Plans for the future

[Bluepaint]

Here's the plan and some ideas.

For Now:
1. New domain to avoid copyright issues and out of respect for FX as well. This will lead to an outage on Friday 28th whilst we make the switch and make some visual changes.
2. New name - we looked at everyone's ideas and we've chosen one but the question is will you all like it too?
3. Static content - suggestions are welcome and actual content even more so! If you want to put something forward feel free.
4. Tech and feature wishlist - keep your thoughts coming. Sure we can't make them all happen immediately but there's been some awesome ideas.
5. Mission statement - we'd like one. It makes us seem fancy.

Things For The (near-medium) Future:
1. Look at possibly adding other language-specific boards.
2. Update rules and policies where required.
3. Add a code of conduct.
4. Fair and transparent system in place to resolve disagreements with moderation.

For Information:
1. For now the moderation team stays the same with the addition of Serpent and Rdearman.
2. The old rules from HTLAL apply here and both forums shall be moderated consistently and within those rules.
3. Tech problems from the past few days basically boil down to us needing to upgrade our hosting. As Rdearman is paying for the running of this site out of his own pocket that won't be happening soon. We've been thinking about how to fund this place and so far we like the idea of a trust or charity. Advice is already being sought on that matter.

From The Moderation Team Now With Two Brand Spanking New Members

[AlexTG]

When will we find out the new name you guys have chosen, have you bought the domain already?

[rdearman]

When will we find out the new name you guys have chosen, have you bought the domain already?

We have bought a domain, but didn't announce it in order to avoid domain squatters. We're going to do some maintenance shortly in order to switch the domains around, but we'll keep http://how-to-learn-any-language.org for awhile and just redirect it to the new domain. The forum name hasn't been decided and we'll just leave it as is for the moment.

[emk]

When will we find out the new name you guys have chosen, have you bought the domain already?

We will definitely let everybody know about our domain name proposal in the next couple of days, once we've sorted out some technical details. It's a shorter form of one of the popular choices in the earlier thread, and will gives us the option of having the community choose a longer "official" name.

And of course, if the community is like, "WORST. NAME. EVER.", then we will go back to the drawing board.

(And yes, I loathe domain name squatters. They make it harder to brainstorm names publicly without risking losing one of the good ones.)

[Polyclod]

And so my watch begins...

[Φιλόσοφος]

A priority for me would be a broadening of free speech and discussion. If the restrictive policies of the old forum are maintained, I personally would have little interest in actively taking part in a new one.

[iguanamon]

Wow! Now I don't have to post my "frogs in the pot of boiling water" image again! I'm sorry that it has come to this. We could have had the best of both worlds but FX just doesn't seem to be interested. So that leaves us in the odd position of competing against ourselves at HTLAL. As time goes on, entropy always wins, and entropy will surely have its way with HTLAL at some point down the line- maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it will within the next twelve months. As Rhian, emk and the other mods have pointed out, entropy is already having its way with HTLAL with the massive decline in posts and new members, which has been apparent for a few years now. If we are not growing, we are dying.

No use crying over spilled milk. We have a golden opportunity now to proceed with a new site that will provide more value to visitors and members alike. It's an exciting time to be in at the start. Build a better mousetrap... and the world will beat a path to your door.

I have officially ended my pro membership by cancelling its renewal. FX does not deserve it for his continued lack of interest in upgrading the forum. Just keeping it online isn't good enough. His non-interest, his non-response, his neglect, speaks volumes. Anyone who is still a pro member, should seriously consider for what and where their money is going. I would be happy to contribute to such a scheme here to support the site or a crowd-funding venture.

A crowd-funding venture, with the funds going to a documented non-profit entity dedicated to forum and site maintenance and upkeep, could be a real winner. Imagine premiums from popular members sharing their expertise for escalating levels of donation, a discrete and anonymous donation from Assimil or Routledge/Pimsleur would be a wise investment on their part. We're the best free advertising they have on the web.

