Help with a boards ac blogspot/news

Woddle

Hi everyone, the board members thought it would be a good idea to have a seperate site for news and other stuff, rather than overloading the ART forum and using real names for example filling our members in on how Joe Soap did in his recent Rotterdam marathon. Any ideas of what you would like to see on it would be appreciated.
Thanks David
http://boardsac.blogspot.com/

figs

It might dilute the activity here if a completely seperate site is set-up, and kind of loses the boards connection.

Not sure, but isn't there some kind of "groups" function within boards? Think some of the football fans have some. Could this be integrated in some way?

figs

Ok, now you've just made me look silly by posting that link!!:D

Woddle

Good point figs , def don't want to lose the boards connection. I suppose it would be more of a club news letter that would invlove real names (for those that don't object), alot of stuff gets missed by people eg singlets, the amount of people who pm'd me wanting info cause they missed the thread, so it would be more of a what issues have being discussed on this forum that relate to our club and putting them on our news spot. I'm also sure( can't think of anything now) that we might want to release on our blogspot rather than here and for issues that we don't want non boards ac members commenting on (again can't think of any) and don't take me up the wrong way
So if someone can help me fill in the blanks to why we need it, that would be great and what would you add.
I don't want to invest time in it if its a non runner

Peckham

Can we ask for a sub-forum to be set-up here that is restricted to certain users (i.e. paid up members of Boards AC)?

Running Bing

Woddle wrote: »

So if someone can help me fill in the blanks to why we need it, that would be great and what would you add.
I don't want to invest time in it if its a non runner

I think we need it to have a place where people can go to learn about the club.

Now I know all the information might be here but its well spread out and it would take a lot of effort to find stuff (e.g. searching, reading through 10 page threads, PMing people).

The other option people have is to start a new thread asking about the club but we dont want threads like that popping up every few days and if we direct people to older threads we're back to the problem of the info being laid out sloppily spread across posts over a number of pages in a thread.

The obvious answer to this is a sticky with all the info up top but I just feel that is a little limiting and could get congested fast.


The other thing as mentioned by Woddle is that some people might be more comfortable if their real name was not mentioned on boards.

Woddle also mentions stuff we might not want to be made public. If such a situation arises it would be a lot easier to have a single place members could log in and view rather than PMing 20-50 (or more;)) people.


I think this forum will always be central to boards AC and there will never be a shortage of news and topics related to the club on here but it would be nice to have our own site as well as it would be a little more structured and direct for getting news than a forum such as this.

figs

Peckham wrote: »

Can we ask for a sub-forum to be set-up here that is restricted to certain users (i.e. paid up members of Boards AC)?

I think that is what the Boards "Social Groups" thing is... basically a forum with restricted membership.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/group.php

I agree with Woddle's point of members not wanting names on boards. Personally, i'd prefer not disclosing here, but wouldn't mind disclosing if it was purely associated with running (I'm embarassed by my Chess affiliation!:D)

I also see the merits of a seperate site. I guess this is the first step to putting a face on boards AC. I guess it would also help make it more recognisable in terms of affiliations to athletic organisations.

Next thing we'll be organising races and other crazy talk...

--amadeus--

I can see teh advantage of a separate location.

There are a few options within Boards.

For example you could establish a forum under Hosted. Hosted forums live on Boards but aren't part of the main Boards structure - for example there is a Spurs Supporters Club (Hosted ->Sports->Spurs SC). It would give you a separate existence but still in Boards. The committee would have Mod powers there and could manage the forum as they see fit in the best interests of the club. The advantage is that it is separate, you have more control, it's still open for all and we can link from a stickie in here.

Or we could have a sub-forum here. Easy to do and it's how we originally imagined it would run. You'd need to rely on myself / HM / Tingle if you needed stuff shuffling but other than that it maintains the Boards link and is very visible to all visitors, which was part of teh inclusive ideal.

Or you could have a private forum - invite only. Again committee would have mod powers and can grant or remove access as they see fit. I don't like this one as it's a bit exclusive, but it could work.

In an ideal world the BAC committee (or at least chairman) would have Mod powers here (and in a sub forum) to stickie, move & delete stuff. But with the chair changing hands so often it could get messy and Modship is granted at Dev's discretion alone, so it's not feasible.

But I reckon that an off site site is the best idea. You can put names up and there isn't that direct link to Boards ID's. The committee have full editorial control - which to be fair they need - and you have more scope for photos and the like. Whisper it but you can also have an ad-words account that might contribute to the club coffers. And there are plenty of wordy types on here who can keep articles flowing in, longer stuff that doesn't suit the forum. And we can link out via a stickie.

Munster_Gal

I reckon an off site site is a great idea. While we don't want to lose the connection with boards.ie -> it is now an athletic club so it would make sense to have it's own separate site.

robinph

There is definately good reasons to have something seperate fromthe actual boards.ie forums for some things. Here is where we natter about "stuff" and how good or bad our training is going and boards.ie is exactly right for that kind of thing.

Here is not the place to put certain other things though, such as how to get a club singlet, historical BAC team race results ( other than the initial "didn't we all do great" and the subsequent chatting about the race type stuff which does fit in here). Not sure what else yet, but it's more the static information that could do with a different type of site and is definately not suited to forum stickies, discussing that detail does go here though.

stmochtas

I think an off-site area is a great idea. I think the forum facilities on Boards will always be the place to come and chat however as the club grows we will need a place for specific club related news which would make more sense to be housed in a seperate area.

lecheile

My suggestion guys is that you create a separate Club site that can act and function like many of the AC websites (there are many clubs in the country that have no web presence and you guys will have two!)

The main reason I see is that to those experiencing Boards AC though Boards.ie it will appear very fragmented when not familiar with the rules and accepted standards for posting. It may also be construed as more fluid (less permanent!!) than a 'formal', regularly maintained website or blog. IMO.

By the way, its great to see so many regular contributers and those keen to help and make something of the club - there may be something in this internet stuff after all!