Friday 30 December, 2011: h2g2 Announcements

Happy h2g2 New Year

As one of the most exciting years in h2g2's history draws to a close, we reflect on some of 2011's significant milestones:

• January 24th - The BBC announced their intention to dispose of h2g2.
• February 17th - The BBC advertised an opportunity to buy h2g2.
• March 17th - The period to express interest in purchasing h2g2 came to
  a close.
• June 16th - The BBC approved the winning bid presented by Robbie
  Stamp, Brian and Aly Larholm and the h2g2 Community Consortium.
• June 21st - The BBC announced the winning bid.
• August 31st - h2g2's new owners Not Panicking Ltd signed the purchase agreement.
• October 3rd - Teams of technical personnel began moving h2g2 from the BBC's servers to Not Panicking Ltd's servers.
• October 16th - Not Panicking Ltd relaunched h2g2.

Since h2g2's relaunch, it has served up 3.8 million page views to 1.6 million visitors from all over the world. Recently 5,553 readers learned How To Buy And Cook Turkey, 7,887 readers discovered how to prepare Perfect Cheese Sauce, and 1,784 readers have
consulted A Recipe for Mulled Wine.

Our visitors are not just popping by for h2g2's recipes, but are reading entries in all Guide categories. As a small sampling, Jade Plants as Houseplants had 939 visitors since the relaunch, the History of Radar had 817, Ancient Sparta had 774, So You Wanna Be a Stand-up Comedian? had 1,133, and Tips for Best Man Speeches had 4,650 visitors. Also popular are h2g2's many how-to entries, such as How to Sew a Modern Kilt (701 readers), How to Roll a Perfect Cigarette (6,735 readers), and How to Make an Amateur Film (674 readers).

To the 1,995 users who looked up the Differences Between A Cold And The Flu and the 11,499 users who read A Hot Toddy Cold Remedy, we hope you get well soon. And to everyone,
especially the 11,654 people who looked up Creating Great Fancy Dress Costumes and the 1,183 visitors who read How to Make Elderflower 'Champagne', we wish you a very Happy New Year.

Communications Team Addition

The h2g2 Communications Team is very pleased to welcome Mr603. Mr603 brings his copywriting expertise to the tiny but mighty Comms Team, joining Happy Nerd, Radox the Green and Minichessemouse in telling the outside world about our ever-expanding Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything and posting announcements like this one to help keep our fellow researchers informed.

Everything in Moderation

The Moderation Team has updated and expanded Moderation on h2g2 to provide more details about what happens when someone breaks the House Rules.

Introducing the h2g2 Operations Team

Not Panicking Ltd welcomes the newest volunteer scheme, h2g2 Operations. Headed by Mrs Zen, h2g2 Operations' work includes drafting organization charts and policies, which will be published on h2g2 just as soon as they are approved by the Board of NPL.

There will be quite a lot of work in describing h2g2's policies, and the h2g2 Operations team is seeking volunteers. If you have business admin skills and wish to lend a hand, please volunteer by leaving a message at h2g2 Operations.

Friday 9 December, 2011: Special Calendar Edition of the h2g2 Announcements

The h2g2 Community Artists have produced two fabulous calendars: a digital 2011 advent calendar and a print 2012 calendar.

Malabarista is spearheading the effort to fill the h2g2 Post 2011 Advent Calendar with special treats. Each December day until Christmas she brings us another new smiley and a classic h2g2 entry. Check back often to find out what new smileys have been made available.

Tavaron led a project to produce the first ever h2g2 calendar, available now at lulu.com. The h2g2 2012 calendar features stunning photographs from researchers the world over. Dozens of days carry the A-page number of an appropriate Guide entry, so the calendar is an excellent introduction to h2g2. Proceeds from the sale of the h2g2 2012 calendar will go to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Foundation which supports literacy and literary causes.

Even if lunchtime is an illusion, the h2g2 2012 calendar is a lasting and enjoyable present for anyone on your holiday gift-giving list.

Wednesday 7 December, 2011: h2g2 Announcements

The Guide Editors have announced a change to h2g2's style guide, English Usage in Approved Entries. British-English spelling will remain the accepted standard for most Entries submitted to Peer Review; however, in instances where an American author is writing on an American subject, then use of American spelling for that Entry is both sensible and acceptable.

This modification to h2g2's style guide has been approved by the Board of Not Panicking Ltd and applies to entries submitted to Peer Review from this point forward. The revision to English Usage in Approved Entries won't affect Entries that are already part of the Edited Guide.

Create

NaJoPoMo (the h2g2 Nation's Journal Posting Month ended at the stroke of midnight November 30th. Thirty days of outstanding journaling from a range of different researchers. We congratulate them for their efforts and for the reading enjoyment they have provided us with.

Researchers who posted to their journal each day during the month of November were eligible to win a prize by random number selection. Congratulations to hellboundforjoy who won a limited edition book containing some of the best of the h2g2 Guide.

