Bill Tabor
EF5
After the discussion in the "Is This Site Dead" thread (see: http://www.stormtrack.org/forum/showthread.php?28476-Is-this-site-dead), many stipulated the idea that part of the reason activity on Stormtrack has slowed down is due to Facebook and possibly other social networking sites. I pointed out the weakness of Facebook was that it wasn't focused on the subject of chasing and has a lot of limitations itself whereas the forum structure still has some good aspects. However, it occurred to me that the best solution may be to keep up with the times and either convert Stormtrack Forums into a social networking site, or create a Stormtrack social network site to run concurrently as a sister site to the forums thereby offering members greater flexibility. I recalled that I was in a local chaser social network site just for central Tx chasers that was created using Ning http://www.ning.com/about/product/.
I would like Tim, the moderators, and members to investigate and consider the option of creating a Stormtrack Ning site. Having used the other Ning site, I think it would be cool and people would probably like it. At first, I thought it was free, but it turns out it is only free for the first month. Here are the different Ning plans features and costs: http://www.ning.com/compareplans. That's a bit pricy for 1 person to pay but if we have donations it will be very cheap considering the number of members that Stormtrack has. Possibly as low as $1 / year each or less. That is certainly cost effective IMO. Also Tim may find that this is a much easier format to setup and maintain. As I understand you basically just decide on display options, colors, and what features and plugins you want your site to use. It then generates it itself.
Features: Ning provides all the hardware service to keep it running. It's really kind of like FB in the sense there is no moderator I believe although the owner can remove or likely suspend members. Search engine optimization feature is built in. It even has the ability for embedded streaming video. It has an included forum and threads that can be date based. Each member gets their own Blog which is like their personal page or website, but integrated into Ning. It has search features, a scrolling latest activity bulletin board, ability to submit photos, and videos for everyone to see. It has a members list, the ability to send out event announcements and reminders. It also has individual email, and chat built in. It's really kind of cool I think. It would be Stormtrack on steroids. Oh, it also integrates in some way with Facebook, Twitter, and other sites so you could share with other folks if you wish. It appears that it also has a built in way to collect donations, post ads, collect ad revenue, and even sell merchandise. My guess is this may be a lot easier than the way Stormtrack is currently doing it.
Biggest downside I see is the amount of space provided for photos or video. Those limits may soon be reached. Perhaps like Stormtrack we would require members use their own space at least for video such as YouTube to save all the bandwidth space and keep the cost down. I suspect they would be willing to work with Stormtrack for a custom disk space plan.
So, admin, moderators, members... Check this out and decide what you think. There is a free 30 day trial just to set it up and play with it. We could even do that and let members join and everyone decide how they like it before they buy in. I'm tempted just to set one up and start inviting all the other chasers cause I'm a bit excited now, but I think I'll wait for input. I'd like this to be sponsored and blessed by Stormtrack and be an official Stormtrack social network. I think it would be presumptuous of me to create it and name it Stormtrack without Tim and others giving it the green light.
Please post your opinion!
I would like Tim, the moderators, and members to investigate and consider the option of creating a Stormtrack Ning site. Having used the other Ning site, I think it would be cool and people would probably like it. At first, I thought it was free, but it turns out it is only free for the first month. Here are the different Ning plans features and costs: http://www.ning.com/compareplans. That's a bit pricy for 1 person to pay but if we have donations it will be very cheap considering the number of members that Stormtrack has. Possibly as low as $1 / year each or less. That is certainly cost effective IMO. Also Tim may find that this is a much easier format to setup and maintain. As I understand you basically just decide on display options, colors, and what features and plugins you want your site to use. It then generates it itself.
Features: Ning provides all the hardware service to keep it running. It's really kind of like FB in the sense there is no moderator I believe although the owner can remove or likely suspend members. Search engine optimization feature is built in. It even has the ability for embedded streaming video. It has an included forum and threads that can be date based. Each member gets their own Blog which is like their personal page or website, but integrated into Ning. It has search features, a scrolling latest activity bulletin board, ability to submit photos, and videos for everyone to see. It has a members list, the ability to send out event announcements and reminders. It also has individual email, and chat built in. It's really kind of cool I think. It would be Stormtrack on steroids. Oh, it also integrates in some way with Facebook, Twitter, and other sites so you could share with other folks if you wish. It appears that it also has a built in way to collect donations, post ads, collect ad revenue, and even sell merchandise. My guess is this may be a lot easier than the way Stormtrack is currently doing it.
Biggest downside I see is the amount of space provided for photos or video. Those limits may soon be reached. Perhaps like Stormtrack we would require members use their own space at least for video such as YouTube to save all the bandwidth space and keep the cost down. I suspect they would be willing to work with Stormtrack for a custom disk space plan.
So, admin, moderators, members... Check this out and decide what you think. There is a free 30 day trial just to set it up and play with it. We could even do that and let members join and everyone decide how they like it before they buy in. I'm tempted just to set one up and start inviting all the other chasers cause I'm a bit excited now, but I think I'll wait for input. I'd like this to be sponsored and blessed by Stormtrack and be an official Stormtrack social network. I think it would be presumptuous of me to create it and name it Stormtrack without Tim and others giving it the green light.
Please post your opinion!
