Reviving The Following...

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Morbidian · #51 Post by **Morbidian** » 06 Jun 2010 18:40

Can some sort of blog be established for temporary?
But to be arranged that only some special stuff and etc. can be downloaded by members or something like that?

I'm asking is that possible because I'm not so much into computers and programming...

Desert_Storm · #52 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 06 Jun 2010 21:05

That seems to be the problem for most of us. Many are willing to contribute a text or a translation and the like, but nearly no one seems to have the time and knowledge to put a whole web page design together. Of course, with some editors nowadays one can do that with nearly no html/php knowledge at all, but a The Following site should have a certain feel/look that's not just some myspace/blog standard layout and that's harder to accomplish without the required acquaintance with desining/programming...

Arwen Arianna · #53 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 06 Jun 2010 22:29

That is indeed true.. there are quite a few bootleg sites around, The Following should be more than just another one.. plus we'd need the information and content of the last site (R.I.P.) and thus the help of the former site admins...

faery · #54 Post by **faery** » 07 Jun 2010 17:25

Not that I have the time or the commitment, but I would vote for at least opening a wordpress blog. Easy to customize look-wise, and just takes about a day to really get how you like it. And there is lots of room for content

Traveller in Time · #55 Post by **Traveller in Time** » 10 Jun 2010 16:43

Uh, another dark chapter....
I know i once said i look for some webspace, but you know "life happens while making other plans" and so it was with me. Nowadays BG has a really often updated Facebook site with a kind of community.
On the other hand the following was better than that.

But it's true a Content Management System (CMS) would be far better to handle.

Arwen Arianna · #56 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 10 Jun 2010 17:38

it was more of a die-hard fan community... (which is somehow still alive in some places even though the site is dead

)... the facebook site is very informative, but just one of 1000 other pages

Desert_Storm · #57 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 10 Jun 2010 19:50

Arwen Arianna wrote:it was more of a die-hard fan community... (which is somehow still alive in some places even though the site is dead )... the facebook site is very informative, but just one of 1000 other pages

Indeed, the following had that special feel to it.

Little Dragon · #58 Post by **Little Dragon** » 15 Jun 2010 17:14

at the moment i'm too busy with my thesis. but after that i maybe have some time left, but i can't promise.

Cigoth · #59 Post by **Cigoth** » 25 Jun 2010 19:01

To dig an old topic up; If this is still going to continue I'd gladly help.
I can do web programming (PHP, HTML, CSS, Javascript) and graphic design.
It would be an interesting project to revive this.

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #60 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 25 Jun 2010 20:35

I'll throw my skill set into this pool. I'm a Django developer, an AJAX and jQuery wizard, I have database design skills and all sorts of other web-related skills. I can normalize a database faster than it took for the single to leak.

If you need my help, I'll gladly do what I can.

Cigoth · #61 Post by **Cigoth** » 25 Jun 2010 20:52

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT wrote:I'll throw my skill set into this pool. I'm a Django developer, an AJAX and jQuery wizard, I have database design skills and all sorts of other web-related skills. I can normalize a database faster than it took for the single to leak.

If you need my help, I'll gladly do what I can.

Nice! I am totally slow at normalization.

This might actually be going somewhere...

wade-newb · #62 Post by **wade-newb** » 26 Jun 2010 13:33

I could....No wait, I don't have any programming knowledge

.
If there's anything I could help with, maybe writing or something else, I'd be happy to contribute

#63 Post by **Led Guardian** » 26 Jun 2010 18:18

I could cheer on the people who can actually do something.

Cigoth · #64 Post by **Cigoth** » 27 Jun 2010 00:20

Beren Ercharmion wrote:So the plan for now should be:

- find a suiting provider
- set up a temp forum to plan further
- recruit a new staff
- get the remains of the old site online and see what can be re-used
- have a look at what has to be improved/redone

edit:
* Reprogramming the site structure (since the old PHP files are lost?).
* Reconstructing the database and its design.
* Add (new) and reconstructed content.

^ partially quoted from a previous post.

I do not have a lot of personal experience with hosting, but HostGator has been recommanded a lot.
Also: http://www.top10webhosting.com/ (up to date)

I see from the latest and previous posts we have a handful of people who could do programming and database design.

Assigning a new staff and webmasters should not be a very big problem? A lot of people posted they are willing to help.

Would such a plan be realistic?

