I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

Destry · 2011-06-22 14:38:54

merz1 wrote:

(And no, I am not willing to support switching this thread towards a forum structure discussion.)

Me either.

I’m simply trying to say there are two sides to the greater good of things—user support and product promotion. This community has a tendency to focus on the former and completely neglect the latter (though typical of a developer-only lead project). What I was trying to say with regard to the forum earlier is that a more distributed used of modern tools alongside the forum (itself paired down to essentials) continues to provide support while at the same time aides Txp promotion. As long as the forum is everything for this community, Txp will never be effectively promoted.

Another point I was trying to make was about the specific nature of tools—each have strengths and weaknesses. Twitter is about guiding people more than having discussions; sharing links, making announcements, etc. So, for example, a blog article is written at .com, and at the same time twitter is announcing it and providing a link back to it. But not just .com blog posts, any blog post anywhere about Txp. Facebook, OTOH, is perfect for discussions (even has a discussion tool, and photo albums). The community meetups, which have the potential for photographs, etc, would be one ideal thing to manage through a Textpattern Facebook site, thereby getting the eyes of many thousands more people than any thread in this forum could ever hope for. (The Txp FB site seems to be a “fan” page, but I think a FB group or something would be better, wouldn’t it? I’m not a FB expert, so I’m not sure about the differences with FB tools.) Even this forum, which is mostly used by this community (habitually), isn’t used very well, and somewhat contributing to the fact other sites/tools aren’t used as effectively as they could be in relation, which, again, undermines the promotional side of things.

Btw, isn’t anybody else sick of the forum spam? Most thread notifications I get about new posts are actually dead ends to a spam comment that was deleted. That’s not helping anybody. Surely we can do better than that with a more leveraged use of tools, and at the same time promote Txp better by doing so.

Last edited by Destry (2011-06-23 12:55:51)

Destry · 2011-06-22 15:03:32

I’m following @Markus_Merz for this tweet alone.

Destry · 2011-06-23 00:04:14

Destry wrote:

Textpattern has a Facebook site…

Revealing how out of touch I am with progress, I rediscovered today via this thread that there are two Txp locations on Facebook: the Txp fan page and the Txp group. The fan page is pretty meaningless against the group; the latter providing more ways to interact with it. I made a couple of relevant posts in the group.

michaelkpate · 2011-06-23 01:32:34

Destry wrote:

The fan page is pretty meaningless against the group; the latter providing more ways to interact with it

If you go to the top of the page, though, you may have missed…

This group is scheduled to be archived. Over the next few months, Facebook will be archiving all groups created using the old groups format. When this group is archived, its wall posts, photos and discussion threads will move to the new groups format, but group members will need to be re-added.

We actually need someone to make a new group at some point.

Destry · 2011-06-23 07:10:32

I saw it. The switch is automatic, so the group location isn’t actually lost, just modernized, or so it seems. We only need to keep an eye on it and make announcements when the switch happens so people realign with it.

Bloke · 2011-06-23 07:56:31

Destry wrote:

there are two Txp locations on Facebook

If you search on Facebook itself, there are 3:

The “Product/Service” which is the most complete imo, although doesn’t have a discussion group (I wonder if this is because of the “type” of the page as you alluded to earlier)
The “Organization”
The “Group” (with the old logo)

I thought Robert had control of these so I asked if I could become an admin of the various page so I can start adding stuff to them like the dicsussion board, setting things up writing blog posts, etc. But he has nothing to do with any of them.

Clearly someone set the pages up and administers them. We need to find out who (and Facebook customer service is an oxymoron). Then we can decide how to proceed (i.e. which one(s) we keep and what the focus should be). If anyone knows who owns the pages or can find out, please holler. The “Group” lists its admins, but the Product/Service and Organization pages don’t.

I wrote a Textpattern Facebook app ages ago and was in a dialogue with Stuart over sucking dedicatde content from .com to go into a FB tab. That kind of stalled for various reasons but if I was a page admin I could continue with this avenue as well.

lister · 2011-06-23 10:50:28

I’m not being funny but if it’s awareness you want posting items on a textpattern facebook page isn’t enough. You need to drive people to that page for new users to like. But how do this? For too long Textpattern is a great tool with a small voice. I’m one of those people, who, sort of gets textpattern, but have always strived for more helpful content ie tutorials, downloads, advice, etc which demonstrates a clear basic walk through. Marie Poulin’s post at fuelyourcoding.com was really helpful for a newbie.

I often visit smashing magazine, noupe and webdesign.tutsplus.com, I read net and Web Design.. all with a clear fan base. I’m sure if there we’re more articles posted there, with a clear walk through; tutorials, demos and videos, people would sit up and take note and maybe explore more and follow. Having a Youtube or Vimeo channel with tips and tricks.

I know smashing magazine had an article a few years ago explaining the core benefits of textpattern, but this should have been followed up with more articles…? If you want to get more noticed, posting on these forums, getting a few responses, and then leaving it for another few years isn’t enough…

Last edited by lister (2011-06-23 10:52:51)

Destry · 2011-06-23 12:36:06

Bloke wrote:

Clearly someone set the pages up and administers them. We need to find out who (and Facebook customer service is an oxymoron). Then we can decide how to proceed (i.e. which one(s) we keep and what the focus should be).

