Dc Member Blog Idea - Feedback Requested

[mouser]

I had an idea.. I'd like to set up a blog where some dc members can take turns posting.

We used to have daily columns here on dc in the old days -- basically a blog where 5 people would write some blog essay each on their different assigned weekday.  it was a bit hard to keep it active and we eventually stopped.

But i think we should try to do it again, but a little less regimented and more flexible, and more of a group thing.

So here is the idea:

• The blog would be set up at http://blog.dcmembers.com , it will use Wordpress
• DC members who have web space on the dc member server, or forum members who think they have something to contribute will be given a posting account
• The goal will be to have a consistent regular flow of new content -- one post a day at least.
• But who posts when and on what material will be left totally up those of you who participate
• Dc forum members who feel like they would like to participate just contact me
• We will link to it from the donationcoder.com blog and web pages so hopefully it will get some readership

The idea will be to have an interesting blog tht is updated daily -- the workload being shared by all the different writers.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Volunteers?

[justice]

Maybe add it into the existing best of blog as 'guest writer' feature?

[mouser]

That's an interesting idea.

[justice]

Reasoning behind my comment is really considering the long term whether there will be enough activity /ownership on a seperate blog that is shared as opposed to being part of the 'official dc blog' or individual blogs aggregated into one 'donation coder blog stream'?

Just a thought - dunno maybe i'm off the mark.

I do like the blog format.

[mouser]

Merging it with main site blog, pros and cons:

Pros:

• By combining content the result is a more active blog
• We could probably use some additional editorial content in main blog
• One less site for people to have to remember to visit

Cons:

• The current dc blog is homemade (not wordpress,etc.) and is set up for a specific funcitonality -- promoting forum posts to blogs; it would not be easy to combine the two.
• Too much content too quickly? the Dc blog typically has multiple posts per day, would it drown out member blogging?
• Worries about content? DC blog is the official blog of the site so i have some concern over what goes up there -- wheras the member blog should be for whatever the members decide they want.

[brotherS]

Hmm... could attract new people to the site IF the content is good. We probably all know bad blogs. But if you find enough people who are motivated to post good articles, it should be a good addition.

[mitzevo]

Nah, dont merge it with the main blog, would be better as a seperate blog where certain DC members/coders have a posting account where they can post about any thing they want such as their personal project updates, small tutorials, tips for apps, etc. and then all the posts from the members would be aggregated together making the blog index and content. Since there would be a few coders/writers, things could range from regex, mod_rewrite, to svn, web dev, seo, software dev,  etc. ect. in relatively small time..

Great minds think alike So if some one ends up on this new blog (after seeking what ever they wanted), good chance they'll check out a few other posts and eventually find theretheir way to the main DC site.. any ways, isn't it just blog just for members, so it doesn't matter if it directly relates to the "best of blog" or the main DC site, it's just a small home where those members can post if they want to right?

[app103]

I think revisiting this idea might be a better one...and members could post direct to their page through their personal area...and the posts from these individual blogs not already appearing as regular forum posts (placed in a special member blog section of forum, instead) could optionally be combined (if the member opts in) to a big blog page of member posts, separate from the main DC blog....or if it's a really great post that would be of interest to all, pushed to the main blog, as well.

This would also give others the option to subscribe to just an individual member's blog, or the whole thing.

[40hz]

I thought the design of this landing page did a very nice job of aggregating and handling multiple bloggers:

http://www.networkworld.com/subnets/microsoft/ 

I particularly liked how the 'official' blog is on the landing page, and the sub-blogs are in a billboard/directory off in the right hand column.

When you go to one of the sub-blogs, the theme changes, which serves as a clear visual alert that you have left the 'official' blog.

That's nice, because it could help avoid the need to post all those annoying "The views expressed on this website are those of their respective authors and do no necessarily reflect those of blah-blah-blah..." disclaimers.

I also liked the "Today's Top Pick" feature.

Just my tuppence.

[mahesh2k]

I like this idea.  We can blog like bloggers at Planet Ubuntu do. We need one editor and maintainer in this case.

[mouser]

I think revisiting this idea might be a better one...and members could post direct to their page through their personal area...and the posts from these individual blogs not already appearing as regular forum posts (placed in a special member blog section of forum, instead) could optionally be combined (if the member opts in) to a big blog page of member posts, separate from the main DC blog

that's an intriguing idea.. choices choices.

[Lutz_]

A few directions regarding the type of the desired content likely would be helpful???

[mouser]

Lutz, that's a good question -- but mainly the idea is to leave it up to the group to come to some consensus about the scope of the blog.. i'd guess that much of the content would be about software, but not all.  It can reflect individual interestes, as long as no one is trying to use it as a marketing gimick.

Back to the issue of whether we should host it as a separate wordpress blog vs. adding it to the forum system, here are two existing blogging addons for the simple machines forum software (and then there is also my own homebrew system):

• http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=793
• http://custom.simplemachines.org/mods/index.php?mod=1209

[app103]

I still like the idea of your blog mod and giving everyone their own blog page, which can be combined to create a members mega-blog (or have editors that can pick & choose posts for it), as well as act as mini-websites for coding snacks authors where they can display all the threads about their applications.

I believe this is the perfect extension of user profiles.

[mahesh2k]

I still like the idea of your blog mod and giving everyone their own blog page, which can be combined to create a members mega-blog

There is separate edition for this by wordpress as "buddypress" but that will not be a good in terms of looks and structure. Maybe Blog like "Performancing" could do the job(Drupal used). I think if it works like Planet DC or something that aggregates content from multiple user/day could be better.

Back to the issue of whether we should host it as a separate wordpress blog vs. adding it to the forum

Let's keep forum content separate or that will make whole experience stale.