PDN Fanatics

OK, I am officially on vacation (Winter break), which lasts until mid January. I've spent the first week battling the nastiest cold I have ever had, but that has not stopped me from developing a list of things I'd like to do with this forum over break (and beyond). Please read it and chime in if you have any comments or concerns.

1) Fix the rank icons/rank system in general

It seems a bunch of our rank icons are missing, and I'm not sure everyone's rank reflects their skill level. The ranking system was drakaan's thing, but I'm not sure that it was ever properly implemented. At any rate it needs an overhaul.

2) PDN Fanatics Logos

With the addition of the new styles, we now have a need for eight logos. I don't think we want eight logo competitions running at once, I'm thinking I could get away with two or three new logos. These would be for the non-red styles. For the new red styles I will simply install one of the existing logos. We would then have a once a month competition, changing one style's logo each month.

3) Emoticons

When the forums were updated the new set of emoticons we received looked like they had been badly resized. On darker themes you can even see some white pixels ringing the edges. I plan on swapping them out for some better looking ones sometime soon. Don't worry, I know that some of you like some of the new emotes, so I'll be sure to open a discussion on this topic before I go changing things.

4) Weekly Emails

I think I'm going to start sending out a weekly Email, like drakaan used to do. The primary reason being that our forum activity was higher when we sent them out, and dropped when we stopped. I'd like to include information about current open challenges and polls, as well as highlight works of art and exemplary tutorials. I'd also include news about forum stuff (Like the new styles I just installed).

5) Moderators

With Ash and drakaan swamped with work, and me swamped with school the administrative staff is stretched rather thin. This is a very we behaved forum, so it hasn't yet caused problems, but we really could use another mod or two. I've been somewhat dreading this task as I've seen from other forums what happens when mods and admins get out of control, not to mention the political issues that can arise (which have fractured other communities). I'm still looking at ways to go about this. I don't think you guys (and gals!) are that sensitive, but I am still being careful.

6) Games

Yes, I'll be adding some new games to the arcade sometime in the near future.

7) Galleria

There is a lot of nice art scattered around these forums, but if you want to see it all it becomes something of a challenge, you have to look through lots of threads, and takes a while even on a fast connections. I'd like to have a thread were we post the best work from the artists here. I know they have something like this on the official forums, but I don't plan on simply replicating their system. Keep your eyes open for a discussion thread on this.

8) Advanced hosting

We are really pushing the FreeForums free hosting service to it's limit, and I'd like to explore what it would take to move to a more advanced service, and how that would effect our forums. We may not be able to switch at the moment, but I would still like a better grasp of the options. Most of this comes down to determining lots of technical details (And legal ones, believe it or not), but I'll keep you posted on what I find just the same.

-----------------------

And with that I'm opening the thread to you guys (and gals!): Did I miss anything? Or do you have comments and/or concerns about anything above? Post them!

It all sounds great ben love the work you have been doing i know it must be tough being the only admin/mod around for a while XD. I just wanna thank you so much for making this forum a great place to hang out and help each other

1) Fix the rank icons/rank system in general

It seems a bunch of our rank icons are missing, and I'm not sure everyone's rank reflects their skill level. The ranking system was drakaan's thing, but I'm not sure that it was ever properly implemented. At any rate it needs an overhaul.

I agree that we need to have our ranking system added. That's something we had been making a lot of noise over, and I don't particuarly care about the posting rank. Like you said, it doesn't accurately point out our level of talent.

2) PDN Fanatics Logos

With the addition of the new styles, we now have a need for eight logos. I don't think we want eight logo competitions running at once, I'm thinking I could get away with two or three new logos. These would be for the non-red styles. For the new red styles I will simply install one of the existing logos. We would then have a once a month competition, changing one style's logo each month.

This may be a cumbersome process. If, for example, one of the mods aren't available to update, then it may be a process that needs to be revisited. I think a Javascript that rotate it on a monthly basis may be an ideal solution. Thoughts?

3) Emoticons

When the forums were updated the new set of emoticons we received looked like they had been badly resized. On darker themes you can even see some white pixels ringing the edges. I plan on swapping them out for some better looking ones sometime soon. Don't worry, I know that some of you like some of the new emotes, so I'll be sure to open a discussion on this topic before I go changing things.

Personally, I don't care much about updating the emoticons. I know the main board is about to change theirs. That is an entirely administrative decision, IMO.

4) Weekly Emails

I think I'm going to start sending out a weekly Email, like drakaan used to do. The primary reason being that our forum activity was higher when we sent them out, and dropped when we stopped. I'd like to include information about current open challenges and polls, as well as highlight works of art and exemplary tutorials. I'd also include news about forum stuff (Like the new styles I just installed).

