Cantr Homepage - Attracting vistors by displaying activity

[formerly known as hf]

The Cantr homepage is pretty un-changing.

It would be good to have some news / events displayed on the homepage - possibly in the column to the right of the main list of links.

This could be the release of a webzine issue, major changes in-game, and the like - things which a vistor would understand, so no very game-specific announcements.

Having a dated 'news' or 'recent events' section - but making sure that the entries aren't left for months at a time - would give an impression to a first-time visitor that Cantr is a dynamic game, with a very active community.

Another feature, although this seems a bit cheesy to me, is to have listed, like other places do, the current most popular forum thread - this could serve as a link directly into the most active area of the OOC community.

Also, the current number of people in IRC could be listed (although maybe not if IRC is being quiet...)

Or, basically, anything else that would give the impression of the activity of the OOC community, and the dynamism in the game.

[Sunni Daez]

Sounds like a good idea.. might attract more to try it

[Chris Johnson]

An excellent suggestion - I like this a lot ,

The easiest to implement is the cheesiest, i.e. 5 most recent forum posts / threads (most active is harder to define and implement).

A latest news (with access to old posts) will take some time to implement
as we should really have to set a a way that CD & GAB (and probably other Dept Chairs) could post new articles . Maybe a simpler system similar to the in game messages could be set up in the short term.

The number of peope in the IRC channel is a bit of an unknown in my book - but not unfeasible

[Doug R.]

Posting current IRC numbers will make busy periods insane and dead periods deader, IMO. I've always held the opinion that chat brings out the worst in people, and I think extending an open invite to everyone is a bad idea. Some things are best left to the "regulars" IMO

[Marian]

I like it! At least you could take all the news posts that you usually get when you log in and put them in their own section on the main page, and maybe also a list of things that are 'coming soon'? I've always been more likely to try a new game if it looks like it's being actively worked on.

[Solfius]

A list of what the PrD is working on and what is the top 5 in priority on their ToDo list would be good

[Phalynx]

A list of what the PrD is working on and what is the top 5 in priority on their ToDo list would be good

That would be great in any location... even a sticky thread here...

Don't hold your breath though!

[Chris Johnson]

1. Write code to display to do list
2 Write to do list
.....

[PRUT]

I support that with both hands

[Capt. Mobious]

What about the main site programmers adding some historical in game information to the first page.

For example (and I'm guessing on dates/activities)

505: Thomas Hobbes makes first map of the Naron island.
750: Nick Blacrock takes over Karnon Forest.
1120: The Religion of Donii is founded in the Zuzi empire.
1240: Karnon Senator is abducted by Tribe Blackrock.
1303: Wedding of the century for Sheriff Zady Zwellinger and Chief Michael Hart.

Or you could state it as "In the last ten Cantr years, the following has occurred..."

[Solfius]

Did you make that stuff up? Because I've not heard of some of those events ever before.

That aside, I don't think it's a good idea as it may encourage people to share OOC knowledge or give away spoiler information. Also, who decides what is important enough to put there? A awful lot happens in Cantr week by week

[formerly known as hf]

Bump...

If ProgD are currently in the mood for sprucing up the front page

Anything which makes the game and community seem more active for prospective players in only gonna be a good thing..

[Chris Johnson]

Thanks for bumping this, Formerly (nee HF) .

I meant to find it as it's related to the active user display

Moved to accepted suggestions

As there are several options already disccused in this thread - it will probably stay in Accepted for a while until several things have been omplemented.

[Chris Johnson]

Recently active public forum threads and recent Wiki changes are now displayed at the bottom of the main page - Currently these are updated every 20 minutes - so they are just a guide - This may change if the overhead is too much

Each recent item has a link to the relevant article on the forum or in the Wiki (where possible) and an approximate time since it was last updated is displayed

You may have to clear your cache to see this change immediately

[SekoETC]

I should point out that when it comes to the wiki, if a topic edited was a category instead of a normal page, the link cannot find it because it looks for a page of the same name.