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #65 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 27 Jun 2010 02:54

I would advise against HostGator. Those TOP [insert number] WEB HOSTS websites are a farce and shouldn't be taken seriously. They are paid to promote hosts. Based on my experiences, if we're going with shared hosting, Dreamhost or Webfaction are the way to go (the latter being the better of the two as it's grid-based and just very flexible). I would also recommend having someone with experience run the server so we can assign users and give SSH access to those that need it. If no one else steps up, I wouldn't mind doing something like this as I run Linux exclusively on all of my machines and have worked as a Jr. Systems Administrator in the past.

What's the status of the domain? Are we going with a new one or setting up something else? I need to know as I want to step up and purchase hosting for us, and possibly the domain if we're going with something new.

Cigoth wrote:Nice! I am totally slow at normalization.

This might actually be going somewhere...

Normalization isn't actually used all that much in practice.

Cigoth · #66 Post by **Cigoth** » 27 Jun 2010 03:47

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT wrote:I would advise against HostGator. Those TOP [insert number] WEB HOSTS websites are a farce and shouldn't be taken seriously. They are paid to promote hosts. Based on my experiences, if we're going with shared hosting, Dreamhost or Webfaction are the way to go (the latter being the better of the two as it's grid-based and just very flexible). I would also recommend having someone with experience run the server so we can assign users and give SSH access to those that need it. If no one else steps up, I wouldn't mind doing something like this as I run Linux exclusively on all of my machines and have worked as a Jr. Systems Administrator in the past.

What's the status of the domain? Are we going with a new one or setting up something else? I need to know as I want to step up and purchase hosting for us, and possibly the domain if we're going with something new.

I think we could well go with shared hosting when considering the traffic will not be enormous. But this needs to be discussed of course.

According to a previous post, Robert, the current holder of the domain, would give the domain http://www.the-following.com to us so it can be transferred to a new hosting.
For ownership of the domain we would have to contact him again (his email is at the website).

I see you have quite some experience with server administration so I think it would be great if you are able to mainly run the server.

I hope for some activity of other users who were previously on top of planning this.

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #67 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 27 Jun 2010 04:33

Cigoth wrote:According to a previous post, Robert, the current holder of the domain, would give the domain http://www.the-following.com to us so it can be transferred to a new hosting.
For ownership of the domain we would have to contact him again (his email is at the website).

My apologies, I admit that I haven't read this whole thread.

As for running the server, I'll be purchasing some space and getting ready. I'll contact Robert about the domain. Right now, I think you're right about getting more people involved. I would like to see maybe an IRC channel set up or something where we can organize this a little better. I'd love to see some ideas fleshed out. Maybe someone can ask the mods to give us a dedicated forum for discussion on here?

Arwen Arianna · #68 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 27 Jun 2010 10:32

As mentioned before, i don't know anything about programming and the like, but if there's anything else I can do- please tell me! I'm more than willing to spend time and effort on this

Gandalf de Grijze · #69 Post by **Gandalf de Grijze** » 27 Jun 2010 11:07

Arwen Arianna wrote:As mentioned before, i don't know anything about programming and the like, but if there's anything else I can do- please tell me! I'm more than willing to spend time and effort on this

+1
I'm pretty good at organising anything not web-site related like meetings and such.

Beren Ercharmion · #70 Post by **Beren Ercharmion** » 27 Jun 2010 11:17

same here, I've got no clue about programming, but beeing propably the last of the "old" staff that is still active here I'd be willing to help again.

Bard · #71 Post by **Bard** » 27 Jun 2010 13:11

I'm a webdeveloper mainly uses PHP as a deadly weapon and has doing so for a very short time but it's moving forward. I might not be the best coder in the world (yet) but I have launched several sucessful projects and I'm getting better all the time. Also currently learning DOM Scripting among other things to learn more in the arts of webdeveloping. I'm also currently studying grapgical design so if you need some of that I can lend a hand. However I'm sure there is plenty of people out there whom are way better to use when it comes to graphical design. But if you need xhtml or css I can truly lend a hand there.

And in worst case, I can supply you with my stack of bootlegs (well above 20gb) I hosted on the previous version on The Following. I don't check the forum as much as I used to do. So send me a message if you need me for something.

wade-newb · #72 Post by **wade-newb** » 27 Jun 2010 17:17

Arwen Arianna wrote:As mentioned before, i don't know anything about programming and the like, but if there's anything else I can do- please tell me! I'm more than willing to spend time and effort on this

Another +1

Don't forget us non-programmers!