I think this is an interesting idea. I got to voice caution here. Some of us may get swapped with life, and I can't see how this can keep us all in touch with what's going on. Maybe a dedicated thread would be ideal?

5) Moderators

With Ash and drakaan swamped with work, and me swamped with school the administrative staff is stretched rather thin. This is a very we behaved forum, so it hasn't yet caused problems, but we really could use another mod or two. I've been somewhat dreading this task as I've seen from other forums what happens when mods and admins get out of control, not to mention the political issues that can arise (which have fractured other communities). I'm still looking at ways to go about this. I don't think you guys (and gals!) are that sensitive, but I am still being careful.

To tell you the truth, I was glad you brought this up. I had been wondering for some time when this would be brought to the surface. I feel that this board could use some additional help, especially with some of us now eager to set up challenges and polls, and what nots. I agree wholeheartedly that this is a very well behaved forum. I do not anticipate problems in the near future since we haven't had any spikes in newly registered users. I hope I am not coming across as jockeying for a position, but if I could I would like to volunteer to help out if needed.

6) Games

Yes, I'll be adding some new games to the arcade sometime in the near future.

It doesn't matter what you decide on. Personally, I am shying away from the Arcade unless I am extremely bored, and playing on Play Station 2 isn't keeping me occupied, then I might.

7) Galleria

There is a lot of nice art scattered around these forums, but if you want to see it all it becomes something of a challenge, you have to look through lots of threads, and takes a while even on a fast connections. I'd like to have a thread were we post the best work from the artists here. I know they have something like this on the official forums, but I don't plan on simply replicating their system. Keep your eyes open for a discussion thread on this.

IIRC, Drakaan set up a "Greatest Image of All Time," thread somewhere on the board. Welshblue started a thread called, "Personal Galleria," in the Open Mic forum. Maybe we need a system, but I don't want to duplicate what's on the main board.

8) Advanced hosting

We are really pushing the FreeForums free hosting service to it's limit, and I'd like to explore what it would take to move to a more advanced service, and how that would effect our forums. We may not be able to switch at the moment, but I would still like a better grasp of the options. Most of this comes down to determining lots of technical details (And legal ones, believe it or not), but I'll keep you posted on what I find just the same.

This is a tough one. On one hand, it's great to have a free forum where we don't have to pay for membership, but on the other hand, it may someday be outdated. I think this is again an administrative decision.

And with that I'm opening the thread to you guys (and gals!): Did I miss anything? Or do you have comments and/or concerns about anything above? Post them!

I have voiced my thoughts.

Ditto on all your points, Ben.

Have a Happy New Year's,
~Sidneys1

@theonlychad

Thanks! I do my best! Just remember that it is the users who make this a great place to be. Without you guys (and Gals!) I'd have to let the spambots in to keep me company.

Lance McKnight wrote:

2) PDN Fanatics Logos

With the addition of the new styles, we now have a need for eight logos. I don't think we want eight logo competitions running at once, I'm thinking I could get away with two or three new logos. These would be for the non-red styles. For the new red styles I will simply install one of the existing logos. We would then have a once a month competition, changing one style's logo each month.

This may be a cumbersome process. If, for example, one of the mods aren't available to update, then it may be a process that needs to be revisited. I think a Javascript that rotate it on a monthly basis may be an ideal solution. Thoughts?

I can see how it would get old having the same competition each month. Though unfortunately any kind of automated solution is out (FreeForums Limitation). I'll think on this.

4) Weekly Emails

I think I'm going to start sending out a weekly Email, like drakaan used to do. The primary reason being that our forum activity was higher when we sent them out, and dropped when we stopped. I'd like to include information about current open challenges and polls, as well as highlight works of art and exemplary tutorials. I'd also include news about forum stuff (Like the new styles I just installed).

I think this is an interesting idea. I got to voice caution here. Some of us may get swapped with life, and I can't see how this can keep us all in touch with what's going on. Maybe a dedicated thread would be ideal?

The goal here is not to keep people who are posting on the forums updated, the goal is to get the people lurking on the fringe to jump back in. Maybe someone signed up, then forgot they signed up, maybe older users had to go on an extended leave for work or school then felt that the community had moved on without them. The email is a way to keep the 90% of users who are not active in the loop, so it is easier for them to come back and start posting again.

5) Moderators

With Ash and drakaan swamped with work, and me swamped with school the administrative staff is stretched rather thin. This is a very we behaved forum, so it hasn't yet caused problems, but we really could use another mod or two. I've been somewhat dreading this task as I've seen from other forums what happens when mods and admins get out of control, not to mention the political issues that can arise (which have fractured other communities). I'm still looking at ways to go about this. I don't think you guys (and gals!) are that sensitive, but I am still being careful.

