blog SC Blog Proposal

[Abraram]

Salam to everyone,

Here I would like to discuss an important proposal with you. We all know that Shia chat has an immense popularity not only among Shias but other sects too. There are other reasons too to start up with an all new "SC BLOG" where all the writers would write on current hot topics and other interests (I think we should focus on the current issues but yeh everything depends upon the respective Admin).

 

Sub domain would be like: shiachat.com/blog. Dev team can talk to me if they wanna help bring up the blog. I can also help in building and arranging team to help you out with this.

 

There are other benefits of blog too and here is my list:

 

1. Increases traffic for SC resulting in SC ads, subscribers and members.

2. Shia voice to counter the biased news blogs.

3. Engaging visitors to read some quality articles and news regarding the world.

4. SC BLOG would be different from the forum as it would have quality, original and written by writers from SC and others.

 

Anyone who is reading this post must vote on the poll and yeh notify the admins around the SC to look out for its maximum exposure. We can discuss the matter further if Administration is interested in this proposal.

 

With duas and blessings. :)

Edited December 5, 2015 by Abrar7866
non-copied to original keyword changed

[alisayyed]

I would like to say something in support, however, bro @Abrar7866 got to all the points first. There is nothing that I feel like adding except that if the project takes off, I will support it wholeheartedly. I am hoping that we have a dedicated team. For those who are sceptical, I wish to say, that there is no harm in trying.Our every contribution will be like a bullet fired in the direction of the mis-informers.

[Hameedeh]

Thanks for the discussion. ShiaChat members who have blogs on other websites are posting the link to their blogs in this topic:

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/72241-shiachatters-blogs/

[Abraram]

Salam. @hameedeh I meant to say that Shia Chat should start its own blog on its own domain. We are ready to help the SC admins to start up with a blog.

[Hameedeh]

You should tag the ShiaChat owner. We have 3 who have the name Ali, but maybe you can figure out which one is Chief Ali. 

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/staff/

[alisayyed]

Brother @Ali, please do check the proposal and share your thoughts. 

 

Edited December 5, 2015 by alisayyed
.

[Bakir]

Instead of blog, blogs: IPB Blogs, please xD!

[Ali]

Salams.

We used to offer a ShiaChat blog built in on shiachat offered to member but it didn't really go anywhere..  Its not expensive and easily doable so if theres a read guaranteed demand I can look into it.

[Khadim uz Zahra]

What I had suggested earlier in the election thread is, I believe, a better solution: linking ShiaChat with other sites (like Nader or Jaafer's) so that when they post new content, it automatically creates a thread here and their comments system is not native to their side but, in fact, a linked version to the discussion happening on ShiaChat. Now, this will probably take quite a bit of developer expertise but will, in the end, benefit both ShiaChat (by exposing all the users of those websites to the forums and, of course, also providing extremely high quality content) and the individual blogs/sites (by increasing the amount of active discussion on their content). Of course, getting the owners' permission would also be another hurdle. Due to that, and the cost/developer expertise needed, I'm not sure if it can ever pan out, though.

[Ali_Hussain]

shiachat should have a youtube channel

[Abraram]

Salam,

@Khadim uz Zahra I think if the content gets duplicated, it would effect the SEO of SC. I run an web design agency and considers blog the best traffic generation linked page ever. Further more @Ali, I'm not the only one who thinks that blog would work for the SC but this is a coordinated proposal of tens of people out there. @alisayyed from SC and my other fb friends are ready to roll for blogging especially the hot political topics nowadays.

 

Actually my moto was to start my personal news agency but due to some reasons, it isn't possible for me to start from the scratch while managing an other web design agency. SC is already been a Google's friend for about 13 years (a perfect domain authorship) and it would be easy to sound better and faster while working on SC.

 

And yeh ofcourse, people here on SC would too love to write on the blog. I'm personally ready to handle the tasks around the dev, design and the maintenance of the blog if required.

[Abbas.]

Salams Abrar

Thank you for the proposal.

In terms of content generation, how is it any different from posting on the forums and your profile feed? What makes it unique and different (in the sense of being more beneficial) from current set up?

[alisayyed]

I can muster the following points -

Separate blog/site	Posting on the forum	Posting on the profile feed
It will be a coordinated effort.	It will be a coordinated effort.	It will be an individual effort.
There will be a dedicated team.	There will be a dedicated team.	The dedication at an individual level may vary due to personal and profesional compulsions.
The dedicated contributors will have deadlines. There will be a regular stream of content.	The effort may not be so serious.	It will be too much for an individual's effort.
We will witness professionally written and, thus,  good quality content.	Content may get lost 'below' the latest threads.	It might not get the necessary audience.
SEO will be one of the goals	Might not be	Wont be

[Abbas.]

^ So it really comes down to having a dedicated team of bloggers with professional writing skills.

Maybe we need to edit the the thread poll and also ask interested members if they are willing to volunteer.

-----

@Abrar7866 @alisayyed

[Haji 2003]

1 hour ago, Abbas. said:

^ So it really comes down to having a dedicated team of bloggers with professional writing skills.

Maybe we need to edit the the thread poll and also ask interested members if they are willing to volunteer.

-----

@Abrar7866 @alisayyed

 

I think a practical solution could be to have a Shiachat Blog with a limited number of slots per year. Once a month? Fortnightly? etc. depending on the level of interest. People could then sign up in advance, in order to write a 'thought piece', well in advance of the publication date.

