Guybrush

Please don't vote in the poll until you've read the rest of the post!

Musicbanter needs a design change. This suggestion has been brought to Yac and admin before, but it didn't lead to much. This is the same suggestion from last time, but I figured it was time for another push.


Suggestion : To make a frontpage / news / blog kind of frontpage that you first meet on musicbanter where people can write and make links and portals to the going-ons on the forums. Examples of such news / articles / blog posts could be "Congratulate our new moderators!", "Musicbanter presents : The 5 Best Live Albums in the History of Rock 'n Roll", "MB Community Releases the 2010 Christmas Album!", "Vegangelica reviews : Rage Against the Machine", "Weekly members interview : Janszoon" . Members could earn the privilege to be able to write on this frontpage and at the bottom of such blog posts / articles, there could be a link directing people to the relevant discussion on the forums.

Why do this? With only the forum layout, it can be hard to know what goes on in the different forums, particularly for newcomers who have to notice one thread at a time to find out if the site has anything to offer them. Particularly the stuff that goes on in the subforums is seldom noticed. This would make it easier to discover the going ons and should help generate participation in music related threads and should also help get new members on the site, members who sign up because they see something on the front page that they like!

Anyone who have tried to do community stuff on MB knows that it can be hard to get people on board to read your posts and participate. Part of that stems from the fact that a thread or project can exist for months here before even a regular notices it. I believe this would help - a lot!


If you like this idea, please show your support! With the backing of the community, convincing the admins should be a little easier!

If you have additional suggestions for pros and cons, post away!

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Dr_Rez

I like being able to instantly be at the front page that lists the forums.

ps: Tore you rule.

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right-track

I'm in.
It's something I've wanted to see here for ages and a front page opens up countless opportunities for the future of this site.
Good luck Tore.

James

I love this idea, it'll eventually make MB be similiar to DDD, but better as there are more members and it's moderated. Known the members here there will be a lot of attention for getting something onto the front page.

MoonlitSunshine

Aye, it looks like a good idea. I'm more than familiar with how daunting it can be trying to navigate a large forum, and this will help point people to the good discussion points, and allow people to advertise interesting things which might have otherwise been missed.

Can I ask, while they're messing around with the code, that the musicbanter banner at the top be made a link to the front page? It's a really simple thing to do (I've done it myself before) and it makes things easier for those of us who are used to the banner being a link

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TheBig3

I like the idea, but my concern is this...

I was part of an online music forum from ~1999 to 2003/4 called Shoutweb. (If you go there, yes, thats what I listened to at the time, my handle was MetalliCake - blow me).

It had a front page before its forums and then one day - boom - the forums were gone and they became a music info site with adverts. I don't know that we're going in that direction, but an eternity I had a conversation with Yak and he was telling me that the management of the site (the people above him) owned plenty of forums and from his vantage, we were the least successful.

Its not something that should deter, but it is something we ought to weigh when considering the construction of the front page. If I lose another on-line music forum, I'm gunna be really pissed.

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Insane Guest

Just wondering...Will this include a color change?

Great idea though I'm in.

TheBig3

****ing polls.

Can you say something if you're going to vote?

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right-track

This is your forum!
More members need to voice their opinion...

sidewinder

I fully support this idea, as well as a redesign (this color scheme and the banner are so dated).

You still could, probably by going to musicbanter.com/forum instead of just musicbanter.com. If you regularly go straight to the forums, your browser will recognize that address first if you start typing it in the address bar.


I don't know the owners of this site, but I honestly wouldn't be too worried about it as all content on the home page will link to threads in the forums. As far as I can tell, that is the idea here - and not to create content that would stand separately from the forums. The point being to help bring attention the happenings inside the forums.

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I'd love to see your signature/links too, but the huge and obnoxious ones have caused me to block all signatures.