However, there is no time to relax as Create has a whole new set of challenges for December. Share your festive recipes with the Guide; compose a story for the long, dark evenings of approaching winter; add an ornament to the h2g2 tree; turn a gift to a loved one or even a famous figure into poetry; and record your weird and wonderful holiday experiences in your journal.

Any questions, suggestions and offers of help to Solnushka or [email protected].

Tuesday 29 November, 2011: h2g2 Announcements

Meet in Manchester on February 18th, 2011

The first h2g2 Community Meet, not only of 2012, but since h2g2 moved to its new home, will be held Saturday February 18th, 2012 in Manchester.

As Pastey said, “We will be able to sit together, look back upon what we've achieved so far and be amazed, and what we've got to look forward to in the future, and be slightly scared.”

Please help us toast the future of the Guide at the h2g2 Manchester Meet. Reserve your spot at the meet by adding your comment below the Manchester - Saturday February 18th 2012 entry.

Congratulations, Solnushka and Asteroid Lil

Please welcome h2g2's newest
Guide Editor,
Solnushka. Sol's special editorial assignment,
Create has been inspiring researchers through creative iniPtiatives, such as the Festive Recipe Share.

Please also welcome Asteroid Lil to her new position as an Art Editor. Lil brings a wealth of technical and artistic expertise to the
Arts Editors.

The Moderators are recruiting!

The h2g2 Moderators are looking for a few dedicated, fair-minded, caring volunteers to help keep h2g2 safe and friendly. If you are interested in serving the h2g2 community as a Moderator, please follow the instructions in Applying to be a Moderator.

Happy Nerd

Comms Team

Wednesday 16 November, 2011: Welcome, h2g2 Readers!

The newly relaunched h2g2 has served up 1.4 million page impressions to over one-half of a million visitors during the past month. Traffic is growing very nicely, up 350% since October 23rd, the day before the BBC email went out.

Three-quarters of h2g2's visitors come from the UK, US, Canada and Australia, but h2g2's appeal is truly international, representing 209 countries and territories.

What are h2g2's readers reading?

Based on their reading habits, our visitors are an insatiably curious lot.

They are learning about Alice in Wonderland Syndrome, Animal Sex, and the Amazon Rainforest. They're music lovers, avid gardeners, and do-it-yourselfers. They're a crafty bunch who've recently looked up how to make cushions covers, play dough, and tassels. They love science, language, and history.

They're preparing for the holidays by learning to make fruit cake, presents, and Christmas pudding.

h2g2's readers are devouring everything we've written about Life, the Universe, and Everything. Let's make them feel welcome by writing more.

Tuesday 1 November, 2011: h2g2 Announcements

Welcome, Everyone

Welcome back to the approximately 2,500 researchers who transferred their account within a day of receiving an email last week from [email protected]. If you have been away for a long time, things may have changed, but there are plenty of ACEs, Gurus and other helpful people about to lend a hand.

To our new researchers, an especially warm welcome to you. h2g2 is a big place and it's easy to get lost at first, so do feel free to ask for help. Your ACE can help point you in the right direction.

To the 850 researchers who signed up before the BBC's email went out, we've said it before and we'll say it again, welcome to h2g2 in its new home. Perhaps you worked on your research in s2g2 until h2g2 launched. Perhaps you were among the volunteers beta testing h2g2 in the pre-launch hours. Many of you simply waited until we announced h2g2's launch on Noesis, Facebook, Twitter, or the h2g2 Community Consortium's website. Congratulations on being among the first to explore the newly relaunched Guide to Life, the Universe and Everything.

And a cheery hello to the tens of thousands of h2g2's readers. The Front Page features original new content, showcases the best of h2g2's vast archives, and delivers The h2g2 Post.

Calling All Researchers

Wondering what new research project to undertake? Visit Create for suggestions, encouragement and inspiration.

Once you have defined the scope of your research, choose whether to work solo or collaboratively. h2g2 offers two collaborative research forums: the Edited Guide Writing Workshop and the Alternative Writing Workshop. You may submit completed research to Peer Review or The h2g2 Post.

Don't Keep h2g2 A Secret

Now that h2g2 has moved to its new home we shouldn't selfishly keep it to ourselves. Share your favourite entries with your family and friends. Blog about h2g2's move or your latest research project.

Tech Update

A great big 'thank you' to Pastey and the Tech Team for fixing the search function.

If you discover any bugs, please follow our bug reporting procedure in the New h2g2 Feedback.

Saturday 22 October, 2011: h2g2 Announcements

The sale and migration of a website might have proven too disruptive for some, but h2g2 researchers are made of sterner stuff. In the face of adversity, researchers keep dreaming up new research projects. One group of researchers undertook a collaborative project entitled, What to do when things go wrong while you are traveling, soon to appear in Peer Review.

