Forum:A new look USP

Forums: Index > Village Dump > A new look USP

Note: This topic has been unedited for 5051 days. It is considered archived - the discussion is over.

Hi! Welcome to my little forum. Please, everyone grab a coffee or tea before you sit down. I have a bit of a presentation I'd like to go through before we begin in earnest.

Now I'm assuming you all know each other, but as a bit of an ice-breaker I'd like you all to preface your first comment with your name and three things about yourself. Two of those things need to be true, and one of those needs to be a lie. The point of the game is to work out the lie. For instance, when talking about me:

1. I have been looking after Unsignpost for the last few weeks while UU has been on a well deserved holiday.
2. I'm often considered as a good coder, and many of my articles that I have contributed have been stand-out examples of what coding can achieve.
3. I'm hung like a horse.

Now two of those facts are true, one is false, and it's up to you to work out which is untrue.

That's right - no-one has really been looking after UnSignpost for the past few weeks. I managed to get an edition out at the start of April - sole contributor being myself - and nothing has been done since.

Now there has been talk in another forum - Forum:Is USP dead? - about what the future of this will be, and that seemed to come to a lack of real conclusion, so I'm stating my vision here and then I'll get feedback from there.

My first thought is that USP has been in the past a good way to keep track of what has been happening on the site - competitions, forums, user pages, little items of contention, advertising for a new head of IC - but at the same time it has been entertaining to read, but only for those that are already familiar with what we do here at Uncyc. I'd like that to be extended to be more inclusive of n00bs and - scarily - people who are coompletely Uncyc aware.

Now my thoughts on this, and a few other topics, have lead me to believe that this can best be done by moving USP from its current format and making it into more of an e-zine format. Now this means that rather than just having this dropped into your in-box each month - a horribly arduous task - it can also be e-mailed out to people.

Now relating to the delivery. In the past people have signed up for UnSignpost by adding their name to a distribution list. This can be changed to instead people adding a template to their talk-page - or whereever they happen to have the USP delivered, but talk page would be preferred - which would give a pop-up for a week at the top of the page saying there is a new USP out and to click the link to read, but it would also have a copy of the "cover" displayed on the left of the screen below the toolbox options. The cover would actually be a link to the current issue, so again users can click to follow.

Now this is also to be done in such a way that the link can be e-mailed out to subscribers. This means people who are not registered users can also get a copy. The facebook Uncyclopedia group has shown me that we have a huge following out there - let's pimp ourselves to them.

So if we are sending this out to unregistered users, USP should also become a way of celebrating our achievements. To this end I would like to have it highlight our highlights. Biopic of the week can be a write up on Writer of the Month. Articles can be republished - obviously with author's consent - so that the top three of the month are included in here. Topical UnNews articles can be included - again with author's consent - along with articles relating to the current trends and fads. When Hula-hoops come back we can be the first with the article, but also when Brave New World is released we can be the first with Soma.

So in short, USP would become what MAD magazine started out as - a periodical satire that is run to showcase the works of brilliant artists and thinkers.

Over time there is the potential to use this new platform for revenue raising via the means of advertising - of course not hosted on Uncyc servers - but by using it to promote Uncyc merchandise, advertising through google ads or the equivalent, etc.

After all, Uncyclopedia is unlikely to be ad-free forever, but I'd rather that the community control how that change comes about rather than leaving it in the hands of Jimbo Wales.

And of course this means that we would be radically changing the way USP works. Weekly to monthly - on site to potentially off-site pdf - short blurbs of insider only interest to broader ranging appeal.

So to top this off I thought it would be fitting to give USP a new name. Now my initial thought would be Uncyclopedia: Prime Directions, but I'm happy to see if someone has a better idea.

Most importantly, I want this to be a community effort - not just a "What has UU (and maybe Puppy) written this time?"

So, with all those thoughts in mind, I'd like to get community feedback. Remember, introduce yourself with two true facts and one untrue item, below this header, and we'll go around the circle. And let's start with... You.

                               • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Tuesday, 21:31, Jun 8 2010 UTC

8elow this line, please

1. I read the first paragraph before my ADHD dragged me down here.
2. I've seen Chairman Mao's corpse.
3. I have an impressive attention span.

