Fanlore forums

[aethel]

Wiki editing is fun and a fannish activity like any other. Sharing and discussing what we love is part of what we do as fans, and there are many fans who might love Fanlore if they had the chance to get to know the wiki and the community surrounding it. Right now doing that on Fanlore is difficult for people new to wiki editing, and even experienced editors sometimes feel alone in what they are doing.

Therefore, there is one thing we hope to get off the ground this year, and it’s one many of you have asked for: a wiki forum.

It could be a place where people:

- introduce themselves / get to know one another / chat informally
- ask questions about wiki editing, and answer one anothers’ questions
- collaborate/brainstorm on and squee about wiki pages
- ask questions about Fanlore policies, and receive answers from Fanlore Wiki Committee members
- find previously answered questions without having to de-lurk

Since late last term, there have also been discussions within the OTW (our parent organization) about establishing public org-wide forums and how to incorporate the desired Fanlore forum into that structure. But rather than wait on org-wide forums, we thought Fanlore could more quickly and easily set up a forum hosted by a third party.

Currently, we are looking at Vanilla Forums for hosting. It has several advantages: you could sign in with other accounts (twitter, google, fb), we could have a custom domain name, and we would be able to move it to our own servers without losing content if we needed to. Most importantly, it appears to be the only viable option for accessible forum software, but if someone familiar with accessibility issues can offer alternative suggestions, please let us know.

Once we have a Fanlore forum, we might be able to add other OTW spaces (for example an AO3 forum) to the existing account at a later date.

Now we want to hear from you:

- What do you hope to see in a forum? What would make you want to use it? (What would put you off from using it?)
- Which topics and threads would you like to have?
- Some ideas: FAQ, introduction thread, compilation of talk page discussions, pages in progress, announcements, news, fannish history discussions, suggestions, gardeners, …

At present, the wiki committee doesn’t have experience setting up or running a forum, so input from anyone with forum expertise would be appreciated and fans willing to help as a moderator would be welcomed with open arms.

We’re in the early stages of planning, so really, any sort of input is appreciated!

Comments

Talk pages?

[morgandawn]

One thought: will the forums replace the Talk pages. We use the Talk pages to discuss (and debate) issues on a specific page. I can imagine a lot of this type of specific chat moving over to the Forums which will make it less transparent and harder to access and find from the Wiki. One idea is to request that if anyone does start a chat about a specific page, is that they add a link to the thread/topic on the forum on the Talk page. That way people wandering through the Wiki will know where to find the reasons behind some of the changes (and possibly voice additional thoughts).

The other way to handle this is to have a policy were rather than using the Forums as the place to discuss and decide the content, we use it as a place to ask for help: ex: "I need help on the Vidshow page. Please join me there." Personally, this would appeal to me as I know people have made request for hep on Talk pages but those requests get buried under the steam of Recent Edits.

Re: Talk pages?

[extempore]

One idea is to request that if anyone does start a chat about a specific page, is that they add a link to the thread/topic on the forum on the Talk page.

That would be a good idea. It will probably balance itself out: some people prefering the forum to discuss (and a link on the talk page refering to that discussion), others will prefer the talk page (and a link on the forum, if they asked for input, will refer the reader to that page). Not sure, if making it "either... or..." would be a good solution.

ETA: However, if the forum is moved to a different place in the future, for example to become part of an OTW forum, that would mean a lot of broken links on the talk pages. In which case it would be better to use the forum only as a means to raise awareness to a certain talk page, but keep the discussion on said page.

Child of ETA: In fact, it would be sufficient to only have one sticky thread on the forum - something like "Talk Page Alert" - where anyone in need of an opinion can post a link to the respective talk page.

This wouldn't change the fact, that should discussions derive from the initial issue on the talk page which are then done on the forum, there should be a way to ensure that respective links on the talk page ("A side discussion on this has emerged on the forum here (insert link).") won't break, should the forum be moved at some point later. I'm not sure, if or how that could be done at all other than to place the forum software on a long-term server from the beginning and plan not to move (i.e. include possible growth on this forum (OTW, other projects) instead of moving to a new place to merge).

If this is not possible, then that would mean there can be no linking to the forum from Fanlore other than to place the main link to show visitors the way to the forum.

Re: Talk pages?

[aethel]

got an answer for this one: broken links shouldn't be an issue since we would keep the same domain name even if it moved (vanilla forums offer custom domain names). And even if we had to change the URLs, we could then update the links on Fanlore (potentially with a script).

Re: Talk pages?

[extempore]

That sounds good! No obstacle then for a tighter connection between Fanlore and forum.

Re: Talk pages?

[aethel]

The forums would not replace the talk pages.

I would have it both ways: not prohibit people from discussing individual wiki pages, especially if they're not comfortable editing wiki talk pages, but link back to the forum from the talk page or even paste relevant bits on the talk page. and have some written guidelines on the role of the forum vs. talk pages.

"help me with this page/topic" sounds like a useful section for the forum.