I've finally finished moving the forums and got them to work - and we are now longer CR, but Interfaith. 
I mentioned a few times over the past year or so that I was concerned about CR as an identity - namely because if you removed the hyphen you ended up on an evengelical site.
In business terms, CR as a brand was weak and suffered potential brand confusion.
I've always had it in mind to turn the work begun on CR into a charity one day, and again, as an identity, it seemed weak.
Anyway, as I mentioned to some people, I bought the domain "interfaith.org" last September for $8,000.
While a bit pricey, I thought it offered very strong brand potential
- it is defined by a single word
- the word defines the site purpose
- as a .org it communicates non-commercialism (the ads were already removed)
- it communicates charitable aims (as in future aims at present)
While I really liked typing the word "CR" as a name, I guess we're just going to have to call ourselves something new - I.org or IO or I.ORG.
Not Borg, though, please.
In the meantime, I've also upgraded the forum software to the latest version of vbulletin, which has a range of cool social features:
1. Tags - tag a thread with helpful keywords that will help other members of IO find content by keywords - as well as people coming in via other tagging services
2. Photo album - you should now have the ability to upload a whole album of photos to your member profile
3. Social groups - you can set up social groups to try and connect more directly with other similar minded individuals
4. Social personalisation - a range of social tools, not least creating friends lists and the ability to post messages to people's profiles, rather than in public discussions - a way to communicate off road and more personably.
Anyway, no doubt there will be a few bugs, so I'll try and get those ironed out over the next few days.
I'll also set up a few new things:
1. All previously banned members will be unbanned - mainly spammers, but anyone who wants to be part of IO in a constructive manner can be, and I'm happy to provide a second chance
2. New rules - I'm going to try and simplify the rules so that there's less to enforce, but less confusion when something is enforced and as to why
3. New warning system - the forum now has an inbuilt Infraction system - while PM's may be sent to help cool things down before they get too hot, I want a clear, transparent, and accountable warning system in play. The Infractions system will mean anyone who breaks rules and whom a moderator gives an infraction for, will have this infraction automatically registered on a special private board for the moderators, so we can all see exactly what action has been taken. Cumulative infractions will result in the forum software automatically putting that user on a temporary ban.
Anyway, while I try and set up and iron things out, please do report any bugs, feedback, concerns, or similar here.
(PS, oh, I've been running a modest news section on the front end of IO for a few months now to help warm up the site - anyone wants to get involved in that process, let me know. )
I mentioned a few times over the past year or so that I was concerned about CR as an identity - namely because if you removed the hyphen you ended up on an evengelical site.
In business terms, CR as a brand was weak and suffered potential brand confusion.
I've always had it in mind to turn the work begun on CR into a charity one day, and again, as an identity, it seemed weak.
Anyway, as I mentioned to some people, I bought the domain "interfaith.org" last September for $8,000.
While a bit pricey, I thought it offered very strong brand potential
- it is defined by a single word
- the word defines the site purpose
- as a .org it communicates non-commercialism (the ads were already removed)
- it communicates charitable aims (as in future aims at present)
While I really liked typing the word "CR" as a name, I guess we're just going to have to call ourselves something new - I.org or IO or I.ORG.
Not Borg, though, please.
In the meantime, I've also upgraded the forum software to the latest version of vbulletin, which has a range of cool social features:
1. Tags - tag a thread with helpful keywords that will help other members of IO find content by keywords - as well as people coming in via other tagging services
2. Photo album - you should now have the ability to upload a whole album of photos to your member profile
3. Social groups - you can set up social groups to try and connect more directly with other similar minded individuals
4. Social personalisation - a range of social tools, not least creating friends lists and the ability to post messages to people's profiles, rather than in public discussions - a way to communicate off road and more personably.
Anyway, no doubt there will be a few bugs, so I'll try and get those ironed out over the next few days.
I'll also set up a few new things:
1. All previously banned members will be unbanned - mainly spammers, but anyone who wants to be part of IO in a constructive manner can be, and I'm happy to provide a second chance
2. New rules - I'm going to try and simplify the rules so that there's less to enforce, but less confusion when something is enforced and as to why
3. New warning system - the forum now has an inbuilt Infraction system - while PM's may be sent to help cool things down before they get too hot, I want a clear, transparent, and accountable warning system in play. The Infractions system will mean anyone who breaks rules and whom a moderator gives an infraction for, will have this infraction automatically registered on a special private board for the moderators, so we can all see exactly what action has been taken. Cumulative infractions will result in the forum software automatically putting that user on a temporary ban.
Anyway, while I try and set up and iron things out, please do report any bugs, feedback, concerns, or similar here.
(PS, oh, I've been running a modest news section on the front end of IO for a few months now to help warm up the site - anyone wants to get involved in that process, let me know. )