Here is a list of other new and ongoing research projects to intrigue, delight, and inspire:

1. Create is a new project which aims to promote endeavours in reading, writing, rhythm, blues, art, photography, and biscuits. Create can encourage you to greater expressions of creativity, more daring feats of research, and wilder fun. Create is going live on Monday, but you don't have to wait. Add Create as a friend now.

2. National Novel Writing Month begins November 1. Each year a few h2g2 researchers undertake the challenge to write 50,000 words of fiction during November, stopping only for drinking sessions at the Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Researchers' Lounge. Feel free to drop by the lounge and offer words of encouragement or buy the next round.

3. November is also h2g2's National Journal Posting Month. To accept h2g2's NaJoPoMo challenge, simply post in your journal every single day during the month of November. Oh, and don't forget to sign up here.

4. Having trouble deciding between NaNoWriMo and NaJoPoMo? Do both! Post excerpts from your novel in your journal. Let a character in your novel be a prolific blogger. Or do both writing exercises, but in different months.

5. The Guide Editors invite you to visit Peer Review and offer helpful comments to fellow researchers. Be inspired to submit your own research to PR.

6. The Guide Editors also sponsor the Showcase, a collection of the best writing on h2g2. How do we know it's the best? We depend on you to tell us here.

7. The Post staff and the Guide Editors have issued an Olympic Challenge in honor of the 2012 London Games. Submit your Olympic research to PR or The Post.

8. In addition to illustrating new Guide entries, the Community Artists are continuing to replace lost Getty images and produce photos and illustrations for
previously published Guide entries.

If you would like to participate in any of these creative projects, please follow the links for more information.

Tech Update

h2g2's launch last Sunday stirred up a hitherto hidden nest of software bugs. The Technical Team has been hard at work battling bugs as they crop up. Pastey recently vanquished the dreaded Disappearing Name Beetle, and just in time for Halloween Anagram season, too.

If you find a bug, big or small, please report it right away to New h2g2 Feedback.

Tuesday 18 October, 2011: Special Edition of Announcements From h2g2's Future

Welcome to h2g2 in its new home.

It is no stretch of the truth to say that teams of volunteers worked around the clock since early Friday morning till late Sunday night to roll out the h2g2 red carpet.

h2g2's five-stage launch

Stage 1 began on Friday morning. Pastey and Brian reset h2g2's database to the state it was in October 3, 2011, when h2g2's move from the BBC's servers to Not Panicking Ltd began. Resetting h2g2's database tidied up all of the test data. If you are curious what test data looks like, some of it has been preserved for your reading pleasure. http://h2g2.com/dna/h2g2/A87706632

Stage 2 was the first live test of the new transfer system. The Editors, Moderators, Gurus, and senior volunteers used the transfer system to unlock their account information and access their personal spaces.

Stage 3 began on Saturday. As the Editors prepared h2g2's new Front Page (Congratulations, Minorvogonpoet!) and the Moderators and other volunteers posted the new Terms and Conditions, the Gurus assisted the remaining volunteers through the transfer process.

Stage 4 began Saturday evening and continued through Sunday. Beta testers were selected from among the h2g2 researchers who had registered on Noesis. First a few researchers were invited over, then a few more.

Whenever the beta testers stirred up a bug, the Tech Team sprang into action. Although one monstrous bug forced the beta testers to stand down temporarily, Pastey dispatched it and testing resumed.

Toward the end of the beta testing period, all the researchers on s2g2 had been invited over to h2g2. The Tech Team exterminated bugs as they appeared and stabilized the software. (This isn't to say the software is completely bug-free. Should you see something that isn't working correctly, please report it at the New h2g2 Feedback page.)

Before moving to the fifth and final stage of h2g2's launch, representatives from each of the volunteer teams met on Skype with Robbie Stamp and Brian Larholm for a go/no go poll. Excitement grew as each person said, 'Go', agreeing that h2g2 and their team were ready for launch.

The Technical Team threw the switch that launched h2g2 late Sunday night. Volunteers toasted h2g2's success as researchers stepped across to the threshold into h2g2 at its new home: www.h2g2.com. Brian summed up the moment perfectly: 'It has been a fun ride so far ' amazing how things pan out.'

Sunday night's launch opened a new chapter in h2g2's history. Volunteers are working on site improvements to be implemented over the coming weeks and months. Keep your eyes peeled for new skins, new features, and of course lots of new Guide entries.

Sunday 2 October, 2011: Special Edition of Announcements From h2g2's Future

The h2g2 website will begin its trek across cyberspace to its new home Monday morning, 3 October, 2011. As soon as h2g2's journey begins, its old BBC address will lead to a page announcing h2g2's move to h2g2.com.

During the move, news updates will be found at www.h2g2.com.
After the move, www.h2g2.com is where you'll find the living, breathing,
constantly evolving Guide to Life, the Universe, and Everything.

