"LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

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JimHow
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"LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Okay, in this thread, let's discuss what remains to be done to get this show on the road.

What is left to do?
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michael
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

1) Make a "Front door" page. Right now a user going to www.bordeauxwineenthusiasts.com is directed straight to the bulletin board. It was my understanding that there was to be a "home page" where Jim could post pictures, thoughts, group info. From here users would click a link to hit the forum. users wishing to skip the page would simply bookmark the forum page.
2) Remove the password protection so other people can view and join
3) Prominently promote our move on MSN. Encourage those posting there to migrate. Regularly check MSN until closure to make sure people know where we're going.
4) Continue to tinker with the look of the forum. There's still some improvement to be made here I think.
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JimHow
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Is the "front door" page the place where we can put links to cellartracker, the online resources/retailers, etc.?

Sounds like we have a little more work to do, I'm wondering if I can give some sense of a time frame to the rest of the BWE population.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

That would be a good place for links. We might also consider adding links to some of these important BWE pages (about us, conventions, links, etc.) in the header area of the forum.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

What do we need to get at least a rudimentary "front door" page up?
And how do we remove the password protection?

It seems to me if we can resolve those first two points in Mike's four points, the last two can be addressed after we go public.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JScott »

Agreed, a front door is necessary for some of the functions we want, and moreover I think it will serve an important function early on in the feel of the site, where a new visitor isn't immediately confronted with a busy page of threads to assimilate and sort. As people get more comfortable it will be less critical, but for a new visitor I think it's psychologically important.

I also think it's important to get the new site up soon, to maximize the amount of time we have in migrating people over. When the lights go out over there, we have no more referrals. None. People who don't check in daily will have to actively search for us, and they may simply presume we've folded.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

I agree Scott. Besides the people inquiring on the MSN site, I've been getting emails from people who can't log in, people like Comte and others.

How do we create a front door page?
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by PhilR »

Yes we did discuss this before didn't we. I've had a look through the phpBB add ons and found this:

th23 CMS (content management system)

This modification will add a content management system (CMS) to your phpBB board - it will enable you to create articles (independent from posts) and display them via which ever script / page / file in the phpBB root directory you want. You can e.g. create a "Welcome" article and display it when a user visits your board (via index.php) - of course with providing a link to the forum overview page as normal...but until that point nobody will even notice, that he is on a message board rather than on a fully fledged website. In fact this MOD will make your phpBB a fully fledged website / content management system :)


That sounds like it'll do the job, what do people think?

Also, Jim, should I put the quick-reply feature in? And what do you think about the logo?

Thanks
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JimHow
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Yes Phil please put the quick reply feature in and the logo is fine.

Can we create a very basic front door page with just the logo and a simple one sentence welcome (for now) that says something like: "Welcome to Bordeaux Wine Enthusiasts!" or some such thing, along with a link to the Board index?

...unless you guys recommend something else.

I'd just like to get at least something rudimentary up and running publicly, then we can make additional changes thereafter.

Thanks, Jim
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

I would like to delete the "It doesnt feel like BWE" and "Quick reply" threads before we go public, but I'm not sure how to do that. I can see a function that allows me to delete my own posts, but not whole threads.

I'm thinking we can leave the rest of the existing discussions here when we go public, so that there will be the sense of activity. What do you guys think?

I'll create a welcome thread just before we go public.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by PhilR »

OK I'll get these things set up. I'll put the basic page up as you say and that mod (th23) will allow us to easily edit the page later, I should be able to show you how to do that actually Jim so you can edit it yourself.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Ok thanks Phil.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

The CMS module sounds perfect for Jim
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

Something else to consider before we go live might be a "Sticky" thread where users can post suggestions on site improvements. Another "Sticky" thread might be Jim's welcome message and some general comments about what's new here.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Sounds good Mike.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JScott »

I like the idea of the "sticky" suggestions thread, and the welcome thread. Also agree we should delete the threads/posts Jim mentioned and maybe also make a quick sweep of the other threads to check for any posts that might be misconstrued through our process. Not that we need to censor things, but just to keep a positive tone for the grand opening.

Is there a way to do polling here? I'm thinking that might be useful for suggestions as they arise, to get a feel where most of us stand on things.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Good idea Scott, we should go through the threads to delete stuff that might be misconstrued.
I'd like to keep everything else, though, it will be good to look back twenty years from now at the process of creation!
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

The welcome message looks like a good start. I'd like to see a more prominent link from there to the forum though.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

I just went through the threads and deleted a couple specific messages.
I would like to delete the entire "feels like BWE" thread and "quick-reply feature" thread, but I'm not sure how to.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

I'm heading home, but I'll be around tonight.
There's still work to do. I need to understand the administrator functions, we need to delete those two threads, etc.
But I'm wondering whether these things can be done while the site is open to the public?
Are you around this weekend Phil? Should I tell the BWEers that we'll be open on Monday?
Or can we do it tomorrow?
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

I think we're really close, but I'd go with Monday to be sure we have everything squared away.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by michael »

I figured out how to delete threads. In the top left, under user control panel, you should see a link for Moderator or Administrator control panel. Click this link while on the General Discussion forum menu and you'll see a listing of threads. Check the boxes of the threads you'd like to delete, choose "delete" from the "select desired action box" and submit.

I already deleted the "feels like BWE" thread.
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JimHow
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

Okay thanks Mike, I just deleted the quick-reply thread.

I think we should shoot for Monday, Phil's probably in bed by now anyway.

That'll give us the weekend to work out any kinks.

I hate to see us delay much beyond Monday, though, I'm getting emails from BWEers who can't get into the MSN site.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by PhilR »

Hi, just checking in. It's half ten here but I'm off to watch Monty Python on TV. I'll do those extra photos in the morning, and yes I'll be around this weekend.

I think we've pretty much covered everything major and Monday should be fine for an opening. I don't know how other people feel but personally I'm not 100% happy with the way the logo looks matched to the rest of the site and I'd like to maybe try one or two other things. However it's a fine point really and if other people are OK with it then I'm happy to leave it as it is.

Chat tomorrow, cheers

Phil
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JimHow »

I was thinking the same thing, Phil.

The logo doesn't match the rest of the site.

I really like the rest of the welcome page though, I wouldn't change anything about the look.

Anyway, I'm going to announce on BWE that the new site is going to go on line on Monday afternoon, to give the BWE community a more specific timeframe to look forward to.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JScott »

The other thing that strikes me here is there isn't an easy, obvious way to know what's new since the last visit, unless I'm missing it. I know that threads move toward the top, much as they did on BWE, but everything remains bold typeface throughout the forum. I have no idea if it's even possible, but for my taste I'd love to have a way to know which threads have new posts since my last visit and maybe even how many in each thread are new.
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by PhilR »

Scott, the wine glass icons show whether there's been a new post since you last looked at the topic - i.e. full / nearly empty
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Re: "LET'S LIGHT THIS CANDLE!"

Post by JScott »

Got it!
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