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Mark   25/4/2004	Subject: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... Message: The design of the new expanded forums is progressing more quickly than I had dared hope, and they should be up and running within a couple of weeks at this rate. The software is much more sophisticated than that currently in use and the new setup will have many more features, such as formatted text in messages, urls as clickable links in posts, avatars (not compulsory!), member profiles (again, not compulsory) and so on - in fact everything which one expects from a modern bulletin board. The most important feature, though, is that there will multiple discussion boards and at present I am proposing five, mirroring the most common themes of existing posts: 1. Raff - two forums. "Raff's Music": Opinions and questions about Raff's music and "Raff Recordings": Opinions, news and questions about recordings of Raff's music. 2. Unsung Composers - three forums. "General": General discussion about the unsung composers of the romantic era, "Recordings": Opinions, news and questions about recordings of "unjustly neglected" romantic composers and "Discoveries": Composers who are "new to you". Five forums is a bit of a leap from one, but I'm trying to future proof the initial setup so that there isn't too much change for a while after this big one. I can add or delete forums at any time, of course. I intend that the Unsung Composers boards will remain part of the Raff site, at least for time being. There are two negative aspects to adopting the new software. Firstly, like all modern bulletin board software, it requires you to "join" and issues you with a password. This is stored in a cookie on your computer so you are remembered the next time you visit. This is a security feature which can't be turned off, and I guess we can all understand why it's necessary. Guests don't need to login and may browse, but not post. Secondly, I will have to archive the existing posts as the current threads can't be carried over into the new system. We already have an archive, though, and I'll just add them to that, but split between Raff and non-Raff. So, here's your opportunity to influence what it all ends up like. I'd appreciate your views/advice/preferences on these points, please: 1. Should the Unsung Composers Forum be a separate site altogether now, unrelated to Raff? This will take me much longer to create, of course, as I will have to design a new website from the ground up. 2. Would the member/password system prevent you posting on the new forums? 3. Have I got the proposed split of forums right? If not, what do you suggest? 4. Are there any features in other forums which you frequent which you'd like to see implemented here? They're probably already a feature of the new software, but this'll give me the opportunity to check. 5. Anything else which you think is important. Obviously I can't promise to take everything, or indeed anything, on board, but we've built up a thriving little community here and I'm keen that we all have a part in enhancing it. Thanks in advance and, as ever, "Cheers", Mark
Steve Benson   25/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: Mark, go for it and thanks!A few questions/points: 1.Whats an avatar? 2. Members profiles good idea, so that you can see what people's overall musical interests are.Though shouldnt, as you say, be compulsory. 3.Dont like idea of totally seperate "Unsung composers" site. i think the joy of present site is way postings on Raff and those on his forgotten contemporaries link into and enrich each other. As Peter said, Raff makes an ideal focal point for ALL these composers. 4. I am quite used to the member/password system: this is manageable if the initial "membership form" is not very long. And people can just write down their username and password(hardly a top-secret site). 5. Can see slight problem with 3 forums within "Unsung composers" site: in the "furtive pleasures" and other postings, talk re works and recordings of those works often overlapped; and it is the recordings that bring to life these works.It would be a bit awkward splitting observations over various forums. What i have particuarly enjoyed about Raff and non-Raff postings is, as well as the useful informational aspect, the flow of ideas, uninterrupted by the need for compartmentalisation into different segments.It would be a shame to risk losing/diminishing this! 6. If you expand the current site, or start a new, seperate site for other composers, will you, because of expanded technology, have to become part of a larger system, like Yahoo Groups, Smart Groups etc. These are OK but have a lot of Yahoo etc clutter, which has impressively been absent from the Raff site. Anyway, just some ideas. But thanks, Mark, and keep up the good work
John Boyer   26/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: Don't like the division of forums into "recordings" and "music". Let there be one Raff, one non-Raff forum. Mixed on a new site. Perhaps, to keep the family together, the unsung composers can be a subsidiary of this site. Not keen on passwords, etc., but if that's what's required, so be it.
Mark   26/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: Some interim replies: 1. "Avatars" are pictures which members can upload so that, whenever they make a post, that picture appears. No comment. 2. No, Steve, the new Forums will be self contained within the Raff site. No Yahoo, no MSN, no advertisements, just us talking. 3. Passwords, I'm afraid, seem to be de rigeur, John. I haven't bothered with the present forum, but all the modern software I've looked at seems to have them a standard and unremovable "feature".
Luis de Orueta   26/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: I agree with John Boyer, Mark. Keep it as simple as possible.I am quite happy with the present arrangement. Non Raff messages will probably shrink down after the current explosion subsides. If not,I am sure that Raff would approve of your plan to arrange one "guest room" for non raff musicians in need of recognition. Thanks for beeing there and taking good care of the site. Luis
Mark   26/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: So far the votes are for just two Forums, staying within the Raff site. Which is fine, provided that's what people want. Anyone else got any strong views? You don't often get the opportunity to express a preference!
Jonathan 27/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: Mark et al., I think two forums is enough - 1 for Raff and the other for everyone else (otherwise I'd spend all day infront of the computer looking at forums (or is that fora?) and Lynn would get annoyed!!) I'm not worried about passwords and the like, they seem necessary these days. I'm also not bothered about avatars, I don't know about you but I always think they trivialise what is being said. Lastly, hurrah for not putting any annoying pop ups on this forum - long may this continue! Keep up the good work! Best regards, Jonathan
John Boyer   27/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: If it is possible, at all cost kill the avatars.
peter conole   28/4/2004	RE: The new Forums - Update & your advice please.... IP: Logged Message: Dear Mark The core idea that seems to be emerging is that two forum/fora would be a great way to go. However, the ideas of Steve and John re the linkages are, I think, very important. Note John's comment about keeping the family together by making the 'unsung composers' (tongue in cheek -'sleeping romantic masters') a subsidary of the one for Raff. Also, Steve has hit a nail on the head. Raff is a kind of 'lynch-pin' for a musical era. Established composers, and the 'unsung', will frequently crop up in discussions of Raff's works, and vice versa. I guess there will always be a need to keep the boundaries just a bit elastic. However, the idea of two forums within the Raff site is great. Simple and elegant, with plenty of room to include recording discussions, opinions of performances, great and small events, plus all of the usual things that keep the Raff site so alive. Mark, you will know as time goes on whether there is sufficient cross-fertilisation and if minor adjustments are necessary. Just a minor additional thought. How about posting a monthly/bi-monthly paragraph or two to the fora giving a 'site masters' view of the world and your own thoughts on current developments in the music world? A sort of 'editorial' spot. I agree about keeping non-musical clutter and 'bob-ups' out of the site. Great job has been done on preventing that. Passwords? Well, if they are a necessity, so be it. As long as the system is easy. Just one thought, though. What about newcomers and shy, retiring types who only visit once to offer thoughts or track down some information? Will they be ok in regard to ease of access? As I see it, the more people who are enticed by the site, or who hear about/discover it, then the better for Raff and all of us. I guess what I am saying is that the site should remain as inviting as possible. Members profiles idea would be a good one, for those willing to partake. Avatars could be a bit of clutter. regards Peter