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My last couple of posts have given the blog some scope, content ideas, and contributors. There are just a few more things we need before we can start writing.

The first one of those is a good name, which should:

  • Be somehow related to worldbuilding;
  • Have the relevant .wordpress.com (or other equivalent on another platform) domain available.

(You may also want to propose a tagline.)

The second one of these is a schedule. Here I'd like some more input from those who volunteered to contribute in the last post: how often can you commit to writing something? This is not an absolute commitment - a few missed days won't matter too much - but we should be putting content out regularly, so we need to work out how to do that. Tell us how much content you can commit to writing, and we can work out a schedule.

Note: There is also a discussion about platform to be had, as Monica Cellio said in the comments. If you wish to chip in on this, please use this chatroom.

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  • $\begingroup$ We should talk somewhere about what we're looking for in a blog platform, too. For example, one thing I'd like to see is a way for each author to post under his own name, as opposed to having one person who posts all the entries. On multi-user blogs I've seen, you can then follow links to each contributor's profile and list of posts, which would be harder in a technically-one-author blog. How do we do that? I haven't paid a lot of attention to the different platforms. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Apr 23, 2015 at 15:51
  • $\begingroup$ @MonicaCellio I believe Wordpress allows for that. I'm not entirely sure since I've never run a multi-poster WP blog, but the settings pages certainly heavily imply that's possible. Do we want to have a separate meta post about platform or could it be discussed in a chatroom? $\endgroup$
    – ArtOfCode
    Apr 23, 2015 at 15:59
  • $\begingroup$ As long as the platform is easy to use and access I think we are fine just covering it in chat...but If anyone has reservations or strong feelings on the subject feel free to counter me here. $\endgroup$
    – James
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:07
  • $\begingroup$ @James - chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/23112/blog-platform-discussion $\endgroup$
    – ArtOfCode
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:15
  • $\begingroup$ @MonicaCellio - a chatroom for discussing it now exists, linked in the post. $\endgroup$
    – ArtOfCode
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:16
  • $\begingroup$ A chat room is a great idea. Thanks. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:20

5 Answers 5

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Names:

  • Daedalus' Sandbox
  • Ok I can only think of one right now...

Schedule:

I think each person should be willing to write once a month or so. With a half dozen people that gives us pretty regular updates, though the more the better, I think ideally it would be updated at least twice a week to keep traffic stopping by.

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  • $\begingroup$ I agree with this - we had a good number of volunteers on the second post, so this schedule should allow for reasonably frequent updates. I should be able to make it up to 2/week if we don't have enough. $\endgroup$
    – ArtOfCode
    Apr 23, 2015 at 16:01
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I like the use of Daedalus in the title.

As to schedules, I suggest that some people may be best able to commit to a block of writing over this or that period. American academics, for instance, are commonly swamped beyond belief at the end of semesters (Nov/Dec, late Apr/May), and couldn't possibly commit to something that has them writing at such times.

But what if I (for instance) were to write three or four blog entries in rapid succession, then leave them with whoever is nominally "running" the blog page to be used whenever a gap comes up. This means I can work irregularly, but the editor doesn't have to panic if someone suddenly can't meet a deadline.

I agree also that roughly 2x/week posts is the way to go: not so much as to overwhelm normal traffic, but enough to encourage hits and return views.

That said, I defer to anyone who actually knows anything about online publishing, blogging, web traffic, and so on. I'm only guessing!

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  • $\begingroup$ This would actually be very useful, and Wordpress has a role predefined for this sort of thing. $\endgroup$
    – ArtOfCode
    Apr 24, 2015 at 10:58
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, definitely -- posts can be queued for future use. Let's avoid the situation where we have a big enthusiastic burst at the beginning followed by weeks of inactivity. $\endgroup$
    – Monica Cellio
    Apr 24, 2015 at 19:14
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Slightly relevant musing here; Wordpress does indeed support multiple users; as one of my favourite anime blogs; Random Curiosity has multiple bloggers to keep up with how many shows come out in a given season these days. Although they have their own domain, this can be seen on their about page.

Unfortunately I don't know if I can commit to being an active contributor to such a project (used to be an anime blogger myself, but I retired due to work commitments and that place is now only for links to my RPG).

That said; as for naming ideas, did anyone consider: The Magrathean Forges ?

This is a Hitchhikers Guide reference; Magrathea is the premium heart of the intergalactic worldbuilding industry (they make planets to order, and this canonically included the Earth); which is VERY appropriate for this stack exchange, don't you think?

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  • $\begingroup$ Oh, this was accepted? XD Anyways; just a slight addendum to the above, I'm happy being some sort of occasional guest poster, if anyone even wants something silly like that, its just I really can't put huge amounts of time in. $\endgroup$
    – eharper256
    Apr 27, 2015 at 14:53
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Suggestion for the name: Demiurge

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Sorry for the drive-by (been a busy month), but here are a few thoughts:

Leonardo's Workshop

The Writers' Pensieve

The Rogue and Spaceship Factory

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