PDCOM 2.0: THE NEXT LEVEL

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Maybe we should have a PDCOM 1.0 first.

Just saying.

We do have... its dysfunctional, but it exists. All this will do is make a blogish front end for all those nice rants, essays, political commentaries etc. If people still don't post, we're no worse off... if they do, it provides a portal with no additional work on the part of the poster.

The worst it can do is display the best of old posts as a blog kinda thing... the best it can do is inspire posts, get some interest from outsiders and highlight some of our kickass writings... all without needing additional interfaces, management etc.

2cents: I hope it's not in "endless single column" format, or at least it's fairly easy to move beyond that format when we want to.

SMF splits things up into "Categories->Boards->Topics->Messages'. We're grabbing content from one Category. We select the Boards as 'Categrories' for the aggregator/blog/portal/thingy. We select authors from the first message in all topics as "Authors". We select the first message in all topics as "Articles"

At this time, the code spits out a menu to select by author, category or the default which is all articles from that board. We can show one or more articles per page with pagination at the bottom < 1 2 3 > kinda thing (as it works right now), or we could split the content across columns... format it in some other new way... whatever we want basically.

The articles are in an indexed array based on a limit (number of articles per page) and a limit start point (page 1,2,3 etc). We can manipulate those in whatever crazy way the template wants to.

The template I threw together for testing has a left menu for authors, right menu for categories and displays two posts per page in the center... but thats cause I was focused on function

[Triple Zero]

We do have... its dysfunctional, but it exists.

It's a fucking morgue.

Portal it up all you like.  Nobody's going to read it.

Is there a particular reason why you keep repeating this mantra just about every other day now?

Because I don't know about anybody else but the effect it has on me is that it really really makes me want to contribute less? Especially doing it in a thread where people are actually working together on making this site nicer. Because hey, something that gets people enthusiastic, Rat's been PMing me with all sorts of bits of code (sorry that I reallyhaven't had time yet to join in on it, Rat) and this thing is actually taking off and you know what? Let's take a huge steaming dump of shit on it! Never mind! This thread is now about how PD is dead and everything is futile and people reading and posting about the wrong things or whatever it is.

And it's not even true! I've been reading and replying to all sorts of interesting stuff on PD today and there's a fuckton of interesting threads I still have to read.

As is the other part! "Portaling it up" will put those threads and topics that are not boring or trivial or whatever the hell the problem is with threads about cake or reggae into the spotlight and more people will read them. And I'm not really sure why you claim otherwise, while on the *other* hand you're complaining the reason they apparently don't get read enough because those awful threads about cake are taking all the spotlight (apparently) ...

Oh and did I mention, yes I think I mentioned it before, that every time you post something like that it feels like a personal insult and really I wouldn't know in what other way to take it?

Should we maybe make an UNLIMITED "THE BOARD IS DED" REPOSITORY thread?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Should we maybe make an UNLIMITED "THE BOARD IS DED" REPOSITORY thread?

You know, I had a pretty reasoned response until I came to this line.

But instead, I'll just fuck off and let you visit an empty board once a month or whatever it is.

Later, asshole.

[AFK]

It would be cool if there was a way to run PD through Flipboard to have that kind of layout.


GD,
Loves him the Flipboard.

[Faust]

Should we maybe make an UNLIMITED "THE BOARD IS DED" REPOSITORY thread?

You know, I had a pretty reasoned response until I came to this line.

But instead, I'll just fuck off and let you visit an empty board once a month or whatever it is.

Later, asshole.

Playing around with code gives us a fun project to do which gives us the same pleasure as it does you to write a rant.
Rat has put a lot of work into this over the last couple of weeks, It is very disheartening to do that and then be told there is no worth in it.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Should we maybe make an UNLIMITED "THE BOARD IS DED" REPOSITORY thread?

You know, I had a pretty reasoned response until I came to this line.

But instead, I'll just fuck off and let you visit an empty board once a month or whatever it is.

Later, asshole.

