Revamping the HG2MB
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to MuseBlog hasn’t been revised in ages and could use an overhaul. Any help will be much appreciated.
Date: January 25, 2012
Categories: Fan Page / MuseBlog business
Sunday, 19 May 2024
Life, the universe, pies, hot-pink bunnies, world domination, and everything
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to MuseBlog hasn’t been revised in ages and could use an overhaul. Any help will be much appreciated.
Date: January 25, 2012
Categories: Fan Page / MuseBlog business
First of all, we need to put the rules of the MuseBlog on there.
…Who wrote those again?
Or maybe it was the Laws of the MuseBlog. Yeah, I think that was it. It had the Laws of Pies and things like that.
Seriously, who wrote those? This is gonna bug me.
Enc did. They were brilliant.
By the way, GAPAs, I’m working on a monster post of suggestions. It may take a while, though.
‘Twas Enceladus. And Tesseract added one.
And the slithy troves did gyre and gimbal in the breeze…
Slithy wungs, you must mean. Toves rarely leave their wabe. All mimsy were the aqualungs, and the mome raths said “pwease.”
You know, I could swear that I’ve started writing this poem before.
I don’t know what kind of aqualung you’re talking about, but all I can picture is the Jethro Tull kind. Flutes for everyone!
“Aqualung” is a company that makes scuba gear. In the old days, it was a generic term people used to mean scuba gear.
Presumably the character in the Jethro Tull song/album was supposed to have heavy, loud breathing like that of a diver using scuba gear. (Nowadays most people would probably compare it to Darth Vader’s, but “Star Wars” didn’t exist when the song was recorded.)
That’s what I was thinking of. Maybe if we took those, fixed some typos here and there, and made a few minor revisions, they could be official HG2MB material.
We should probably add something about squids.
Yes. Absolutely.
Ok. Currently, the Rules, the HG2MB and the Glossary are separate. I vote for merging them. The HG2MB is more or less right now an FAQ page with links to the other stuff and a mini-glossary. I suggest placing the rules on the page in a format like this:
What Museblog is:
A brief description of the Blog and the kind of people that post on it and how to post and what to expect. Also link to the HTML and Smiley page, which will hopefully have my relatively shiny new guide on it.
The rules:
[all the rules]
And a small tl;dr at the bottom that says something like “Be nice, don’t swear, and go light on the personal info.”
FAQ:
Questions one might have about the blog that aren’t explicitly answered in the description and their answers.
Helpful stuff:
A quick list of tips for the blog, such as PoPos, double posting and other tidbits that are good to know off the bat but not seriously necessary.
Glossary:
En, Llama Song, SFTDP, sleep is for the weak, the Dread Phrase, stuff like that. We can spend a while adding things to this.
A link directly to the newcomer’s thread. I was really confused as to how to get on to the post and POST when I first got here, so if you link directly to it it’ll make things way easier for those who are less good with the interwebs.
I think we should also have a brief explanation of the pie and squid buttons. Something like:
You will notice two buttons in the lower left-hand corner of each post. One is a pie in flight. We have long been particular fans of that dessert, the famed weapon of choice for Kokopelli. The other button is a squid. Squids are a more recent Thingy (that’s a technical term), which started as a few isolated jokes and then snowballed. The messages sent by the buttons are not rigid, but the general spirit of them tends to be consistent. Pies are for expressing agreement, approval, joy, and other positive things. If a post receives ten or more pies, it turns pink. Squids are for sympathy, empathy, yikes!-ing, and suchlike sentiments, but not for disapproval, ’cause We’re All Musers Here. If a post receives ten or more squids, nothing happens, as misery isn’t at all festive.
This fits in the “Helpful stuff” category, which can be placed above the FAQ to make it more visible.
(I chuckled at the Dread Phrase.)
We should also add:
Occasionally, a MuseBlogger will post a poll or question of some sort, and then the pies and squids will serve as poll counters.
For example, someone may post “Should we, as a blog, take over the world? Pie/Squid” and you can subsequently pie or squid- pie for agree and squid for disagreeing. (That poll in particular would result in many pies and no squids.)
Pies and squids cancel each other out. If the counter reads ten pies and four squids, the post will not turn pink until there are at least ten more pies than there are squids.
Unfortunately, this technique also seems to be used on the Hot Topics thread, wherein an opinion that people disagree with will be squidded. I wish this didn’t happen; I feel like it seriously detracts from what should be a calm, objective, impartial discussion.
Agent Lightning: I did not realize that there have to be more pies than squids to turn pink!
I am aware of the function the buttons serve on the Polling Place, and I am not against mentioning it in the explanation. However, I was trying to give an origin and general use, to avoid being overwhelming. Might the use on the Polling Place be over-specific?
Piggy: I agree with you. I was hoping that invoking the Dread Phrase–especially invoking the Dread Phrase on the HG2MB–might help discourage people from doing that. {Frowns at the anonymous squidder of Piggy’s post.}
It’s not just that there have to be more pies than squids. There have to be at least 10 more pies than squids.
Yes, I understood that.
I also disapprove, not only for the reasons you listed but also because personally, I pie hot topic comments based on how intelligent they are, even if I disagree, and because some people are doing what you mentioned, everyone will think more people agree with someone than actually do.
Also, I may squid a topic on that thread if en calls something offensive/awful/hateful not because I disagree but because I’m sorry they have to be upset whenever they experience it. Apparently, that could also be misunderstood.
I won’t stop with either, though.
I pie/squid on Hot Topics in a similar way.
A guide to the creatures of MB? Giant Space Squids, Wungs, The Dreaded HPBs, etc. Rules for Paker?
Rules for Paker? There’s not enough server space on the entire internet.
+++ Divide by Cucumber Error: Re-install universe and reboot +++
+++OUT OF CHEESE ERROR+++
+++MELON MELON MELON+++
No, it’s completely locked. Dean, fetch Stibbons, will you?
What is this I never got around to playing Paker but it sounds sort of like Calvinball please write a basic rulebook it looks like awesome fun time.
Okay, here goes.
Hares, hedgpigs, and [abort abort transmission interrupted abort] {SQUIDDDD SPACE SQUIDD} wung wung wung
[transmission continued alpha sigma beta tango] turns taken board played suits {SQUID SQUID SQUID SPACE WUNG WUNG SKREAAAAK *crackleing sounds*}
There you go!
Ah. Thank you, I think I understa[BLARK GOBBLE GOBBLE]mergency landing on the surface o[NUKE THE SITE FROM ORBIT]ioactive material[*Street Fighting Man starts to play*]ery very safe and you should definitely[PROPANE PROPANE WHEEEE]approach the surface and poke it with a st[HEAT SIGNATURE LOCKED: FLARE FLARE FLARE]engage air brakes and evade the massive[chirp]Rubik’s Cube
Something like that?
+++DRYD+FRORG+PILLS+14+++