Help save zx planet from disappearing forever

edited September 2008 in Announcements
http://www.zxplanet.thulehost.co.uk/

Most of you guys know of this site but don't visit and i can see why!

But there are not that many sites dedicated just to the humble spectrum so that is why i have made it my mission to try and help keep the site alive or should i say revive it :-o

If you all even put zx planet on your bookmark underneath World of spectrum then every now and then pop in to brows or ask stuff eventually we could get the community back and could be like a second home for us all .

The owner/administrator VADER has been asking if its worth keeping the site going and has said he has put a lot of time and effort into it so i think we should try to help :-P

So if anyone wants to help then let me know here or better still sign up and use the forum, stop me from being the only one posting new threads lol

cheers.............. paul
Post edited by paul3100 on
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Comments

  • edited August 2008
    Sorry, an error occured. If you are unsure on how to use a feature, or don't know why you got this error message, try looking through the help files for more information.

    The error returned was:

    You do not have permission to view this board

    Guaranteed to turn off casual browsers. All I want to do is view the site, not register for it.
  • edited August 2008
    Guaranteed to turn off casual browsers. All I want to do is view the site, not register for it.

    I hear you mate, think ill email vader and ask if that can be changed

    paul
  • edited August 2008
    Same here.

    Is it just a forum though ? If thats the case i wont join , so many forums on the net, prefer them to be in one place where possible. Eg if i want to personally talk about the Speccy i'll come here.
  • edited August 2008
    What advantages does this site have over WoS?
  • edited August 2008
    i'm all for keeping these things going but the front page needs to be better
  • edited August 2008
    Just signed up . . . but doesn't seem to be much info or stuff on there . . . most of the stuff for sinclair related items is all on here . . . :(

    Andy
  • edited August 2008
    The only other regular Speccy-8bit-classic computer sites I've signed up to are Cronosoft and NGS World, as they are dedicated to a particular topic, ie: New games on cassette and detailed information on New Generation Software. I'd happily contribute to others if I can see what they're offering, and if they're not too diverse. For diversity, I come to this place. ;)
  • edited August 2008
    Back at the beginning of 2008, I was tasked with announcing the comp.sys.sinclair Crap Game Compo on as many speccy forums as possible.

    I undertook a sort of virtual "world tour" of Sinclair related forums - from the Baltic (kiel.computer.zx81) to the Andes (Chilean Sinclair user's group) I really thought I'd nailed pretty much every obscure Sinclair related newsgroup/mailing list/forum out there.

    Now I read this post here on WoS and find there was another (English language!) Speccy web forum out there, right under my nose, all along!

    How can this be? As they say, the Internet is a big place.

    Anyway, I've now just registered on there, so I'll probaly post a CGC announcement at some point - thanks to the original poster for the link!

    I think it would be better for the site if you could read the forums without registering and just register to post. Casual browsers of the site might not return if they can't see the content immediately on the first visit.

    Also Google shows an expired domain for the first result and the correct link is somewhere like 6th position. It would be better if that could be remedied too, somehow by boosting the ranking of the site.

    On registering and entering the site, it is like stepping into some parallel universe where a number of people are quite happily chatting away about speccy topics and blissfully disconnected from WoS, CSS and the wider speccy community. Although, I'm sure this not not the case, it's just the first impression I get, probably because I don't recognise any of the usernames on there!

    Anyway, prepare to receive a visit from the CSSCGC 2008 roadshow! :D
  • edited August 2008
    Graz wrote: »
    For diversity, I come to this place. ;)

    Come on Graz, you can say it! Diversity is just another word for mind-sex around here.
  • edited August 2008
    ZnorXman wrote: »
    Come on Graz, you can say it! Diversity is just another word for mind-sex around here.
    Only for sad lonely single men...
    I wanna tell you a story 'bout a woman I know...
  • edited August 2008
    I'm trying to post to the site - but it keeps dying on me.

    I'll try again later or tomorrow.
  • edited August 2008
    karingal wrote: »
    Only for sad lonely single men...

    Dammit! Where are they? They're hoggin' all the WoS bandwidth! Where's Martijn Van HelsingHeide's blunderbuss and silver pellets when you need them???
  • edited August 2008
    ZnorXman wrote: »
    Dammit! Where are they? They're hoggin' all the WoS bandwidth! Where's Martijn Van HelsingHeide's blunderbuss and silver pellets when you need them???

    FFS ZnorXman - calm down. You on something?
  • edited August 2008
    NickH wrote: »
    FFS ZnorXman - calm down. You on something?

    ADD and bipolarity ... or something ... does that count? Where are the pills? Shoot! I hate suppositories.
  • edited August 2008
    I'm trying to post to the site - but it keeps dying on me.

    I'll try again later or tomorrow.

    The site's working fine now and I was able to make a post announcing the CGC.

    Nice selection of amusing "emoticons" available on that forum, some of which I'd never seen before.

    Cheers, DP
  • edited August 2008
    An interesting "Please Register" message, I might if I want to post but not just to look.
  • edited August 2008
    hi all and thanks for your interest so far :D

    ZX planet so far doesn't have a whole lot to offer i admit but seeing as there isn't a whole load of spectrum only sites i think its a good odea to keep this one alive.

    I think once vader the administrator sees more activity on his site he will start to add new features and topics, this site could be " world of spectrum's " little sister :lol::lol::lol:

    Please everyone take 2 minutes out of your life to sign up , i emailed vader to ask him to take the sign up process away but no reply to that yet soooo.

    regards, paul
  • edited August 2008
    Since I already registered over there, I cut and pasted a selection of your comments from here about needing to register before even browsing the forum.

    The norm nowadays does seem to be "browse as guest" and "register to post".