To be honest I only wanted to type that bit. Are we allowed to be totally casual or do we have to be 66.6% trivial and 33.3% "My first child will be born soon! THIS IS NEWS" or suchlike? What about answers? I'm not going about without people responding to me, dammit. --nldr 21:45, June 8, 2010 (UTC)

I searched "USP" and discovered what the accronym meant. I'm training to be a journalist, but I'm hardly the most optimistic chap in chappingdom. --nldr 21:51, June 8, 2010 (UTC)

Sounds pretty awesome to me. —Unführer Guildy Ritter von Guildensternenstein 23:02, June 8, 2010 (UTC)

This idea is better than anything I've got, my only idea was to write the thing like before, so wasn't really an idea. --Chiefjustice3DS 20:44, June 14, 2010 (UTC)

This idea actually sounds kinda different from the USP, in that it's outward-facing as well as inward. As such, it kinda sounds like a different entity to me, and (although I haven't really thought about it much yet) I don't see why they can't co-exist. Especially as you mentioned making it less regular elsewhere. I'm gonna do my best to keep the USP weekly and working, so if I manage that, then you could always use it as a starting point for your e-zine. Unless people think the USP in current format really has run its course, in which case, I'll kinda back off accordingly. --UU - natter 11:03, Jun 17

Maybe we should have a new look. For starters, let's put in a new title.

|Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Man on Fire CUN|IC Kill | 11:56, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

My $.02

I'm in favor of moving to an e-zine format, and I'm in favor of broadening our outreach to noobs and those not familiar with the site. However, I'd still like to keep a lot of the sections that we're currently running. In other words, I think we just need moar content. I'm also in favor of the inclusive template bit, although my only fear is that users won't be notified on their talk page when a new issue of the USP is out with everyone's favorite "You have new messages" notice. I'm also in favor of a mailing list, but the only issue I have with it is privacy. I'd hate for spam crawlers to abuse a public listing of e-mails on Uncyc, so if you can figure out a way for people to add their e-mails to the mailing list in a secure and privacy-respecting fashion, then I'm all for it.

I also rather like the idea of posting Uncyc articles in the USP. However, I wouldn't say that we'd need anyone's consent to do so, regardless of whether they're the sole editor of an article or UnNews story. My only suggestion with this new USP design is that we have pages (but I suspect you already had this in mind). For example, page 1 can have regular Uncyclopedia news similar to what the USP has been already doing with a bit more of a lean towards those who are already not familiar with site happenings, page 2 can have featured articles, UnNews bits, and maybe some of Zim's UnNews comics, page 3 could have some user-related content, like our biopic, WotM, NotM, UotM coverage, and bans; etc. And as for advertising, I think we should include ads to Uncyc projects. We could easily transition these to external ads if the site ever does have ads on it.

As for switching to a .pdf format (which would probably necessitate numerous pages), I think that's a decent idea, but I'd like to have an alternative medium by which it can be reached, preferably something site-based. Though I realize this means additional work and with expanding the USP comes an even greater potential that the publication could be neglected and go into a comatose state again. As for a name change, I have to disagree with this one solely out of tradition. We're simply expanding, not changing the entire premise of the USP. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 14:33 Jun 17 2010

All of which sounds like quite a lot of work. I suspect strongly that sucha venture would go the way of many projects - start with good intentions, tail off rapidly when one of the lynchpins goes missing, and eventually run out of steam. Plus, it still sounds like a seperate entity to me - or at least a sister publication, a bit like the Sunday version of a weekly paper. N'est-ce pas? --UU - natter 14:44, Jun 17

You're probably right. But two publications would be more work than one. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 14:56 Jun 17 2010

Depends. As I said above, the new version could use the standard USP as a starting point - pick the best ideas/articles etc. (I realise "best" is not a word one should use in conjunction with Uncyclopedia, but there you go). And then add the other stuff - Zim's cartoons etc. Or not. I dunno. --UU - natter 15:15, Jun 17

Puppy's idea seems good as it is. UnSignPost is an OK name though. -- Style  Guide 18:23, June 17, 2010 (UTC)

EMC has, scarily, expressed exactly the ideas that I've been having. UU wants USP to continue as is though, so I'm pulling back from the idea of having only the one publication. Two publications will work well - USP articles can be incorporated into PD with a bit of editing, and vice versa. I'm going to have the first issue out this Saturday GMT, but I'd like to have people contributing who are not me.

As for the asking permission bit - If this were hosted purely on site, or we had no advertising included at all, then we wouldn't have to. If we host it on site then we can't have advertising on it (as far as I'm aware). If we have advertising we can't incorporate articles without permission of the originator. At this stage I'm looking at the only advertising is for UnShoppe, which as it is unpaid advertising this is non-commercial, and therefore not an issue. I could have articles moved into this without permission but with attribution, but of course that means that I'd be being impolite, hence the reason I'mn asking permission.

