Forum Thoughts?

Comment

Comment by Ronan Leyesa on January 22, 2010 at 4:19pm

I never thought of a calendar. I think that would be a great idea. Searchability is key though.

Comment by Harry Frank on January 22, 2010 at 3:58pm

Tungle can go in whatever increments you want to show. It's mainly to show when you are available in general. But, it might be useful for showing freelance availability. Google calendars will also give you an HTML snippet that you can steal and post on any page.

Comment by Paul Conigliaro on January 22, 2010 at 8:49am

The ability to hook up calendars might be the "killer app" so to speak. I haven't looked at it yet, but is there a way to have different availabilities? For example, there are many times where I'm booked on regular-hours jobs, but possibly available to work a few hours nights/weekends. Is there a way to differentiate?

Comment by Harry Frank on January 22, 2010 at 8:43am

I think I just needed to be reminded that Blogs are where it's at, and forums are fading quickly.

@Ronan....

In searching the site, how would one find out who is available for work? I could make on "yes/no" switch in the profile questions, but I can almost guarantee that at least 50% of the users wouldn't keep it up to date. I think an inaccurate status would do more harm than good for the site. But, I had that thought at one point.

So, we can make a forum where those looking for work can say "I'm looking for work". So, then we have a forum with a 100 posts saying "I am looking for work", which employers would have to comb over one at a time.

I think the best option might be for users to have a calendar on their page showing when they are booked or not booked. In fact, you can already do that my integrating a Zoho or Tungle calendar, which can all sync with iCal, Google Calendar, Entourage, etc.

I'll try to work up a "how-to' article on that. I think that's going to be the magic bullet here.

Comment by Ronan Leyesa on January 21, 2010 at 9:22pm

I agree with the others to keep it simple. As for your purpose of TME, I think you got half of it going. Your allowing other artists/designer to promote/meet/collab/learn. The other half was to make it easier for artists to find gigs or companies to find artists looking for gigs which is lacking. Just from searching the site, I couldn't tell who would be available for work or not. I think a section for "looking for freelance/work" would be a great idea, but only in a simplified way. Like you said this site was to connect pros, students, and companies.

Another thing, I think if you show more of the chat, instead of it being hidden, (kind of like ustream/livestream where the chat is right on the page), it'll encourage the community to get involved in the conversation more. Forums cool and all, but real-time chatting is something this site does that no other CG/VFX/Design site does.

Oh and blogs are the new forums as forums were the new BBS. It's kind of redundant.

Just my 2 cents.

Comment by Josh Goodwin on January 21, 2010 at 2:14pm

I agree with Paul. Keep it minimal.
The thing is that your original plan for TME was to have a place people could go to find artists. Im not sure how a forum would help. I think it can, i just cant think of how.

Comment by Paul Conigliaro on January 21, 2010 at 1:08pm

I would keep it minimal, if at all. with blog posts, comments, and chat (if people used it more), there's little need for a forum.