An Evently Column.

[Pierce Tondry]

Specifically, My Evently Column. Whenever something happens, or whenever I can come up with something interesting to write about, I would love to post it in the form of a column on the Portal News. This column would be on a vast array of subjects- everything from literary criticisms of the various SW books to how cool Boba Fett is in Attack of the Clones (after the movie comes out). Kevin Smith and Silent Bob are as fair game for my column as anything else Star Wars related.

Although I don't really need permission from anyone per se, I'd like to notify/test the waters and see how receptive my fellow Staff Members would be to my column.

[imported_Eve]

Sounds fine to me. Any help and content would be much appreciated. I am finding it hard to come up with something original and interesting at the same time. That, and all the sites really have nothing of significant interest today.

What I want to do my next post on, is addressing the age old question of why Leia and Luke had the hots for one another... an editorial. You'd read it, wouldn't you?

[Champion of the Force]

Sounds good to me too. :)

Just a query though - would you post each new development in you column as a new thread, or just add to a pre-existing 'Column' thread you would already have set up?

[TheHolo.Net]

I really like the idea too. :)

I think if the columns are different, it would be best to post each as a new topic so that they will appear on the portal page. :)

[Champion of the Force]

That's what I figured too. :)

[Pierce Tondry]

The column would be posted in installments. Whenever I have a new column to put out, it would have a common title (which I haven't thought of yet) followed by a name for the article. This lets people know that a.) who is behind this and b.) what the post is about.

By the way- is there any way that a column teaser can be done? I'd really like it if there was some way to display part of a post on the News Forum and then have a link to the full thing. Hopefully, that would get people hooked enough to read it.

[Champion of the Force]

Whenever I have a new column to put out, it would have a common title (which I haven't thought of yet)
How about Rants from Tondry. :)


I'd really like it if there was some way to display part of a post on the News Forum and then have a link to the full thing.
One way you could do it is post part of your news item in the Portal News forum, then provide a link to another thread located in another forum where the rest of the article is posted (eg. a column on the latest SW novel could have half the article in the Portal News forum, and the other half in the EU forum).

One benefit of splitting up the news articles and having the remaining part posted elsewhere is that it may encourage people to go to the other forums and post there.

One concern I have with the way posters have reacted to Eve's first thread is that the news items may take discussion away from other forums (eg. a news item on Episode II may draw discussion away from the Sw Films forum).

[TheHolo.Net]

You could also make the "teaser" just the initial post and then follow up with the rest of the article in the same topic afterwards with a reply to the teaser. That way the link would be automatic on the portal page..

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Davwj
One concern I have with the way posters have reacted to Eve's first thread is that the news items may take discussion away from other forums (eg. a news item on Episode II may draw discussion away from the Sw Films forum). I myself am not really too concerned with it. The discussions will still be ongoing in many forums and the majority of responses to Eve's first article were from posters who almost never visit the forum you gave in your example. :p Besides, discussion is discussion, no matter where it takes place. An active board is one that is interesting. :)

[Champion of the Force]

I'm not too bothered about the first article, since it really doesn't have a special 'place' where it should go.

I'm just concerned that in the future posters will simply use the Portal News forum to discuss things that could instead be benefiting the other forums. We're already trying to reorganise the old-timers in Boxoffice as to where they should be posting things, and I am concerned that certain items will merely take away from the other forums since people will just discuss the item within the news thread itself.

In the end, I think the Portal News forum would serve best if it directed discussions towards the forums they are related to - a kind of signpost, rather than being a discussion point within itself.

[Pierce Tondry]

How about
That suggestion was crap! :p

Although I'm being silly, I do want a better title than that. It needs to have a bit of my own personality in it, or the column won't truly be mine.

I'm not all that enthused with the idea of splitting my column into parts, but I may do that regardless of my dislike. I really want to do a good job on it, and any way I can get views is a plus.

[Champion of the Force]

I'm not all that enthused with the idea of splitting my column into parts.
You don't have to - it's up to you. :)

Of course as you said we sometimes have to forget what we personally prefer and instead go for what will attract the most attention and support.

[Champion of the Force]

To get some more news items up and running, I have posted my own item concerning the spy reports about episode III casting.

As a bit of an experiment, I followed my own advice above and did it as a teaser - I provided just enough info, then inserted a link directing people to a pre-exsiting thread (posted earlier today by Carr) for more information.

