Change

Plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose.

I’m not sure who first spoke that phrase, nor am I sure how accurately I’ve written it.  French was never my strong suit, sometimes English is not the best for me either.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

A loose translation of the french and sometimes a very accurate depiction of life.  Right now, we have been playing around with the standard WP themes looking for something to suit our continued writings.  Some are picked simply for aesthetics, some are picked for functionality alone, ideally the final choice will be a good balance between the two ideals.

The core of our writings will not change, but thanks to the wonders of Cascading Style Sheets and some great template developers we can change the look and layout of our blog at a click of a button. So, the more we change the looks of the blog the more the content remains our thoughts and ideas.

Look forward to more changes, whether it be a new template; or maybe a small change to an existing template; or, possibly something even more grand.

A state of flux is a home to creation.

We Stopped

There we were, having an impromptu meeting, discussing the various happenings in and around our world.  Our small world that encompassed our immediate realm of influences, and the larger world in general that influences everyone in one way or another. Out of the conversations came a little phrase:

… it doesn’t take much to be nice, but it takes a concerted effort to be mean.

We stopped.

Then we put some thought into that, and came to the simple realization how easy it is, how really quite simple in fact, to help out another person or group.  Whether it be a simple cheering of their spirits, or making a surprise dinner party for friends, stopping to help a stranger lost in a crowd.  It might be a few moments or it may take more time, but it really isn’t much effort at all.

Whereas to be mean can take a great deal of effort.  Going out of ones way to be hurtful, and finding a way to make sure the individual or group will know they are the one being targeted.  That takes time, planning, intent purpose, personal sacrifice; I imagine more, too

… and then it came to us immediately afterwards: Why bother?

Rules

How often does one come across a forum where they write the rules?  To the best of my recollection and experiences I have yet to visit such a forum, let alone become a member of a forum where the general membership decides the policies and procedures to be used by the administrators and moderators.

The administrators, if nothing else, represent the owners of the forums.  The administrators may even be the owners of the forums. Owning the domain; paying for the domain hosting service; maintaining accountable records of the forums; insuring the forums remain operational; etc.

I have known forums where the membership takes advantage of the administrators and moderators. The administrators or moderators perhaps at no fault except their own kindness and willingness to believe in the inherent goodness of people. Unfortunately it can, and does, happen that some members may be able to generate so much influence that they seem to control the forums; or it may seem that these generally small groups of people actually believe they are the guiding force behind the forum and its ideals.  That their higher than average post count gives them the right to decide how a forum should be run. Period.

It is also truly sad to see when this happens.  The forum suffers. These small group of individuals running roughshod over the forum management see themselves as the righteous, as the chosen, but cannot see themselves for what they are really doing. They damage a forum’s reputation; its shared benefits to related communities; and, the forums members suffer from the chaos.  Some forums will not get past a challenge like this and it is an even sadder loss in these cases.  Other forums will survive these insidious disruptive forces.  Most forums will realize the truth of the matter.

The truth of the matter is simple.
Point one, the administrators set the rules for their own forums.
Point two, administrators of one forum do not set the rules for any other forum unless they are an administrator there as well, then see point one.

If an administrator is not the actual owner of the forum then they should have a simple obligation of seeing that the owner’s rules and guidelines are followed in the fashion the owner wants them to be followed. If an administrator is not the owner the final decision lies with the owner.

One may not always agree with the owner’s ideals on a particular forum, but one does not have to return to that forum either.  Accepting the rules of a forum and following them makes the forum community experience much more enjoyable than the chaos of individuals or groups intentionally flaunting the rules by overtly, or covertly,  breaking them at their whim.

Moving Forward

Our new project is moving forward. The starter base will be a WordPress MU installation.

We are currently reviewing templates to be made available. Some templates will require minor adaptations to be made to fit the project. Additional custom header images will be reviewed for the project’s theme related templates.

Projects

A new project! Yes!

Well it really is not a new project so much as a project that needed some research to get the first few steps into it. There are not too many details to be released at the moment, as things can change rapidly in the starting stages. The basic premise is a community / directory style website being sponsored by one of our existing clients.

I’ve put together some basic concepts I’d like to see in the project. Our team has some ideas floating around and we will hopefully be able to mesh them all together and continue going forward. Soon.

Since we are starting fresh with this blog, this post will also serve to start our newest category: Projects.