Forum Merger Issues (was "Impending Forum Name Change")

[antoniseb]

Hi Everyone,

We are exploring ways to make this a better forum. One that is likely to take place is that a non-profit organization is being formed by Fraser and Pamela (et al), and it will have the budget for backups among other management things. The current name they are considering is Cosmoquest Forums but that is not final. It will still be the unified forum for both Bad Astronomy and Universe Today.

The overall structure of our forums, rules, and the unpaid nature of the admin and moderator jobs will stay intact. We will probably have new/more members.

At this point the date for the change is unknown. We will keep you up to date as things move forward.

[Buttercup]

I like the name Cosmoquest Forums.

[IsaacKuo]

Could it be changed to "Baut"? I don't like the name "Cosmoquest". It sounds cheesy, and seems completely disconnected from the tradition and past of BAUT.

Of course, I haven't been active here lately, so I suppose my opinion would carry less weight as a result.

[BetaDust]

Doesn't Cosmoquest allready have a Forum...? http://cosmoquest.org/forum/forum.php

-- Dennis

[antoniseb]

Doesn't Cosmoquest allready have a Forum...? http://cosmoquest.org/forum/forum.php

-- Dennis

Yes, they will be merged, and keep mostly the BAUT structure.

[Buttercup]

You could name it HaydenChristensen Forum.

*ducks*

[Nereid]

Yes, they will be merged, and keep mostly the BAUT structure.

Does that mean we will get a whole new set of mods too?

[crosscountry]

Is there an option for current members to suggest names and vote?

[Swift]

Is there an option for current members to suggest names and vote?

You could suggest names in this thread

[IsaacKuo]

Suggesting names is fine, but I don't think a formal voting process is a good idea. Ultimately, it's going to be decided by a the list owners, with advice from the moderators. I think it's best to simply state that from the start, rather than inadvertently give some people the wrong impression.

(This happened recently on the Debian desktop mailing list, where a lot of people got the wrong impression that there was eventually going to be some sort of vote, rather than just some last second fiat decision by one person.)

[BetaDust]

What will happen to the Admin's and Mod's allready on the Cosmoquest Forum?

8 Admin's:

* Ansr
* Cory
* cosmoquest
* Fraser
* Georgia
* Joe
* NoisyAstronomer
* starstryder

6 Super Moderators:

* borncamp
* jeanTate
* kmasterdo
* KnowTheCosmos
* NoisyAstronomer
* Tranan

Link

-- Dennis

[Frog march]

Cosmoquest makes me think of Quasimodo.

[ToSeek]

I think that everyone who is an administrator in either place will be an administrator of the new forum, and likewise for moderators. Given that BAUT is about kilopi/3 times the size of the current CosmoQuest forum, certain parties may have a brief attack of the vapors.

[Buttercup]

...makes me wonder if people banned from BAUT will be there/here (when combined) and how to deal with that.

Glad it's not my problem.

[antoniseb]

What will happen to the Admin's and Mod's allready on the Cosmoquest Forum? ...

The details have not been worked out. We are not even fully committed that this will all happen, but it is very likely to happen. Knowing the people involved, the mods there will probably become mods in the unified forum, but again, it is up in the air. There are some mods there that are former mods or admins here. Hopefully it can all be resolved in happy ways, but if you have ideas about things that will make it happier for you, I suggest sending a message to Fraser while this is all still fairly plastic.

Is there an option for current members to suggest names and vote?

This is Fraser and Pamela's project. You can suggest names here as Swift noted above, but unless it's really amazing, I don't think the suggestion will change things. There is no online voting mechanism for this that I'm aware of.

[Swift]

I am completely unfamiliar with CosmoQuest, but they apparently have a very different moderator and admin to member ratio than we do.

What is the treatment for vapors and does it involve changes in pressure and temperature?

[Frog march]

what about 'NightReflections'

[ToSeek]

...makes me wonder if people banned from BAUT will be there/here (when combined) and how to deal with that.

Glad it's not my problem.

When we merged the Bad Astronomy and Universe Today forums, there was a general amnesty, which effectively meant that we got to ban a whole bunch of people all over again when they returned and got up to the exact same shenanigans. I'm not sure exactly what the deal will be this time as the CosmoQuest forum is just getting started and only has about 4,000 members to our 100,000+.

[LookingSkyward]

Ahem... Personally, I like LookingSkyward...

[Buttercup]

...the CosmoQuest forum is just getting started...

Makes sense; I'd not heard of them before.

[antoniseb]

... our 100,000+.

And making the amnesty more difficult this time as compared to last is that we now also have 100,000+ members and 100,000+ banned spammers. When we merged last time (2005?), there were zero banned spammers and the number of banned people could be managed by hand.

[mike alexander]

CosmoQuest is pretty good. Might even call it a Topper.

[TheOncomingStorm]

Cosmoquest would be a lot easier to pronounce than our current title and probably easier to spread the word with that title.

[TheOncomingStorm]

What will happen to the Admin's and Mod's allready on the Cosmoquest Forum?

8 Admin's:

* Ansr
* Cory
* cosmoquest
* Fraser
* Georgia
* Joe
* NoisyAstronomer
* starstryder

6 Super Moderators:

* borncamp
* jeanTate
* kmasterdo
* KnowTheCosmos
* NoisyAstronomer
* Tranan

Link

-- Dennis

Oh great a whole another crowd to suck up get to know. Will we keep many of the sub forums such as OTB and SML?

[Tog]

Cosmoquest is also the site where people who are not members of Google+ can go to see the live On Air hangouts where Astronomy Cast, the Weekly Space Hangout, and the virtual Star Parties are done. I think the odds of the name changing to anything will be practically nil since there is already something else in use that has a direct tie to it.

Baut is far easier to type though.

[Paul Beardsley]

I don't mean to be negative, but IMO "Cosmoquest Forums" sounds hideously clumsy. I think almost anything is preferable - apart from "Punch Paul Beardsley If You See Him".

[Strange]

apart from "Punch Paul Beardsley If You See Him".

Because that website name is already taken?

[Swift]

The bad thing about "BAUT" as a name was that to an outsider it was a meaningless name, and even when you told them what it stood for "Bad Astronomy Universe Today", it was still "what?".

Cosmoquest is probably slightly better, but probably only slightly.

A name that actually said something about what the forum was about would be a big improvement. Unfortunately, I have no suggestions. Actually "Universe Today" by itself is probably as good as anything.

[Scriitor]

Actually "Universe Today" by itself is probably as good as anything.

I think I'll second that.

[slang]

Actually "Universe Today" by itself is probably as good as anything.

Thirded? Surely better than cosmoquest, which to me has a kid'ish ring to it.