To tell you the truth, I was glad you brought this up. I had been wondering for some time when this would be brought to the surface. I feel that this board could use some additional help, especially with some of us now eager to set up challenges and polls, and what nots. I agree wholeheartedly that this is a very well behaved forum. I do not anticipate problems in the near future since we haven't had any spikes in newly registered users. I hope I am not coming across as jockeying for a position, but if I could I would like to volunteer to help out if needed.

I don't have a problem with the unofficial challenges (I could see that being a problem if we had the Official Board's user base ). Right now I'm considering making some forum specific mods, then promoting them to global mods when I see they are able to handle the responsibility.

6) Games

Yes, I'll be adding some new games to the arcade sometime in the near future.

It doesn't matter what you decide on. Personally, I am shying away from the Arcade unless I am extremely bored, and playing on Play Station 2 isn't keeping me occupied, then I might.

I know some people like the games and others not so much. From an admin perspective though, if people are going to spend time playing Flash games, it's far better to have them play here then on another site, where they might not come back.

7) Galleria

There is a lot of nice art scattered around these forums, but if you want to see it all it becomes something of a challenge, you have to look through lots of threads, and takes a while even on a fast connections. I'd like to have a thread were we post the best work from the artists here. I know they have something like this on the official forums, but I don't plan on simply replicating their system. Keep your eyes open for a discussion thread on this.

IIRC, Drakaan set up a "Greatest Image of All Time," thread somewhere on the board. Welshblue started a thread called, "Personal Galleria," in the Open Mic forum. Maybe we need a system, but I don't want to duplicate what's on the main board.

I agree with that last part. The system on the main board has problems, I'd like to see if we can't do better.

8) Advanced hosting

We are really pushing the FreeForums free hosting service to it's limit, and I'd like to explore what it would take to move to a more advanced service, and how that would effect our forums. We may not be able to switch at the moment, but I would still like a better grasp of the options. Most of this comes down to determining lots of technical details (And legal ones, believe it or not), but I'll keep you posted on what I find just the same.

This is a tough one. On one hand, it's great to have a free forum where we don't have to pay for membership, but on the other hand, it may someday be outdated. I think this is again an administrative decision.

No matter what we, the admins, decide to do with the forum, becoming a member of Paint.NET Fanatics will always be free. And, while it is an administrative decision to some extent, we still value user input. We want to make sure everyone is on board and willing to work through the growing pains that will inevitably occur with such a move. At this point a move is by no means imminent, I'm thinking a year or two down the line at least, I just want to be prepared for when the time is right.

And with that I'm opening the thread to you guys (and gals!): Did I miss anything? Or do you have comments and/or concerns about anything above? Post them!

I have voiced my thoughts.

And I have received them, and addressed them, I hope.

Good points, I see the Galleria is very important, and the images should be chosen by vote, like every month we nominate what we think is qualified according to certain criteria, and vote to choose the best, it should be there a certain mechanism to do that, but not just been chosen by one person, and mention the reason why someone prefer a specific image more than others, this will improve the work and push the PDN-PDNers to their heigher limits.

All good points above. Happy to help out where I can, if you need me.

I like this forum more than the main forum . Oh yeah the pdn group on da is going pretty well. Simon and me have been working hard on it and trying to make it the best possible.

Anyways just like lance i am glad to help anyway needed. I am no means saying make me a mod or anything to that effect but i am available when needed(i have ample amounts of free time)

I think the galleria thing would be cool. I am in the process of trying to promote our forum and get its name out there within the guidelines on the main forum of course like subtle hints to people that i think would be good members over here

This was the first PDN forum I joined and have always preferred this one to the main board. Here are my thoughts on the points raised -

1 Ranking Icons - Personally it does not bother me whether we have ranking icons or not. I think everyone knows and appreciates how good each of us are and respects that. But I`m not against them being used if others would like them.

2 PDN Fanatic Logos - I agree with Lance on this. I don`t really think having them changed on a monthly basis would work either. I think the best thing would be to do two logo competitions per month until each style has it`s own one and keep the winning logo for a year before changing. This would give the mods/admins one less thing to think about(once they are all chosen) and give the winner more time to enjoy seeing their logo when they come to the forum.Also I know many of us have busy lives and PDN projects ongoing. Finding time to be designing logos each month as well might be tricky for some.

3 Emoticons - As long as there is a decent selection I don`t mind which ones we have.

4 Weekly e-Mails - I have to say I did enjoy receiving the weekly e-mail and was a little disappointed when they stopped so starting them up again I think is a great idea.