The real beauty of this method though is that since it's been flogged from TFN it would probably be better to have the info ina normal discussion thread in its normal forum, rather than a news item which looks flogged from another site. :)

Just a request - please leave the thread locked. I'd like to see what happens if a news item is linked to another discussion located elsewhere and if in encourages any further traffic in that area.

[Champion of the Force]

Posted another news item. this time it's on Harry potter failing to break Ep. 1's fastest to $200 million record.

like my first news item, I linked to an already ongoing discussion (in the Boxoffice forum) and have closed the news item to prevent posting within it.

I think that's enough news items from for today. :) We'll see how they play out.

[Nupraptor]

I've been looking for something interesting/funny to post, and have been coming up empty handed.

[Champion of the Force]

Now that Nup has posted his news item, I have a few queries:

1. The news page can only hold 3 items at a time - is there anyway to beef this up a bit more (eg. 5)?

2. Beforehand our personal pics were displaying next to the news item. now, however, random pics are being displayed instead. Any reason why this is so?

[TheHolo.Net]

1. Yes it can be changed to any number we want.

2. I did it because I thought it looked a little plain especially with two articles one right after the other with the same one.

[Champion of the Force]

2. I did it because I thought it looked a little plain especially with two articles one right after the other with the same one.
Can we change the icons used to SW type ones then?

TFN has over 300 50x50 icons covering all manner of SW characters, which would probably look more appropriate. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

I have mentioned that a couple of times but haven't been pointed in the right direction to locate some transparant gifs to use. :p

[Champion of the Force]

Well the ones at TFN are the avatars they use on their won forums (in order to keep the server stable they don't allow users to choose their own).

If you sign up for their boards you can go into your profile and view them all and choose one of your liking.

When I get some time I might go and round up a couple. How many do you want?

[TheHolo.Net]

25 or so would probably suffice.

[Champion of the Force]

Well here's one example:

[TheHolo.Net]

hmmmmmm, Dunno that I really like that one. :\

[Champion of the Force]

Here's another:

[TheHolo.Net]

I would rather see more that casual Star Wars fans would recognize as being from the Star Wars Universe. I know one of the images in the set I have now is a Vader profile.

[Champion of the Force]

Ok, here are some I've mustered up. With what you've said in mind, I've mainly stuck to the movie characters/vehicles/ovjects which would be more recogniseable.

Anyway, here they are:

Ackbar:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/ackbar.gif

Amidala:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/amidala1.gif

Padme:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/amidala3.gif

Anakin:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/ep2ani.gif

Anakin with shadow:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/anicon.gif

R2-D2:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/Artoo.gif

AT-AT
http://theforce.net/snowboards/icons/atat.gif

Bib Fortuna:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/bibfortuna.gif

Wedge:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/WEDGE.gif

C-3P0:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/See-Threepio.gif

(more to follow)

[Champion of the Force]

(continued)

Han:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/han.gif

Lando:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/lando.gif

Leia:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/leiabuns.gif

Alternate Leia:
http://theforce.net/snowboards/icons/celebleia.gif

Luke:
http://theforce.net/snowboards/icons/lukeskywalk.gif

Obi-Wan:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/obiwan.gif

Stormtrooper:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/TFN_stormtrooper.gif

Imperial Guard:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/imperialguard.gif

Grand Moff Tarkin:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/mofftarkin.gif

Ewok:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/wicket.gif

(more to follow)

[Champion of the Force]

(continued)

Jar Jar:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/jarjartongue.gif

Hoth Trooper:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/monmothma.gif

Mon Mothma:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/monmothma.gif

Darth Vader:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/darthvader.gif

Darth Maul:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/darthmaul.gif

Emperor Palpatine:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/palp1.gif

How's that? :)

[Nupraptor]

Originally posted by Davwj
Hoth Trooper:
http://www.theforce.net/snowboards/icons/monmothma.gif:: snickers ::

[TheHolo.Net]

Alrighty, I used a good number of those, even though IMO they are just a bit too small for the portal page. I also used about 5 or 6 that I found on my own. :)

I'm still on the lookout for more, that are just a bit larger than what we swiped from TFN. :p

[imported_Eve]

Hey guys, thanks for posting some news items... "nutin' but love for ya."

