Hi everyone!

As you may know, I have been working on many changes to the software that runs prince.org. I am hoping to get these changes out and visible by mid-February, but want to give everyone a heads-up about what's involved. The changes fall into four main categories:

- Look and feel improvements
- Added functionality
- Moderation & site rules
- Limited advertising

I'll briefly discuss each area below.

Look-and-feel improvements
The new site's pages should load faster, work more intuitively, and conform to industry standards better. The layout will be more 'fluid' and respect browser font- and color- preferences. If you're not using IE6 or (better yet) a Mozilla browser such as Firebird, I encourage you to upgrade! Reading the site should be easier than ever, and a new homepage will focus on what you most want to access, easier than before.

Added functionality
From small tweaks to large features, there's a lot in store. The 'search' capability returns, you can 'subscribe' to threads, and much more.

Moderation and site rules
There's been a lot of chaos on the forums as a result of growing pains, and personality clashes. I've drafted some new rules which I hope will clarify some points. We're also going to lose the controversial Love Sex & Relationships forum, and bring on more moderators for the remaining forums. I have also completely ripped out the old moderation tools and replaced them with ones that are easier for mods to use, are totally auditable, and I think, lend to fairer moderation. Also, I will become more involved in the day-to-day moderation tasks. You will be asked to read and accept the new set of site rules, when they go into effect.

Limited advertising
I'm going to try out some Google AdWords advertising on the site. This is a big site and isn't free to keep running. I didn't mind when I had income, but I'm between jobs now and facing a lot of financial demands, and the best way to try and recoup the costs seems to be with Google ads. I know no one likes advertising--I certainly don't--but I think this is the best course of action currently. I never wanted to have ads on the site, but I think the Google ones are often not too obnoxious, and actually tend to offer relevant products.

So, a lot of big changes, and a long time coming. I'd like to thank everyone for their continued support of the org--it's quite a vibrant community, which I'm exceptionally proud to help provide. I know the changes will take a little getting used to, so please do try things out, let it all settle in, and then comment if you like, in the Site Discussion forum, or e-mail me at ben@prince.org. Looking forward to the org 3.0!

Note: if you have questions, you can ask them on this thread; but I am not going to discuss the complete new feature list yet...

ooo! Colour choice!!!

Ben, a trillion and 1 thank you's for making this site available so we can all kill each other

Seriously tho, thank you for all your hard work. The positivity this site has brought to many of us eclipses the negativity by miles.

Peach,
Supa

sounds good!
[This message was edited Thu Feb 5 16:45:23 PST 2004 by jessyMD32781]

What about the shop?

Did that ever generate enough interest or income to cover any costs?

2the9s said:

I wanted to purchase a Prince.Org Mumu for you.

Thanku ben for all ur hard work

Lleena said:

I tell thee...

No more LSR!!!? I think I'm gonna cry! And I'm not joking either.

LittlePill said:

Don't worry, we'll negotiate a hardcore forum much like it down the line. You'll see.

ben said:

And not to be a pain, but any chance of a book discussion forum? Maybe give us the Sex forum.

People could read and discuss books, respond to articles, etc etc. Give more focus to some discussions. I remember I gave you a pretty lengthy and detailed proposal for such a thing a while back...

OK, I have an idea Ben. Instead of annoying people with mother-fucking ads, why not start up the merchandising section and use the profits from that to fund the site!!? I'll even handle it for you!

2the9s said:

Well, I *do* want to do the book discussion thing--but don't believe it warrants an entire forum. Probably what we'll do is pick an appropriate forum, and put a 'sticky' thread (so it always stays at the top), for discussing it. And probably a link from the homepage.

LittlePill said:

A couple reasons. First, the merchandise is in storage in Michigan, and I'm in Spain. And soon I'll be in California (which you might notice, is also not Michigan ). Second, running that doesn't generate much revenue, and takes a lot of effort. I will reopen the shop section at some point, probably in the summer, and have some new items as well. But ads are definitely a low-risk, low-effort thing. I might hate them and get rid of them, but I'm definitely going to give it a fair shot.

wow Ben, this all sounds great and i look forward to it. i love current format of the Org but any change would be welcome.

ben said:

2the9s said:

You know what happens when you get over excited. Settle down 9s.

Wait...Prince who???

I say we start a PayPal collection for Ben - a little reward and $$ to get him over the between jobs bridge. This is one of my favorite sites on the net and I don't mind sending some $$ his way in appreciation!

sbacon1999 said:

I don't mean to sound like Sally Struthers, but if everyone on here were to PayPal Ben one measley buck, I would imagine it would be an overwhelming help. Even if it puts him over the top, the guy deserves a few extra bucks, no?

cool!
[This message was edited Thu Feb 5 18:27:00 PST 2004 by yamomma]

I know from the http://newfunkorder.com ad you had under the feature brought us over 50 GB (yes GIGABITES) over our traffic limit so I KNOW this place is slammin' with traffic. That cost me a pretty penny in penalty fees. Don't get me wrong, it was well worth it because we actually sold some stuff!

NOW I understand why this place has little to no graphics!

By the way, project two looks like it's going to be really great. That ad alone brought in some great tallent from what we have gathered so far.

prince.org is a cool like that.




...
[This message was edited Thu Feb 5 18:43:06 PST 2004 by NFO]

No more L, S & R.

Oh, yeah, the point of that ramble.

Because of the attention prince.org brought http://newfunkorder.com , we're looking at those google ads as well. Stuff ain't free!

Anxiety said:

I would be down for that. This is my favorite site and I'm all for any changes that will be made. Thanks for making this the best site on the net Ben.

rawk!!!

and i'm with everyone else who's mentioned donating via paypal...i have a paypal account and would be more than willing to donate some money in order to keep the site goin. it's the best i can do...i'm here everyday and i dig this place.

marcdeondotcom said:

no sweeter words have been spoken.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Co-sign!!

Your kung fu is bigger than mine.

ben said:

Then my question is: does that mean we can´t start threads about sex anymore or does it simply mean that things will go back to the way they were before the LSR forum was created?

ben said:

No worries whatsoever. I´m actually surprised that you didn´t do it a long time ago.

RAWK!!!

can't wait!