The journey is expected to take two to three days. While we are waiting for h2g2 to arrive at its new home, Noesis Systems Ltd has thoughtfully provided researchers with Somewhere To Go To, the S2G2 forum. Some researchers have already been making use of S2G2 as a place to drink Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters , campaign to rename Thursday
Thing, and wait for Nighthoover's return.

If you wish to join them, you'll need a Noesis account. For security
reasons, your s2g2 user name and password are entirely separate from
your h2g2 login information. If you don't wish to make use of S2G2, simply pop by www.h2g2.com for the latest news.

Thursday 29 September, 2011: Special Edition of Announcements From h2g2's Future

We expected that our last day with the BBC would be tomorrow, Friday 30th, but we have now had it confirmed that the site will remain with the BBC for the next couple of days.

Remember, the updates will be posted at www.h2g2.com.

Wednesday 28 September, 2011: Special Transition Edition of Announcements From h2g2's Future

Our amazing Technical Team is working wonders, and we are nearly ready to move to our new home.

As we get closer to the move, Noesis Systems Ltd will be opening up a public forum to h2g2 researchers. The forum is called
S2G2, Somewhere To Go To. Although S2G2 is not h2g2, you may use S2G2 as you might an airport lounge during a layover, sharing conversation, food, and beverages with fellow researchers and Noesis users.

To gain access to S2G2, you'll need to register for a
Noesis account. For security reasons, your s2g2 user name and password are entirely separate from your h2g2 login information. If you already have a Noesis account, you should already be able to use s2g2.

S2G2 includes The Tannoy where updates regarding h2g2's move will be posted. If you don't wish to make use of S2G2, you will be able to read the same announcements on the h2g2 Community Consortium website during Transition.

Remember, keep your handy and

- h2g2 Future

Wednesday 21 September, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

Excitement is in the air as volunteers testers put new h2g2 software through its paces as fast as coders write it. H2G2's transition to its new home is just around the corner, and the Comms Team would like to enlist your help to let researchers know. If you use any form of social media, you can help spread the word to all researchers.

The Comms Team will post news about h2g2's move on h2g2, h2g2c2.co.uk, Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. All messages having to do with the move will include the hash tag #h2g2move. Please help by sharing messages with the #h2g2move hash tag on Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus.

If you use Facebook, please look for messages from the H2G2 Community Consortium and share those messages with your friends. The H2G2 Community Consortium's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/h2g2c2.

If you use Twitter, please look for tweets from the H2G2 Community Consortium and re-tweet to your followers. The H2G2 Community Consortium's Twitter account is @h2g2c2.

If you use Google Plus, please share messages with the hash tag #h2g2move with your circle of friends. If you call or chat with h2g2 researchers, please remind them that h2g2 is moving, and invite them to join the voyage to h2g2's new home.

Thank you for helping us ensure No Researcher is Left Behind.

Wednesday 14 September, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

Sad News

Members of the h2g2 community have been paying their respects here upon learning the sad news that Douglas Adams's wife Jane Belson passed away recently. Our thoughts are with Polly and the rest of the family.

Updates From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

Tech Team

The Tech Team received a copy of the main h2g2 code late last week. Since then, BBC techies and Tech Team volunteers have been working to make sure that NooHooToo will be ready for the h2g2 community as soon as possible. A big Thank you to the BBC Technical Staff for their deeply appreciated assistance.

London Olympics 2012

The Arts and Design Team and the Editorial Team are racing ahead to 2012 and preparing the Guide for the London Summer Olympics. Join these two teams as they tackle everything from Archery to Wrestling.

Wednesday 7 September, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

Updates From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

Guide Editorial Team

Icy North has graciously agreed to step into the breach caused by the departure of Jordan whose contribution to the consortium bid and to holding clearly to the vision of the new h2g2 cannot be stressed enough. We wish him well in all his ventures and hope that he will be back to keep us on track. Good luck Jordan and thank you for all you have made possible. We will miss you greatly.

The Community Editors are getting to know each other and starting to really define what makes a 'Community Editor' and how the CEs are going to help make h2g2 a fantastic place to be.

Community Editors

The Moderation Volunteers are hammering out the noohootoo House Rules and Guidelines and Help pages and Moderation system like a pair of BanglaBangers on an old junker. Volunteers who have previously moderated other sites are sharing best practice ideas, and we're using their wisdom and experience to write our official documents as well as some in-house training and guidelines for the Volunteers themselves. It's an exciting time for the newest volunteer group on the site!

Thursday 1 September, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

The h2g2 community is buzzing with excitement over the news that
the contract is signed and h2g2 is soon to leave the BBC.

If you are wondering what to do or expect in the coming weeks, the h2g2 Community Consortium offers several helpful suggestions in How Can I help? and
Don't Panic.

Updates From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

Technical Team

Community Editors

Moderation has been a big focus for The Community Editors for the last few weeks. They've been reading the relevant threads on Ask and elsewhere and absorbing as much as they can.

The Community Editors have also been making good progress on writing replacements for the BBC's moderation FAQs and other pages. Hopefully they will be shorter and easier to understand.

