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

The new DNA Community, Get Writing is going pretty well so far! Woo Hoo!

(Launch announcement here: F94024?thread=316403)

It's great to see a few familiar faces over there and everyone is welcome to contribute to the new site *of course*, but... the team would really appreciate it if people didn't wander over there, welcome recently signed-up Get Writing members... and immediately try and recruit them to write for another DNA site.

The Get Writing audience comprises of many newcomers, who have registered because they've been drawn here by the Get Writing BBCi and TV promotions and it's rather misleading if the first person they meet online within the Get Writing site talks of SOP, The Post, BoTF, the AWW or WW2. It's confusing for them, and a bit harsh on the team who have spent so much time developing the new site and promoting it. Contributors will undoubtedly flow between the communities as time goes on, and that's a good thing , but it'd be good if we could all stand back a bit and let them find their feet within their own community *first*!

Perhaps we can introduce this into DNA community netiquette?

isn't it best to introduce people to the whole of dna instead of just one site? i say this considering that a lot of guideml pages are on other sites, a lot of people's spaces have links to entries on other sites, and if they mis-type the address it takes you to a h2g2 cannot be found page.

isn't dna best when people branch across all sites? wouldn't it then be best to have welcome pages with information on the particular site AND the whole of dna, so that they have other options available and are not confused by al the things they go to?

spook

Hi Spook

The page not found problem is included within the bugs database as a to be fixed, as you say, it's confusing!

I think its best initially if people see the original destination site initially (whether reached via a link, a TV trail or whatever). By clicking the link they've made the decision on where they want to go, and introducing further choices at this stage might not be seen to be helpful on our part...

Scenario:

I'd like the cheese omlette please.

Certainly Sir.

Here you go Sir, I know you said you'd like the cheese omelette, but since you ordered from our food menu I've bought along some cabbage, some ice-cream, a packet of cashew nuts AND the omelette.

Just the omelette I ordered please.

Are you sure Sir, the cashew nuts are very good? Or the cabbage, that's a *very* popular choice Sir?

**Wanders in, dressed in plus fours, tweed jacket, a battered barbour and flat cap... with a shotgun under one arm and a load of signs under the other**

Hmm, I heard you were looking for a gamekeeper?

Where should I put these then?

**points to the signs reading "NO POACHING"/"TRESPASSERS WILL BE KILLED AND EATEN".

by the way...just what is the BM & FCC anyway

Bet you can't guess...

It's the name of an obscure group or club, in an example non-existant food community. First thing I could think of...

The next two sites to be opened

Peta - as thinking more of the scenario going like this:

I'd like the cheese omlette please.

Certainly Sir. Here's your cheese omlette, and there's a menu over there if you want to find out more about what we have on offer.

Thank you!



that's what i mean. not overloading people with the information, but providing people with an easily available link to a place where they can find out more about what else is on ofer on dna.

spook

And I suspect the first question might be: Do you have cheese omelet?
or: May I have a and the menu please,

Ah, no. Remember he already chose the omelette before he came in.

And as for the menu, yes I do see what you mean, but I think it would be good form to let him eat the omelette first, before asking him if he wants to eat something else.

Especially if the guy doing the asking is the pastry chef, and not the guy sticking up ads all over town for his own special recipe omelettes!

And on to more important matters....


Beans, Mash and Fish Finger Club

(Can't you just tell I'm missing english haut-cuisine

How about just putting a link to the other sites page on the hub on all sites <./>Welcome</.> (or whatever) pages?

Tango

Good idea Tango! I'll do that when I get a mo, I've been meaning to do something with the Hub front page for ages!

Whisky, I'm much more of an international girl!

(Big Mac and French Fries Club! )

I was saying to put it on OTHER sites welcome pages, other than making sure the hubs site list is uptodate, the hub doesn't need changing. You need to persuade other sites editors to change their sites (unless you want to go over their heads and do it yourself, but i doubt you would do that).

Tango

Aw, sorry, got it now Tango.

It's much harder to persuade other sites to promote each other, no matter how logical or desirable that might be. Part of the problem would be that a site like WW2 might feel that linking to a sci-fi site like h2g2 (as they see it) would devalue their proposition, and parent's music room would feel that linking to WW2 would feel that it was a totally unrelated and therefore bizarre link for them to have on *their* welcome page, and so on...

I can't insist that anyone does it unfortunately either - I need more *power*!! - all of the other sites are run from within other divisions of the BBC - we're consultants and service providers to them - we can't insist, merely suggest.

I'll suggest though, and continue suggesting, it's worth a try.

Maybe it is possible to have on all the sub-sites a link to "other communities" which sends them to the Hub.
On the left side of the hub-pages then a link should be placed to ALL communities. At the moment at least WW2 and Get Writing are missing.

That's kind of what i meant. A link from WW2 to the hub, and than a link from the hub to h2g2, for example. It might be easier to get editors to agree to that, than direct links to other sites. There are certainly logical reasons for a link to the hub.

Tango

yeah, like the fact that guideml pages are on the hub, help pages are on the hub, and the hub is really meant to be the hub of dna, so really all other sites should be linked from the hub and linked back to the hub, and the hub should become http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ , and when their are errors there should be a hub error page, so that all researchers would become familiar with the hub and accessing other sites, even though most will likely only use their site and the hub for information.

spook

All very good ideas and much easier to set up for me too!

I'll be back later to comment - have to rush out now....

Thanks!

Hi all...

As all this hub-bub (geddit?) is GW related, I thought I should add a weeny comment.

- we do actually link to h2g2 in our links page as there is a clear relationship (some say overlap) between folk who may want to write fiction v. non-fiction. And we've just added a link to the Hub (after suggestion by DNA veterans).

- Most new users come to a DNA site for the first time and spend a week or two just getting used to the tools, let alone any new terminology. Start throwing acronyms around and they get very frightened. As we've only been up a week... well, you know.

Is it not best to allow them to find things in their own time, by placing a link in the (clearly accessible) 'Links' area rather than dropping it into conversation when they're still finding their way round?

Just a note, I don't really have an issue with 'poaching' users (though I'm sure they would taste delicious!) as we're all one BBC (how corporate am I?) and I think people find what suits them best. So what if it's another DNA site, or even a message board? If it's a BBC community, then I'm doing my job right and we're building a better community proposition that the bosses upstairs will recognise as a valuable asset to the organisation. Then we all win!

e