Much of the 2001 site has been removed but there should be enough there to form an opinion. Some of the pages are being updated, and I am still evaluating whether the most current version for the forum is worth the hassle of an upgrade.

For the Infopop crew. I am specifically interested in features that you offer or add-on services that may be of benefit. Please take note of how the forums are used in relation to the site mission and branding prior to giving me a long sales pitch

The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

This forum shouldn't be dead! I checked out your board today, it's a very nicely done website too.

I'm not a User Interface whiz, but I know some people find black backgrounds too harsh for the user. I throw this out the window -- I love it! I used a black background on my OpenTopic™ application.

The only suggestion I might make would be to add some different categories and forums into your board. It has such a broad spectrum that it might be daunting for some new people to find what they want to read about. Some ideas might be "national news" or "international policy" or "the law", etc. etc. etc. Is there a particular reason that you chose to only show topics?

~Natalia

I'm a big political junkie and I dived right in, made some posts, got into a great fight, and over-all had a blast on your forum! I think you've found a new regular!!! Very fun!

A couple of thoughts:

- I like the deep, dark blue background, but agree with Natalia that some might find it difficult to focus on for long periods.

- I also agree that some individual themed categories/forums would work really well within your over-all community. I love the intermingling of views (liberals, conservatives, etc.) so I wouldn't do it along party lines, but like Natalia said - perhaps there are some ways to group topics broadly. That might just provide a little bit of order to that page that would allow people to focus in on the topics that most interest them. (The White House, Congress, State Politics, International Affairs, etc. - just a guess)

- Have you thought about upgrading to the current UBB version to take advantage of the Recent Visitors and Polls features. It seems like both would go over really well in your community. I could see polls being huge!

- You may want to consider extending the horizontal table borders separating each post all the way across the page. I find that it really helps to define the page a bit more. The greater separation between posts on a long page can be especially helpful. It also will help when you're on the "topic review" underneath your posting box. As it is now - all the posts are crammed together.

- I think it's awesome that you allow unregistered people to post. It's a great way to get new people quickly into the mix. At the same time rewarding members with user post levels (I think you have this already? Chef v. Grill Chef?) and using member ratings (1 to 5 stars) is a great way for members to feel more invested in the forum.

Over-all - I like it a lot. I'll continue to pass along thoughts as they come to me.

Re: your question about additional services - have you checked out buzzcast? buzzcast is a really powerful html email creator/ email list manager. It could be a great tool for you to connect with your members off your site.

[This message was edited by Michael B. Moore on 22 Mar 02 at 06:35 PM.]

1. By having one active forum it is easy to moderate without needing help or having to scan multiple forums for flaming and other issues.

2. The forum is never dead. Even on high traffic sites that split their traffic among different forums, the result is long delays in the various categories which by default get neglected. This forum (Resources) is a perfect example. It took almost a day for anyone to respond here. By comparison, in our one active forum our slowest periods still have a post every 20 minutes or so with numerous posts every minute during peak times of the day.

3. We use the other forums for data mining:
http://www.capitolgrilling.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi and archiving.
The archives are read only, sorted alphabetically and by topic (using thread headlines).

One of the most poignant threads we have (of historical value) is one started by dave matthews as the September 11 attacks were unfolding. It is a blow by blow thread that still send chills down my back every time I read it:
http://www.capitolgrilling.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=000454

Or perhaps one of the most comprehensive collection of threads about the Missing Intern case (Chandra Levy) http://www.capitolgrilling.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=forum&f=3&hardset=1000&start_point=200 the very same threads which gave birth to the rumor about Mrs. Condit not having thumbs. Even one of our posters in those threads got quoted verbatim in the Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A28967-2001Jul20¬Found=true

4. The active forum is heavily moderated and pruned on a daily basis. If too many new topics are started, or threads covering duplicate subjects the "post new topic" feature is locked and users are restricted to posting in existing threads. This makes it unlikely that any threads remain with 0 responses or no discussion and ensure quality content. Once the threads are archived they are pruned again to bring the content up to publishing standards.

5. We are a highly specialized political site. There really is no need for seperate categories especially since discussion is a secondary mission for the site to collecting scoop.

Any thoughts in view of the above information? I am sure this approach is not new to all of you since another Infopop customer has our exact model and layout http://www.****edcompany.com (I believe the F in FC is censored)
Probably more accurate to say that we have a similar model since they have been in existence longer.

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

[This message was edited by Capitol Grilling on 22 Mar 02 at 09:58 PM.]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael B. Moore:
Have you thought about upgrading to the current UBB version to take advantage of the Recent Visitors and Polls features. It seems like both would go over really well in your community. I could see polls being huge!

Re: your question about additional services - have you checked out buzzcast? buzzcast is a really powerful html email creator/ email list manager. It could be a great tool for you to connect with your members off your site.

---

I actually tried to upgrade when we changed servers and failed miserably. I am interested in the polls but only for admin use. However, even after the upgrade we are having serious bandwidth concerns. As far as the other features you mentioned:

- We do not conduct mailings and encourage our users to register with fake email addys so most of those should be fake. Buzzcast is out of the question and I don't ever want to have any information to give to authorities should a subpeona be issued. We take the anonymity of our users very seriously. It is the lifeblood of our site.

- The ratings feature was tested and voted down by our users. It boils down to functionality and content over bells and whistles.

Now, after saying all that, and providing you with concrete examples above of how we operate, how about that data export/CD ROM publishing feature and content syndication that I've been harping about here and in the other forums?

I may sound a little inane but there is some logic to our madness I do appreciate your time to post comments and feedback.

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

quote:

---

Originally posted by Capitol Grilling:
Now, after saying all that, and providing you with concrete examples above of how we operate, how about that data export/CD ROM publishing feature and content syndication that I've been harping about here and in the other forums?

---

Sounds like you have a great handle on what exactly it is you want. Congrats - that's the lion's share of the battle!

Regarding our development efforts, the specific items you cite are not in the short-term development queue. Absent targeted development dollars, I'm not sure you'll see exactly those products from us in the near term. Based upon one of your other posts, though, perhaps you'd like to discuss this further.

If yes, who retains the rights to the custom software? Would it be considered for ownership purposes joint development? Or would Infopop resell the product to other clients later on?

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

We should talk if you're serious about the potential of Infopop creating something for you. Many of the details that you reference in your post will all become much clearer once the scope of whatever it is that you are thinking about is laid out.

http://www.capitolgrilling.com/archive/2002_cyberspin.html

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

We must be doing something wrong... or right

Capitol Grilling - The Political Parlor Game
http://www.capitolgrilling.com

Whack-fa-la-de-rab!