brief update

[astolat]

Just a quick heads-up and to apologize for the radio silence: progress is being made, but so far it has been very boring progress, and we've wanted to hold off until we had something more interesting to report than "Day 3: Filling out paperwork. Day 7: Waiting for state to reply to paperwork. Day 11: Waiting for state to reply to paperwork. Day 15: Waiting for..." etc., and until we had chairs for all the committees on board, which has taken a bit longer than expected, due to people traveling during the summer and, as corinna_5 said, our being an organization where "I had to take the weekend off to read Harry Potter" is a valid excuse. *g*

I know that as a result of the strikethroughs, there is a loggerhead of frustration building up, that wants ACTION! NOW! -- and I sympathize with this a lot. The truth is, my own instinct with projects is generally to damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead, which has the virtue of getting something up and running fast. But we're in this for the long haul, and we want to make sure this is done right from the ground up, so slow and steady has been the order of the day.

More updates will be coming soon!

Comments

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

Thank you for letting us know! I wanted to make a post earlier this week asking if anyone knew, but I remembered the "let the moderators go through your entry" rule just in time. :) If you need any help with the preparations, let me know! I've incorporated fanarchive-stuff in my schedule, which means I have quite a lot of hours off nowadays.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

*\o/*

[boji.livejournal.com]

I'm of the belief that if a thing is worth doing it's worth doing well. I'm also of the belief that the people behind fanarchive are passionate about creating the best damn alternative for 'us' that they can. So... the long haul doesn't worry me.

Then agian I'm not playing in the fandom sandpits most affected. I'm still sitting tight, making contingencies to house my fic on IJ and am more than willing to ride out the interim.

[mirabile-dictu.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the update! Even if the updates simply say "We're working on it," I think it's important they be made. Otherwise, it's easy to worry that you and your partners are losing interest, or realized that the workload is simply too heavy.

Which it will be, I do believe.

Good luck!

[bathsweaver.livejournal.com]

Keep up the good work, let us know what we can do when we can do it, and thank you!

[melannen.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I had assumed that this was pretty much where you were, but it's nice to have something to point people to.

*glee!* and: blogs?

[http://users.livejournal.com/_workinprogress/]

our being an organization where "I had to take the weekend off to read Harry Potter" is a valid excuse.

that sentence just made my day.

thanks for giving us a quick update.

And I'm wondering, has there been more talk about including a blog thing?
I know that people are talking about that somewhere and that it was suggested they get into contact with you and the other brains behind this thing.
Anything happening on that front, too?

Re: *glee!* and: blogs?

[bloodrebel333.livejournal.com]

That was fandom_flies. I hope we will do it, because separating fandom from its fanworks will be a pain.

[ainsley.livejournal.com]

I was just about to e-mail to see if there was anything that we could put in a weekly update. I'm looking forward to their being more news so I can get back to doing those.

[stele3.livejournal.com]

Thank you. It's much appreciated.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

But we're in this for the long haul, and we want to make sure this is done right from the ground up, so slow and steady has been the order of the day.

Which has given me confidence in the success of the venture from the very beginning. *nods head approvingly* Though I tend to run with the "Damn the torpedoes" approach myself.

Icarus

[rheasilvia.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much for the update! And I think I speak for quite a number of fans when I say that I am so, so grateful for all the work you and the others have taken on. I only regret that I myself have no time - and, unfortunately, even less IT or legal know-how - to contribute to the endeavor at this point.

In spite of the renewed strikethrough incident, I don't think time is snapping at fandom's heels just yet. It's definitely a very good thing we have a long-term plan for an archive (and maybe a blogging community?) of our own underway, but there's no need to rush things. As you say, better to do it properly from the ground up.

Again, thank you. You are doing fandom a great service.

If you decide you want to put up a server in Europe, or want a contact person / representative / translator / whatever in Germany, just let me know. I know, unlikely, but hey. :-)

[elgraves.livejournal.com]

Is it too late to volunteer?

[astolat]

Never too late to volunteer. :) We will be doing a lot more recruiting soon as the committees pull together, but if you want you can also check a few posts back here and send in a "willing to serve" for committees you'd be interested in working with.

[ithiliana.livejournal.com]

Another volunteer and I were talking about the project today at breakfast at Mythcon! I'm happy to see the update, but am aware that this sort of work takes a looooooooooooooooooooong time, but the solid foundation that comes out of it will be worth the wait, I am sure. Good luck!

[rez-lo.livejournal.com]

In the unlikely event that you haven't already seen/heard of this: twocorpses is in beta on a fan-centered implementation of the open LJ sourcecode. (Visit hir journal for updates.) Might it be worth investigating a coordinated effort?

And thanks for the update, and the careful work.

[this is ponderosa]

[(Anonymous)]

Hi, this is Ponderosa. I'm a little overwhelmed at trying to deal with the hail of email right now and in the midst of drafting something specific to you and the others working at fanarchive.

Just so people are aware, I've been following what you've been doing, and I'd really like to discuss the potential of moving beyond just what LJ offers in terms of social networking in a fan-centric light in a way that would be compatible if you were to use a CMS like Drupal. I'll be using wiki.interi.org as a location to start posting ideas about what's the next step beyond blogging for fans. Interi.org is a neutral space run by a personal friend who is a staunch supporter of free speech and the open exchange of ideas.

I'm very much a DO IT NOW type person myself, but on this scale, it's clear that planning and looking ahead is far more important than just a stop gap solution.

-Ponderosa
pond@ponderosa121.com

Re: wikiness

[foxfirefey]

I already have a wiki set up about social networking and blogging software as related to LJ:

http://codex.journal-press.com/

It takes OpenID logins and anyone wanting to use it to write guides, etc, is welcome to. It can also host programs people develop and other tools--I can offer subversion hosting as well.

I have a really extensive evaluation page there:

http://codex.journal-press.com/Evaluating_alternative_services_for_blogging

Re: wikiness

[foxfirefey]

I should note that it's not fandom exclusive, but fandom guides can go there just as well as general ones!

[alassenya]

I can understand some impatience, but I would much rather wait 6 or 12 months and migrate to a robust (in its original sense) and secure server with de-bugged code and crystal-clear TOS.

I can't code for peanuts and I travel a lot for my job, so it's difficult for me to offer time, but I can offer a donation if that would help.

[ignazwisdom.livejournal.com]

Thank you for keeping us updated!

[jeddy83.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the update.

[lassarina]

I'm new to the fanarchive discussion, for which I apologize, but seeing as there's now a massive move to leave LJ, I thought I would also point out ffarchive in terms of archive features, because while their focus is primarily the Final Fantasy fandoms, I think they've collected a lot of great suggestions regarding features that people might be interested in seeing.

[asphyxi.livejournal.com]

So I'm late for the party, sue me. I'd still like to help out in any way possible. I'm still reading through the past posts and just wanted to give a shout-out here.

In the meantime, I'll spread the word around; in my flist and to other non-LJ fandom communities. Mind if I link? :)

[diurnal-lee.livejournal.com]

Another month along, I wonder if we could have another quick update. Even, "Still waiting on paperwork from the State," will be reassuring.

[anextropian.livejournal.com]

I think that it is important for everyone to see the latest progress so that no one will think that this effort is dead.