Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
:ymparty:
Just for the fun of it...... I decided to create a new web site..... My initial idea was to create a blog for me..... but it's actually running forum software because I really like the way the software works, and looks, and how it allows others to discuss.... so it's also a full-fledged online "community" too.
I've been discussing it with Surfcrest, and he's fully supportive of the idea.
I won't be running it as any sort of a business. It won't need any income. It won't contain any ads. Probably won't accept any donations either.
It will just offer another place to discuss.... adding to the many existing options. In my opinion, forums are like fun bars... There's no such thing as too many.
Go grab your handle before someone else does... and start checking in daily.... http://gaysexthailand.com
:)
( Wow. That sounds like a perfect tagline..... "Grab your handle before someone else does..." ha ha )
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Hey Bruce,
I grabbed my handle on your new site - same as the one I have here - I know, not much imagination.
I like that you created a sub-section for "Trip Reports". One of my biggest disappointments with the Sawatdeenetwork, GayThailand, ChristianPFC, and GayButton boards is that there is not a repository for the trip reports. For me, they are one of the most valuable resources that these boards have - especially if you are a first timer coming to Thailand, or a many-timer and want to know the latest on the situation on the ground, or you want to plan a trip to some remote part of Thailand where the minute details for planning it become crucial in order to have a successful trip.
So, in other words, in my opinion "Trip Reports" should be given a Top Priority in the management of ALL the boards. Bruce, thanks for organizing your new site in this way!
M.
any ideas on perhaps providing a suggested trip report template?
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
If you go to the Sawatdee search and type 'Trip Reports' into the 'Key Words' field you will get back 555 topics from the past, over 37 pages.
Creating a separate forum is just adding one more to a message board which already houses too many ... (my opinion only).
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Quote:
Originally Posted by bruce_nyc
Just for the fun of it...... I decided to create a new web site..... My initial idea was to create a blog for me..... but it's actually running forum software because I really like the way the software works, and looks, and how it allows others to discuss.... so it's also a full-fledged online "community" too.
I've been discussing it with Surfcrest, and he's fully supportive.
I think the last dude who did this was Neal. That went well. (Ha Ha)
Brucie, do you fly a lot? (Ha Ha)
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
I'll go under the assumption I'm not welcome there, lol
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Quote:
Originally Posted by bkkmfj2648
any ideas on perhaps providing a suggested trip report template?
Thanks, M. And great suggestion. Let's start a thread about that. Maybe we can come up with the ideal template. Not too complicated.... just the essential information at the top. Here is a new thread: http://bw.gl/11u
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdnmatt
I'll go under the assumption I'm not welcome there, lol
Everyone is welcome there.
( Just don't expect me to respond to inane nonsense posts... no matter where. )
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Good luck with it - but all things considered would it not just have been quicker / easier to buy Sawatdee perhaps if you wanted to own your own board I wonder ?
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nirish guy
Good luck with it - but all things considered would it not just have been quicker / easier to buy Sawatdee perhaps if you wanted to own your own board I wonder ?
That could still happen.... maybe. But it's definitely not quicker or easier. It only took me a few minutes to set up the new forum.... with the latest new software. The base software it runs on... is free open source software ( same as bitcoin is ). But it's the latest new version. Then it's pimped out with the latest responsive theme to make it much easier to use on mobile devices (90% of users now use mobile devices primarily). That cost $17. Then I added every pimped out extension ( extra feature ) that the theme developer makes. Many I won't use.... like the Membership Module and the Paypal/Bitcoin Donation system... But I wanted to play with them and have all options available to me.... plus I consider it almost an extra tip to him for his excellent work. That added $200. To make certain that everything was installed perfectly, I paid him to install it all. That was $30. ( Yes, he accepts bitcoin of course. )
While he was at it, I had him set up 7 sites at the same time --- all with very different purposes; totally different audiences.
The hosting is all on my same hosting account I've been using for years. They're excellent and they offer unlimited capacity, unlimited bandwidth, and an unlimited number of websites..... for $3.50 per month.... for life. Which, as I said, I've always had.... so it's not any added expense for me.
So all together, it cost me $247 and an hour or two of my time each.... to create 7 new similar sites.
On the other hand, if I buy Sawatdee, I will have to figure out many details about how to migrate it. If I want to use my own hosting, it will have to be moved. Also, it's using an older version of the software. So upgrading it would be another project.
Or.... Maybe the most sensible thing to do would be to leave it as is.... for archival purposes. Then eventually migrate all *new* posts and messages to the new platform. ... leaving the old platform as a permanent archive. It would be a tragic loss to lose all the history of all the old posts here, in my opinion.... of course. Similarly, I'd hate to lose any of Russ' archives of his "bangkokbois" blog.
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Quote:
Originally Posted by bruce_nyc
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdnmatt
I'll go under the assumption I'm not welcome there, lol
Everyone is welcome there.
( Just don't expect me to respond to inane nonsense posts... no matter where. )
No thanks. If I need to trust someone to provide impartiality, I think I'll stick with Surfcrest.
Re: Announcing: A New Virtual Hangout
Quote:
Originally Posted by Smiles
If you go to the Sawatdee search and type 'Trip Reports' into the 'Key Words' field you will get back 555 topics from the past, over 37 pages.
Creating a separate forum is just adding one more to a message board which already houses too many ... (my opinion only).
Hi Smiles,
Yes you are right - I can just do 'Key Word' searches to mine out of the Sawatdee database all of the Trip Reports but thats a lot of effort to do something that should be easy - hence the purpose of a good database design.
Unfortunately, the 3 boards in Thailand were not designed with Trip Reports in mind. Instead they were designed like a ticker tape where the history just strolls into the past and the current stuff is posted on top.
For example, when I was planning my last trip out to the hinterlands of Thailand, I was hard pressed to find useful information for Sukhothai and Kanchanaburi. Yes I could search in Google - but I had hoped to find information with some gay elements - where are the gay places in these places, people to know and meet, massage info, restaurants, hotels, bed&breakfast, cruising points, etc. These are things that I would expect to find here at Sawatdee or over at GayThailand or GayButton or ChristianPFC.
In addition, many users post trip reports but they don't use the key words "Trip Report" nor do some of them tag their info with the key words that are available to aid the user to mine out this information.
So, if Bruce designs his Trip Report section in his new Blog/Forum http://gaysexthailand.com
in such a way that when a new trip report is created that it identifies the appropriate key words (i.e., place, date, categories of things/places visited, perhaps gps, etc.) then this important information can be easily retrieved and even displayed in an easy manner. Over time, it will become a treasure chest of invaluable information.
Another example is with ChristianPFC's blog - Christian has posted MORE information about ALL of Thailand and the best far away and interesting places to visit. Unfortunately, if you as a user do not keep a log or database of what he writes - then that information becomes lost. For example, Christian's data should be pinned onto a map of Thailand where each pin would be clickable to investigate what Christian reported for that place. Then if one were to plan a trip, they could link the digital pins to GPS and then a trip would be organized easily. This would be fantastic and would give a lot of extra value to these wonderful forums.
unfortunately in the manner in which data is stored in these forums/blogs - this opportunity is lost....