Comms Team

The Comms Team has updated the h2g2 Community Consortium's website and will be publishing announcements both there and here on h2g2 during this last month with the BBC.

Wednesday 24 August, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

Business and Admin Team

Do you have bookkeeping skills? The Business and Admin Team is looking for a volunteer bookkeeper. If you have a background in bookkeeping and a few hours to volunteer each week, please reply here.

Arts and Design Team

The Arts and Design Team is looking for a Photoshop volunteer. If you have Photoshop (or compatible) skills, please add a comment here.

Community Editors

The Community Editors are delighted to welcome Bel, Asteroid Lil, and Lil'old Me (aka Auntie Giggles) to their ranks. Congratuations to the new Community Editors.

Friday 12 August, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

The h2g2 website will begin its trek across cyberspace to its new home Monday morning, 3 October, 2011. As soon as h2g2's journey begins, its old BBC address will lead to a page announcing h2g2's move to h2g2.com.

The Business and Admin Team, on behalf of all h2g2 Future volunteers would like to invite our researchers, old and new, to take part in regular creative challenges. We hope that some of these would be focused on the Edited Guide, but also on fiction, photography and other audiovisual mediums, journals and even commenting on entries. The idea is to give people inspiration and a chance to see what other people can do with the prompts. Although we are also quite keen to unleash your competitive natures on occasion too. Feel free to drop by the lounge and offer words of encouragement or buy the next round.

It is intended that these challenges would appear on a dedicated new area of noohootoo and be updated regularly.

But we need your help.

We need people to help come up with ideas for fun and interesting tasks to set people. A Challenge Team in fact. If you would like to volunteer, or if you have a really good one-off idea, please drop into the Volunteer for the Creative Challenges Team thread.

And we need help in deciding what name we should call this new area. Please answer in the I've got a really good name for the Creative Challenge Area thread. (This might have the beginnings of a competition in it.)

Arts and Design Team

The Arts and Design Team is pleased to welcome Dr Anthea as an Arts Editor.

The Team has also published Entries Without Artwork, another list of entries without illustrations or photos. Artists, photographers and AV volunteers are invited to chisel away at Entries Without Artwork, but are asked to give priority to entries about to debut on the Front Page as well as those listed in Grab Brushes and Cameras!

Community Editors

The Community Editors are currently working on updating h2g2's moderation help pages, as well finding solutions to the difficulties ACEs are facing due to the recent update to Barlesque.

Wednesday 27 July, 2011: The Special Edition of Announcements From h2g2's Future

Some researchers have asked questions about the emails they've received from the BBC. Answers to those questions can be found here: No Researcher Left Behind.

If you haven't received the BBC's emails, please make sure that the email address shown in your BBCiD settings is for an account you check regularly. You may also wish to add h2g2move AT bbc DOT co DOT uk to your address book or contact list. And above all, .

Wednesday 20 July, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

You may have already received an email from 'BBC H2G2move' stating the BBC intends to transfer ownership of the H2G2 website to proposed new owner, the H2G2 Group chaired by Robbie Stamp. From the email, "If you are happy for the BBC to pass on your email address to the new owner so they can invite you to re-join H2G2 after it has left the BBC, then please do absolutely nothing! The H2G2 Group will be in touch in due course."

Rest assured: if you do nothing, you can look forward to receiving an invitation to the exciting voyage to our new home. If you believe you haven't received your email from the BBC, please check your spam filter.

The BBC's email has been drawing researchers who have been away for a long time. Some have been on such lengthy research assignments that the site has changed in the interim. Please help our returning researchers find their way around h2g2.

Status Update From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

Guide Editorial Team

The Guide Editorial Team published Introducing the Showcase in The Post. Dmitri Gheorgheni urged all researchers to "please nominate entries for the Showcase ... Note the thread at the bottom of the page. Please keep nominating entries for the Showcase."

Dmitri also reminds all researchers to "Write, write, write. Then write some more. Send these gems to the AWW, PR, and the Post. Don't email them to Jordan, he has enough headaches ..."

Arts and Design Team

The Arts and Design Team is writing a thousand words, more or less, to describe what makes a good picture for the Guide. All photographers, illustrators, and artists are welcome to help draft Illustrations for Entries.

Photographers and illustrators have been undertaking a project to replace photos that we anticipate losing after the sale has officially been completed. If you would like to lend a hand, please read Grab Brushes and Cameras!

Community Editors

The Community Editors and especially the ACEs have geared up to serve the needs of returning h2g2 researchers drawn back to our site by the BBC's email.

Comms Team

Comms Team members, social media volunteers, and all interested others are invited to subscribe to h2g2 Future - Comms Team.

Social media social butterflies can add NooHooToo News (h2g2 dot future dot comms dot team) to their Google Plus circles, 'like' the h2g2 Community Consortium's Facebook page, and follow twitter accounts @h2g2c2 and @h2g2_Guide.

