Forum Renovation

[Joan Marie]

Greetings!

This is just a quick message to let you all know that I have some fairly major renovations in mind for this forum.

I've been thinking about it for some time, mainly, to be perfectly honest, what the point of a Tarot forum even is these days, and if there is one, how to make this forum more relevant.

I've come to realise basically 2 things:
1. People approach online Tarot resources differently now than they did 20 years ago when the basic "Tarot forum format" was developed.
2. There are still things that a lot of people are looking for that are not really out there, not in the way a Forum can possibly fit the bill.

Taking off a few days from here, the ideas started coming to me.

One of the main things I've come to realise is there really isn't much point in having so many categories and sub-forums (or "fora" for you latin fans). People are interested in current topics, whatever they are and I don't think hyper-categorising them serves any purpose other than to add confusion and make the whole page look daunting. So there will be a major paring down in this area.

I promise that nothing that is here will be lost. I won't be deleting anything, but I will be making changes to how it is accessed.

I'm still working this out. I hope to start making some changes soon.

Any ideas, comments, suggestions, (and encouragement) are most welcome!

[Thelder]

One suggestion that I would like to make concerns the "Library of Decks." As the library grows, it would be nice to have the additional search option of searching by "Most Recent Added" or "Newest Additions" so that we can isolate and view just the new additions that we haven't seen before, rather than trying to remember which decks we have already looked at.

You have done such a wonderful job with this forum. Of all the tarot forums out there, this forum is, in my opinion, the most well-balanced and inclusive. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the tarot community.

[Pen]

You have done such a wonderful job with this forum. Of all the tarot forums out there, this forum is, in my opinion, the most well-balanced and inclusive. Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to the tarot community.

So very true, many thanks and much appreciation to Joan Marie.

[reall]

just to say I like your ideas & look forward to see what you come up next?
agree forum role changed as well as internet & social media a well so it's always good to acknowledge that fact so we can consider future steps?!

[Joan Marie]

agree forum role changed as well as internet & social media a well so it's always good to acknowledge that fact so we can consider future steps?!

So very true.

I've been pre-occupied with some things, but am still planning on this.
No sense in rushing it.

I do appreciate, welcome, and need everyone's input.

[Ciderwell]

It would be good to have a few more options for posting pictures, like thumbnails or avatar sized. Multiple pics take up lots of screen space and need scrolling. As long as they could stay the way they are (clicked on for greater detail), then the page layout could be made much neater, for easier reading.

If the Attachments app allows for this??

[Joan Marie]

If the Attachments app allows for that??

Attachements is definitely a place for improvement.

And yes, I think this can be done.

[Joan Marie]

Hey everybody- So I have (finally) taken some time to sit down and plan out my new vision for this forum.

I will get started on it this week. I've not yet decided if I will shut down the forum for a couple of days to implement everything at once or just do it bit by bit while remaining online.

There will be at least some movement on it this week.

I want to thank everyone for hanging in with it during these kind of slower days here. But actually, that makes this a good time to start re-arranging things.
My hope is that the improvements will help make the whole place more relevant, useable, and fun while maintaining the quality of interaction and content we've built here together.

Thanks everyone for your patience and support.
-Joan Marie

[Joan Marie]

I am plugging away at the re-arrangement portion of the forum renovation.

I'm kind of starting at the bottom and working upwards. Sort of.

The idea behind this step is to make the home page less daunting, less overwhelming.

Please know that there is a search function on this forum in case you can't find something you are looking for. It's located in the upper right under the "Quick Links" drop down

(BTW - one of the improvements I have planned is some better guidance to forum features, like "search" and "posting images" etc)

One new (renovated really) section I have opened up is called: 78 Muses of Tarot.
Here I have consolidated several things including the section formerly called "Games" and now called “Activities to Spark Your Imagination"
here you will find Tarot Haiku, Backward Tarot Prompts and more.

Please check that one out. This one section (Activities...) has a look that I think I'd like to continue throughout the forum.

Once I get everything in place there may be some more editing, but for now I kind of like how it is going.

I will occasionally post updates here. Please feel free to ask me anything, here or in a PM.

[JayBee]

I like how you've designed that Activities section, Joan Marie. It can be especially challenging to match images to categories, and I think your choice for the backwards prompts in particular is super!

[Joan Marie]

Thanks!

And thank you everyone for bearing with me while I move the furniture around.

