Issue #20 - Suspense & Decision PBM magazine

[GrimFinger]

We will begin the drive to change by revamping the blog on the Suspense & Decision website:

http://suspense-and-decision.com/

The intention will be to implement an option for site users to submit PBM articles.

[GrimFinger]

Shall I create user accounts on the new Suspense & Decision blog for each of you idea generators?

[Davin]

Shall I create user accounts on the new Suspense & Decision blog for each of you idea generators?

That's an interesting idea, although we could use PBM.net to discuss it without recourse to a blog. And I'm not sure if we'd want to "publicize" our discussions to the world, since all downloaders know that site already. It might be better to keep that blog area for more "official" announcements and the like and keep our bantering in a less public area.

[Davin]

We will begin the drive to change by revamping the blog on the Suspense & Decision website:

http://suspense-and-decision.com/

The intention will be to implement an option for site users to submit PBM articles.

I like the idea in general but there are still some questions to answer, such as...

• Could we submit such articles as files outside of the blog itself (so they're not visible until they're published)?
  
• Don't forget a place to put ads.
  
• How do we keep control of spammers?
  
• Do we require logins to submit, and how would we manage them? If so, would anyone complain about having to jump through hoops getting permission to make a contribution, and would that cut down on contributions?
  
• Can authors update their submissions, and how could we tell if they were only updating their own?
  
• Would there be an editorial staff with permissions to review/edit the submissions (perhaps using FTP)?
  
• Would the submissions be stored on the S&D site or would they be emailed to someone to handle manually?
  

I'm considering how a compilation program would work, but in any case it wouldn't be as nice as a human publisher could do. But maybe it could ease the work of a human?

[GrimFinger]

I like the idea in general but there are still some questions to answer, such as...

• Could we submit such articles as files outside of the blog itself (so they're not visible until they're published)?
  
• Don't forget a place to put ads.
  
• How do we keep control of spammers?
  
• Do we require logins to submit, and how would we manage them? If so, would anyone complain about having to jump through hoops getting permission to make a contribution, and would that cut down on contributions?
  
• Can authors update their submissions, and how could we tell if they were only updating their own?
  
• Would there be an editorial staff with permissions to review/edit the submissions (perhaps using FTP)?
  
• Would the submissions be stored on the S&D site or would they be emailed to someone to handle manually?
  

I'm considering how a compilation program would work, but in any case it wouldn't be as nice as a human publisher could do. But maybe it could ease the work of a human?

1. Well, as I understand it (assuming that I get the right plug-in added to the blog site), one should be able to submit an article that would default to a pending status, which would be unpublished but awaiting a blog site admin to hit the publish button on it. Is there something (some process) outside of that which you're after?

2. Ads where? On the blog site, itself?

3. As for keeping control of spammers, I don't see spammers over-running the place, here (though they do occasionally get through). We try different things until they cease to be a problem, is how I usually go about handling the issue of spammers. We could turn comments off on blog posts, and allow discussion of blog articles to occur elsewhere, such as on this forum, Facebook, etc..

4. I suppose that logins can be required to submit articles.

5. If an article is complete, would it need updating later?

6. As for an editorial staff, historically and traditionally, people don't like to volunteer for such duties. More than one person could be granted access to approve article submissions. Using the blog site as the upload point, FTP access would probably not be needed.

7. The articles would be "stored" on the blog site, itself. If one can access them there, why would they need to be e-mailed manually to anyone?

8. A compilation program for what? To publish a collection of the articles into magazine form?

[GrimFinger]

The revision of the Suspense & Decision blog site has already begun. Intermittently check out the progress at: https://suspense-and-decision.com/

[GrimFinger]

Davin, if you like, I could create a blog user account for you, in either your name/handle or in your company's name, as in a Talisman Games account, which you or others associated with your company could use and post to the blog with.

Ideally, PBM companies and PBM moderators could all have S&D blog user accounts, to post material relevant to their respective games with.

[Davin]

Davin, if you like, I could create a blog user account for you, in either your name/handle or in your company's name, as in a Talisman Games account, which you or others associated with your company could use and post to the blog with.

Ideally, PBM companies and PBM moderators could all have S&D blog user accounts, to post material relevant to their respective games with.

That's an interesting idea. I'd have to think about what would be useful for companies to post on that medium.

[Davin]

1. Well, as I understand it (assuming that I get the right plug-in added to the blog site), one should be able to submit an article that would default to a pending status, which would be unpublished but awaiting a blog site admin to hit the publish button on it. Is there something (some process) outside of that which you're after?

2. Ads where? On the blog site, itself?

3. As for keeping control of spammers, I don't see spammers over-running the place, here (though they do occasionally get through). We try different things until they cease to be a problem, is how I usually go about handling the issue of spammers. We could turn comments off on blog posts, and allow discussion of blog articles to occur elsewhere, such as on this forum, Facebook, etc..

4. I suppose that logins can be required to submit articles.

5. If an article is complete, would it need updating later?

6. As for an editorial staff, historically and traditionally, people don't like to volunteer for such duties. More than one person could be granted access to approve article submissions. Using the blog site as the upload point, FTP access would probably not be needed.

7. The articles would be "stored" on the blog site, itself. If one can access them there, why would they need to be e-mailed manually to anyone?

8. A compilation program for what? To publish a collection of the articles into magazine form?

1. Well, I was picturing using the site as a mechanism for creating an actual magazine, rather than using it as the final publication facility. I rather like having PDFs that I can download and browse through rather than having to go through pages of independent posts. Perhaps that's my old-time mentality showing, but maybe the younger generation is more accustomed to independent, unorganized posts than 'zine publications. I just find them more awkward.

2. The ads would be in the 'zine, as you've had them up to now. Ads would be much tougher to find and manage as blogs, I would think, and I think it would defeat some of the benefits of advertising (from my company's point of view). I'd rather see some sort of reminder (often different) in every "issue" rather than just having a strung-out list of posts that would need constantly refreshing to keep near the top. Or were you planning on getting rid of advertising - one of our best ways of getting the word out to players?

3. In PBM.net, spammers aren't much of a problem because the site requires registration before posting. If we don't require that for article submission, I worry that we would be overrun.

4. If we do require registration, then potential authors aren't likely to go through the trouble of registering just to be published, and we may lose some sources of articles.

5. I often find typos in my articles, even after having proofread them a dozen times (and many authors wouldn't even bother with that much review). Plus, there may be a way to preview article formatting, and if so, the author may want to change things around to fit the formatting better or ask for special handling by the editor.

6. I was thinking about submitting files rather than just blog posts. And having more than one person available to look things over could mean that progress could continue to be made without creating a bottleneck on any one reviewer getting sidetracked by real life.

7. I was just asking how you would store files (as opposed to blog entries). Some "submission" sites just cause the entered data to be emailed for manual handling rather than being handled internally by the web site. I don't see any reason to use email, which is why I asked if you were thinking about that. An actual blog entry wouldn't have that question at all, but I'm not convinced yet that that would be the best approach.

8. Yes, to continue to publish a magazine, rather than just having a common blogging area. I wouldn't be as interested in just blogging, myself. My thought is really in JUST publishing a magazine (as we do now) and not putting the articles on the blog as well. I don't foresee as much interest in people reviewing blogs directly as in reading a published format, and having both would seem to imply the disadvantages of both more than the advantages of both.

[Davin]

<whispering>
I wish this forum software wouldn't corrupt long posts after previewing.
</whispering>