I've been thinking about a new board on the forum dedicated to Internet-related content.  IronGoober posted a very similar idea on this discussion, https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?virboard=1;num=1683488148, so we're looking for some more input.

The basic idea is this.  A new board focused on Internet slinging content.  This would be a place where we can list all the slinging-related YouTube channels we know of, FaceBook groups, Instagram, websites, etc.  Basically a one-stop place someone can check out if they want to find slinging content online.  We can also link interesting discussions that pop up in places outside of the forum, talk about making better YouTube slinging videos, things we'd like to see in the online community, etc.

So here's what we're looking for here.  What are people's thoughts (for or against) a new board on the forum dedicated to this kind of thing?  And second, I'm also curious what everyone thinks would be a good name for this board.  My first thought was 'Slinging Across the World Wide Web', but I kind of hate it.  Someone has to have a better idea than that.  Any feedback is welcome.

How about something like:

"Slinging videos (and other online content)"

It would be nice if it was something like the "slinging ranges" page, where everything is just static without discussion to make it too long and distracting. ... well... discussion is good too, but every attempt we've done to do something like this ends up getting lost and the original post doesn't contain all of the information that is in the thread, so you have to scroll a lot. I'm wondering how we avoid that.

For a name, maybe "Slinging on the Internet" or IG's suggestion.

What about having the important info in a stickied thread that's either locked or says 'do not post here', and the original post can be edited as needed to add new info? That way it's all in one place and there is no discussion to clog up the info, but there can be discussion elsewhere on the board.

    Pui me down as for it.  It would be handy to have all of that info in one place.

I like the simplicity of "Slinging videos (and other online content)".  I'm a little worried about it being misinterpreted though.  I'm thinking about someone clicking on it expecting to find links to a bunch of videos.  The idea for the new board (at least in my mind) isn't for videos themselves, but where to go to find videos and other content.  How about 'Slinging Groups, Channels, and other Online Content'?


IronGoober wrote on Jul 28^th, 2023 at 2:07am:

the "slinging ranges" page

Do you have a link for this?  I might recognize it when I see it, but I'm not sure what that is.

Your point about things getting lost is definitely valid, and a concern that I share.  Let me try to elaborate more on what I'm thinking.  The topics pinned at the top of the new board will be things that we want to keep track of.  Let's use YouTube channels as an example because it's easy.  A topic called 'YouTube Channels' will be created and pinned at the top of the board.  In the first post we'll have a list of all the channels we know of.  This will need to be kept up to date by admins and mods who have access to edit the post.  In the 'FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS and Tutorials' topic (https://slinging.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1260271798), Aussie had a really good idea.  The topic was left open for anyone to post, but once the information from a post was added to the main list, it was deleted.  So basically anyone will be able to post a reply to the new topic with their (or someone else's) YouTube channel.  But we'll add it to the list, and delete the user's post afterward.  That way the list is kept up to date, but the topic doesn't get filled with discussion.

We can have a similar pinned topic that operates the same way for Instagram links, FaceBook groups, whatever anyone wants.  And at the bottom in the unpinned topics of the board, open conversations about anything related to slinging in social media and on the web.  That way all the important stuff can be kept in order and pinned at the top, basically what Eino said.

http://slinging.org/Ranges.html

I like the idea, Joe. The only issue is then the impetus is on someone (i.e. you) to always have to update the page.  I guess that's not a bad thing, but these kinds of pages, unless used a lot, always seem to languish. That may be an unfair concern, but just something that seems to happen somewhat frequently on this site.

Ah!  The good ol' main website.  Wow, that thing needs some major work.  I'll have to look into that.  I certainly don't consider myself HTML savvy, but I have enough of an idea that along with some help from Google I should be able to get things formatted a little better, if nothing else.  It's definitely an underused resource and we should try to change that.

Do you think a list of slinging resources would be better on the main slinging.org website?  That's certainly an option.  Although I would guess that the forum itself sees way more Internet traffic.  It's something to consider though.

As far as updating things, we're always going to have one of two options.  Updating is either restricted to certain individuals, or open to anyone.  If the goal is to maintain a comprehensive list of slinging resources, I think we'd all agree the first option is better.  If the task of updating becomes a problem, we could find a volunteer to take on the management of it.  It's possible to grant someone Moderator access to one specific board.  Then they could make updates, etc.

I'm with you on the "use" concern too.  I was really worried about the Sling Academy board when that first went up.  There's obviously no way to know on that unfortunately.  Maybe it would be better to start with one topic pinned at the top of the Slinging Discussion board.  It would kind of be the same idea.  The first post could contain all the links we have.  New links could be added to the first post whenever they come in.  It would be easy enough to move things to a new board if it got busy and we decided to go that route.

I don't know.  Maybe this needs to be a poll and see what people think.

I didn't even know that site existed! I think It'd be a bit hard for newcomers to come across it, rather than here.

Yfir wrote on Jul 28^th, 2023 at 10:24pm:

I didn't even know that site existed!

Same. I only knew about the slinging.org homepage. There should definitely be links to the slinging.org web pages if the new board is created.

@joe, I agree, a trial run in the slinging board would be good. Even if there isn't enough use of it to justify creating a new board, the links will still be accessible on the trial post.

@Joe, just ask ChatGPT to write the html for you on the main page

On the main topic… I think it could be useful, but I agree maintenance is the main issue. This forum is full of old lists of dead links… and even lists of lists!  I would say maybe allow a self-reported list where people can drop a link to their specific thing.  That would be interesting to see who posts and how many actually stick around vs just hop on the thinking they can build an audience here.

NooneOfConsequence wrote on Aug 2^nd, 2023 at 2:37pm:

@Joe, just ask ChatGPT to write the html for you on the main page

That's a good thought.  I think I can handle the basic changes okay.  I'm basically just thinking about adjusting the margins so the text doesn't go all the way to the edge of the page.  And I think the background color needs a change.  I'm not a fan of that brown.  I think it would be better if it matched the forum.

______________________________________________________________________

Some good feedback on the main topic.  I admit I still don't really know what to do.  I'm starting to lean toward a pinned topic where we can just keep all the lists in the first post.  That will mean some upkeep, but any admin or moderator can edit the post.  So I'm not really worried about that.  If it does get to be a popular thing, it wouldn't be too hard to convert it to a new board.

The main thing I'm going back in forth on is where to put it.  The logical place is to pin the topic at the top of the General Slinging Discussion.  But that gets to be so full of stuff and I've been trying to keep it as cleared out as much as possible.  I was thinking about the Introductions board.  There's a pinned topic for pictures of forum members.  A list of online presence for forum members is somewhat similar (from a certain point of view).  I will admit that I'm not in love with that idea though.

Still open to ideas on this.

I'm partial to it being in the "Sling academy" section.