Here are the things I was considering, and by the responses so far, they're good ideas:
1. Regular news updates related to scifi/fantasy, including new films, DVDs, graphic novels, events, etc.
2. Regular articles, including editorials, reviews, essays, and even stories/serials
3. A gallery for fan artwork with occasional contests
4. Google Search and AdWords (provide revenue through ads that match page content and search terms)
5. Some type of retailer affiliation (Amazon seems like a good choice with its huge product catalog and decent prices)
6. originaltrilogy.com memorabilia such as t-shirts, mugs, pens, etc.
1. and 2. require writers. Those of you who volunteered and are serious about it should contact me via e-mail so we can discuss your ideas in further detail. Since we can't launch the redesign with zero content, we should have a few pieces ready as soon as possible.
I like the idea of a comic strip. The only problem is finding someone to do it.
3. is easy enough to build. My only concern is server space. However, if the site proves to be successful, a dedicated server isn't out of the question. Then hard drive space becomes a trivial matter.
4. and 5. are actually pretty simple and involve little more than signing up and dropping a few lines of code into the site.
Bossk, thanks for telling me about cafepress.com. I'd never heard of them before. It looks like they might be able to handle point 6. I'm not sure where things stand with Dayv and his planned t-shirts at the moment. If he wanted to print up some of his own custom jobs and sell them, I wouldn't have a problem with that.
DigitalMan, your concerns are noted and I agree completely. If the site has poor usability and the advertising becomes too obtrusive, people won't stick around.
Those of you expressing concern over the fate of the forum can rest easy. The forum will remain (with updated FuseTalk software). All this great content isn't worth much if there's no place to discuss it.
As for the petition, 68,000 signatures take up quite a bit of SQL space. If we are indeed going to be posting loads of new content and hopefully attracting more traffic for the forum, it might be time to retire the petition. The petition was once the driving force behind the site, but I think it might be time to move on.
All this new content will require the development and construction of a content management system and associated templates, which will take some time. I'm fired up about it, so I'm hoping to start this weekend and complete the project within a month.
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Originally posted by: ricarleite
Well, whatever changes go through, they gotta happen fast. After ROTS release, Star Wars will fade out for some time...
This is exactly why I'd like to move the site into the general scifi/fantasy realm. Trying to build up the site on Star Wars alone is going to limit our potential audience. There are already too many Star Wars sites out there. Besides, as much as I love Star Wars, there are plenty of other universes out there.
More comments and suggestions, please.