I contacted Amit Varia^* , the creator of the group. His contact form does’t work (nothing sends), so I sent him a message on FB. I’ve offered to share admin duties, or take it over entirely (I’ll get Stef on board too).

As for the Fan page, I was under the impression it was Mary who created that?

^* There should be a rule: If you’re going to manage a Textpattern resource, you should have a website that is powered by Textpattern. :)

lister wrote:

I’m not being funny but if it’s awareness you want posting items on a textpattern facebook page isn’t enough. You need to drive people to that page for new users to like.

Yes. I think we can all agree that just having the tools doesn’t make them work. There needs to be a plan for their use, which is harmonious across all the existing resources. And each tool needs to be used in context to it’s respective strengths and audiences.

I would add that the center stone of it all is the textpattern.com website, which could use some more attention, but getting all the tools accounted for (what we seem to be doing here) is a good first step.

philwareham · 2011-06-23 13:39:04

lister brings up some valid points I think. SmashingMag and Envanto Tuts+ are so popular now that any articles posted there regarding Textpattern are bound to generate some new interest and awareness.

I’ve got a (unfinished) sideproject to create an easier to use/understand default theme for new TXP users to learn from and pick apart, maybe elements of that could be lifted to form part of an article. Maybe. Maybe not.

SmashingMag seem to always be looking for new contributors and content, so I’m sure they would be open to publishing some articles on Textpattern.

Destry · 2011-06-23 14:36:38

philwareham wrote:

lister brings up some valid points I think. SmashingMag and Envanto Tuts+

Definitely!

Another idea, besides new/original content, is to take older articles and renew/refine them against modern Txp. This makes for great draft submissions to other publishers like Smashing Magazine, as well as your own site too.

Two of my articles from 2006 still get lots of hits, and I still get the occasional email requesting to translate the articles, or people just saying thanks for writing them because they really helped get them over the hump. It’s now my intention to rewrite them for the modern age, updating what’s necessary and try and make them a little shorter in length. (But first my sight relaunched.)

Bloke · 2011-06-23 16:01:14

Destry wrote:

I’ve offered to share admin duties, or take it over entirely (I’ll get Stef on board too).

W00t! Thanks. Note to self: fix typo in the ‘Information’ box. It’s Textpattern :-)

As for the Fan page, I was under the impression it was Mary

Ah, right. I missed that post, thanks for unearthing it. Maybe if Mary hasn’t the time to run it now, she can also add one or both of us as Admins. Wanna get in touch with her and ask, or shall I?

Gocom · 2011-06-23 17:07:03

lister wrote:

I’m not being funny but if it’s awareness you want posting items on a textpattern facebook page isn’t enough.

Yeah. Also it would be helpful if the Twitter and Facebook accounts were operated by a person. Smaller amount of auto-fetching updates from external location. I.e. Twitter could be used as a social network; for making connections, posting stuff you find interesting, something users would want to stare — but something that doesn’t involve boobies (well, maybe just little). Would be super cool if someone messaged @textpattern on any social network, one of the devs would respond back. Maybe someday.

One small thing I do not really like that much about some of the discussions on these forums (etc) and the public image is the occasional smack talking competitors. For example on these forums there is shit about WordPress, which most of it is done by dev team and the most known members. Like I get it’s all funny and makes the teeny weenie feel good — I do it too, but I’m rotten to inside begin with (I taste bad, do not eat me). Instead of smack talking about insecurity, like we could, you know, embrace the competition like grown up good dudes do. Let the Goliath be the bad one.

Last edited by Gocom (2011-06-23 17:17:09)

Bloke · 2011-06-23 17:30:30

Gocom wrote:

the occasional smack talking competitors

Apologies if I’ve badmouthed WP in the past. It wasn’t for me last time I tried it, but I’m sure it’s an excellent blogging platform. Guess the problem is me being elitist. ^{I’m such a bad man} There’s a fine line between evangelising something and dissing the competition in the process. That’s why I’m not in the marketing department.

Gocom · 2011-06-23 17:40:30

Bloke wrote:

I’m such a bad man

Don’t you try to hide that in the small print ;) ^{Stef, you definitely are not a bad man.}

merz1 · 2011-06-24 08:18:51

One step back please. Never ever expect the core dev team to be on marketing duty. And I (IMHO!) also don’t want someone from the dev team to do admin work on Facebook. Having the brand under control is one thing but reaching out to the public 24/7 is another.

Textpattern CMS

Textpattern CMS support forum

#16 2011-06-22 14:38:54

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#17 2011-06-22 15:03:32

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#18 2011-06-23 00:04:14

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#19 2011-06-23 01:32:34

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#20 2011-06-23 07:10:32

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#21 2011-06-23 07:56:31

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#22 2011-06-23 10:50:28

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#23 2011-06-23 12:36:06

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#24 2011-06-23 13:39:04

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#25 2011-06-23 14:36:38

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#26 2011-06-23 16:01:14

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#27 2011-06-23 17:07:03

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#28 2011-06-23 17:30:30

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#29 2011-06-23 17:40:30

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

#30 2011-06-24 08:18:51

Re: I had never heard of it (Textpattern) before

Board footer