The Next Generation of Hypography

[KickAssClown]

Well if we're talking big restructuring of Hypography, why not? Hypography is one of the biggest science forums on the net. If we go about upgrading or adding features then we might as well try to increase the number of people who discuss. At current the number of people who are here, contributing on a day to day basis is relatively few and far between. Considering that some of the Game forums like Blizzard Entertainment have literally thousands of people posting a day.

If not straight across merger, then why not fellowship? Linkage and other such. Right now Hypography is something like an island unto itself. There is a community out there above and beyond just the few and proud hypographers. It's surprising that the community has not come together more already.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by KickAssClown

Well if we're talking big restructuring of Hypography, why not?

Why didn't Picaso paint by committee? The web is the linkage already common and Hypography is a standout that is growing all the time. Again, your suggestion is a watering down of what makes this place unique. You don't uproot a sapling just when it starts to shoot up. I don't like your suggestion is all I'm saying.

[KickAssClown]

Well that's good for you, Turtle. However this is a brainstorm. Criticism (and the implicit editing) comes later in the process. The point is to get out ideas, not to discuss there feasibility, except within reasonable constraints (flying spaghetti monsters comes to mind).

I am saying increasing the awareness, and interaction of hypography with the Scientific world would be ideal. I am not saying water down what we have going, or get rid of it. I am saying there are other forums that are attempting the same thing hypography is, and we could include them. It would be nice to get some fresh perspectives going on around the forums, while we are at it.

Adding more people to the system should not break the system, all patterns still apply at each scale (fractals).

Now I don't know about the rest of you but in other communities I participated in (Total Annihilation Universe for instance) it was common courtesy to let the rest of the world know that you and other like sites existed. Often in the form of link pages or link rings.

Hypography is a good forum but my point is at current it is too isolated, and it engenders isolationist (elitist) tendencies which can be detrimental (sometimes a good thing sometimes a bad) to the inclusion of new people(non-elites).

From day to day I can almost count on my fingers and toes the number of people who are actively participating in discussions here at hypography. To me that is not a good thing. That means stagnation, and the slow death of a beautiful community. The number of constructive active participants should be a growing number, not a static or shrinking number.

So a more apt analogy is that I might like to see if the sapling is in good soil and if we can put it in a place where it might grow better. Out of shadows of giant trees (google) and sparse sandy soil (isolated, few members). Into a place where the foliage is more like our sapling and the soil is rich in nutrients.

[hallenrm]

I totally agree with KAC regarding the number of interesting people, threads and 'new posts' on Hypography. Indeed it would be wonderful if could somehow attract more intelligent people to this forum. Sometime back I wrote an article in science Reporter , a national science monthly publiished from New Delhi. It was titled Amatuer Publishing. In this article I did, in a way, promote Hypography amongst its readers. I think many of the new members from India did read that article. I believe that if we really care for Hypography, we should all promote it in our sphere of influence.

[pgrmdave]

Why didn't Picaso paint by committee? The web is the linkage already common and Hypography is a standout that is growing all the time. Again, your suggestion is a watering down of what makes this place unique. You don't uproot a sapling just when it starts to shoot up. I don't like your suggestion is all I'm saying.

Turtle, while you're opinion is well respected, KAC is right - this is simply a brainstorm, not a place to critique them yet. Not all the ideas presented will be used, but the more ideas we put forth, the better.

[Turtle]

Originally Posted by pgrmdave

Turtle, while you're opinion is well respected, KAC is right - this is simply a brainstorm, not a place to critique them yet. Not all the ideas presented will be used, but the more ideas we put forth, the better.

Originally Posted by Killean

No opinion is too trivial or ridiculous, so let us know what you think!

I call 'em the way I see 'em Dave, and humbly submit that is the reason for any respect my opinion garners.

[Southtown]

I don't know if redesigning the forum code is feasible or whatever, but...

1. metadata for threads/news/editorials (autogenerated if possible) to make browsing by subject easier. kinda like a dynamic classification system i.e. "subject > [news,threads,editorials] > post" rather than "[news,threads,editorials] > subject > post"
2. and KAC hit it on the head with a resource repository. (metadata searchable?)
3. rep IMO should not max out within a few months of membership, if ever, maybe rep'ers points should not count as much, and the rep'ees post count/frequency should count more (less is more)
4. the latest post column is a must have
5. a more interactive and customizable profile page, maybe one like TBD was describing. (technical freedom or death!)

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by Southtown

the latest post column is a must have[*]

An oldest-to-newest post button would be nice too. To restore old posts and reinvent history.

[Tormod]

Originally Posted by KickAssClown

Hypography is a good forum but my point is at current it is too isolated, and it engenders isolationist (elitist) tendencies which can be detrimental (sometimes a good thing sometimes a bad) to the inclusion of new people(non-elites).

KAC, I value your input tremendously, but I would be interested in hearing what it is we do that "engenders isolationist (elitist) tendencies". It has always been my intention that Hypography is to be a place for everyone. However, in order for it to function as a community we need rules. It is impossible to make rules that fit everyone. I think that a no-rules policy would quickly bog Hypography down in spam, rants, flames, and endless homework posts. I may be wrong but personally I prefer quality over quantity.

Sure we could do with more traffic. Marketing a forum is not easy. One of the reasons we are having this very discussion is to find out what the most important features are, and perhaps most of all what is lacking. I participate in a number of other forums, but most are music or computer related and thus not the best places to market Hypography (although I do it whenever I can).

It's not a matter of just "including" other forums. Those are owned by other people and would see us as extremely elitist if we just told them to get into the fold.

Cooperation with other forums is a good idea, and we have done it in the past but not very successfully, most likely because it was not formalized in any way. I think it would be a good idea to cooperate with forums that can complement each other, and as such would not be purely science minded.

It is important for us to talk to the users we don't have, and for that we need all our members to "spread the good word". We already have a lot of features in place, but no "killer app" that makes us stand out apart from us being, well, us. Your suggestion of searchable databases is good but not unique, and tremendously difficult for us to create (although we will try to follow up your suggestion to see what can be done).

AFAIK, the *only* thing that makes us different from other forums is the unique combination of users we have, and the group of moderators. Others have their own uniqueness.

That's why we're discussing Hypography's future. Maybe a move away from the pure science perspective is what we need.

[pgrmdave]

From day to day I can almost count on my fingers and toes the number of people who are actively participating in discussions here at hypography. To me that is not a good thing. That means stagnation, and the slow death of a beautiful community. The number of constructive active participants should be a growing number, not a static or shrinking number.

You've only been here one year. Hypography *is* growing, and growing quickly, just not day to day. The number of new members and new posters has gone up dramatically in the past few years, but there is ebb and flow each year, with some months being more popular than others to post. Also remember that the moderating team does a lot of work trying to enforce the rules - as it is it can be difficult to keep up with the new posts. If we had too many more members, we wouldn't be able to have effective moderating, at least not in the style that we do now. While we do want growth, we want growth at a managable rate.