Happy Nerd reminds you to submit your votes for entries submitted in the Saving The Best for Last Competition by Mon/Sodit 5:00 pm, July 25, 2011.

New and Recently Updated Pages

• Illustrations for Entries
• Grab Brushes and Cameras!
• Introducing the Showcase

Help Wanted / Situations Vacant

Do you want to help with NooHooToo? These activities may appeal to you:

Social Media Users, please sign up here.

ACEs: Please sign up at the ACE Recruitment page.

Help Page Helpers: Please sign up at the Helping with the Help page.

Gurus, please sign up here.

Community Central Sign-posters, please volunteer here.

Help Find our Missing Researchers here.

Be a h2g2 Historian

- h2g2 Future

Wednesday 13 July, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

Status Update From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

This week, the Guide Team has continued its efforts to recognize and instigate high quality writing by launching the Starter Showcase. A carefully chosen panel of some of h2g2's best writers and reviewers will read and assess community-nominated entries to create a limited selection of the very best writing of h2g2. This Starter set of entries will seed the ongoing Showcase, which will continue to add new entries in h2g2's next incarnation. For more details, or to participate, visit Introducing The Showcase.

The Arts and Design Team The Arts and Design Team has been undertaking a project to replace photos that we anticipate losing after the sale has officially been completed. If you would like to help replace these images with your photographs or illustrations, please see this thread for more details.

The moderation team are working out various scenarios to prepare for the future - whatever happens, we want to be ready. Icy North also picked up the ball, and his very good threads on the Community opinions can be found at the projects page.

The Community Editors are also seeking applications from prospective ACE
If yoChristmas puddingPeer Reviewu find a bug, big or small, please report it right away to Bs. For more information, please visit
PSMILEY TYPE="book"/ the ACE Recruitment pSUBHEADER


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age.

The Technical Team has relaunched a successful volunteer scheme from the past: the Gurus. Gurus are helpful, patient people with a willingness to share their technical expertise with others. If you would like to be a Guru, or you used to be a Guru and would like to be one again, leave the Technical Team a note here.

The Tech Team's plans for Operation No Researcher Left Behind are shaping up quite well.

Work continues to establish the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Foundation and the h2g2 Company, to communicate news to h2g2 researchers, and to develop a plan of public outreach.

The Comms Team has been keeping the h2g2 community informed through Announcements From h2g2's Future, the FAQs, and social media. For more information, visit the Comms Team's page.

New and Recently Updated Pages

• h2g2 Future - Comms Team
• Site Map
• h2g2 Future - FAQs

Help Wanted / Situations Vacant

Do you want to help with NooHooToo? These
activities may appeal to you:

ACEs Wanted - Sign up to be an ACE

If you've ever thought of being an ACE, now could be the time! We're hoping to have a great team ready and waiting for the change, so if you've ever thought of it please sign up at the ACE Recruitment page.

Social Media Users Wanted - Sign up to socialize

Do you use social media, such as twitter and facebook? Would you like to use your social media skills on h2g2's behalf?

Please introduce yourself in 140 characters or less.

Help Page Helpers Wanted

There are scores of help pages all over h2g2, some official,
some semi-official, some for things that are now defunct. We need to compile a catalogue of them first so we know how many we have to update or delete. This is a really important task.

Guru Wanted

We are relaunching the Gurus. Gurus are friendly froods who keep h2g2 running smoothly by dealing with all the problems, requests and comments that researchers raise from time to time. In lots of ways this is like ACEing with added helpfulness, and you'll have more experienced researchers to help you give advice and the Tech Team to fix it if it's broke. This is a re-launch of an old scheme and we are collecting a list of interested researchers and former Gurus while we sort out the details.

Community Central Sign-posters Wanted

We all know it's hard to find out what's happening where on
h2g2. If you'd like to make it easier for a newbie to find the active parts of h2g2, then subscribe to this thread and talk about the sorts of things we could include, and how to get it working.

Find Our Missing Researchers

Are you in touch with a lot of old Researchers, ones who got
locked out of their accounts or who've drifted off to other websites? Drop a note in this thread if you are interested in bringing old friends
back.

Compile an h2g2 history

We'll have lots of newbies soon. If you'd like to help them
find out what we're all about would you like to help organise either an h2g2
history Entry/page, or a place where the histories of various h2g2 events
are collated together? Perhaps an h2g2 calendar showing the days of the
year that specific events had happened. Join this conversation if you're
proud of h2g2's story.

Wednesday 6 July, 2011: Announcements From h2g2's Future

News From The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy Foundation

As well as being Mr Inquisitor's latest victim - er - interviewee, Robbie has spent the week with legal eagles and bean counters working with Brian Larholm and our very own Dr Z on the details of setting up the Foundation and the commercial entity. More information to follow as and when there is some.

