Forum Project - Points of discussion

[nanoshark]

In reading the Forum Project topics, I decided to list a few of the issues that members have brought up. Sorry for the long thread. I just saw a lot of good points. Some of these ideas have separate threads going. I just wanted to provide a cliff notes version of what we’ve been discussing.

1. Is there a need for a secondary means of chat/communication?
a. We are currently using IRC, which I personally like. Usually I see 5 or 6 people logged in at any given time, but I realize it’s probably not the most well known chat service.
b. Other options: AIM, MSN, YIM, ICQ, Skype (free phone calls)
c. IRC clients: http://www.chat.org.uk/downloads/

2. Social Networking Marketing: I’ve never used Friendster, Myspace, or Facebook even though I have many friends that do. They seem like great ways for us to publicize our sites.

3. Other marketing avenues: Blogs, Youtube

4. Project leaders (NNH)/ Specialists: A few members have a good understanding of Adsense & Affiliates (UncleSalty, Nato76, avfletch). I’m sure we have others who are very good with web design and graphics. Others are good writers (ironunkind). Maybe we can eventually set up a list of people we would recommend to address certain issues.

5. Privacy and Security: (If you own your own business, this is probably not as big an issue.) When you register your domain name, you may want to make sure you have WHOIS privacy protection. Depending on your living situation, it may be best to keep certain information private. I think some domain name registrations charge for it.

6. Copyright laws (especially photos): Try to be careful since we’re trying to make money not lose any. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

7. Understudies - Example: Topic HS football. 2p2 member chooses a state and recruits local HS kids to report on their individual teams. HS football is huge in America and there are many resources for information, but it’s just an example of ways to expand things in the future.

8. ebook recommendations/rating system

9. Competition: If your site ends in an “s” you may want to purchase the singular version if available. Also consider protecting the .net version. This is less of a concern mainly because most people have a tendency to type in “.com”.

10. We need a thread for posting our website, so others can link to it.

11. Separate forum: There has been mention of creating one and DougShrapnel put one together earlier. I have a link on my site for a forum for anyone looking to take on this task. I wish I had more time to monitor one. Here are some possible forum topic headings: 1) Website software and design, 2) Domain names and Webhosting, 3) Post Website, 4) Events & Success Stories, 5) Privacy & Security, 6) Legal Issues, 7) Future ventures/ideas. I’m sure many more will come up just like in the 2p2 forum.

12. Panchovilla:
a. Shared content writing at the beginning to speeds things up.
b. FTP server to archive useful scripts

I obviously don’t expect all these issue to be addressed over night, but I hope it’s helpful. Thanks for taking the time to read this long post and a special thanks to all the Forum Project contributors.

P.S. For those who have approached obstacles in the process, don’t be discouraged. Just keep the questions coming. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]