    If the forum administrator VADER does this, then I think they may well get more visitors. :)

    Regards, DP
  • edited August 2008
    Since I already registered over there, I cut and pasted a selection of your comments from here about needing to register before even browsing the forum.

    Nice one Digital Prawn, perhaps that will help vader in deciding to remove it, as you say most sites these days allow for free browsing!

    paul
  • edited August 2008
    paul3100 wrote: »
    Nice one Digital Prawn, perhaps that will help vader in deciding to remove it, as you say most sites these days allow for free browsing!

    paul

    Thanks to you paul for making us aware of the site in the first place.

    I think the site itself would benefit from this aforementioned (hopefully simple to implement) change.

    It may also help Google to rank the site better if the crawler can gain access to relevant content.

    As I say I failed to find the site after a long and deliberate scouring of the Internet for speccy groups earlier this year - it could well be my own fault that I failed to find it :D . But, a higher profile for the site can only be a good thing at this point!

    Cheers, DP
  • edited August 2008
    Is there anything on the site besides a forum?.

    If not I don't really see what its adding to the scene and if there is where is it ?.
  • edited August 2008
    Same here.

    Hate to say it but if its just a forum then i dont see the point, surely when WOS has so many registered people talking about Speccy games/hardware/software and other stuff i just dont see the point in another forum when its also meant to talk about the Speccy and has a few members.

    I like seeing new Speccy websites which may have reviews/info but if its just a forum then i dont really see the point (sorry)
  • edited August 2008
    ADJB wrote: »
    Is there anything on the site besides a forum?.

    If not I don't really see what its adding to the scene and if there is where is it ?.

    From my limited visits there so far, it appears to be just the forum. I don't think there's any other content on there, although I'm sure any long time members can correct me if I am mistaken.

    There's over 900 posts from 62 users stretching back over a period of five years.

    Looks like the forum in its current incarnation was established around June 2003.

    Many of these posts are Speccy related, and many are off-topic.

    I announced the CGC on there because it looks like a number of the members don't post on either WoS or CSS - maybe I'll get a game or two, but to be honest the activity looks very low on there at the present time.
  • edited August 2008
    I'd agree. There's no point trying to do something that WoS already does. Find a niche and do that instead.
  • edited August 2008
    I must admit to having a slight feeling of déjà vu on reading this thread.

    I'm sure most of us remember the Retrospecced thread, where a very similar discussion took place regarding "why duplicate something WoS already does so well?"

    Alas, after that particular forum's untimely demise, I don't think the CGC ever did get the couple of games that were tipped as being started on by members of that forum IIRC!

    Of course if any of those people (whoever you were) are still reading on WoS, then of course you are still welcome to submit your efforts. :D
  • edited August 2008
    The site administrator "Vader" replied on the "ZX Planet" forum to points raised about the need to register just to view the forum.
    vader wrote:
    Hi Digital Prawn (cool name btw) and welcome to the forum. I've been trying to disable creating an account before viewing the forum, but for some strange reason nothing happens. I'll keep having a play with the settings and see what happens.

    Enjoy the forum (and point as many people here as you can :))

    :rock: :thumbsup: :cheers:

    I also mentioned on there that most specchums seem to use WoS nowadays and discussed how this affects the current role and indeed the future of the ZX Planet site.

    I have invited the forum administrator Vader to post on here, where he is very welcome discuss/promote his site directly with the wider speccy community if he so wishes.

    I don't yet know whether or not Vader wishes to do this, or if he is currently registered on WoS.

    Strangely, the ZX Planet site seems to have slid off the Google rankings over the last few days - I'm not sure why this would have happened.

    Cheers, DP
  • edited August 2008
    Hi everyone and thanks for your support on keeping ZX Planet alive :) I did wonder whether to lay the old girl to rest after the domain expired, but since the forum was hosted seperately and it was still being used i kept popping in now and then and after reading Paul3100's post it made me think that it would be worth keeping ZX Planet online after all.

    I have read all the replies and you all say that it would be best to enable browsing of the forum without having to register first...I have tried enabling guests to view the board, but for some reason it doesnt work. (if anyone has experience with invision boards then let me know and ill get the forum log in free).

    Hope people from here will visit the site and if you have any ideas to make it better then please use the email form on the site or post here and i'll consider it.

    The site (believe it or not) has been running since 2000 when it was simpy called ZX and was then hosted by emuhq. and i wouldnt have thought that i would still be updating it 8 years later (just goes to show how strongly or should i say passionate about the speccy we all are). The sites rankings might be a bit rubbish for a bit as its been on and offline for a few months now, but should be getting back to normal now.

    I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread and will be looking forward to your feedback :)

    ps. Thanks to Paul3100 and Digital prawn for starting this topic.

    Vader
    (ZX Planet)

    Oh and heres a link to the site
    http://zxplanet.emuunlim.com or
    www.zxplanet.com
  • edited August 2008
    vader wrote: »
    Hi everyone and thanks for your support on keeping ZX Planet alive :)

    Hi vader,

    Thanks for taking the time to reply on this thread.

    Interesting to read that the site has been going for 8 years.

    I'll continue to log into the ZX Planet forum from time to time. I guess someone else may reply to my CGC thread!

    Cheers, DP
  • edited August 2008
    I'd agree. There's no point trying to do something that WoS already does. Find a niche and do that instead.

    It's for that reason that I've been thinking for ages of removing my pokefile.txt file from my webshite -- The Tipshop does a vastly better job than I ever could, so that file (which seemed like a good idea 15 years ago) now just looks silly.
    I never make misteaks mistrakes misyales errurs — oh, sod it.
  • edited September 2008
    Hi everyone

    Just a quick update which is you can now view ZX Planets forum without registering, but you will have to join or log in to post.

    Thats all

    Cheers

    www.zxplanet.com
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