(1) I like having the discussion in the portal news forum, as replies to the original post for a few reasons.

a. It's direct: The link that says "read more (# comments)" is where people can directly respond. It's the fastest way to advertise a discussion, and people don't have to follow two links to get there. Yeah, in the scheme of things it takes a few moments to follow two links, but I think it best to have discussion there. At other forums which function similarly to the portal page, they don't have you linking twice to get to the thread.

b. Subject matter is news, and therefore should be in the news forum: While news items may be of subject matter that other forums deal with, they are still news, and still also belong in a news forum.

c. It doesn't matter where discussion happens, as long as it's happening. Perhaps, if some forums are slower, then maybe try to combine them with others.

(2) I like the gifs that are rotating in the portal better than our avatars for the same reason Ogre stated. But yeah, it would look better if we had something bigger... about 150 x 150. I would be glad to help in making or providing bigger ones.

I will be in PS today redoing DU a bit, so today is the day that I can do that. I will post more news items later today or this evening.

(3) HTML in posts: I'm sure I missed the explanation to this somewhere, so perhaps you can point me to it, or let me know... do I use regular html code, except for the " < " " > " tags? and use " [ " " ] " instead? Sometimes providing a picture could make the posts more colorful, and I don't know how to do it here. Or making text bold, italicized, etc. Could ya help me out here?

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Eve
(2) I like the gifs that are rotating in the portal better than our avatars for the same reason Ogre stated. But yeah, it would look better if we had something bigger... about 150 x 150. I would be glad to help in making or providing bigger ones
I will be in PS today redoing DU a bit, so today is the day that I can do that. I will post more news items later today or this evening. .Most excellent. :D

Originally posted by Eve
(3) HTML in posts: I'm sure I missed the explanation to this somewhere, so perhaps you can point me to it, or let me know... do I use regular html code, except for the " < " " > " tags? and use " [ " " ] " instead? Sometimes providing a picture could make the posts more colorful, and I don't know how to do it here. Or making text bold, italicized, etc. Could ya help me out here? I am pretty sure that you can use HTML in a post just as you would in a post on ezboard. No need for opening or closing < HTML > or < BODY > tags. I think having HTML turned on in the forum can really help make it possible for some stories to have a magazine or newspaper type appearance if pictures w/ or w/o captions are sometimes included. :D

[Nupraptor]

I think having HTML turned on in the forum can really help make it possible for some stories to have a magazine or newspaper type appearanceThe {blockquote} tag goes a long way towards creating that appearance. :)

[Champion of the Force]

:: snickers ::
Aaarrggghh - stupid copy and paste. :verymad

[Champion of the Force]

I like having the discussion in the portal news forum.
Well you do what you want - I'm not bothered. :)

I, on the other hand, intend to use the news list to link to discussions in other forums where possible, as I believe that'a a better method since it will at least bring potential posting to those areas. Especially for forums like SW Films and Expanded Universe, where posting is awfully light at the moment.

[Champion of the Force]

Update - I've removed my news item on Episode I retaining it's $200 million record. The news is now half a wekk old and HP has already broken the $200 million mark, so it seemed appropriate to get rid of it.

Another note - what's up with Eve's parody news item? Reaper seems to be making a big deal about how it's not a parody site at all, but a basher site. It won't look good if a visitor follows the news item to the original thread and reads all the bickering comments there. :\

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Davwj

Well you do what you want - I'm not bothered. :)

I, on the other hand, intend to use the news list to link to discussions in other forums where possible, as I believe that'a a better method since it will at least bring potential posting to those areas. Especially for forums like SW Films and Expanded Universe, where posting is awfully light at the moment. No one is going to tell you how things "have" to be done. Everyone is different. :)
Originally posted by Davwj
Another note - what's up with Eve's parody news item? Reaper seems to be making a big deal about how it's not a parody site at all, but a basher site. It won't look good if a visitor follows the news item to the original thread and reads all the bickering comments there. :\ I think it’s a pretty harmless debate really. No one is really slamming anyone else, just stating their opinions.

[Champion of the Force]

Out of curiosity, are we going to be using just SW pics for the news page from now on, or keep some general pics too? I ask because when i visited the portal a few mins ago 'thumbs up' image showed up next to one of the items.

On a related note, should we perhaps post an annoucement within the forum stating simple yet specific guidelines to posting of news items? Lilaena submitted a LOTR item today but unfortunately she didn't include an actual introduction or story - only a link and a quick explanation as to why she was sending a link. As a result I had to quickly make up a story to go with her submission (that's why it looks as though she's speaking in 3rd person in her item). I think if there was a form of guideline somewhere within the forum outlining how to submit an item and also how to present the item it would be very handy, and may also further encourage further submissions from posters.

