Politics Discussion Board

In another thread I floated the idea of beginning a new discussion board for the discussion of politics (see Message 178). I'm going to do this, but I need the following:

• Domain and website name suggestions.
  ​
• Someone to "own" the website. They'd have director status and would design the color scheme, select or create the little images or icons, create and name the various forums and divide them into categories, etc.

Perdition has already volunteered to "own" the website, but I still need domain and website name suggestions. Suggestions about other things like color schemes, forums, categories of forums, etc., would probably be welcome, too.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I leave it to whoever runs it to make those decisions. I would only reserve software decisions to myself. For example, if I release a new update of dBoard then I would update the board's software, and the person running the board would only have a choice of the most convenient time.But I do have opinions. About debate versus discussion, it seems it could go either way. There's the conservative/liberal dichotomy that parallels creation/evolution, but in general there seems a greater variety of possible positions and views in politics.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Thanks for noticing those problems - I'll fix it tonight.--PercyEdited by Admin, : Change author.

politicusmaximus.com is already taken (it's a blog), .net is available.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Thanks for offering to pitch in. There are two levels of control over a discussion board:

1. The discussion board control panel. This is where you create the appearance and set parameters like the board's name and number of topics displayed per page.
   ​
2. The website itself.
   ​
   Even if the website is nothing more than a discussion board, it's still a website. I'll be uploading the discussion board software to the webhost, but you'll be responsible for everything else. For example, if you have an image you want displayed at the top of every page, you'll have to upload that image to the webhost. Or if you prefer different icons than the default ones, you'll have to upload them to the webhost.
   ​
   There are two ways to upload images or anything else to the webhost. One is to use the Plesk webhosting control panel, the other is to use ssh (Secure SHell).

If some of this doesn't make sense, don't worry, it's actually easy and I'm available to answer any questions.I'm going with "http://www.politicusmaximus.net" unless I hear a better name by tonight, or unless someone wants more time to think up names.One more thing. While it wasn't part of my original motivation, I realize now that I stand to learn a lot as you set up the discussion board. A couple ways I could make things easier for customers (that's you) have already occurred to me. So don't hesitate to ask questions or make requests and suggestions.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

You're right, people can discuss politics here in the Coffee House as much as they like, and I hope they continue to do so. But setting up discussion site about politics is something I've wanted to do for a long time (weird, I know, since I'm almost apolitical), and it's a wonderful opportunity for me to get feedback about the board software.Another discussion site I'd like to create is along the same lines as a bunch of already existing sites with names like http://www.ventyourrage.com and http://www.unleashyouranger.com and so forth. I don't think it's been done right yet. Any takers?(http://www.ventyourrage.com is taken, but there's no website at that URL anymore, so maybe it can be obtained)

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I'm in no hurry, but experience has taught me to strike while the iron's hot. I'll wait, take as much time as you need.About EvC branding, I'd prefer not to associate the two sites.About each site linking to the other, this wouldn't be difficult, and it occurs to me that it should be made easier to do this than it already is. I'm already getting some good usability ideas out of this.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Peek problem should be fixed.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Some of the new name suggestions look promising, I'm holding off another day.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I have created the domain and an associated website named: Name server registration could take as long as 72 hours to propagate around the web. I'll post again when it's ready.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

The PoliticusMaximus discussion board is almost ready. You can see it at http://www.politicusmaximus.net/cgi-bin/dBoard.cgi.But while setting it up I found a few bugs (one of them is evident if you visit the board, just look at "test topic"), and I won't be fixing them until tomorrow night. But you can look at the board and start exchanging ideas about forum organization, color schemes, a title graphic, etc.I'll be sending more information tomorrow to your currently registered email addresses. If you want me to use a different address either post it here, or you can send it to admin@evcforum.net.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Whoa! Impressive!!I have one bug left to go, but it's getting late and I'm running out of gas. If I don't finish tonight I'll have to wait until Wednesday night to release it to you guys, as I'm busy tomorrow night.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Bugs are fixed and software is updated. I have email'd instructions to the email addresses of your accounts.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Under "Board Configuration" go to "Board Settings", click on "Main Discussion Board Parameters", set "Display Categories" to "Yes".Looking good so far!

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Uh-oh, that's not good. I just checked IE 6.0 (11.6% of EvC Forum accesses are from IE 6.0), doesn't seem to work there.I'll try to look at this tonight. Do you have another browser installed that you can try? It works in Chrome and Netscape 7.1, so it probably works in FireFox, too. It may also work in newer versions of IE.I've turned on category display for you so you can see what it looks like.

---

--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director