A Messages From Alyson Larholm, Co-owner of Noesis System Ltd

We have been completely blown away with the enthusiasm and dedication which the h2g2 Community have shown. The more we work with you all, the more we realise how passionate you are for the site, both in its past and for its future. Together we make an incredible team: Robbie, who is an amazing man and someone we look forward to working with in the years to come, you the h2g2 community, and us. By allowing us to share our experience in Communities with you, we can help move h2g2 into the future with new ideas and concepts, while embracing your traditions.

So let's raise a glass to the future of h2g2.

Lettuce spry.

- Aly

Status Update From h2g2 Future's Interim Teams

While working towards streamlining the publishing process and enriching readers' Guide experience, the h2g2 Future Editorial Team announces a new competition:

Heads up h2g2ers: Do you want fame, fortune? Well, fame?

Celebrate the beginning of the renaissance of h2g2 by entering a competition to be the author of the first Entry published in the NooHooToo. Win pride of place in the new h2g2. Be a pioneer.

The h2g2 Future Guide Editorial Team is sponsoring an initiative to see the best-of-the-best new Entries that are submitted before the handover, but that will not be published until after the transition period. Start writing now - remember we want to see original, fresh writing. Tell us about something that sings from your heart, explain your little corner of the Galaxy to us, or teach us something new. Help will be forthcoming to hone your skills, should you wish.

The winner will be always be able to say: Mine was the very first Entry to feature on the Front Page of the new h2g2.

Perhaps there will be a T-shirt. This is advance notice; dates and further details will be supplied as soon as we have made them up. Men, women, small furry creatures from Alpha Centuri: Start your research.

The Arts and Design Team welcomed new volunteers into a new forum on Noesis, where they immediately began to work out how a combined Artists, Photographers, and audiovisual volunteer group will work. The Team has compiled a list of tools and resources to help each other as artists, made a list of items to discuss with the Technical Team about managing images, and found out a lot more about the legal issues to do with publishing images online.

Moderators are hard at work putting all the ideas from Magrethea into formal ideas and documents, and have started work with Aly and the volunteer mods on creating a sane and secure moderation system that is not likely to be confounded by discussions of large stripey kitties, winter wear, and underage ironing.

The ACEs have a new base of operations, that is, a forum on Noesis from which to help Researchers during the move.

For more information about other Community Editors' initiatives, visit the Community Volunteers - Discussion Page.

The Technical Team is pleased to announce the relaunch of the very successful technical volunteer scheme - the Gurus. Peet has agreed to lead the new Gurus, and kea's been tackling the first Guru task of indexing and cataloging the help pages. Ottox and Icy North have joined Peet and kea in this undertaking.

The Tech Team is making excellent progress on plans for Operation No Researcher Left Behind to ensure a smooth journey for all.

Most of this week has been spent on admin tasks like organising, attending and minuting meetings. We now have a weekly cycle of updates and / or meetings for each of the core teams.

The Business Team has opened up official lines of communication with Sam and some of the former Italics so the Interim Community Eds and Interim Guide Eds can ask for advice on the doubreys and dontburys of running the site.

Business Team members have been helping Kea set up the Help Page Catalogue which is the first step in updating them.

A recent addition to the volunteer teams league, Comms Team keeps researchers and the public apprised of important news here on h2g2 and through conventional and social media.

Speaking of social media, If you're a researcher who uses twitter or facebook, and you'd like to use your social media skills on h2g2's behalf, please introduce yourself in 140 characters or less.

New and Recently Updated Pages

• Introducing the Interim Teams
• Site Map
• h2g2 Future - FAQs
• h2g2 Community Consortium Members and Helpers

Help Wanted / Situations Vacant

Do you want to help with NooHooToo? These
activities may appeal to you:

Social Media Users Wanted - Sign up to socialize

Do you use social media, such as twitter and facebook? Would you like to use your social media skills on h2g2's behalf?

Please introduce yourself in 140 characters or less.

Catalogue the help pages - help kea work on
this

There are scores of help pages all over h2g2, some official,
some semi-official, some for things that are now defunct. We need to compile
a catalogue of them first so we know how many we have to update or delete.
This is a really important task.

Become a Guru - put
your name down here

We are relaunching the Gurus. Gurus are friendly froods who
keep h2g2 running smoothly by dealing with all the problems, requests and
comments that researchers raise from time to time.

In lots of ways this is like ACEing with added helpfulness, and
you'll have more experienced researchers to help you give advice and the
Tech Team to fix it if it's broke.

This is a re-launch of an old scheme and we are collecting a
list of interested researchers and former Gurus while we sort out the details.

Existing volunteer schemes - sign up in the
conversation threads off the Interim Teams' page

The existing volunteer schemes all need fresh blood, er,
additional volunteers. If you'd prefer to be part of an established team
then these are the schemes to join.

Plan a Community Central page - join the conversation here

We all know it's hard to find out what's happening where on
h2g2. If you'd like to make it easier for a newbie to find the active parts
of h2g2, then subscribe to this thread and talk about the sorts of things we
could include, and how to get it working.