Playing around with code gives us a fun project to do which gives us the same pleasure as it does you to write a rant.
Rat has put a lot of work into this over the last couple of weeks, It is very disheartening to do that and then be told there is no worth in it.

1.  I'm a bad person.

2.  Rat's a big boy.  He'll be fine.  I never at any point said to stop doing it or not do it.

3.  It is also disheartening to puke out a rant, and then get 20-50 views and 3 comments.  But I continue, and Rat is no less a rock n roller than I am.

[LMNO]

Though it's not an ideal situation, I think it would be preferrable for 50 people to read it and not respond (for whatever reason (and there are many, as I'm sure we'll find out downthread)), then for no one to read it at all.

And I think Rat's idea would ensure that the rant wouldn't sink to the bottom of the board.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Though it's not an ideal situation, I think it would be preferrable for 50 people to read it and not respond (for whatever reason (and there are many, as I'm sure we'll find out downthread)), then for no one to read it at all.

And I think Rat's idea would ensure that the rant wouldn't sink to the bottom of the board.

I am not arguing against Rat's idea, not in the slightest.

[LMNO]

I know, I was more thinking along the lines of, "hey, someone's reading it, at least".

It would really suck if I wrote a rant with less than five views.  To have 50 people read it, regardless of comment, is pretty good for a board population of this size, I'd say.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

Actually, I think Roger's main point is right. If no one is producing cool shit, then it doesn't matter what sort of interface we create. We have a 'people' problem, not a 'technical' one and its difficult, if not impossible, to solve people problems with technology.

Mostly, I got a bit of a bug about the idea and wanted to see if I could make it work, regardless of its value to the future of PD.com. Now that it works, once we make it pretty and upload it, I'd like to think it will accomplish one good thing. It will take the "Best of" rants, essays etc and make them easily available to anyone who happens to hit our portal/blog/aggregator thingy. Maybe the board will die, but even so, it would be leaving behind a legacy of awesome content. At the very least, I hope this will provide a useful interface for Eris to blow a few minds with that content. At best, maybe it will inspire some new blood.

And either way I rolled a natural 20 on Technical Wizardry and my ego is enjoying itself 

[tyrannosaurus vex]

Puking out a rant and getting 25 views and 3 comments is disheartening. That's what the PD2 project is intended to fix, or at least help with.

I don't think anyone here is less on board with modern Discordian thought than they ever have been, but PD is becoming more and more of an echo chamber for that thought. Most rants are preaching to the choir, frankly. The intention of this idea isn't to transform PD into anything that it isn't already -- a clearinghouse for those rants and our collective philosophies -- but to give us a platform from which it is easier to disseminate that material to a wider audience.

That's what I'm hoping this will evolve into, anyway. Not just rearranging deck chairs on a sinking ship, but installing a new engine, or whatever else you want to do with that metaphor.

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

So speaking of that, anyone got thoughts on what this interface should look like? If anyone wants a copy of the CSS and template I threw together, I can send it via email, just PM me.

[tyrannosaurus vex]

So speaking of that, anyone got thoughts on what this interface should look like? If anyone wants a copy of the CSS and template I threw together, I can send it via email, just PM me.

I really think a "news-site-esque" format would serve the purpose better than a blog type interface. Something that looks modern but professional - not suit and tie professional, but "we're doing this on purpose" professional. Something that doesn't scream "fringe group" or "Internet amateurs" right away. Something that looks established, like this doesn't exist only online, it's just the online arm of something that exists in the real world -- because that's what it is.

I realize none of that is helpful.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

So speaking of that, anyone got thoughts on what this interface should look like?

Newsy as opposed to blog-like.

Room for comments, as in Newsweek's layout?  I'm on the fence about this. 

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

So speaking of that, anyone got thoughts on what this interface should look like?

Newsy as opposed to blog-like.

Room for comments, as in Newsweek's layout?  I'm on the fence about this.

Comment link takes the user to the thread here. Hopefully it will drive new users.