We surely must be useful for something? lol

Metal Fan · #73 Post by **Metal Fan** » 27 Jun 2010 17:39

Arwen Arianna wrote:As mentioned before, i don't know anything about programming and the like, but if there's anything else I can do- please tell me! I'm more than willing to spend time and effort on this

+3 Id love to help but I don't know what I can do

spamel · #74 Post by **spamel** » 27 Jun 2010 23:23

All I can offer is my support (financial if necessary, and if I can afford it!) and gratitude. I wasn't aware of The Following and would love to be a part of it.

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #75 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 28 Jun 2010 01:28

Hehe, so many people willing to help.

We really can't do this without the support of everyone, programmers and non-programmers alike. If someone could get a dedicated IRC channel going that would be a great starting point. We really need to start dividing responsibilities.

Desert_Storm · #76 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 28 Jun 2010 18:19

Ok, so there are finally some people with programming skills/knowledge that are willing to help, and also (seemingly) enough people who offered to contribute otherwise. An IRC channle would be good for coordination indeed.
What we need first though, is someone to take over control over this project. I'm thinking about a board of maybe four to five people, of which optimally at least some were involved in the organisation of the original following. They could make a first concept of the page and what a first version of it should contain (Preferentially, with a design leaning on the design of the original page). I think to have some essential things, this should be at least a newspage, a band biography (featuring descriptions of the individual band members, like on the BG page, just more elaborate) and a discography, including lyrics, tabs and maybe midi-files of the songs as well as a description of each album. As I recall, many people came to the following in the first place for finding good tabs and stuff. More stuff to follow. The leading cometee could then tell each programmer what to do.
The people who are willing to contribute could then (here or on some other place) list what useful things they could do for the project. For my share, this would be (as an example):
- Write tabs/sheet music for songs that aren't available as tabs yet
- Research the best of the already existing tabs (preferentially in GP/PT format), contact the authors of them and ask for permission to use them on the page, make PDF's and MIDI's out of them
- Research some good pictures and ask for permissions,
- Write stuff about band, bandmembers, albums
- Research detailed information about equipment used by the bandmembers (from resources as such as tourbooks, contents of Länglich's page (R.I.P., I'm sure some of you remember) etc. etc.)
- Contact people of the original The Following staff and clear up if there's some stuff still available
- Contact other people in order to get some bonus material (like from Curu's page, though I have no idea how the legal things are about that)
Of course there is a lot more to it, and one single person cannot do all of this stuff. Again, a cometee who would do the organisation stuff could then pick out people and tell them what to do, then compare stuff, put stuff together from contributions made by other etc. etc.
I think we would need something like that in order to achieve anything like a page The Following was. If everybody just says "i can do something" we won't get far.

Comments, Suggestions?
thx.

Metal Fan · #77 Post by **Metal Fan** » 28 Jun 2010 21:26

Tell me what I can do and I'll do it!

*puts on At The Edge Of Time shirt and picks up blue and black pom-poms* Go team go!

Desert_Storm · #78 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 28 Jun 2010 21:45

I say we do it the other way round: You (and everybody else who is willing) say how you think you could contribute and we put together a organisation board/cometee who then tells you what you could actually do. I would do it this way because everybody has different abilities, knowledge, etc., so it makes no sense if any hypothetical organisators tell you to go and e.g. write a tab or write a php script when you have no idea how that works. However, I'm just making suggestions here, I would like to hear some opinions on them. If anybody else has ideas of how we could put this together in another way, please speak up

thx

Gandalf de Grijze · #79 Post by **Gandalf de Grijze** » 28 Jun 2010 23:05

i don't mind co-ordinating efforts
knowing some of the bigger potential contributers would make things a bit easier
I could write a thing or two and, when the time comes for it, i could organise meetings.

Metal Fan · #80 Post by **Metal Fan** » 28 Jun 2010 23:07

I didn't mean something like php script. More of what Gandalf said.

