h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Matt, you say that second conversation is gathering dust, but it has been superseded by your other Update Forum proposal, which has effectively eliminated the Update Forum completely. Well done for getting this new way of doing things accepted.

It has?

The page explaining the process has been updated with the new one I drafted? And all the other pages linked to the Update Forum are updated too? So everyone knows what to do now, not just those that by chance were subscribed to particular conversations.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's a step in the right direction making things more accessible and less convoluted, but in order to do this then the whole process needs to be confirmed at every stage, or the conflicting information makes the site look amateurish.

I know the Italic(s) are hard pressed, but h2g2 is going to go down the proverbial if we don't act now. I used to suggest things, and then come against a brick wall, and think "ah, bah phooey, am I bothered?".

Not now, there needs to be a strong voice from the whole of the community to bring things back on track, get the site moving again - or we'll lose it, perhaps the same way that Get Writing was lost...

I may be jumping off the deep end, but it seems a shame to let the feeling that h2g2 has become dated and aged be the first nail in (to some) the coffin.

"And as said, where did the Community Artists go?"

Well, that was apparently my fault. Due to some old-fashioned way of creating forums, after I'd left the Beeb I accidently destroyed the review forum page. It was then hidden so it could be sorted out (would need Jim Lynn or someone similar to dig out the old test), and never was, so there was no place to submite entries.

I don't think they create important content in that way any more!

Apparently around the same time a lot of the artists left the scheme, and it's really difficult to find talented artists, especially when the method of including the art was so cumbersome - they really needed to allow the CAs access in the same way that the staff artists had, but it was impossible.

Personally, I prefer being able to use photographs, with any remaining CAs doing their great stuff when they can.

I've noticed the CAs stuff on the Life, the Universe and Everything pages in Brunel - the little Attenborough pic for Human Behaviour C122 my favourite, but it's a shame to see that aspect of the site apparently lost or not used as much

It is a shame, because a lot of their work was much better than anything the BBC had come up with - a lot more creative that this rubbish - A673508 (the picture, not the entry).

PS - was not including Jimster in with 'BBC'...

Ah, true. The old 'blobs' really do speak more like h2g2 to me. I enjoy photos and think they add something, but they are best for those geographical entries, sometimes the more humanistic style of Entry need a witty little picture, an imaginative scene, and that's where the CAs came into the fore. But now...

That's true - most of my entries are either geographical, historical or botanical. I think those are the posh words for what I write! Other types of entries do look good with the quirky artists pics.