Changes are Coming!

[Black Dragon]

Hey guys,

As we're approaching our one year anniversary, it's time to look ahead to the future. In particular, we are considering ways to take our community to the "next level," so to speak.

Based on conversations in the Feedback forum, we've identified several upcoming improvements:

1) Article Team

We're looking at creating an article team of writers for our home page.

Up until now, the articles on the home page have primarily been written by yours truly, along with contributions from Nathan Lauffer (our social media guru) and occasional guest authors. What we're planning to do is assemble a team of regular contributors who will write the content for our home page.

Some of the articles that they will be writing will consist of:

• writing guides
• author interviews
• reviews of resources for authors
• roundtable discussions

In the upcoming weeks we'll be recruiting 4-6 volunteers for this project, along with 2 editors.

2) Art / Map Gallery

We will be adding an image gallery. It will be used for displaying original maps as well as fantasy artwork by our members. It will be completely integrated with the forums, and it will be easy for you to link to your images in posts.

3) Member Portfolios / Blogs

We will also add customizable blogs for our members, which can be used to share finished stories as well as original articles. You will be able to use these blogs as online portfolios.

4) Catalog of Exceptional Posts

There have been some amazing posts written over the past year on a variety of topics. We will be working on compiling an index of great posts, which will be organized by topic. This will be an ongoing project which will be maintained by a team of volunteers.

We need to think of a cool name for this team... perhaps the Mythic Archivists or something similar?


These improvements will be rolled out gradually in the months ahead, beginning in mid-January. In the meantime, we'd love to hear your thoughts on what we have planned.

 

[Sparkie]

The member portfolios sound very cool, and the exceptional posts idea seems like something I'd enjoy getting involved in. Thanks, Dragon, for the announcement! It's great to know that things are going well, and that there's a team of people who are always looking to improve the site.

 

[Johnny Cosmo]

The forum leaders page lists the categories that each moderator is responsible for. Each of the forums falls under one of the five categories. So each forum actually has a moderator.

Bah, I got myself confused with all that. Perhaps I should have taken an early night over trying to communicate coherently...

Member portfolios sounds really cool, and 'Mythic Archivists' is good.

 

[Ghost]

A couple of questions...

Will the Art/Map Gallery be public or limited to people with a certain number of posts to view? And will the the pictures turn up in image searches? I'd like to make and show maps and concept art, but I don't like the idea of random people taking them for RPGs and such.

Are the Member Blogs strictly for showcasing polished work? The word "blog" makes me think it can be used as a journal. Will people be able to comment on the entries?

The changes look exciting, and I like the sound of Mythic Archivists.

 

[Leuco]

The changes sound great! Thanks!

 

[Black Dragon]

Will the Art/Map Gallery be public or limited to people with a certain number of posts to view?

For each image that you upload, you'll be able to choose whether to make it public or only viewable to members.

Are the Member Blogs strictly for showcasing polished work? The word "blog" makes me think it can be used as a journal. Will people be able to comment on the entries?

At the moment I'm leaning towards making them more like portfolios, and less like blogs. You can use it as a journal though, if you like. You'll be able to post work in any state that you see fit, and will likely have the option of allowing comments.

At this point we're still experimenting, though, so things can change.

What would be most useful to you guys?

 

[Nathan J. Lauffer]

I would like to be on the article team, and go to Comic Con in San Diego to do more interviews for the site.

 

[Black Dragon]

I would like to be on the article team, and go to Comic Con in San Diego to do more interviews for the site.

You're already on the list, my friend.

 

[Black Dragon]

OK, we've got the Portfolios up now:

Getting Started with Your Portfolio

This is still a work in progress, so let us know your thoughts.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

OK, we've got the Portfolios up now:

Getting Started with Your Portfolio - Portfolios - Mythic Scribes Forums

This is still a work in progress, so let us know your thoughts.

My first concern is that the Getting Started entry says that the Forum Guidelines apply to all portfolio entries. One of the Forum Guidelines is "no swearing." This seems problematic to me; we can't post anything with profanity in it? I've got a few swear words in my novel -- like, half a dozen words out of 160,000 -- and I'd be prohibited from posting any chapter which has a single swear word in it.

 

[Black Dragon]

we can't post anything with profanity in it? I've got a few swear words in my novel -- like, half a dozen words out of 160,000 -- and I'd be prohibited from posting any chapter which has a single swear word in it.

We're trying to keep the site family friendly. It goes back to what the vision of the site is, which is a place that can welcome writers at all stages - including young writers.

Do consider, though, that not all "swear words" are created equal. Damn, hell, bloody, and the like are fine. You can also self-sensor words with asterisks.

Once a site ventures into the realm of the "F-word" and similarly offensive terms, though, it creates problems for the site. Parental controls are automatically triggered, and then Mythic Scribes ends up on any number of filters, including workplace filters. The end result is that a lot of people lose access to the site.

Thanks for understanding.

 

[Nathan J. Lauffer]

You're already on the list, my friend.

Thanks! Now I just have to break it to my wife that I'm going to Comic Con. ;-)

 

[Xanados]

Can one apply for the article team, Black Dragon?

 

[Black Dragon]

Can one apply for the article team, Black Dragon?

The initial article team will be selected by the editors. However, because we plan on adding more teams in the future (such as the Mythic Archivists), we will be creating an application to be filled out by prospective volunteers.

 

[lawrence]

Thanks for the time and effort you are putting in, a site needs ongoing development to grow and its great that you guys have a strong sense of where you are heading and what Mythic Scribes is all about.

 

[SeverinR]

As we're approaching our one year anniversary in January, it's time to look ahead to the future. In particular, we are considering ways to take our community to the "next level," so to speak.

We are leveling?Do we get new spells? oh, sorry D&D flashbacks.

Love the idea of different people writing, different perspectives.

Fantasy art: I love being inspired by art work.

Good idea with the portfolio

Archives? Scholar scrolls library

 

[Xanados]

Ding! (WoW reference)

Looking forward to the new changes.

 

[Sparkie]

The initial article team will be selected by the editors. However, because we plan on adding more teams in the future (such as the Mythic Archivists), we will be creating an application to be filled out by prospective volunteers.

Cool. I can't wait to sign up. The more I think about the Mythic Archivists idea, the more I like it.

Any ideas on how it would be organized? For instance, would a volunteer be assigned a particular forum to choose from (such as Research or World Building), or could a volunteer just submit certian posts he\she liked for consideration?

Just throwing the question out there.

 

[Black Dragon]

Any ideas on how it would be organized? For instance, would a volunteer be assigned a particular forum to choose from (such as Reasearch or World Building), or could a volunteer just submit certain posts he\she liked for consideration?

We haven't worked out the details yet, but it may be best for each team member to be responsible for a particular forum. However, I don't see why the team members can't nominate any post that they come across, no matter where it may be.

Cool. I can't wait to sign up.

Excellent! As I mentioned, the application may not be ready until later in January. We've got a lot of development going on right now behind the scenes, and we're trying to roll everything out in phases.

 

[Damien]

Sounds like I am stumbling across this site at the right time ! Can't wait to see what you have in store !