Desert_Storm · #81 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 28 Jun 2010 23:39

Gandalf de Grijze wrote: knowing some of the bigger potential contributers would make things a bit easier

I'm not sure if you have someone in mind here, or something specific to be contributed. If neither of this is the case: Like I said, if everybody willing to participate could write down what exactly (that includes you, MetalFan) he/she could do, the people in charge of organisation/coordination could figure out how to split up the different tasks and hand them down to the individual contributers. I think the things I listed would all be things that I could do, especially tabs and equipment. Writing as well, of course, but I think that's what the major part of contributing people could do, since it doesn't require any special knowledge or skills, except for being familiar with guardian and being able to write in more or less appealing and correct english. Again, if we had multiple people who would do something like that, organisators of the project could select the best stuff and maybe consolidate it with stuff that other people wrote, since different people will emphasise different aspects and thus have more detailed information about the aspects their paying special attention to.

edit: I think Arwen made a step in the right directon in her opening post:

Sooo...Steven will organize Follower meetings (if I got that right), I'll transcribe and translate the first 7 pages of Hansi's diary (and the rest as well, if necessary,(...)

We need more things like that!

Gandalf de Grijze · #82 Post by **Gandalf de Grijze** » 28 Jun 2010 23:41

i know a photographer or two who would be most willing to contribute.
some professional stuff, maybe we could even get exclusive pics or something

Arwen Arianna · #83 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 29 Jun 2010 03:09

Okay, so here's what I can (hopefully) do:

- I started collecting and searching interviews a while ago, so I have gathered quite some background information, I guess. I could try and write some texts (about the band, the members, funny occurences etc)
- I could finally finish transcribing and translating Hansi's diary
- if you trust me with that, I might write some concert reviews + pictures (no professional ones, though)
- I could help maintain the site (post news, edit contents etc), if that doesn't require any programming skills
- contribute translations in general
- if Steven would still like to take care of the meetings, I could help with those as well
- don't know if that's of any use, but I could contribute some illustrated calligraphy versions of the lyrics...

I also thought things like picture contests and the t-shirts were a nice addition...

edit: oh, and if nobody has made any plans so far, I'll try and get a forum + chat for the planning tomorrow..

#84 Post by **Led Guardian** » 29 Jun 2010 03:23

About all I can do is edit Arwen's texts to make them more grammatically correct in English should that be necessary. Unless people just want them as literal as possible, of course.

Arwen Arianna · #85 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 29 Jun 2010 03:45

Led Guardian wrote:About all I can do is edit Arwen's texts to make them more grammatically correct in English should that be necessary. Unless people just want them as literal as possible, of course.

I'd appreciate that

Metal Fan · #86 Post by **Metal Fan** » 29 Jun 2010 07:30

I can post stuff on the main page. I already have a blog: http://blindguardianfans.blogspot.com/s ... results=12

It's not much of a difference.

Desert_Storm · #87 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 29 Jun 2010 13:16

Beren Ercharmion wrote:So the plan for now should be:

find a suiting provider
set up a temp forum to plan further (at least that's no problem, can be done in about 5 minutes or so)
recruit a new staff
get the remains of the old site online and see what can be re-used
have a look at what has to be improved/redone
then: work work work

Traveller in Time wrote:
Yeti of Chaos wrote:What's anyway wrong with leaving it where it is right now? AFAIK, Robert still pays for it, doesn't he?(...)
Yeah Robert still pays for it, but he said we should get an own account, that he and Daniel are "out of business" with TF. But of course we get the domain, which can be transferred(assigned?).
(...)
Well i would pay one year, then let's see how my financial situation will be, now i am still poor student
(...)

Ok, it looks as if nothing's happened since that. Still, it sounds like a plan, especially with Traveller in Time willing to pay for a year (provided he would still do it), so why not have someone finding a provider? It seems like a staff could be recruited quite fast, but even lots of contributing people are of no use as long as there is no page to put the contributions up.

Arwen Arianna · #88 Post by **Arwen Arianna** » 29 Jun 2010 17:25

Okay guys, as promised: I created a board (+ chat) for further discussions.
I did this withing a few minutes, as I'm rather busy.. I'll improve it a little later on, the colors etc are a mess. http://www.followers.forumieren.com

edit: feel free to suggest different/new categories!

Metal Fan · #89 Post by **Metal Fan** » 29 Jun 2010 17:29

Awesome Arwen! Thanks

Edit: I'm Market Square, got sick of Metal Fan last year -_-

should you add a place for pictures or would that come under translations?

spamel · #90 Post by **spamel** » 29 Jun 2010 17:29

I play guitar to a reasonable standard so would also like to help checking tabs over and seeing which are the closest, although I tend to play the more acoustic tracks myself. I have figured a few songs out myself which may be played totally differently to how the Bards play, but it sounds reasonable to me.

