Rob
01-21-2010, 08:48 PM
Hey everyone, thanks for bearing with us through the long outage while we were working on getting the site back up and running properly for everyone. As you can see things look quite different. Im going to try and run through what were doing here and our goals.
Talkingreef Articles
A few years back we started a project called Reefreaders.com the idea there was to create a site full of great information in a format that was more formal than forum posts. We collected articles and content for a few months before that project was pushed aside for various reasons. A short time later the Talkingreef time, committed to this same goal, started collecting more article style documents and they were stored in the forums. The system for doing this was less than optimal, but it worked. As you have seen this site now contains a full content system where we are currently moving our exiting articles to and will be posting some new ones shortly. The nice part of this new system is that it will allow ANYONE that wants to take the time to write a nice forum post or article. If the moderators approve the article and it goes through an internal review process, it to can be posted. The moderators will also have the ability to take well written forum posts and make articles out of them as well. The idea here is that while forums are great for getting questions answered at the time, they have always struggled to provide thorough details because information is sometimes hard to find, and when you find it, its often riddled with off topic posts and other distractions. the Talkingreef team can now take valuable content and put it together in a searchable and more organized fashion. I will be providing more details on the writing and publishing process in the near future once things with the site settle down and the team is ready.
Blogs and Journals
In addition we are opening up a function to all registered members that will allow them to create and maintain a full featured blog. We will be using these for all future tank journals. This will allow an easier way for people to track and share the progress. the comment system and even associate forum threads can help people collaborate or ask questions. In addition it will allow us to organize your blog posts based on categories. For example. lets say you are running a tank journal for your fish only tank, that can be put into that section for people with FO tanks to go right to and look for ideas without having to sort through 300 tank journal threads. In addition, lets say you want to start a DIY project where you are setting up a homemade skimmer, ATO, or refugium. We can categories these also. YOu can share your blog publicly (outside talkingreef members) and people (both public and TR members) can subscribe and follow the projects/blogs that they want or have interest in.
As you can see the main goal here is finding the best way to collect and share information while allowing interaction and collaboration. We have a lot of options and would be willing to take suggestions from the community on ways you want to see us use these new features. the integration of blogs, articles and forums should allow us to do great things. We also have set the site to be fully accessible from mobile devices. From devices like iPhones, Blackberry's and other smart phones you can browse the forums reply to posts and create new ones. I am also working with a developer on an application native blackberry application that will let you interact with the forums directly from your devices without using a browser.
Going forward
As with all new things there will be problems and things that don't work right. The Talkingreef staff has worked hard to find these and correct them before we did this upgrade, but things will get missed. If you encounter any issues please post them here <insert link>. I also want to say upfront, there are some functions that are no longer present on the site, trust me i am aware there are missing and i know which ones i want to bring back. This is out of my control, and i will be bringing them back as soon as they are available to me. You can post about them if you wish, but as stated i probably already have them noted and will be bringing them back when i can.
Talkingreef Articles
A few years back we started a project called Reefreaders.com the idea there was to create a site full of great information in a format that was more formal than forum posts. We collected articles and content for a few months before that project was pushed aside for various reasons. A short time later the Talkingreef time, committed to this same goal, started collecting more article style documents and they were stored in the forums. The system for doing this was less than optimal, but it worked. As you have seen this site now contains a full content system where we are currently moving our exiting articles to and will be posting some new ones shortly. The nice part of this new system is that it will allow ANYONE that wants to take the time to write a nice forum post or article. If the moderators approve the article and it goes through an internal review process, it to can be posted. The moderators will also have the ability to take well written forum posts and make articles out of them as well. The idea here is that while forums are great for getting questions answered at the time, they have always struggled to provide thorough details because information is sometimes hard to find, and when you find it, its often riddled with off topic posts and other distractions. the Talkingreef team can now take valuable content and put it together in a searchable and more organized fashion. I will be providing more details on the writing and publishing process in the near future once things with the site settle down and the team is ready.
Blogs and Journals
In addition we are opening up a function to all registered members that will allow them to create and maintain a full featured blog. We will be using these for all future tank journals. This will allow an easier way for people to track and share the progress. the comment system and even associate forum threads can help people collaborate or ask questions. In addition it will allow us to organize your blog posts based on categories. For example. lets say you are running a tank journal for your fish only tank, that can be put into that section for people with FO tanks to go right to and look for ideas without having to sort through 300 tank journal threads. In addition, lets say you want to start a DIY project where you are setting up a homemade skimmer, ATO, or refugium. We can categories these also. YOu can share your blog publicly (outside talkingreef members) and people (both public and TR members) can subscribe and follow the projects/blogs that they want or have interest in.
As you can see the main goal here is finding the best way to collect and share information while allowing interaction and collaboration. We have a lot of options and would be willing to take suggestions from the community on ways you want to see us use these new features. the integration of blogs, articles and forums should allow us to do great things. We also have set the site to be fully accessible from mobile devices. From devices like iPhones, Blackberry's and other smart phones you can browse the forums reply to posts and create new ones. I am also working with a developer on an application native blackberry application that will let you interact with the forums directly from your devices without using a browser.
Going forward
As with all new things there will be problems and things that don't work right. The Talkingreef staff has worked hard to find these and correct them before we did this upgrade, but things will get missed. If you encounter any issues please post them here <insert link>. I also want to say upfront, there are some functions that are no longer present on the site, trust me i am aware there are missing and i know which ones i want to bring back. This is out of my control, and i will be bringing them back as soon as they are available to me. You can post about them if you wish, but as stated i probably already have them noted and will be bringing them back when i can.