There is still a lot left to do and there may be some false starts here and there while I decide how things look.

BTW- I decided I needed to put the Search link in where people can find it. That's him on the upper left side of the home page.

[Joan Marie]

I do realise things may seem a little awkward at the moment but I think it will start to come together very soon.
Thanks again for your patience.

[Joan Marie]

I have pretty much finished re-organising the forum structure.

As I said before the idea was to clean up the home page to make less overwhelming and also to sort out the sub-forums a little more logically and succinctly.

Hopefully I succeeded at that.

Please know there is a pretty good search function here in case you are looking for something in particular.
You can access it from the drop-down list under "Quick links" in the upper left of the page, or, more easily, clicking on the link under the little green explorer boy on the left side of the home page.

I have a few more things I'm working on, some updated how-to vids and some other things that need a little update and a few cosmetic changes that I hope will make the forum a little easier and more fun to navigate.

But I think the hardest part is over and things should be pretty settled organisation-wise.

Thanks again for your patience and I hope the disruption while I was moving things around wasn't too bad.

[Thelder]

You have done an excellent job on the renovation! The layout of the forum is now more efficient and user-friendly.

One suggestion that I would like to make (just in case it is not on your remaining list of things to do) is to add the “List of Tarot Deck Sellers” to “The Market Place is OPEN” category.

[Pen]

Love the little topics images on the main pages - it all looks dynamic and exciting.

One small request... Could we have a date on the daily card? I sometimes tell myself that this is the card I'm meant to see on the day I first see it, but find myself thinking backwards to yesterday's events in case I'm a day late. Love your interpretations though, whatever day it is.

[Joan Marie]

Love the little topics images on the main pages - it all looks dynamic and exciting.

One small request... Could we have a date on the daily card? I sometimes tell myself that this is the card I'm meant to see on the day I first see it, but find myself thinking backwards to yesterday's events in case I'm a day late. Love your interpretations though, whatever day it is.

Thank you so much!! I really appreciate the feedback.

Let me think on the request- the only issue is across the world, the date is changing, so in Asia/Pac it's almost tomorrow by the time I post it and maybe still yesterday in the US. (I'm in Europe) Also, there are days I am not able to get to it and update it, but maybe it's still valid for people who hadn't seen it yet.

I figure that whenever you see it, that's the time you need to see it, whatever day it is. I also think sometimes the message sort of "lingers" and may be more relevant to you the next day.

It's all very scientific!

*I do however put the date on them when I post "Yesterday's Card," the archive of Today's cards - I use the date I posted it where i am.

I'm so glad you enjoy it.
I really do make it new each time. I've thought of doing several in advance just to make it easier for myself, but I never get around to doing that so the Today's Card is an actual fresh reading from me each time.

[Pen]

No worries then, I do appreciate the daily card, whichever day it is here on this small island.

[Ciderwell]

I really do make it new each time. I've thought of doing several in advance just to make it easier for myself, but I never get around to doing that so the Today's Card is an actual fresh reading from me each time.

I've often wondered if Today's Card was automated for those times you might be busy and offline for a while. Good to know they have a real pulse. They're always my go to topic when visiting, and can often affect my attitude whether or not I make a post.
So, thanks for that.

[Thelder]

Love the little topics images on the main pages - it all looks dynamic and exciting.

I totally agree. I also love the topic images on the main page, an excellent choice of images by Joan Marie!

Also, much thanks to JM for adding the List of International Deck Sellers to The Marketplace Is OPEN category.

[Joan Marie]

I've often wondered if Today's Card was automated for those times you might be busy and offline for a while. Good to know they have a real pulse.

Haha! It might be helpful if it were automated but I can assure you the entire forum is totally "artisinal" and entirely unmechanised (with the exception of the Moon image in the upper right corner. It is connected to an outside app that keeps the phases current)*

Every day (nearly) I manually update the header banner image, the Deck of the Day and Today's card.
When needed I update the moon phase dates and decan information at the top of the page.

Glad you enjoy it.


*The moon phase image is set by default for the northern hemisphere. If you are in the Southern half of the globe, you can switch it in the User Control Panel under "Board Settings" - "Edit global settings" (The UCP is found by clicking your username in the upper right). Alternatively, you can just turn your screen upside down.

[reall]

just to say i like all changes & forum structure will try visit more often! keep up with good work!