Seperate site or part of Thorn Valley?

So, with the switchover of Robin's site, I've been given permission to either make it a part of Thorn Valley or to keep it as a seperate site. Since whenever I try to explain the pros/cons of each, I end up jabbering, I thought I'd show you kind of what I have in mind. Keep in mind, these pictures are just mockups and probably won't be exactly the same when things are finished. It's the idea that I'm looking at, not the visuals.

As part of Thorn Valley, Robin's site would replace the "Library" section of the current site, with the current "Stories" section becoming integrated into the Robin section, and "Articles" being handed off to either "Timothy's Study" (most likely) or "Simon's Observatory" (2nd choice). The fan art that exists on Robin's site currently (most of it, at least) would be added to a special gallery in the Fan Art Gallery.

Robin's site would probably end up 'living at' http://www.thornvalley.com/robin/

http://www.thornvalley.com/v4-test/thorn_valley_w_robin.jpg[" alt=""/img]

The other option would be to keep Robin's site seperate from Thorn Valley, and just add enough "branding" I guess you might say so that people will know that it's being maintained by someone else now. I'd probably still use Thorn Valley's art gallery for the fan-art, since it's a lot easier for me to deal with it that way, but everything else would remain seperate.

Robin's site would probably live at (in this case) http://robin.thornvalley.com

[img="]http://www.thornvalley.com/v4-test/robin_site.jpg[" alt=""/img]

Any thoughts/opinions on this matter?

You should do which ever is easier for you. I'm just grateful that you're keeping the archive alive.

But I'll admit I'd like the second image with the picture of Robin, for sentimental reasons. :)

But I'll admit I'd like the second image with the picture of Robin, for sentimental reasons. :)

Don't worry, that picture will be staying around; it just wouldn't be the first thing you see when you visit Thorn Valley if I integrated Robin's site with it.

Hmm...I sort of like the second, but if the first is easier, go for it.
And yes, Simon will be getting all of my fan art, including my Ken Singshow originals.

Well, the second option is beginning to look a lot more likely... I've started doing some tests to see how well the stories would integrate with my site's templating system, and it doesn't look like they do so well. Also, I've found with posting Procyon's story[=http://www.thornvalley.com/library/stories/sots]Procyon's story that my current templates have a number of limitations when it comes to displaying stories in a readable manner. So I'll probably keep the sites seperate for now... I might go half-way and have a listing of the stories on Thorn Valley as well as on Robin's site, though.

I'll keep you all posted as things progress.

One idea I had was to run efiction.
Have you thought about that?

The reason the site is/was so huge has to do with timing. When I started it in 1997, raw HTML was the only way to go.

There are a couple of problems with running eFiction[=http://orodruin.rivkashome.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=2]eFiction that are show-stoppers for me. First, it requires MySQL--I run PostgreSQL, and for various reasons I don't want to try to run MySQL alongside it. Secondly, I'm very wary about running software that requires register_globals to be on in PHP--it says to me that the developers didn't have security in mind while writing the script.

That said, I am planning on writing some scripts to make the site more flexible and easier to run. They may eventually evolve into something complex like eFiction; who knows. :)

As for the whole seperate or merged issue, I haven't made any final decisions yet, and I'm keeping my options open. It's just that, from my perspective at this point, it looks like it might be easier to keep it seperate.

Quick query. If it remains a separate site how much ‘branding’ will go on? Is it going to get a Thorn Valley style treatment, just a few cosmetic tweaks, or something completely new? I'm assuming that if it was made part of Thorn Valley then it would get the same styling, correct?

Just wanted to pipe up here and say thanks to Robin for starting the archive and keeping it running so long. I should have thanked you much sooner for all of your hard work and allowing us to share in so many good stories.

And thanks to Simon for taking it over to keep it running. I know you'll do Robin proud.

