Really, DLP is fine the way it is, so I don't see a need to expand/change. Although:

This sounds awesome. Maybe y'all wouldn't hate me as much in real life.

 

Raven, this is very important.

Are you having sex with them.

And if not, WHY NOT? e2 programmers are sexy as hell.

 

Hahahahaha

oh god, oh man, hahahahaha

Really, hooo boy, alright.

I'm done.

 

For your own good don't. You would be beaten savagely.

 

The bomb will be in a brown briefcase with a blue handle. The code phrase is "The monkey like banans"

Response is: "Only in the summer"

 

I've not really got much to add to the discussion that hasn't been said already.

For me the main things that I would change would be:

The Name/Banner (DLP Literary Project sounds fantastic to me, personally)

Increased integration between DLP and PC (If not replacing the entire library with some form of PC module, then perhaps include it in a different way, similar to the established author forum)

An upheaval of how the boards are considered as they are, whether that is combining certain boards, or producing more to fit gaps as they arise.

The biggest problem for me is that with expansion will come idiots. Thousands of them. Eating all your Marmite.

For me personally however, the biggest issue is that everything is kept above level, we're introduced to each proposed feature and it is discussed thoroughly. Likewise, it'd be nice to utilize some of the communities various talents in aid of building the site, whether graphic design, programming, whatever.

Most importantly though, don't let this fall through to the nay-sayers. DLP does need this, even if it is a slow progression.

 

I don't want DLP to have a more public-friendly image

And this, which I hadn't caught earlier. Top 10's >> Contest. Though there's always gonna be some bitching, it should help curtail it somewhat.


Also, yeah, as far as new names go, DLP Literature Projet sounds best.

 

Well, like it has been said, the slogan should change (fanfiction brought me here, but it was the comments, shared ideas and the brutal honesty that kept me here).

The original fiction from WbA could be added to PC (except it could be weird if years from now people reading fiction looked at the site's name and saw "PatronusCharm").

This. But fortunately idiot comments will still be treated like always (killed with fire).

 

No. No no no no no. I worked too damn hard to get in there, I'm not going to have this deleted. And who the fuck says we WANT a reputation-friendly/public-friendly image? That's not what DLP is, and we've already had the shitstorm about THAT change back in '07 (yes, I know I wasn't around then, but I still found the logs and traced the story, so I pretty much know what happened). Change not wanted there, thank you very much.

Sure, bring more publicity, but being hard-line no-nonsense assholes is part of our identity. I have no problem with us going more towards the mainstream, but do NOT take away this.

 

Hahahahahahahaha.

No.

 

Agreed completely

 

I mostly agree with Tehan and Silens, so I'll just stick to the point.

More idiot-friendly image: no!

Social networking: no way!

Name change: fine, as long as DLP acronym stays. "DLP Literary Project" is my favourite.

DLP being more "reputation-safe": Yeah, I'd love that.

Taure's article idea: why not.

 

Expanding to new genre's: Like.

HoS going: Do Not Like.

Taure's Journal/Review: Like/willing to help get off the ground.

 

Not sure how that would help. I don't pay attention to the Dresden stuff, but I don't think we've attracted Dresden authors - rather Dresden got popular here when Shezza etc started writing Dresden material. As I see it, it's largely up to the authors to write stories from other fandoms; that's hardly something you can vote on. I do think it's worth trying to directly broaden our appeal, and attract more authors - they're half of what makes DLP special.

I'm not really ashamed of DLP, but I do feel really awkward when people look over my shoulder. It's going to have to change if we want people to keep coming as we get older and more respectable. DLP Literary Project gets my vote: recursive and cool.

And it might help promote lesser known quality stories. DLP awards are ok, but we don't need a giant author-popularity contest. It's nice to praise the site's top authors, but everyone knows who Shezza and Joe are.

I ship Mknote/LE.

I would buy a shirt with three eyes and a unibrow. Would look awesome - I would have five eyes and two unibrows in total.


Edit:

Agreed on deadline, but as long as authors keep writing, we'll have something to put forward as I see it. It could simply be based around featuring the best wba content. I think there's potential. And if we try, and it dies out after a few months, then no big deal.

And I share the feeling, but I'm not convinced the site won't slowly die out once is stops attracting new members - and you won't attract new member by saying it's a site about nothing where people post intelligently. Fatally, not everyone will keep coming here for old time's sake. Although the site works quite well right now, stagnation probably won't work long term.