Find our Missing Researchers - drop a note in here

Are you in touch with a lot of old Researchers, ones who got
locked out of their accounts or who've drifted off to other websites? Drop a
note in this thread if you are interested in bringing old friends
back.

Compile an h2g2 history - drop
by here

We'll have lots of newbies soon. If you'd like to help them
find out what we're all about would you like to help organise either an h2g2
history Entry/page, or a place where the histories of various h2g2 events
are collated together? Perhaps an h2g2 calendar showing the days of the
year that specific events had happened. Join this conversation if you're
proud of h2g2's story.

Wednesday 29 June, 2011: Announcements From H2G2's Future

A Message from Robbie Stamp

I just want to say thank you to the team at the BBC and the Community Consortium who worked their socks off to get us to the point where we were all able to make the announcements, rather fittingly, on the Summer Solstice, last week. The response to the news seems to have been positive and we are all now working hard to make the transition as smooth as possible. There is a great deal to be done, but for my part, it is just wonderful to be back and really involved in h2g2 and its future once again.

Status Update From The Interim Teams

The Editorial Team has been busy preparing to take on the editorial duties our Italics currently perform. The new Editorial volunteers urge us all to submit solo or collaborative research of all genres, and to read and post helpful comments in Peer Review.

The Arts and Design Team is working with all the other teams on any number of projects, including a celebratory Gargleblaster t-shirt. The team's incredible output has almost completely obscured their cunning plan to run away with Category 3 of the Saving the Best for Last competition. Will they get away with it?

Do you want to join an effort to find missing researchers, plan Community Central, or write a h2g2 history? Visit the Community Volunteers - Discussion Page where the Community Editors are undertaking numerous projects to build our community.

The Technical Team has begun to build the new login system this week and hopes to start testing it towards the end of next week.Another Tech Team initiative is the relaunch of the Gurus volunteer scheme. If you are interested, drop a note here.

We're finalising a plan for weekly updates on the
Announcements From H2G2's Future. Wandrin' Star has joined Happy Nerd as a wordsmith, and h5ringer and Bel have volunteered to do the GuideML. If you use twitter, subscribe to @h2g2c2 and you will get links to announcements such tweeted by our very own Minichessemouse.

You have questions, and we're finding answers. We have a schedule for publishing FAQs and are starting to work on guides for the volunteer teams.

Help Wanted / Situations Vacant

If you want to help with NooHooToo but don't know how, then these
activities may appeal to you:

Catalogue the help pages - help kea work on
this

There are scores of help pages all over h2g2, some official,
some semi-official, some for things that are now defunct. We need to compile
a catalogue of them first so we know how many we have to update or delete.
This is a really important task.

Become a Guru - put
your name down here

We are relaunching the Gurus. Gurus are friendly froods who
keep h2g2 running smoothly by dealing with all the problems, requests and
comments that researchers raise from time to time.

In lots of ways this is like ACEing with added helpfulness, and
you'll have more experienced researchers to help you give advice and the
Tech Team to fix it if it's broke.

This is a re-launch of an old scheme and we are collecting a
list of interested researchers and former Gurus while we sort out the details.

Existing volunteer schemes - sign up in the
conversation threads off the Interim Teams' page

The existing volunteer schemes all need fresh blood, er,
additional volunteers. If you'd prefer to be part of an established team
then these are the schemes to join.

Plan a Community Central page - join the conversation here

We all know it's hard to find out what's happening where on
h2g2. If you'd like to make it easier for a newbie to find the active parts
of h2g2, then subscribe to this thread and talk about the sorts of things we
could include, and how to get it working.

Find our Missing Researchers - drop a note in here

Are you in touch with a lot of old Researchers, ones who got
locked out of their accounts or who've drifted off to other websites? Drop a
note in this thread if you are interested in bringing old friends
back.

Compile an h2g2 history - drop
by here

We'll have lots of newbies soon. If you'd like to help them
find out what we're all about would you like to help organise either an h2g2
history Entry/page, or a place where the histories of various h2g2 events
are collated together? Perhaps an h2g2 calendar showing the days of the
year that specific events had happened. Join this conversation if you're
proud of h2g2's story.

Friday 24 June, 2011: h2g2's Future

Fellow froods - we did it. We're taking h2g2 home. Back to the Community and back to one of its founders, Robbie Stamp, with the help of some knights with shining servers: Noesis Systems Ltd.

In the last few months the Committee have worked incredibly hard to put together something truly special. It was hard work - thousands of posts on three forums, telephone calls, international conference calls, trips to London, emails; but it was worth it.

We know you have questions coming, so we've prepared some FAQs in advance. If your question isn't answered, please post it here. We will find the answer and get back to you as soon as we can.

Subscribe to From H2G2'S Future for more announcements, but for now, remember: DON'T PANIC!

- The h2g2 Consortium Committee