As for the design, I liked both. Have the archive link in the first point to the second. And as for the URL, I like robin.thornvalley.com but I'd be happy with either as long as I can find it! :wink:

--Mav

Thank you that you volunteered to keep the archive open to the public, Simon. As long as we can read the stories I don´t have a preference for either option.

Quick query. If it remains a separate site how much ‘branding’ will go on? Is it going to get a Thorn Valley style treatment, just a few cosmetic tweaks, or something completely new? I'm assuming that if it was made part of Thorn Valley then it would get the same styling, correct?

If it remains seperate, it will have some prominent, but not overbearing "branding"--enough for people to notice that it's associated with Thorn Valley, or that I'm the one maintaining it. It will definitely get a different look. I've been playing around in Photoshop a bit, and came up with this as a possible design:

http://www.thornvalley.com/v4-test/robin-mockup-inside.jpg[" alt=""/img]

And yes, if I did integrate it with Thorn Valley, it would have the same styling (more or less) as the rest of the site.

Currently, I'm looking at using [url==http://drupal.org]Drupal[=http://drupal.org]Drupal[/url] to handle the site, as it has some facilities for managing online "books." It's looking very promising.

wow, that looks awesome!
Hmm...I'll have to check out Drupal...

keep it looks to great to get rid of.

I like it,but don't understand nothing! :D :wink: But I'm begin to understand some text.....Practise,practise......

I like the concept, but I felt I had to vote against the integration. Despite the evident simplicity of the design - one which would make Thornvalley.com a one stop shop, so to speak - the problem with server instability could pose a hazard. First, Seoman has been kind enough to host numerous items of fan art, screengras, and other bits of Secret of NIMH memorabilia. All of this is truly marvellous, and enhances the NIMH community. However, how much bandwidth can the site be expected to take? Surely sooner or later he will have to start paying a little bit extra. As much as I'm sure he wouldn't mind, Iwouldn't it be easier to avoid such a conundrum.
My second point would be in the event of Thornvalley.com going down. Although the chances are unlikely, nevertheless it has happened in many other communities I have frequented. Should the site go down, we NIMH fans would lose much data, as well as a central nexus. If we had two seperate entities, affiliated but distinct, then the community would withstand such a smashing blow, should it ever come.
All in all, integration of the two sites would be beneficial, but nevertheless these issues should be considered before it goes forward.

I like the concept, but I felt I had to vote against the integration. Despite the evident simplicity of the design - one which would make Thornvalley.com a one stop shop, so to speak - the problem with server instability could pose a hazard. First, Seoman has been kind enough to host numerous items of fan art, screengras, and other bits of Secret of NIMH memorabilia. All of this is truly marvellous, and enhances the NIMH community. However, how much bandwidth can the site be expected to take? Surely sooner or later he will have to start paying a little bit extra. As much as I'm sure he wouldn't mind, Iwouldn't it be easier to avoid such a conundrum.

Heh. Thanks for the concern, but both sites are actually hosted on the same server. It'd probably /save/ a certain amount of bandwidth to have Robin's integrated. However, currently, I've got things worked out so that I don't have to pay for bandwidth, and the server is my own. If that ever changes, we might have a situation.

My second point would be in the event of Thornvalley.com going down. Although the chances are unlikely, nevertheless it has happened in many other communities I have frequented. Should the site go down, we NIMH fans would lose much data, as well as a central nexus. If we had two seperate entities, affiliated but distinct, then the community would withstand such a smashing blow, should it ever come.
All in all, integration of the two sites would be beneficial, but nevertheless these issues should be considered before it goes forward.

Again, if the server went down, both sites would go down. (And did go down quite a few times last year; fortunately a hardware upgrade seems to have fixed those problems.) However, I do make periodic off-site backups so that all is not lost in an extreme case. However, you do make a good point, and one that helped drive my decision to keep the sites seperate. In case (for whatever reason) I had to take the server down, I would want Robin's to still be available. As it is, I can package it up and with a server with the necessary bells & whistles, it can be hosted elsewhere without too much difficulty.