Front Page Articles

**Apoc** · May 6th, 2010

So I couldn't resist and decided to try fckn about and putting up some articles on the front page...i've done a test one for a small thing i want to put up, this being a film select (basically just putting in the reviews section a selection of some great films i've reviewed in the past) coz i can't stand that daybreakers is the one up at the mo, that film suuuuucked

great review though by anita

It says though that it hasn't been published, is this coz an admin needs check it first? Or have i missed pressing something?

I read somewhere mike was gonna scrap alot of the frontpage stuff but i'd be happy to write articles for a few of them...film's, game's, book's, tv, manga, anime news, reviews and previews.

What's the chat with the front page anyways? Is it gonna be cut back down to old school basics or can we make it like, oh i don't know, a quill newspaper full of news, reviews, comic strips (i'm lookin at wendy and james for this) done by the members?

**Mike** · May 6th, 2010

Well, you're sort of right about newspaper thingie full of news, reviews and whatnot. But we're not sure how or what.

I put Anita's review up because it's a great review. She spent time on it, and she has a way with words. The movie may suck but the review is a rare piece of work. When we do this sort of thing we might as well set a decent standard for frontpage stuff. I want stuff that goes well beyond the "yeah, saw the movie, it was great" level. With all the skills available at the Quill, I think we can do a thousand times better. Ok, fine, in the light of procrastination we can skip 990, but that still leaves us with 10 times better. Don't care of we can actually manage that, but we can try, right. Furthermore, I hope there'll be a lot more then just reviews. We have writers here. Poets. Artists. Lunatics. The lot. We can do way more now then before. Eveyrbody who has some creative energy flowing out wants some exposure right?! So, come and get it.

The major problem is time though. Time to figure out what we want exactly, time to figure out a standard that can be met easily but not too easily, time to figure out who does what and where. Sir Archely is working on ideas. I have a head full of things. But I can't do half of what I used to. Even getting to share our minds is an issue.

**Buck** · May 7th, 2010

Is there a way for us non-admins/mods/privelaged to submit stuff through the site now? Or do you want us to email/PM it somewhere? I'd be interested in writing something again. Not exactly sure what, but something. Maybe a combo piece with another quiller... hmm. I must think on it.

**Mike** · May 7th, 2010

Not yet, but it's one of the things being considered. And probably inevitable, don't know. But it's something I want you to think about. And think out loud please. What would you want. What would you like to see. What would you like to do. What would you like to see other people do. And so on.
We can assign privileges to specific sections (Inkwell, Reviews, and so on). Or even the front page.

As far as scrapping things, the old front page stuff needs to be sorted. I'm sure some of it can be converted to an article. But I can't even find the old frontpage stuff

The other stuff that's on the scrapping list is the heretics brigade. Some things could be saved/converted maybe, but most is a stew of thoughts that simply does not blend in. The fact that it's hiding somewhere adds to that out of place feeling.

**Jennifer** · May 9th, 2010

How about having a different featured photograph or work of art on the homepage that changes every week or so? It can be drawn or voted on from the existing galleries.

**Buck** · May 9th, 2010

Well I wasn't thinking so much privileges as a way to submit things officially for direct review by the admins/editing team. As far as what I'd be interested in contributing, perhaps the occasional story or review of something. Or maybe something a bit more collaborative. I'd also love to see some of the art and writing of the other quillers showcased on the front page on a more updated basis. Like you said, we have a lot of talent here, and it's rarely presented. As it is, I've very rarely if ever payed much attention to the front page of the quill b/c the content was stagnant and if there is an opportunity to change that, I'm all for it.

Build it, and they will come.

**Mike** · May 9th, 2010

Originally Posted by Jennifer

How about having a different featured photograph or work of art on the homepage that changes every week or so? It can be drawn or voted on from the existing galleries.

Ah, the gallery...
I'm still not sure whether that will be back. It doesn't seem like there's much interest, and since it's licensed software it costs money to keep the software up to date. vBulletin has it's own way of creating albums and uploading pics. It's very simple compared to what we had, but based on the usage it seems enough. And I'm sure it will get more advanced in the future.
There's still ways of displaying pics on the frontpage, with a bit of work.

Originally Posted by Buck

Well I wasn't thinking so much privileges as a way to submit things officially for direct review by the admins/editing team. As far as what I'd be interested in contributing, perhaps the occasional story or review of something. Or maybe something a bit more collaborative. I'd also love to see some of the art and writing of the other quillers showcased on the front page on a more updated basis. Like you said, we have a lot of talent here, and it's rarely presented. As it is, I've very rarely if ever payed much attention to the front page of the quill b/c the content was stagnant and if there is an opportunity to change that, I'm all for it.

Build it, and they will come.

Privileges is what you need to submit something. Like Apoc. He has frontpage privileges, which means he can submit stuff. But to get the stuff to be displayed requires an admin.
Maybe... it's simply a matter of creating a group with sufficient privileges and wait and see who applies to become a member. Certain criteria should be met...

**sir archely** · May 10th, 2010

If anyone is wondering, here is the page with the people who currently have front page privileges. Just scroll down to the heading "front pager." Those people have it enabled from the last time we tried to get people into writing articles and so forth for the front page. But by no means is that exclusive. If you have a good idea to submit, let us know. Apoc conception of a newspaper full of articles and other things by people at the quill would be perfect. For example, I've enjoyed reading CC's reflections where he puts in some of his cooking experiments, and I think with a little tweaking and maybe a snapped picture of the end result (uh, prior to ingestion), that would be a decent column.

PS- I love the idea of a comic strip at the quill, and have tried to get someone who is not me interested in doing it as far back as 2003. If you can get someone into doing it, I'll definitely provide any help I can.