Alternate Forum Expansion Poll

[LordSunhawk]

What features would people who regularly post and/or enjoy alternate histories like to see implemented? I am currently considering adding additional subforums to give people the ability to sort their timelines and such better, but are there any things that you, the community, want to see?

I will also be posting a poll to determine interest in subdividing the forum, if there is enough interest I will post a future poll on how you think that should be done.

 

[Circle of Willis]

I think creating pre- and post-1900 subforums, AH.com style, is the way to go - a simple, straightforward break to allow posters to more easily sort their topics. One of the (if not the) only good ideas AH.com still has, really.

 

[Agent23]

I think creating pre- and post-1900 subforums, AH.com style, is the way to go - a simple, straightforward break to allow posters to more easily sort their topics. One of the (if not the) only good ideas AH.com still has, really.

And don't forget ASB as its separate thing.

 

[WolfBear]

I think creating pre- and post-1900 subforums, AH.com style, is the way to go - a simple, straightforward break to allow posters to more easily sort their topics. One of the (if not the) only good ideas AH.com still has, really.

Seconded!

And don't forget ASB as its separate thing.

Seconded as well!

 

[PsihoKekec]

I don't think we have enough AH content to warrant splitting into just pre-1900 and post-1900 yet, I think splitting the AH into serious stuff (like Vivat Stilicho) and ASB would be good though.
If (or hopefully, when) the amount of serious AH content increases, then splitting it into two era subforums would make sense.

 

[WolfBear]

I don't think we have enough AH content to warrant splitting into just pre-1900 and post-1900 yet, I think splitting the AH into serious stuff (like Vivat Stilicho) and ASB would be good though.
If (or hopefully, when) the amount of serious AH content increases, then splitting it into two era subforums would make sense.

Get more members, and then we'll get more content!

 

[Skallagrim]

Even though there isn't much content (yet), the pre/post 1900 split makes sense. If you do it now, you can still manually move all threads to where they belong. It would take no more than an hour.

If you create the split later on when there's way more content, you'll never be able to sort the existing threads out again, so the older threads will always be messily divided/unsorted. Better to create order now, pre-emptively.

Putting ASB threads in their own forum is a great idea, too.

 

[King Krávoka]

And don't forget ASB as its separate thing.

That would be redundant with Versus and What-If.

 

[Skallagrim]

That would be redundant with Versus and What-If.

You could either move all ASB threads over there, or you could put an ASB subsection in the AH forum and move all ASB AH threads over there.

Frankly, I'd prefer the latter, because I think ASB AH discussion is actually pretty different from Versus discussions. "What if Neanderthals had survived in the New World" has nothing meaningful in common with "What if Optimus Prime fought Godzilla".

 

[WolfBear]

You could either move all ASB threads over there, or you could put an ASB subsection in the AH forum and move all ASB AH threads over there.

Frankly, I'd prefer the latter, because I think ASB AH discussion is actually pretty different from Versus discussions. "What if Neanderthals had survived in the New World" has nothing meaningful in common with "What if Optimus Prime fought Godzilla".

What about "What if Frederick the Great Fought Louis XIV in Hand-to-Hand Combat While Both of Them Were in Their Physical Prime?"

 

[bintananth]

What about "What if Frederick the Great Fought Louis XIV in Hand-to-Hand Combat While Both of Them Were in Their Physical Prime?"

That'd be vs. unless it's some sort of ASB alt history where heads of state, by custom, settle irreconcilable disputes via. single combat with pre-arranged terms.

Minor trade dispute: fencing to first touch
I want your country: to the death

 

[Agent23]

That would be redundant with Versus and What-If.

Not really, ASB would focus on alternate history and ISOTs and ASB timelines.
Vs. and What-If is focused towards purely fictional SF&F franchises.
Furthermore, any additional refugees from AH and similar will probably want to keep their AH timelines and discussions separate from general pop-scifi-fantasy discussions.

Next proposition: Finished (and hopefully cleaned) TImelines subforum.