I've created {{USP}} as an idea of what I had in mind. This can be extended somewhat so that it has a show/hide tab in the thingy at the top of the screen that is set to auto hide. This means it will still be much the same as it is at present, except that only one issue will be available at a time through that template. It does mean we won't have the "new messages" come up, but to be honest that actually annoyed me anyway and is one of the resons why I unsubscribed. I still read it regularly, but just saves me having to go and see a non-message in my talk-page.                                • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Friday, 00:52, Jun 18 2010 UTC

Two questions:

1. Where is the WIP of PD located? Or where will it be located? How can we all work on it?
2. Is there some kind of email subscription tool we can use? If so, how do people use it and sign up? Delivery won't be too easy via email...--Sir HELPME Talk (more? --> CUN ROTM NOTM Pleb USS Pees SK ) On Friday, 01:09, June 18 2010 UTC

1. Uncyclopedia:Prime direction (soon)
2. I'll come back to this. I have a plan that keeps privacy secure and stops it being used for spam. Trust me, I'm a doctor of Atheology.                                • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Friday, 01:53, Jun 18 2010 UTC

Ads

A concern I'd have is the assumption that Uncy will someday have ads within the copy itself. This I would fight with every ounce of my dick (1 1/2 ounces). If the idea to have ads in the newsletter somehow encourages wikia to put ads on this site, then I'm agin' it all. Has Wikia ever given us a firm promise to never put ads anywhere within the page itself, and to keep them tiny and driven to the bottom like little crickets. Aleister 2:02 18 6 MMX

Um... I'll have to get back to you via e-mail, as this covers an area where I've been asked not to thrust things into people's faces. Entendre intended.                                • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Friday, 02:23, Jun 18 2010 UTC

I would like to state NAOW that we actually once had ads on the site. I think it was before Wikia bought us, but I do remember ads on the site as late as 2006. Google Ad whatchamacallits. So ads would honestly be nothing new. I'd also like to state the only "ads" we should have in POTR's thing is ads for the store. A wizard did it shirts, everyone. MegaPleb • Dexter111344 • Complain here 07:42, June 18, 2010 (UTC)

Store and site are included as whoring. Have a look at Uncyclopedia:Prime direction for how it's starting to shape up.                                • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Friday, 07:56, Jun 18 2010 UTC

Okay, so the WOTM bi-op will be about me, Hollywood values was written by me, and I'm also running UN:CW... So half of this is about me/my edits? I'm fine with that. How are you going to go about the email registry? Do you wish to advertise the FB group as well (which I'm one of the two most active admins on...)? MegaPleb • Dexter111344 • Complain here 08:20, June 18, 2010 (UTC)

Well, I got some adverts you can put in. |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Man on Fire CUN|IC Kill | 11:23, June 18, 2010 (UTC)

I don't think it'd be considered whoring. There's no need to put external ads in our publication unless Wikia decides to actually puts ads on us someday. Putting in advertisements to site-related things would get us an idea of how to include actual advertisements if that decision is ever made. Unless you're talking about including ads from an external site of our own volition -- in which case, where would the money go? sounds like a question which needs to be addressed. --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 16:25 Jun 21 2010

The fuck is this

I don't have time for this bullshit.

Somebody summarize it in a paragraph. – Sir Skullthumper, MD (criticize • writings • SU&W) 12:43 Jun 20, 2010

So about this whole thing

For the past few days I've been working on a draft for an UnNews print edition, and was completely unaware that this forum existed. I think we could combine what I've already done with this idea in some kind of interesting fashion. I'm uploading the current progress to mediafire now for you guys to have a look. -- mundane Ape (veto) (Riot Porn) 23:54, June 20, 2010 (UTC)

The file is located here: http://www.mediafire.com/?jhwnjy4ymyj All the content is basically placeholders, although I would like to do a letters section if we were to do it. If we're including featured articles (which I'm in favour of) I think they would need to be reworked so as to fit into a newspaper format. -- mundane Ape (veto) (Riot Porn) 00:07, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Also, Prime Direction sucks as a title. -- mundane Ape (veto) (Riot Porn) 00:15, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

I've never been a fan of UnSignpost as a title either, but I was trying to think of a pun as a title as that seems to be the most Uncyclopedian way.                                • Puppy's talk page • 00:40, June 5, 2009 Monday, 02:20, Jun 21 2010 UTC

New UnSignpost incorporating Wankers Weekly, The Jackass Journal and New York Times. --RomArtus*Imperator ® (Orate) 07:22, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

Best idea for a cover story ever

How to open a .PDF file --Hotadmin4u69 ^[TALK] 16:32 Jun 21 2010

For. -- mundane Ape (veto) (Riot Porn) 17:08, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

I'll start writing immediately. -- mundane Ape (veto) (Riot Porn) 17:08, June 21, 2010 (UTC)

What about...

Fake adverts like on newspapers? |Si Plebius Dato' (Sir) Joe ang Man on Fire CUN|IC Kill | 05:52, June 22, 2010 (UTC)