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Tick tock
Sep 4, 2009

Only a few hours left to go for me as Producer of h2g2. It's very strange indeed and quite emotional.

Just been chatting to h2g2 legend Jimster and am thinking of doing something rash as a last act, like perhaps banning myself from the site. Or at least sending myself a few warnings. Nighthoover will be given Editor status first, obviously. The possibilities are endless!

In the meantime I want to thank all you lovely folk for being the best online Community in the world and for being such a joy to work with. It's been an absolute blast!

Now, please look after Sam.

(23 replies, Latest reply: Sep 9, 2009)

h2g2 Redesign: Your Views Needed!
May 15, 2009

In case you've missed it...where have you been?

We're asking people to give their feedback on the *proposed positional layout* of the forthcoming redesign at this week's Talking Point: A51277773. This wireframe is *not* the redesign and...I've been repeating myself a lot at various junctures (nothing new there) so let's just say that the Talking Point itself explains the point of the wireframe and that we're at a very early stage.

We want to make the site more accessible to new users *and* make it comply with BBC guidelines but it's massively important that we keep our Community happy while we're doing so so your opinions really do count. That's not just lip service - we really mean it.

We might not be able to give you the answers you want, and we have to manage expectations at all points along this process (as much as anything, or own expectations, as we'd obviously love as many improvements as we can get our hands on) but...even if we don't implement your suggestions, we always want to know what you think so...please do let us know.

And <thanks> to all of you who have joined in so far.

(7 replies, Latest reply: May 18, 2009)

Meet-up
May 14, 2009

It's been such a busy week here that I didn't have time to say how much I enjoyed the h2g2 Meet-up last Saturday. The lovely B'Elana has written a report about the whole weekend for The Post this week at A51274587.

I really do recommend the h2g2 meet-ups, but if you weren't lucky enough to get there then there are lots of photos in her write-up. Thanks also to 2Legs for getting everyone together again.

Time flew and it was a real pleasure to meet everyone - I didn't even change my mind when I finally got off a bus near my home at 3am! (I forgot to check my watch).

(13 replies, Latest reply: Jun 3, 2009)

Embedded Video on h2g2
May 7, 2009

You may have seen on our Announcements page that we now have embedded content in some Edited Entries on h2g2. Content is drawn from the fabulous h2g2 AViators group at A13264670. Currently, access to actually add the content is limited to Editor-created content - Edited Entries and Help Pages.

So - we'd like to thank the h2g2 AViators for their amazing work, especially Skankyrich and TRiG. Long before this looked like a possibility they kept the idea of h2g2 AV content going by setting up their own site at www.h2g2aviators.com, which also offers sound clips and the legendary Beeblecast. So far, DNA can only support embedded links to Youtube and the EMP Player; however, in time we hope to have more flexibility.

We're also very excited that this gives us the option to have embedded links as the main picture promo on our front page. So...if you fancy adding AV content to the Guide then please do join the AViators. For more info, please visit A13264670.

We hope you'll like this change - but please do feel free to post any feedback here.

(No replies)

media literacy
May 6, 2009

We've been thinking about the role h2g2 plays in facilitating the BBC's remit to develop media literacy skills. We feel as if we see examples of it every day on the site and in the volunteer groups, but some really thoughtful examples have been posted in the thread in Ask h2g2: F19585?thread=6536971&skip=20&show=20

It's astonishing that some of you who appear to be super-users now had never encountered the Internet before h2g2! (Where's the <baptismoffire> smiley?)

Anyway...we hope you don't mind that we've made it the subject for this week's Talking Point at A50692683.

In fact, it probably makes sense to move the thread to the Entry. I wonder whether people *mind* being uprooted from one thread to another... I think it might be preferable to feeling they're being asked the same things all over again. Hmmm...

(3 replies, Latest reply: May 6, 2009)