Do want. <filler>

 

Real fucking talk

I want those hoodies

 

I'm thinking a forest green zip-up with enembee's PC design on the back, and the words project DLP (in silver) above the swirly things.

Alternatively, that design could be smaller on the front right chest area.

 

The only design needed; http://www.projectdlp.net/

 

Not sure where else to put this idea, so I chose here. If wrong thread, could a Mod move it for me?

I noticed a lot of people have the AIM icon beneath their stats. While looking through WBA I wonder what else the author might have posted on ffnet. So I have to go to their dlp homepage, see if they have their ffnet page listed. If they don't. I have to do a search in ffnet.

Would it be possible to have an icon like the aim icon below their stats linked to their ffnet webpage, or are those limited to what vbulletin, I think that is what is used here, allows?

 

I'm annoyed I missed most of this thread.

What is talked about in here is essentially what I do for a living. Without too much detail, I do Mergers and Acquisitions within the film and TV production world. The topics discussed in here swing very close to that mark.

So, despite the fact that most of it has already been said, I'd like to add a professional tuppence because this is essentially my business, and reiterate some of what has already been said...

When it began, DLP was a cult thing. It remained this way until about a year ago. It was the edgy, cultish fringe on the world of HP fanfiction. It has, since then and as it has gained notoriety, grown. In spite of this growth and in spite of the people who now come here for things other than HP fanfiction, DLP is Dark Lord Potter. It is known as this to members and non-members alike. Change is natural, but attempting to change the entire site/format/trademark to accomodate this change and growth is nonsense - at the other end of this change, people used to how DLP used to be will be furstrated that it isn't like that any more, and people new to it will be confused.

What I would suggest is, instead of expanding this site and attempting to make room for all of the new ideas (some viable) that have popped up on this thread, you downsize. Make DLP what it was just a little while ago - what people are used to and expect to find (I was amazed, when joining after 6 months away from fanfiction, to find how much DLP had changed). Make it a Harry Potter fanfiction forum. Expand library and WbA capabilities, but scrap anything that is not directly related to this. DLP will always be DarkLordPotter and should always be this. Shedding the Common Room and cleaning up the library, recycle bin, etc will make it simpler, and simplicity > all.

At the same time, however, I'd recommend you build a separate community - a 'from the guys who brought you DLP' theme, or using DLP as one spoke in its umbrella. This new brand - something entirely different, avoiding the DLP acronym entirely - would allow for a growth that does not necessarily have the choking effect of having to come through a fanfiction forum, or having evolved from. Start work on a new project - don't attempt to expand and alter what already works beyond recognition, because it will work against you. The only way this would be a good idea is if you were looking, once again, to become a cult forum/site - something known to members who stick around for the community, but impenetrable to newbies. As this is something that has been broken out of already, I think avoiding heading back in that direction is integral to DLP's longevity.

The tl;dr version; Seperate DLP and this new expansion. Keep the DLP brand exactly as it is (because it is this, after all, that is causing the exponential growth in the community) and use a new brand, something entirely different, to accomodate all of the other ideas that can be built. The dedicated DLP community will support it in doctrine, it allows for new members who are not interested in fanfiction to get involved, and simply advertising between the two partner/parent-child sites will allow for association and integration.

Change = good. Evolution = inevitable. Changing the reason for the growth = bad. Giving new reasons for growth = good. Preserve DLP for what it is, and keep the brand. It'll be kept alive by the members and it is essentially self-sustaining. It's why everyone on here joined, and why they'll stay. Turn your attentions to an entirely different project. Build a parent company for it. A group. Funnel new members through this direction, so that DLP would be found from there and not the other way around.

 

I thumbsed-up just to spite Zombie. Yes, a little late, but still a considered contribution. The math checks out, at least.

 

I actually quite like having all my DLP on one forum, under one tab.

 

umm. Excuse me. For the record, I am solemnly serious all the time.

It was an insightful post, despite the timing. If you really don't give a shit, then don't click on the damned thread.

 

I'm not sure how much a separate website would work out, to be honest. If I recall correctly, "A Demon's Desire" was a separate DLP-ish site that focused on Naruto. From some offhand comments and the fact that I can't even find the website anymore, I assume that it didn't work out too well. Even though I follow Naruto fanfiction, I never went to that site, because, well, it wasn't DLP.

 

The only thing that I can really think of would be the ability to delete your own posts/threads. There's been several times that someone [namely me] has made a thread, only for there to already be a relevant thread. Or when you accidentally post in the wrong thread. That would be a useful feature to have.

 

That would just be misused. If you have done one of those things, you can always use the report function and your friendly neighbourhood mod will assist you.

 

Oh yah. DLP yearbook status. If you have a picture in the yearbook I'll be contacting you shortly for a motherfucking quote.

 

It would work as a seperate entity if it was more generalised. Naruto is very specific, it 'wasn't DLP' because the 75%-ish of DLP users who didn't want to read Naruto avoided it. With the suggestions made so far, there would be something on this other site for everyone, and whilst the core of the HP-fanfic users would continue using a simplified DLP for that purpose, thus looking more like the original forums, the general community who weren't there for HP fanfics would be able to avoid it. It's own strength and the hand-in-hand relationship with the partner site would keep it alive.

Anyway, 'twas just a suggestion. If it was a company it'd be what I'd recommend and what usually would work better. Though branding works the same, I appreciate something essentially user-run and non-profit operates differently. It's a target market and a fairly specific area that wants to expand - it's a balance within accessibility. What has been talked about so far is taking a name that people know and adding or changing enough of the content as to make it unrecognisable. A three-course meal in a can of tuna. The meal might be great... but I just wanted tuna.

:facepalm I know I'm late. Hence me noting that I missed it. If you don't give a fuck, don't click on the thread and go to the trouble of writing me a reply. I'm amazed that you haven't already picked up that what you think means the square root of dick all.

Edit for spellingz

 

I like it how it is, I think it works quite well.

Let's not fucking fix what aint broken imo. :/

 

Except we're not a for-profit company that lives and dies based on brand-name recognition. We're a community. Splitting it in half just for simplicity's sake is stupid. And recognise the market you're working with - every single Harry Potter forum has an attached community, including areas for general discussion. Portkey does, Mugglenet does. The vast majority of online forums do. And you know why? Because when a community forms around an interest, it is a good thing. Making it any harder for said community to form or develop is a bad thing.

I joined DLP and keep coming back because I like the crowd here. If it was just the Library, I'd have skimmed it and left instead of joining back in 07. If it became two forums, one for fanfiction and one for general discussion, the latter would almost immediately stop getting new members and the former would taper off because there's no more community to join for.

 

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.