In my quest to cover every aspect, to think about every permutation of what
ClassicCmp *could* be in the future, I have yet another question to ask
ClassicCmp subscribers: What if ClassicCmp were a weblog, in the style of
Slashdot or Kuro5hin?
I know many of you hold /. in disdain for whatever reason. I am not talking
about emulating the /. culture; I'm speaking only of its infrastructure,
purely in terms of being a web app for thread-based discussion.
The basics, as they apply to ClassicCmp, are:
- Posting and reading of messages would be doable from a web browser. An
email interface could be developed, but it wouldn't be the primary
method of participation.
- You would have an account with a username and password.
- Your account would be used for other features on the site, such as
access to a data archives, using to a buy-and-sell arena, or
moderating others' posts.
Right away, I see several benefits:
- Members can participate from any computer with a web browser. Even lynx.
- Anonymity and privacy can be more well-respected. The 'sender' of a
post is your username, not your email address. A system can be
implemented where another member can discover your email address only
after you give them permission to do so.
- Moderation could be less the subjective task that it is now, and more of
a distributed, many-eyes process. Imagine if you could vote on a post's
on-topicness on a scale of 1 to 5 (1=off-topic, 5=on-topic). Imagine if
you could set a minimum viewing level to screen out posts that were too
far into the OT side of the spectrum.
- There's no worry about HTML, attachments, wierd character sets, spam,
virii, or cctech moderation delay.
- Your inbox receives less clutter. You spend less bandwidth on mail.
- With thread titles on the front page, casual web visitors will be more
tempted to subscribe.
- It scales well as more members join and start posting.
- The forum *is* the archive.
- Features you want can be added in code, quickly. The current setup is
great for turn-key mailing lists and such, but it is tough to extend.
The bad points I see are:
- It's a huge change from the status quo. We may lose some members.
- Some people may find mailing lists more comfortable. Of course, an email
interface to the weblog could be developed.
My opinion: It's a good idea that I can implement in just a few months.
What is your opinion? Let's answer this one in-list, please.
--
Jeffrey Sharp
Received on Wed Jan 15 2003 - 20:38:00 GMT