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We're doing a major forum overhaul today. Lots of forums are going to get moved around, created, or shut down. The end result is that we will have a lot more forums, which will be more narrowly targeted. (Don't worry: LBN, GD, and the Lounge aren't going anywhere.) Plus we are going to unveil some interesting new features.
The changes probably will not be finished until the afternoon. Please understand that there will be a fair amount of confusion as we move forums around and open forums and shut them down. Please do not jump to conclusions about what we are doing, please do not kick up a stink if a particular forum is deleted or re-named. There is a method to this madness, which should become clear once all the changes are done.
We believe that the biggest issue facing Democratic Underground is how to manage our massive growth. How do we keep that "small community feeling" in a community that is no longer small? Our changes today are intended to create viable spaces of "small community" which are organized around narrowly-targeted topics.
This is a bit of a departure from our previous approach. In the past, we have resisted calls to create narrowly-targeted forums because we thought they would not be used. But the success of the State and Country Forums has shown us that our community is now large enough to sustain communities organized around smaller themes. Previously, we tried the "Meeting Room approach" where many different groups of people would share forums. We now believe that a better approach is to give exclusive forums to specific topics, so people who are passionate about those topics have a place to call their own.
But we are not going to force you to wade through a giant list of forums every day in order to find the half-dozen that interest you. That approach would guarantee failure, and leave most of the forums empty.
Instead, we are giving you some cool new features which give you the power to customize your DU experience, and focus on the forums that you are most interested in. (Please note that some new features will only be available to members with donor stars.) These new features are:
My Forums -- The "My Forums" feature will give people the ability to select specific forums to show on the Lobby and Latest Page. So if you are interested in the Environment, you can choose to show the Environment forum, but if you're not interested in Guns, you don't have to choose that one.
DU Groups -- These are special member-suggested forums. They are different from regular forums in many ways, but the most important difference is that they will have specific mission statements and off-topic postings will be considered disruptive. So, if Astrologers want an Astrologers-only forum, we can set one up. Or if supporters of any particular Democratic candidate want a forum for supporters-only, we can set one up. Or if Believers want a prayer-circle forum, we can set one up.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we implement these changes. We hope that these changes will make the DU experience even better for everyone.
Skinner
EarlG
Elad
DU Administrators
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