 

[Zyobot]

Not really, ASB would focus on alternate history and ISOTs and ASB timelines.

Not all AH is ASB, though.

Sure, there are ASB timelines, but having Hitler die in World War I or giving Lincoln better security before Wilkes Booth can get to him aren't ASB, since neither of these defies the laws of nature. Same logic applies to the kind of stuff you'd usually see in AH.com's Before and After 1900 sections.

 

[Skallagrim]

I didn't add this before, but for all sorts of "misc" threads (like the "Alternate History Ideas and Discussion" thread, the "Alternate History Map Thread" and stuff like the "Funniest alternate history ever" thread), you could just create an "Index" sub-section, just like the creative writing forum has for non-story threads. That would then also be the place to, for instance, discuss/review published AH books.

 

[Eparkhos]

We should split the forum in three parts:
Firstly, an ASB sub-section, because I've always felt that 'not-so-rigorous' AH should have its own section. I still like it, but it's distinct enough that it should have its own sub-section.
Second and third, there should be separate sections for 'rigorous' AH. Personally, I think it should be pre-1865 and post-1865, since the ACW is one of the mainstays of AH since its beginning and probably will be forever, but pre-1900 and post-1900 also work.

 

[Sergeant Foley]

Sounds intriguing

 

[Skallagrim]

Is anything actually going to be done with this, @LordSunhawk? It's been a few months now. There's a majority in favour, especially from frequent posters in the AH section of the site. If nobody else has time, I'll happily volunteer to sort and move threads as needed. (Although I don't know if it's possible to give a user the temporary permission to do that. If it is, my offer stands.)


From what's been discussed here, it seems to me that we'd do well with:

-- An 'Index & misc.' subsection for AH (just like the creative writing forum has for non-story threads), for all sorts of "misc" threads (like the "Alternate History Ideas and Discussion" thread, the "Alternate History Map Thread" and stuff like the "Funniest alternate history ever" thread). That would then also be the place to, for instance, discuss/review published AH books.

-- A Pre-1900 timelines and discussion subsection for AH.

-- A Post-1900 timelines and discussion subsection for AH.

-- An Alien Space Bats & other magic subsection for AH. (Some threads may be better off moved from the existing Versus and What-Ifs section to this one, then.)


And finally, some threads currently in AH, marked as ASB, might actually be better off in the Versus and What-Ifs section. But that would have to be seen on an ad hoc basis.

I really think that it would be smart to do something like this now, while any sorting-out can still be manged with ease. If you wait, it'll just be a lot more work later. Again: if it's practical for you, I'm more than willing to help out.

 

[LordSunhawk]

It's in the list of things I want to get done. Right now we are planning the following, but it depends on various pieces lining up.

A - add the add-on for Xenforo that lets you follow an OP rather than the entire thread

Which requires me figuring out how to add an add-on LOL

B - Upgrade our reporting system to have a better interface on both the front and back end

This is in work at the moment as one of our mods is trying their hands at, well, writing a mod to help mods mod.

C - Restructure AH into a more structured format (pretty much what Skallagrim is talking about)

D - Giving users the ability to hide subforums that they aren't interested in seeing

 

[WolfBear]

It's in the list of things I want to get done. Right now we are planning the following, but it depends on various pieces lining up.

A - add the add-on for Xenforo that lets you follow an OP rather than the entire thread

Which requires me figuring out how to add an add-on LOL

B - Upgrade our reporting system to have a better interface on both the front and back end

This is in work at the moment as one of our mods is trying their hands at, well, writing a mod to help mods mod.

C - Restructure AH into a more structured format (pretty much what Skallagrim is talking about)

D - Giving users the ability to hide subforums that they aren't interested in seeing

There should also be a section for Future History, no?

 

[Agent23]

Oy, @LordSunhawk you should also consider turning the top level subforum that had the 3 sub subforum links into a place that is just that, without the ability for people to post stuff there.

I mispost a thread in for the 3rd time thanks to this weird setup.