Right

[changa]

Who's here, reading my words, what isn't a moderator of this here board? I don't think there's any reason not to promote every last one of you, and if I get a show of hands I'm going to start a revolution up in here! A right tiny revolution, with the Boss' permission and what-not. No crazy carrying on or anything.

Right. Show of hands. And I'm off for more coffee.

[Kafir]

I am not a moderator. But I also have no particular desire to be a moderator.

I do remember RevBinary once mentioning that he had reported me to the moderators for violation of our terms of service. I don't think GodGab had any terms of service at that point. I'm even more confident that pointing out that RevBinary was an idiot was not a violation of those hypothetical terms.

[changa]

Mmm.. fair enough.
I plan to continue digging around the web and my brain for good ideas to improve the board generally, but perhaps with less coffee today. You don't need to be a moderator to suggest things, and you can call me an idiot whenever it feels warranted.

[AGS]

Hey I am not a moderator - and I love all you guys. *hug*

[ggeezz]

Neither am I. I used to be on the old GG, but honestly I haven't missed the privileges.

There was once or twice that I saw spam before it got deleted, but that's over a span of two years.

[AGS]

Improving GG? I think the forum is great just as it is. We need more traffic, that's what.

[nathan]

I think I have the same basic dilemma as Changa. I kinda like being somewhat anonymous - GodGab is a safe space for exploring ideas. That's why I'm reluctant to introduce the site to people I actually know.

[AGS]

I hear ya. Anonymity is good, more traffic is good too. I think about five more members who actively post would hit the sweet spot.

[Kafir]

I'm in the same position as nathan, but probably more so--for a long time I scrupulously avoided connecting GodGab with my actual identity. Not that I was planning to go into politics, but you never know.

I was thinking, after Changa mentioned it, about how to improve the site. A couple small things come to mind that might make it more approachable to new visitors.

The homepage has no information on what GodGab is about, beyond the phrase "discuss religion with us"--which is in an image, rather than text, so search engines don't see it, and consequently the main Google entry for us currently reads:
"Godgab.org • Index page Last visit was: Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:56 am. It is currently Thu Jul 15, 2010 3:56 am. This board has no forums. Who is online ..."
Which is not terribly inviting.

Then if you do click on "Site News and Information", as instructed, the first entry is "Guest Posting Disabled For Now."

Maybe the homepage could use a condensed version of dwayner's "Welcome to GodGab" post at the top--something like:

Godgab.org is a community based around religious discussion. We are not all religious. We pride ourselves on thoughtful discussions in all realms. If the idea of a community where open discussion is encouraged, where no topic is off-limits, and where freedom to speak your mind intersects with brilliant perspectives from people across the globe appeals to you, Godgab is the place for you.

The other thing I've noticed is that I usually go to GodGab via the "view active topics" page. I don't want to check to see if anyone's said anything interesting about Hinduism in the last couple years; I want to see what discussions are currently going on. But "view active topics" is not visible to visitors who are not logged in. Is there a downside to letting the non-logged-in see active topics? Maybe the link could be more prominent, even; easier access to recent activity would make the site seem less static.

I'll continue mulling. Any thoughts?

[ggeezz]

I'm in the same position as nathan, but probably more so--for a long time I scrupulously avoided connecting GodGab with my actual identity. Not that I was planning to go into politics, but you never know.

So that's why you won't talk about climate change!