Railpage Australia™ 2007

Webslave · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:05 pm

Being early in 2007 I figured that now would be a good time to deliver to you my vision for Railpage Australia™ in 2007. Of course, a quick shout over my shoulder of “Greenhill – what is my vision for 2007?” was sure to be returned with a grunt of “Blurry”, so it really got me thinking. Greenhill’s suggestion was to throw around a whole bunch of buzzwords and flashy project names to distract you, but I’m not about to take advice from that part-time soap-dodger, am I?

Rules and Procedures Review
In 2007 through consultation with our moderators and users I would like to conduct a full review of the rules and procedures we use on Railpage Australia™. It is no secret that some of the rules we use have aged, or are unclear – and this causes problems not only for our posters, but also for our moderators to enforce. I’d like to take some time to take a hard look at the rules we use currently, and determine what they are there to provide – and see if there is a better way of doing things. Some rules will stay, some will change, some will go, and some will be added. The end result will be a stronger and easier to follow set of rules with a clear purpose. My hope is that this will also allow for greater transparency in what our moderators do. In addition, we’ll be looking at ways to reward and protect our users who consistently make valued contributions to the community, and for the first time officially ever, we’ll look at the merits of the possibility of an area of the site only for paid members (no, this is not a guarantee or even a sign that it’ll happen – I just said we’d at least have a look at it).

An Updated Look
2007 will mark a busy period for our development team in updating the look of our pages. The new look wont be a complete departure from what you’re used to, but will allow enhanced readability and better navigation. Less clicks mean less time spent waiting for pages to download, and less of that means less kittens that we have to feed to Fang. Every day, in every way – use less kittens; it just makes sense.

Easier to Find Information
The forums are great, but let’s face it – for finding factual and up-to-date information in a hurry you’d have a better time getting drunk and hallucinating it. Sorta. That’s why this year we’re putting in our very own Wiki for all things Rail. Not only that, but search is getting a massive, massive overhaul. Seriously, you’d just about find Alibrandi with this thing. Our formula here is simple; keep the ultra-newbies from being ultra-newbies for too long by giving them some bedtime reading, and make search provide same-day service.

More of What You Love
Yeah, like most years for the most part we’ll be sticking with what we know - the same characters and personalities, the same fun, the same attitude of a site not afraid to poke some fun at itself. We’ll still be here giving people something to talk about, and something with which to waste time and bandwidth.

So basically, we’re going to be making some significant and some subtle changes this year to maintain our reputation as Australia’s Premier Rail Server. Looks like it’s going to be a bumper year for our visitors!

In closing, I’d like to say; don’t put on the death mask. That, and if you have any ideas you'd like to be part of 2007 - PM (that's P-M, not P-O-S-T) them to me so we can flesh them out.

Thankyou,
James Morgan
Lead Developer, Administrator
Railpage Australia™

James Morgan
Lead Developer - Railpage Australia™ 2.0
"Remember, you can't say filthy, without Phil!"
MorgaNet Online - http://yen.omni.com.au/
Another President of Nazarail

michaelgreenhill · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:12 pm

We still haven't got a flashy project name for this, damnit.

Michael Greenhill
RP2 System Lord, RP3 Lead Developer
Rules for Posting | Help for Beginners | FAQ | Helpdesk

My photos on Flickr.

Webslave · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:13 pm

You mean like "Shat, Holty's A Freaking Tool"?

James Morgan
Lead Developer - Railpage Australia™ 2.0
"Remember, you can't say filthy, without Phil!"
MorgaNet Online - http://yen.omni.com.au/
Another President of Nazarail

42101 · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:14 pm

Hows about Son of Shaft. Laughing

Banned

jamesholt · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:16 pm

Webslave · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:24 pm

Gwiwer · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:25 pm

I still reckon the best of the best was "Show Holty A Friggin' Train Razz

And did anyone win the "What does SHAFT mean?" comp? If so with what answer?

CEO Penhayle Bay Railway. Ferroequinologist. BA Hons (Honourable Bachelor of Aquatarts

)
The wise yet mysterious Sir Gwiwer Greybeard

42101 · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 3:29 pm

I know what it means but MGH™ and Webby would hurt me if i told anyone. Shocked

Banned

jamesholt · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 4:04 pm

dad2natalie · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 5:13 pm

TheLoadedDog · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 10:59 pm

May I suggest more proactive moderation?

By this I mean that often barking can prevent a bite. I'd like to see more mods getting into threads and growling at people before the line is crossed, and fewer closed threads and warnings given.

I don't diss the mods for the current approach, and I can see why it was worth a try, but I don't think it's working as well as it could be, and it might be trime to try different techniques.

Humphrey! We're leaving!

Webslave · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:44 pm

TheLoadedDog · Posted: Tue Jan 02, 2007 11:49 pm

Webslave · Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:22 am

TheRev · Posted: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:29 am

My only thought would be to delete any irrelevent locked posts. Also, to stop multiple posts on the one subject in different forum rooms.

An overhaul of how each forum room could be looked at, e.g NSW could be Tuscan and Chrome yellow, Victoria VR blue and gold...You could even allow the members to vote on what livery to use on each state - NSW: tuscan or Candy...Vic: VR blue and gold or V/line orange and grey etc. I am more than happy to help you design any motifs to be used. PM me if interested.

Maybe also, ditch the 'Armchair Operators' thing. It's getting old fast, how many posts can you make to one minger and his obviously over-protective father? It surely uses valueable space on the server...

A bus is a glorified toaster on wheels.