Seibertron.com Energon Pub Forums

Editor wrote:Any current timeline for site launches Ryan?

Not sure yet. I've been keeping busy with Seibertron.com lately so I haven't had as much time to work on the other sites yet.

Big question to ask all of you ... what are your thoughts about sharing your user account with the other sites I own? Would you want to have the same username on every site or would you prefer to have a separate account on each site?

I'd prefer to have my account as part of an integrated system, not only will it make things easier if I'm a member of another site, it will also mean that I'm recognisable on another part of the network.

Another thought - if you used one general discussion forum for the whole network, the GD will not only be busier, but it'll breathe some new life into the mix too, perhaps even encourage some migration between the other sites (therefore increasing site hits\advertising revenue ect)

Amelie wrote:I'd prefer to have my account as part of an integrated system, not only will it make things easier if I'm a member of another site, it will also mean that I'm recognisable on another part of the network.

Another thought - if you used one general discussion forum for the whole network, the GD will not only be busier, but it'll breathe some new life into the mix too, perhaps even encourage some migration between the other sites (therefore increasing site hits\advertising revenue ect)

Ditto on all.

Integrate as much of it as possible.

If indeed you are looking to develop a network, than make the current forum profiles the backbone. It instantly gives the other sites better credibility with a built in user base.

On the flip side of that. As we the users have no need to start accounts on the other site, then people are more likely to jump in and use the additional areas.

My next question from this is if everything does get integrated, then do you see one master forum running thru everything, or separate ones for each site?
Pros would be:
One master forum would make it easier to share resources. news stories/moderation.
More likely to build crossover discussion to make a bigger community.
easier than having separate boards for sites with smaller forum usage.
Cons would be:
problems with cross brand rivalry.
may want to set up a non-branded section of the forums to deal with general chat/information, or risk multiple identical threads in each "brand" area.

I'm sure there are others as well, but I'm not going to waste more time analyzing it now.

Editor wrote:Integrate as much of it as possible.

If indeed you are looking to develop a network, than make the current forum profiles the backbone. It instantly gives the other sites better credibility with a built in user base.

On the flip side of that. As we the users have no need to start accounts on the other site, then people are more likely to jump in and use the additional areas.

This is the big motivation for me to have shared user accounts on all of these sites.

Editor wrote:My next question from this is if everything does get integrated, then do you see one master forum running thru everything, or separate ones for each site?

"General discussion" might possibly be the only forum that gets shared. My concern with that is the extreme differences in discussion between a girl oriented fan site (such as Jem, Barbie, Care Bears, etc) versus a boy oriented fan site (such as Thundercats, Ghostbusters, and Power Rangers). The other problem with that is if a forum is shared and someone is subscribing to a particular topic and someone replies ... from where does the message originate for the topic reply notification? From the site where the user responded or from the site where the other user subscribed to a topic? Could be a logistical programming nightmare that I don't want to get involved in.

Dead Metal wrote:

Amelie wrote:I'd prefer to have my account as part of an integrated system, not only will it make things easier if I'm a member of another site, it will also mean that I'm recognisable on another part of the network.

Another thought - if you used one general discussion forum for the whole network, the GD will not only be busier, but it'll breathe some new life into the mix too, perhaps even encourage some migration between the other sites (therefore increasing site hits\advertising revenue ect)

Ditto on all.

Triple ditto. I have a hard enough time remembering to wear pants let alone multiple user names. Integrating only the GD forums seems like a good idea since each site is so unique.

Seibertron wrote:My concern with that is the extreme differences in discussion between a girl oriented fan site (such as Jem, Barbie, Care Bears, etc) versus a boy oriented fan site (such as Thundercats, Ghostbusters, and Power Rangers).

There is also a benefit to this - you'll also get a more varied discussion with more female\male views on female\male discussions. It could prove to be interesting.

Seibertron wrote:The other problem with that is if a forum is shared and someone is subscribing to a particular topic and someone replies ... from where does the message originate for the topic reply notification? From the site where the user responded or from the site where the other user subscribed to a topic? Could be a logistical programming nightmare that I don't want to get involved in.

Can't you give a name to the network as a whole and have the automated emails sent that way instead, as opposed to Seibertron\LukeVader ect?

Integration would definitely be nice. I would use all of the sites if that happened.

So...any news on the network yet, Ryan?

Amelie wrote:So...any news on the network yet, Ryan?

Nothing at this time ...

Eternians.com is going to be the first site that I work on I decided. I've been gearing up to do galleries of the MOTUC figures to celebrate the launch of that site.

A lot of the small housekeeping issues you might see me doing around here are all geared toward getting ready for the network of sites.

I'm also waiting on a resolution for this so that I hopefully don't have to program a home grown solution right now: http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi ... &t=1963495