5 Mods - I agree this is a very well behaved forum and it`s one of the reasons I so enjoy coming here. However I have no idea what it takes to run a forum so I`m not really in a position to volunteer but if you think more are needed then please don`t hesitate to go ahead and recruit some more people. I`m sure whoever is chosen will do a great job and who you chose is entirely down to you.

6 Games - as I rarely play them I`m not really bothered about which ones are there.

7 Galleria - I notice that there is an`Image of the week winners ' thread at the top of the I Made This! section. How about changing the title of this thread to make it sound less like a competition (just remove `winners' from the end) and more like somewhere where the best can be seen. I think Sargon came up with a great idea for nominating images and would be happy to go along with that one, however I would also not be against using a similar system to the main board. We could make it work properly on this forum instead of it being ignored like over there.

8 Advanced Hosting - I agree that we need a more advanced service because too often we get problems on this forum that are out of the mods control. However , as I mentioned earlier, I`m a dunce when it comes to the running of forums so I`m happy to leave any decision in your very capable hands Ben.

Well those are my thoughts. Can`t think of anything else to add.
All that`s left to say is - get well soon Ben and thanks for giving everyone the chance to put their opinions across.

free forums has an advanced hosting feature i dunno how we could support the cash flow in order to get it. I think you can put ads on there to generate cash dunno though. its like 8 bucks a month or 66 dollars a year.



Oh i have on suggestion for the ranks system. Please take away the utter noob rank because that kind of scares people away. Maybe change it to something less antagonizing?

Ben, your response about the moderators make sense to me. It is good to start someone with a limited authority, allowing them to get their feet wet, and once they learn how to handle it with dignity and respect, then I don't see why they can't become a global moderator. My other thought is having an outline of specific responsibilities and what is expected from a moderator will be valuable.

Chad, that's what Ben was talking about with his first point. I think there's a need to overhaul or do away with post ranking. I think the level's icon (as seen here) need to be changed as well. Those icons are really difficult to make out. I smell a competition to create new ranking icons coming in the near future. I could be wrong.

I would love to hear what drakaan and Ash have to say about Ben's thoughts. It would be interesting to see what the two has to share.

aye i totally agree with lance on the mod aspect. I am sure anyone here would make a great mod, but its best to take it slow and easy and not let them have too much power... some people can't handle power that well and let it go to their head lol. I have seen that at my work place alot. I have ran departments without getting supervisor pay but was doing the exact same job as a supervisor it was a valuable experience but i would have to say its not easy. The same would probably go for moderating.

Since this forum has become busier I have noticed more problems with pages not loading. Twice this morning I have tried to post and had a message saying the website was busy . I had to wait a few minutes each time before I could carry on. The sooner we move to more advanced hosting the better I think.

Goonie, I have that problem all the time since dropping back to dial-up speed & I do recall having that probkem before too, so that could explain a lot of the slowness for me. Hope to be back on Broadband by next week.

I'm sure there is a lot going on in the background with the forums that we are not even aware of in regards to the mods work. I feel that to be a good leader you must understand how each section you are overseeing works. For example, I was asked to be a manager of a disability service that I was working for as a support worker & I had just started but how can I manage if I don't know what it is like to deal with the daily routine & challenges that support workers face? I had no prior experience working with people with a disability. Does that make sense?

Now for something funny: hubby bought me a sign that says: I'm not bossy. I just have better ideas!

All the previous comments about new mods are spot on - it's sometimes a fact when people get power.

I do not want to be a mod but there must be other ways of helping.

Sargon III wrote:Good points, I see the Galleria is very important, and the images should be chosen by vote, like every month we nominate what we think is qualified according to certain criteria, and vote to choose the best, it should be there a certain mechanism to do that, but not just been chosen by one person, and mention the reason why someone prefer a specific image more than others, this will improve the work and push the PDN-PDNers to their heigher limits.

Ooooops, I'm not a good board member ... I've only just seen this
All great ideas Ben.

Voting for the Galleria was suggested on the main board, and I had the same thoughts then as I'm having now ... a persons popularity will always win through, not the artwork. Sadly, no matter how subjective people are, I've seen this happen in 99.9 % of cases in everything that's gone to a vote.
More than likely, it will be a deciding factor in The Forum Awards too

On the moderator front ... what a thankless job that is, I remember when I was a member of the BBC gardening boards and was headhunted to start a rival board that was more liberal ... over 400 members naughtykins @ each other, admins naughtykins @ each other ... even locking out the main admin who'd set up the board.

Whoever Ben chooses, please remember folks ... talking and compromise makes for a smoother running forum