Blog:Creating a Wikisimpsons blog

So, a while ago we had a blog. Whilst it was barely visited and is now lost somewhere on the Internet with no one here who has access to it, I thought it might be a good idea to make a new blog on our site.

So, I had a few ideas. Firstly, it would be a news blog. All the latest news added to the blog by our blog editors. Our editors will write news articles when they find out about the news and submit it to the blog. News should be anything and everything from merchandise releases to new episode information to Tapped Out updates to comic releases. This will essentially replace our news section of the main page.

So, here's some of the ideas I had planned for it:

A team of at least three blog editors (me included meaning I would like at least two other editors for it, if not more) who would help keep it updated with all the latest news. If it's only me, or me and one other person, I don't see it working as well.
A news submission form. We often miss things and only hear about them later. If everyone can submit news to us, we can look into it and write an article about it.
A mailing list. When a new blog post is made, users get emailed about it and can come to us to read it.
A monthly news summary post. This will basically summarize everything from the past month and summarize expected events over the next month.

I'm sure there will be some questions, and even some more ideas of what we could include. I would like to hear about it all. Remember, the feedback you give will have a say in whether we make this blog or not. The Solar Dragon 18:29, March 18, 2014 (EDT)

What I seem to have forgotten to mention is that I vision this like our Facebook/Twitter posts, only going into a lot more detail in them. The blog would then replace the news section of the main page and we would link to the blog posts on Facebook and Twitter posts instead of individual articles, and from the blog you get to the articles. Or, I could try and link to both if I have enough characters on Twitter. The Solar Dragon 06:04, March 23, 2014 (EDT)

I opened up a poll on the main page to see whether people would want to read a blog. So far, seems in favor of having one. The Solar Dragon 04:49, April 22, 2014 (EDT)

Update: We've started preparations for a blog but it will probably still be a while before it's ready as it looks like we may need to create our own system. At the moment, Jake's looking into creating a login system on Answers that doesn't redirect you to Wikisimpsons after. If this is a success, it will most likely mean it could work on the blog and then we can work on that. If you have any more ideas for the blog, please feel free to tell us. The Solar Dragon 17:00, April 28, 2014 (EDT)

Discussion[edit]

I feel a need to post something, as no one else has :P I have no overriding view on the matter. -- CJC 10:57, March 21, 2014 (EDT)
I don't know if it's a good idea. We don't have so much active users which can write there. We already have Facebook, Twitter and inactive Tumblr./AleWi (talk) 13:56, March 21, 2014 (EDT)
- Unlike Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr, the blog will be part of the Wikisimpsons name and domain and won't be an external social media site. I'll most likely be doing most of the blog writing, I would just like another couple of people to sign up too. The Solar Dragon 14:00, March 21, 2014 (EDT)
I think it is a great idea. It is supposed to be a 'daily' thing?(I mean if it would need to be up-to-date everyday)? / Loco87 ^{(TALK / Contribs)} 20:12, March 22, 2014 (EDT)
- I would assume that it would be updated whenever something newsworthy popped up. Having different editors in different time-zones would definitely help with staying on top of news. :P --Nick97 ^{(talk ~ contribs)} 21:59, March 22, 2014 (EDT)
  - Yep, that is exactly when it would be updated. The Solar Dragon 06:02, March 23, 2014 (EDT)
I think it's a great idea as well. More of the other options have failed, really, because no-one gave them enough action. Would this incorporate the condemned newsletter as well, in some way? :P ~ Phinbart (talk • contribs) 05:20, March 23, 2014 (EDT)
- The monthly "newsletter" would be the "A monthly news summary post. This will basically summarize everything from the past month and summarize expected events over the next month." I mentioned in my original post, which would come at the end of each month. The Solar Dragon 06:02, March 23, 2014 (EDT)

Ideas[edit]

