[J.F.K.]

Okay, so it's me again pestering you (mostly aimed at the staff) about news posting. With all the buzzing around in the forums about 'FS2/the community being dead', this issue popped into my head again. I'm sorry, maybe it's a fetish or something, I'm just deeply troubled by an active community that has a pants news page. I mean well.

Anyway, I respect the fact that you staffers are busy - and you even have an entire staffer dedicated to being a newshound: Windrunner. But one man could never do an effective job of producing news for a community of 270 (according to recent figures) active members, given two conditions: (a) he has a life, (b) he hasn't burnt it out yet by overworking himself. So even with all the PMing in the world, I don't think poor Wind could ever keep up.

So here's the solution I propose. I'm almost certain that you use a script to post news on the front page (ie. 3dap.com/hlp). Therefore, make a login to this news script named "HLP Community". Distribute the pass to all the project leads, with the proviso that you must use the thing responsibly. This is obviously necessary for something which has so much power. Allow the project leads to distribute the pass to whichever staffers they decide, on the same proviso - and take it seriously. Don't muck with it. Use it responsibly.

The staffers should write up instructions for how to use the news script, as well as provide a standard news post. I'll give you an example:

[q]
June 9, 2003
Standard News Item Posted by HLP Community at 15:18 PST[/i]
Poster: yourname, proofed by yourproofreader. Great news everybody! We have just produced the standard news item - a template for you to follow when producing your own news items. Pop your name in the relevant spots, get someone to proof read your post and check all the HTML (for example, when you link to the main page, make sure the link works!), then log in as 'HLP Community' and submit your news. Moments later, your news will be ready on HLP's very own front page!
[/q]

Maybe you could add provision for a small thumbnail (50*50pxs?)pertaining to the news item with the news, to catch eyes. And yeah, that's it... well, HLP, could it work? Up to you.

[Fineus]

What the hell did you do to the .css and table settings for this thread?!

[J.F.K.]

Oops, sorry, copied some extra bits from the front page HTML that I didn't need. Should be better now.

[Stealth]

haHA!  awesome!

[J.F.K.]

Originally posted by Stealth
haHA!  awesome!

The idea, or the strangeness of the front page's HTML?

[an0n]

.....Just make a forum with a Display Order of 0. Set it so only mods and admins can make topics and so only admins can reply.

Then make the main page grab the last 5 entries from that forum where Replies>0.

So all an Admin will have to do is post in one of the News threads and it'll pop up on the main page.

Simple, easy, fun, exciting, practical, integrated.

[Fineus]

Holy ****.

I kinda like his idea.

[Tiara]

Yeah, its kinda good

[aldo_14]

Sounds neat.

It'll need to be fairly regularly checked, though, to avoid dodginess.  and any sort of regular updating news-scripty thing could be useful, given how irregularly I update the Reci site.

[an0n]

Oh, and if you made the forum sealed from regular users (made it mod/admin access only, non-viewable or private) it'd be nice and neatly hidden and locked.

But because you wouldn't be using vB pages/code to generate the data for the main page, you wouldn't have to worry about all the security authentication **** when people viewed the page (because it'd just get the data and wouldn't bother checking usergroups and permissions and junk). So people wouldn't need access to the News forum to be able to view news on the main page.

[Knight Templar]

Not only is he evil, he's practical.

[Martinus]

Originally posted by Knight Templar
Not only is he evil, he's practical.

[color=66ff00]Indeed and damn inventive too, good one an0n.
[/color]

[an0n]

See, occasionally I engage in thought other than those related to my eventual rise to power and my extermination of the human race in a God-like flurry of thermonuclear justice.


And on a related note, I think my intelligence is returning. I've been so dumb for so long (because I didn't see the point in wasting my mind on the lesser beings around me) and now I think my brain is starting to work again. I think my sub-subconcious has finally realised I'll either have to think and make money or not and beg on the streets.

I think it's also partly due to the fact that my friends are starting to annoy me more and more each and every day. The basis for my intelligence, superiority and main drives used to be hatred and fanatical racism. But I gave those up somewhere along the way and entered a kind of relaxed "Let everyone just do what they want" state. But with my renewed sense of having people with which to engage in hostilities, my brain is firing up more and more by the day.

I love having a God-like knowledge and understanding of my mind (conscious and other-wise).

[tEAbAG]

meg·a·lo·ma·ni·a    ( P )  (mg-l-mn-, -mny)
n.

1. A psychopathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of wealth, power, or omnipotence.

2. An obsession with grandiose or extravagant things or actions.

[an0n]

They're NOT delusional.

If there is one sure thing about me, it is that no matter the time, place or people thereabouts, I will ALWAYS succeed in being powerful and largely unnoticed, moving through the shadows using all the good, happy, fluffy things in the universe as means to a very evil end.

[vyper]

At least he's not being subtle about it.

[Stryke 9]

Well, he's technically right. As my henchman and straw-boss for the stormtrooper hordes, he will enjoy a fair modicum of power.

[an0n]

As long as I get to kill indescriminately I'm happy. Sure, the power to revive the dead and rain fire from the sky would be nice, but they're just needless sparklies.

[Sandwich]

All things being equal, the "ideal" setup merging forums with news posts is a dedicated News forum, where the first post of every topic started is displayed on the site frontpage, and any comments added to that new post are actually replies to the thread. Only admins/mods can post topics, or anyone can post new threads, but their posts need to be approved by admins before being accepted.

But alas, all things are not equal, and we're actually a number of steps ahead of you all. Have patience, my littles... patience.

[Tiara]

Originally posted by an0n
As long as I get to kill indescriminately I'm happy. Sure, the power to revive the dead and rain fire from the sky would be nice, but they're just needless sparklies.

Note for RPG:

- Add Necromancer and Über-Dark Magic powers to an0ns powers.