(note we can't use a sticky thread in the forum, since that automatically keeps it on top of the news list on the portal - I just tried it myself, so we may have to use a dedicated announcement specifically for that forum).

As for the size of the pics used, I agree 50x50 is a bit small, however 150x150 may be getting a bit large IMHO (the big Aurra Sing pic that shows up sometimes looks fairly big on my monitor). I think around 100x100 would be the best size. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Davwj
Out of curiosity, are we going to be using just SW pics for the news page from now on, or keep some general pics too? I ask because when i visited the portal a few mins ago 'thumbs up' image showed up next to one of the items.Thats a cache issue, all the pics in the rotation are SW pics.

Originally posted by Davwj
On a related note, should we perhaps post an annoucement within the forum stating simple yet specific guidelines to posting of news items? Lilaena submitted a LOTR item today but unfortunately she didn't include an actual introduction or story - only a link and a quick explanation as to why she was sending a link. As a result I had to quickly make up a story to go with her submission (that's why it looks as though she's speaking in 3rd person in her item). I think if there was a form of guideline somewhere within the forum outlining how to submit an item and also how to present the item it would be very handy, and may also further encourage further submissions from posters.I mentioned in another thread about adding someting to the General FAQ.

Originally posted by Davwj
(note we can't use a sticky thread in the forum, since that automatically keeps it on top of the news list on the portal - I just tried it myself, so we may have to use a dedicated announcement specifically for that forum).Not sure what a forum announcement would do in relation to the portal page, but its not a bad idea. :)

Originally posted by Davwj
As for the size of the pics used, I agree 50x50 is a bit small, however 150x150 may be getting a bit large IMHO (the big Aurra Sing pic that shows up sometimes looks fairly big on my monitor). I think around 100x100 would be the best size. :) 100 X 100 is probably a reasonable max size. Aura is 84 X 171, but fits well at my high resolution, tho i can see why it would be large on others.

[Nupraptor]

I'm having a blonde moment :| I still don't get what happened.

[TheHolo.Net]

Davwj had to edit LD’s post when he approved it for the forum. New threads require approval and from what I gather she included very little information besides the link itself.

[Champion of the Force]

Thats a cache issue, all the pics in the rotation are SW pics.
Figured so. Stupid cache! :: kicks cache ::


I mentioned in another thread about adding someting to the General FAQ.

Not sure what a forum announcement would do in relation to the portal page, but its not a bad idea.
I think an announcement within the forum would work better than something buried in the General FAQ, which unfortunately many don't automatically read. :\

PS. I don't think an announcement would be a problem since vB translates it differently than a normal thread (ie. when you post an announcement using the announcement feature it doesn't list you as the latest poster in that forum on the forums list). Then again I haven't tried it myself yet.


Aura is 84 X 171, but fits well at my high resolution, though i can see why it would be large on others.
Aurra looks ok on my monitor too - until the pic appeared next to Lilaena's news item which is only 2 lines long. It didn't look so good then since it forced the news area to be longer.


I still don't get what happened. - Nup

... from what I gather she included very little information besides the link itself. - Ogre
Yep - the only info she included besides the link was why she was submitting a link instead of her own thoughts because she thought she might be infringing the original source's copyright on the info. Obviously it wouldn't look good on a news item so I took it out and just insterted a quick intro and her link.

[TheHolo.Net]

Originally posted by Davwj
Yep - the only info she included besides the link was why she was submitting a link instead of her own thoughts because she thought she might be infringing the original source's copyright on the info. Obviously it wouldn't look good on a news item so I took it out and just insterted a quick intro and her link. I think it alright to use other site's info as one's own material as long as the origin is given a byline/credit. That could be included in the announcement. Perhaps the announcement could be added to the FAQ as well?

[Champion of the Force]

I think it alright to use other site's info as one's own material as long as the origin is given a byline/credit.
I agree. Kind of like what Nup did when he reported on the upcoming Jedi Knight PC game - gave a teaser of the infor a provided a link to the rest of the info.

I might send Lilaena a PM about it to let her know - all this talk about it is making me feel dirty for editing it on her so a quick explanation wouldn't hurt. :)

I don't think it would hurt to have the guideline in both the FAQ and the forum. :)

[TheHolo.Net]

I'm testing the announcement in that forum only right now and all looks good. Don't remove it (the test announcement) yet as I am going to do a little color formatting to it.