 

Alright, this is probably going to be a bit of a long post....

THIS would be fucking awesome. Seriously. This would make me sooo happy.

First point first, I agree, we need to make this site less embarrassing to be seen on. We're not all like Sesc here. I like Tehan's concept of 'reputation safe' idea.

Second point, I already tried this. In a different way, but yeah, overall top 10 for each category would be awesome. Best to have it in no particular order however, so we don't need to vote apart from just what fics go in there.

This is another definite for me. Deadlines are bad, any sort of regular publication will fail because of this. Even those who volunteer thinking it's a great idea will fuck up in the end. Stay away from this.

I think in the long run, this could be a very good idea, however the traveling one could be a bit problematic. How about a list of people on the forum around the world who are willing to help out in this regard have their names up on a list, and people can contact them to see how it'd work out? Otherwise it could be just a bucket load of fail.

FUCK NO.

No no no, fuck no. Half the people that lurk are those that know they wouldn't fit in here, but are intelligent enough to stay the fuck out of our discussions. Let's not ruin DLP for them.

Thank god. I don't want DLP to suddenly become a massive community that caters to a lot of people, I like the small connected community of backstabbing that we have. You can hate so much more personally this way. But yeah, I'm more than keen to attract people other than HPFF enthusiasts, but the moment we loose our reputation for intelligence is the moment I leave.

I don't visit any other forums really, because I just can't stand how fucking most of the people that inhabit them are. I'd rather not loose this one either.

Either way, my own comments aren't reading the last 5 pages of posts since I went to sleep. I think we've taken the idea of 'change' a bit too far. This is simply meant to discuss how we can evolve, not bring widespread reform to the whole forum.

Firstly, namechange? Good idea. (projectdlp wins the forum address imo) Making a new meaning for the DLP acronym? Bad idea. 'DLP' doesn't need to mean shit. It means enough for us, who've been around here for ages. I'm coming up on what? 3 years here now? Gotta say, the HP fandom is definitely not why I keep coming back these days. It's the intelligent posts.

I also like the idea of perhaps looking over the staff, some of them aren't exactly the most active anymore, seems like those who don't hang around here much anymore need to stand down, let others take up the work.

Either way, I really think we need to stop viewing this as 'changing from what we do', to 'improving what we do already.'

 

DLP couch surfing, now thats a tangent I never thought we'd move towards

 

I come here regularly for Harry Potter fanfiction. I'm 27, which means I won't outgrow these habits. Occasionally, I browse other sections (mainly for news and entertainment).

I recognize the need to evolve DLP because HP fanfiction is in decline. This thread's existence alone is a good indicator that DLP will not succumb to oblivion quietly. Still, as with Tinn, my main interest lies in Harry Potter.

I don't have any new ideas, so this post is essentially useless.

Anyway, the idea to make many drastic changes is absurd. As was pointed out, there's still HP7 movie to come out that will give HP fanfiction a brief influx of popularity. So, HP fanfiction will not die suddenly overnight, there's still time to introduce new features gradually.

I don't agree with the idea of sacrificing any part of the forums, or the forums' policy, for the sake of attracting new members.

I like Taure's idea to have a cross-discipline academic thing, even though it's doubtful whether I will participate in any meaningful capacity, but I will try to to the best of my abilities. I will be browsing this section without question, if it existed. It is simpler to start with creating a new subforum dedicated to Taure's Journal.

Edit: also, when I'm at work and have DLP open in a browser window, some of the avatars and signatures make me cringe. That's not really a problem with the forums though, because Greasemonkey could easily deal with it, I'm just too lazy to set it up.

 

First off, I concur that the current motto should go. And what should be the new motto? None. Who the hell needs a motto? And if the site does acquire a new one, it doesn't need to be plastered on top of the page.

On the subject of expanding DLP as an entity, I wish you luck. It'd be fun if that happened, but it won't be easy. Merely adding new functionality will most emphatically not guarantee an expansion of the site's community (or even prevent its decline), because the chances are that any new features have already been done at other, much more popular places.

Basically, there's two kinds of growth. The first is where the site administrators notice a new potential subgroup forming within the community, and work hard to accommodate that group. The second is where the administrators think, "Hmm...I think I want to expand," and create the new functionality in the hopes of attracting new people.

Meeting demand vs. creating demand - IMO you should always be open to the possibility of the former, and be aware that the latter is unlikely to work unless you're expanding into a new area that has somehow managed to not have a presence elsewhere on the internet.