There are many aspects to the HTLAL site we can improve upon and use to attract new members. We have all the expertise here to do that. We can also think outside the box for new features not available on HTLAL. What remains to be seen is if the will is present to do that. I believe it is. The future is here! Let's make it a good one!

[emk]

A priority for me would be a broadening of free speech and discussion. If the restrictive policies of the old forum are maintained, I personally would have little interest in actively taking part in a new one.

We've had this discussion a couple time already without reaching any kind of consensus yet. If you have a few minutes, would you be willing to PM one of the moderators a list of the most important things that you're pretty sure you can't currently discuss, but that you would like to be able to discuss? If you could also permit the recipient to pass your list along to the other moderators, then we could take a look. It's entirely possible that we've been talking past each other all this time, and maybe if the moderators had some concrete examples of what you wanted to talk about, there'd be some kind of obvious solution.

Sure, one way or another, the forum is never going to be a chan site (with barely any rules at all), or a site mostly dedicated to political debates. If that's what you want, the best choice is probably to for forum that specializes in those things. The overall goal of the moderation here—at least as I personally explain it to myself—is to create a site where people can have interesting, mutually-respectful conversations about languages. If what you want fits in that framework, then maybe there's a solution somewhere that works for everybody, and I'm happy to spend a while thinking about it with the other moderators.

[rdearman]

A crowd-funding venture, with the funds going to a documented non-profit entity dedicated to forum and site maintenance and upkeep, could be a real winner. Imagine premiums from popular members sharing their expertise for escalating levels of donation, a discrete and anonymous donation from Assimil or Routledge/Pimsleur would be a wise investment on their part. We're the best free advertising they have on the web.

There are many aspects to the HTLAL site we can improve upon and use to attract new members. We have all the expertise here to do that. We can also think outside the box for new features not available on HTLAL. What remains to be seen is if the will is present to do that. I believe it is. The future is here! Let's make it a good one!

That was part of the reasoning behind looking at a non-profit organisation. It allows us to keep great content inside of the community and also to help fund and improve the site. I wouldn't like to see advertisement on the site, but corporate sponsorship is always an option for a charitable organisation. I've not got anything to do with that aspect of the new site, but from a technical point of view I'm very hopeful that we'll be able to get some developers to help with improvements, software tools for language learning, and some other great content up. All of the things we've all been discussing in the various threads.

Some people can't afford to donate money but we'll need volunteers who'd be willing to give some time, and some content in future. You'll be seeing more requests in the future where people can help out, without having to give money.

I'm really, really, really excited by the possibilities.

[Φιλόσοφος]

A priority for me would be a broadening of free speech and discussion. If the restrictive policies of the old forum are maintained, I personally would have little interest in actively taking part in a new one.

We've had this discussion a couple time already without reaching any kind of consensus yet. If you have a few minutes, would you be willing to PM one of the moderators a list of the most important things that you're pretty sure you can't currently discuss, but that you would like to be able to discuss? If you could also permit the recipient to pass your list along to the other moderators, then we could take a look. It's entirely possible that we've been talking past each other all this time, and maybe if the moderators had some concrete examples of what you wanted to talk about, there'd be some kind of obvious solution.

Sure, one way or another, the forum is never going to be a chan site (with barely any rules at all), or a site mostly dedicated to political debates. If that's what you want, the best choice is probably to for forum that specializes in those things. The overall goal of the moderation here—at least as I personally explain it to myself—is to create a site where people can have interesting, mutually-respectful conversations about languages. If what you want fits in that framework, then maybe there's a solution somewhere that works for everybody, and I'm happy to spend a while thinking about it with the other moderators.

It is not that I wish to discuss anything specific. What I object to is a discussion being locked (whatever its contents) because somebody else did not find it relevant or interesting themselves. Also that disagreement, even if vigorous, be not a cause for censure.

I could elaborate, but as you say, we have been over this topic repeatedly. Simply put, what I wish for is more activity that is more engaging and stimulating, and greater respect for participants.