First idea, okay....if we do create a blog, I feel there should be "heads of departments", so-to-speak. For example, someone could monitor merchandise, someone else could monitor Tapped Out/video games, etc. Also, I think it would be a good idea to release something new every day to keep up the pace, and one thing that I think should happen is that a review of an episode should be posted the Monday after it airs. Once more, I think we should put our featured stuff in the posts, show off our best articles (hopefully not in a pretentious way). But, I must point out a disadvantage. If we're just going to use the simpsonswiki domain name, then the audience of the blog will only be limited to who comes and goes from Wikisimpsons. We won't really be putting ourselves out there. ~ Phinbart (talk • contribs) 09:51, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

Enough people get to Wikisimpsons Answers by a search for it. Hopefully things like Simpsons Blog and Wikisimpsons Blog will lead people to the blog page. As for department heads, I would like that but we need a lot more interest before we can even do that. I agree with featured stuff. The Solar Dragon 11:04, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

If we do end up creating a blog, it will definitely have a scheduled release system where we can schedule blog posts days in advance to ensure new content comes out at least daily. We'll probably have to have different "departments" for the different kinds of content that will be posted, and someone will probably have to lead each department and review the articles of the other editors before they can be published. I kind of disagree about the domain though. While I have no problem registering and paying for another domain for this project, if we're going to promote or sponsor the wiki in any way, I think it should be part of our domain. The simpsonswiki.com domain has already established itself as a great source of information, and I think if we put this on its own domain it will lose that association. It's almost like starting from scratch, and not being able to benefit from the reputation we've developed with Wikisimpsons. That's just my opinion though, and I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts on this. --Ja ke 11:10, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

Ideally, it'd probably go like this:

Me -> Department Heads (Tapped Out head, Episode news head, Comics news head, Merchandise head, Wiki and other news head) -> Other editors. That would mean we would need 5 department heads under me, although I guess some could double up but I would say no more than 2 departments per person. I'd says that department heads should be able to publish posts whilst the normal editors can make drafts and edit posts but not publish. Then, I can just come in and do anything pretty much. I might try looking elsewhere to find editors if we don't have enough interest from the editors here. See if I can get any interest from elsewhere to help with the set up of a general Simpsons blog as there's a lot of Tapped Out blogs out there. The Solar Dragon 12:13, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

This thing of having department heads is a great idea, but does it mean that several people will be in one department or only just a few people in each one? Because, we may have to face down too many requests for collaborating, and it could end up being a mess. / Loco87 ^{(TALK / Contribs)} 13:23, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

I would imagine that, while the department heads would focus only on one or two departments, the regular editors would be free to send in drafts for articles in any area they please. Although, some may stick to only an area that interests them or whatever.

We could also perhaps have an internal forum or something where editors can let each other know if they are writing/have finished writing an article for a particular news piece before said article is actually posted to let others know who's writing what or what's already been done or if they'd like any help. I'm not entirely sure if this would actually fit with how the blog's going to work/be set up, but I figured I'd toss that idea in. --Nick97 ^{(talk ~ contribs)} 15:21, April 15, 2014 (EDT)

I'm not going to set up a forum just for this project, but I do have plans for an internal "staff area" which will include a forum with discussion boards for each department/team among other useful features. --Ja ke 17:12, April 16, 2014 (EDT)

Ok. Yeah, that's what I meant. --Nick97 ^{(talk ~ contribs)} 21:27, April 16, 2014 (EDT)

Editor sign-up sheet[edit]

Okay, the next real step is seeing how many people want to help out. Please leave your name below if interested. The Solar Dragon 13:16, April 21, 2014 (EDT)

I would love to help out with this in anyway possible. Radie (talk) 00:37, April 28, 2014 (EDT)

It's probably going to be a while off still but we'd be glad to have you on board. The Solar Dragon 16:58, April 28, 2014 (EDT)

I'm interested in the project, although it won't be much coming from me. ~ Phinbart (talk • contribs) 05:07, May 3, 2014 (EDT)

I'm interested. Are you wanting people to speak up regarding particular areas they'd be interested in writing about? -- Mythigator (talk) 10:22, May 3, 2014 (EDT)

That would be good. The Solar Dragon 11:17, May 3, 2014 (EDT)

I'm interested in helping as much as I can. / Loco87 ^{(Talk / Contribs)} 17:56, May 3, 2014 (EDT)