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #91 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 29 Jun 2010 19:10

Desert_Storm wrote:Ok, it looks as if nothing's happened since that. Still, it sounds like a plan, especially with Traveller in Time willing to pay for a year (provided he would still do it), so why not have someone finding a provider? It seems like a staff could be recruited quite fast, but even lots of contributing people are of no use as long as there is no page to put the contributions up.

I have already purchased space from a grid-based host. I'm looking into getting the domain from Robert right now.

Also, I will need to check against my provider's TOS, but if everything is okay, I should be able to run an IRC channel for all of us as well. Right now, shouting ideas at one another isn't ideal.

What we have:
- Hosting
- Technical skills
- Graphic Designer?

What we need:
- Graphic Designer?
- Domain (in talks with Robert right now)
- CONTENT

In regards to content, I've begun writing an in-depth lyrical analysis starting from the very first album. It's great that we have people transcribing diaries, writing reviews, tabs, and whole slew of other things. We're going to need everything we can get!

ALSO: If you're a programmer, please tell me. I've started outlining specifications and technologies we'll be using. I'd love to get a discussion between us going instead of having me be the benevolent dictator who chooses everything.

Desert_Storm · #92 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 29 Jun 2010 19:15

@Minstrel Knight:
Seems like we are further than I expected

So what do you propose concerning the content? Just write stuff/look for stuff that we can use and then upload it in the Forum Arwen created?

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #93 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 29 Jun 2010 19:21

The forum Arwen created (excellent initiative!) will be short-lived once we get the domain, unfortunately. As soon as the domain is transferred, I'll set up a forum on the-following.com that we can all use to plan. For now, use Arwen's forum or email any content to her or myself. Right now, I'm focused on trying to get an IRC channel and securing the domain for us.

Metal Fan · #94 Post by **Metal Fan** » 29 Jun 2010 20:02

I have at least 50 pictures of the band stored on my iPod right now. Three are drawn that I got from bgs facebook (the three in water color) do we have to ask for permission to use them? Later I will get on the computer and put them on PhotoBucket.

Desert_Storm · #95 Post by **Desert_Storm** » 29 Jun 2010 20:09

basically, you will have to ask permission for every picture, no matter what type, not taken by yourself if you want to put it somwhere people can see it.

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT · #96 Post by **The Minstrel Knight LiGHT** » 29 Jun 2010 20:15

UPDATE: We have an IRC channel! Join #the-following @ irc.freenode.net! (it's registered, but may be empty! haha

)

Metal Fan wrote:I have at least 50 pictures of the band stored on my iPod right now. Three are drawn that I got from bgs facebook (the three in water color) do we have to ask for permission to use them? Later I will get on the computer and put them on PhotoBucket.

Yes, for stuff like this always ask for permission. However, do mention that they are for Blind Guardian's fansite The Following. That name carries around a lot of weight.

Also mention that they won't be used for profit.

spamel · #97 Post by **spamel** » 29 Jun 2010 20:17

I could do some pictures of the Bards. If they come and do a gig in my backyard I'll do the pictures for free!

Metal Fan · #98 Post by **Metal Fan** » 29 Jun 2010 20:26

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT wrote:UPDATE: We have an IRC channel! Join #the-following @ irc.freenode.net!

Metal Fan wrote:I have at least 50 pictures of the band stored on my iPod right now. Three are drawn that I got from bgs facebook (the three in water color) do we have to ask for permission to use them? Later I will get on the computer and put them on PhotoBucket.
Yes, for stuff like this always ask for permission. However, do mention that they are for Blind Guardian's fansite The Following. That name carries around a lot of weight. Also mention that they won't be used for profit.

Damn, some I got on Google too and some from interviews. For now I'll just get email address, when it comes to it I'll email them

Right now I'll start with what I got on fb. Or should I wait until the site is up?

The-following.com ... What?

Little Dragon · #99 Post by **Little Dragon** » 29 Jun 2010 21:03

The Minstrel Knight LiGHT wrote: What we have:
- Hosting
- Technical skills
- Graphic Designer?

What we need:
- Graphic Designer?
- Domain (in talks with Robert right now)
- CONTENT

check.

but as i mentioned before, still stuck with thesis for about two weeks.

Metal Fan · #100 Post by **Metal Fan** » 29 Jun 2010 21:15

Graphic Designer: Little Dragon
Data base design: The Minstrel Knight LiGHT
Web Programing: Cigoth
Other: wade-newb, Led Guardian, Arwen Arianna (content), Gandalf De Grijze (content), Beren Ercharmion, Metal Fan, Spamel (content),
Web developer: Bard

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