energy.lol

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  19. Hey K, To be honest I'm just glad to be here. It sounds like everybody has some good ideas. I'm sure this will be a great site. I'm looking forward to participating as much as I can.

    Take care everyone

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  20. I feel what happen at fox was that we could not see any new blogs at a glance with the top 5 of every sport, most comments etc. This blog page does that now and shows everyone and when they have a new post up. This cut out the time of us clicking on all who we follow to see if they have something new.

    If we can get WilliamWilman over he can do his Trifectas and when he can't others can step up and do them here for all of us to meet on as well as the live chat.

    I love my music and my blogs are loaded with pics and it will only slow this front page down so I will be posting on my public blog like I did for the SYMT and frame by frames cause on here the picture size is too small and just maybe leave a quick header on here like TSFANPC did for her new SYMT post with the link to it.

    Klv, You have done a great job with this. I will be sending you a e-mail as well on the other qustions you ask.

    Cheers2You

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  21. I'll support whatever decisions Kristen and the rest make concerning these issues.

    The only item concerning the blog to me is that by going public for reading and commenting it widens the growth potential of this enterprise. Think that is a good thing in the long run with just a close hold number of admins.

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  22. I am so very thankful to be a member of this group that I have no idea what needs to be done. I know that I haven't written anything, but I hope that I can remain a member. Just let me know the rules and I will follow them. I really miss:
    WilliamWilmon
    DaveinIndy
    JayJayDean
    14Falcons
    and, of course, my many FOOTBALL friends!

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  23. Kristen has done an amazing job with this site in a very short time. If she wants to continue, I'd vote for her to be the admin. with maybe SB and Jon as a second and third.

    I'd also vote to go public. With writers required to be invited before they could post a blog.

    Also agree with some previous comments about gadgets on this site, we all (get busy Mose) have our personal blogs for that, if we wish.

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  24. Thanks guys! As you can see I made the blog public and we should be accessible for all to read/comment at this point, however you still need approval by me to be a contributing author.

    I have invites out to everyone I have emails for...I DO NOT HAVE emails for
    WW
    Dave
    JJDean
    14Falcons
    Wrench Wiz

    But many of the others have still not joined despite invite. So if you can get on these folks to get me their emails or to accept the invite!! LOL

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  25. Sounds good to me. I need to try and post sometime!

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