NEW NEO GEO Online Forum Discussion

[merlin]

Jan 21, 2021 10:58:22 GMT -5 Riko said:

NEW FORUM IS NOW ONLINE HERE 

neogeoforever.proboards.com/

This is just the default forum design and to begin with I created a basic structure based on the old forum. That's all I have time to do today, it's not refined or finished. I paid for the ad-free model thanks to Merlin's generous offer. It made sense to do it straight away because you get a month free that way. Please DON'T JOIN just yet. I want to try and register the URL (without the proboards part) and make it sure it works first. Just in case I have done anything wrong and have to start again - I don't want to lose anyone's posts

The forum belongs to everyone so any of the old members who wants to be admin can be. As admin you can make changes to the site - such as design and structure, move posts, threads etc. if you don't want to be admin you can still make suggestions via the suggestions thread on the new site, so no worries there.

I think after the name is registered, it makes sense just to start the forum and improve it gradually over time. Threads and posts can be moved around by admin as needed so we won't lose any of them. It's pretty hard to delete anything by mistake because there is a confirmation check that involves typing in a word and clicking a box.

Thanks for setting it up RiKo. The new forum looks good so far and those sections cover all the essentials. I'm glad you included a high score section. Thanks for sorting out the ad-free and good to hear we got a free month.

I was wondering what would be the preferred way for forum members to have chat sessions? It would be possible to embed a java chat room on the site. One forum I looked at had added 'chat' to the top menu bar. Alternatively we could use Discord which seems very popular with gaming communities. There's also IRC.

I also have no artistic ability. Hopefully someone else can help.

Yes I still have scans of 26 NeoGeoFreak magazines and have started uploading them to MediaFire ready to share on the new forum.

I did have an idea about the reviews. It's only a suggestion and I won't be offended if people prefer to do it a different way. We could create a locked stickied thread in the Neo Geo section of the forum called something like the NeoGeoForLife Review Archive. We could copy and paste each review into a seperate post in that thread and have a clickable index in the first post. We could add in the screen shots from the old site too. Seems to me like a neater, more compact way than having lots of review threads or a review sub forum. I feel we should get Kaz's permission first though.

[Sensi]

Riko, thank you so much for setting up the new place. Unfortunately, also no artistic ability here. If I can help in some simple way, don’t hesitate to contact me.

@ Merlin, also a shout out to you for paying the first year. It would be a pleasure to donate for the 1st/2nd year, please send PM if needed.

[merlin]

Glad to help out Sensi. I think it's nicer not having all those adverts for forex trading, grills, electric shavers, cars etc. on the forum. I don't mind covering the full cost for year 1. That's good of you to offer to help out.

If anyone would be willing to donate even a small amount to RiKo to help with the domain name costs, that would be great.

[Riko]

Appreciate the thanks you's guys *thumbs up*

I got the URL registered so it's neogeoforever.com now (although the previous address still works too). It's not in Google search yet but should appear when the bots find it. I had a quick go at pinging it (including inserting validation codes in the HTML code) but I couldn't get it to work fully (although Google did seem to validate it)  - I think because Proboards run the nameserver now.

I made a Twitter account here twitter.com/Neo_Geo_Forever (not finished yet). Although I won't bother posting anything for a while until we are ready for new members. I just wanted to get the name reserved in case someone takes it. @neogeoforever was taken by a random guy but I got @neo_geo_forever instead. I'd quite like to run the Twitter account if that's ok with everyone? I'm not good at forum design so think I am better there.

The site is ready for new members now! - so log in and make any new threads as you wish. We can figure out things as we go. Make requests on the site for any new sections you think are missing - although I like the idea of keeping it as simple as possible. I don't think we need a seperate section for Handhelds for example - just post in the general gaming sections. E.g. if it's NGPC you want to talk about - make a thread in the Neo Geo/SNK Gaming section.  I think with a small userbase best to keep threads in as few sections as possible. Let me know if you agree with this? 

We are probably missing some sections though and I need to check this thread through again to check what people suggested. 

Merlin - I personally would prefer to have the reviews in a seperate section . But I definitely like the idea of making new reviews more visible - so they could be posted on the site too. We can see what everyone thinks about this and then decide. Maybe ask on the new forum in the suggestion section. As for chat I don't know about the different types myself yet so whatever you guys think - as long as it's easily accessible from the main screen. I'll look up the different types soon and let you know what I think

See you on the new site!

[merlin]

Good work Riko. Didn't expect the new domain name to be set up so quickly.

That's definitely ok with me if you run the Twitter account.

I agree with keeping the forum simple. Some forums get carried away with having too many sections. If the site got busier in the future and there was quite a bit of NGPC discussion it wouldn't be difficult to add a new section and migrate threads there.

That's ok about the reviews. I don't mind if people prefer a different way of doing it.

See you all over at the new forum.