I think this would also solve the problem of having lots of pinned topics in some forums where people believe they have written a masterpiece which should be preserved for all to see. The Blog would cater for that type of magnum opus

[alisayyed]

4 hours ago, Abbas. said:

^ So it really comes down to having a dedicated team of bloggers with professional writing skills.

Maybe we need to edit the the thread poll and also ask interested members if they are willing to volunteer.

-----

@Abrar7866 @alisayyed

We may need to create another thread for volunteers. 

 

2 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

 

I think a practical solution could be to have a Shiachat Blog with a limited number of slots per year. Once a month? Fortnightly? etc. depending on the level of interest. People could then sign up in advance, in order to write a 'thought piece', well in advance of the publication date.

I think this would also solve the problem of having lots of pinned topics in some forums where people believe they have written a masterpiece which should be preserved for all to see. The Blog would cater for that type of magnum opus

Seems fair. Will get back to you on this with specifics, if you dont mind.

[Ali]

If you can get me a list of committed members who wish to blog and continue blogging, about 10 or so, I can invest the time to make this happen otherwise I cannot see a return on investment to purchase the blog addon if its only one or 2 members blogging. 

[Reza]

I'll give it a try.

[Haji 2003]

Tonks, I think it would be more measurable if people were to commit to a specific number of blog entries per year. That way (AIUI) it would be possible to judge whether the total volume of interest would merit starting this.

Go on, be a man. Commit yourself. 

I should be able to do a couple per year. 

[Abraram]

20 hours ago, Haji 2003 said:

 

I think a practical solution could be to have a Shiachat Blog with a limited number of slots per year. Once a month? Fortnightly? etc. depending on the level of interest. People could then sign up in advance, in order to write a 'thought piece', well in advance of the publication date.

I think this would also solve the problem of having lots of pinned topics in some forums where people believe they have written a masterpiece which should be preserved for all to see. The Blog would cater for that type of magnum opus

You highlighted a great valid point. But that depends upon what Bro Abbas said that lets see if the SC members are overwhelmingly welcoming the writing spot. If thats the case, then we should opt for a signup form with a expert to moderate the new writers' blogpost.

 

One more thing that I think, blog is usually targeted to the public (SC members and guests) and it would be fair enough to opt for a selective number of writers in the beginning, we can then allow the other interested people to send us a blog writing which will then be posted on the blog by the moderator and personally I think, very few of the people would go for the blog as it requires a little research, minimum usage of 1000 words and other criteria which makes a perfect blog ready to beat other websites on the Google aka ranking high on the search engines. Frequency is directly proportional to the traffic.

Edited December 8, 2015 by Abrar7866

[Haji 2003]

1 minute ago, Abrar7866 said:

You highlighted a great valid point. But that depends upon what Bro Abbas said that lets see if the SC members are overwhelmingly welcoming the writing spot. If thats the case, then we should opt for a signup form with a expert to moderate the new writers' blogpost.

 

Actually I can go one better than the above.

1. Ask people to make pledges to write blog posts. So everyone can see the general level of interest. Say that if a minimum number of pledges is not met, the project does not proceed.

2. If enough pledges are received give people a deadline to submit their first post and again if a min number are not received, it's no go.

3. Once you have collected the min number Ali can pay the fees. 

5. The posts will then appear at set intervals (what these are will depend on the amount of material you generated).

6. After a set period either repeat from item 1 above or use another method for generating material. Overall, though, you want to have a bank IMHO, you don't want to be scrabbling around begging or having random intervals between posts.

[alisayyed]

As of now, the Announcement mentioning the blog proposal is a week old.

Based on the votes by the potential volunteers, following is my summary of the different possibilities-

 

Month-wise Liberal estimate-

People	Blogs/month	Total
7	1	7
2	3	6
20	5	20	33
Friends
2	1	2
1	1	1
4	1	4	8*
	Grand Total		41

 

*Assuming that the friends provide one blog each month.

 

Yearly liberal estimate-

41x12= 492

492-30* = 462

*Two volunteers have voted to blog for around 5-6 months and 6-9 months each. I am assuming an approximate average-6 months. One volunteer is from 1 blog/month and the other is 4 blogs/month. Thus, 30= 1x6 + 4x6.

 

Month-wise Conservative estimate - 

People	Blogs/month	Total
7	1	7
2	2	4
20	4	16	27
Friends
2	1	1
1	1	1
4	1	2	4*
	Grand Total		31

 

*Assuming that the friends provide one blog every two months.

 

Yearly conservative estimate-

31*12 = 372

372-48* = 324

*Two volunteers have voted to blog for around 5-6 months and 6-9 months each. I am assuming an approximate average-6 months. Both the volunteers are from the 4 blogs/month. Thus, 48= 4x6 + 4x6.

 

It boils down to about 1 blog a day. 365 an year. Assuming 5% of them become viral through the social media, we can safely assume that the unique audience will be about a 1000/day. How does that sound?

If the numbers seem sufficient, then the next step is to ask everyone to submit their first blogs. I suggest giving everyone 15 days.

@Abrar7866,  @Ali, @Haji 2003, @Abbas.

[Abraram]

Salam, a very nice convincing estimation there dear @alisayyed. We should also consider some drop outs too. It would surely be a powerful kick start for a new blog I hope. Thank you Ali

[alisayyed]

 

Month-wise Liberal estimate-

People	Blogs/month	Total
7	1	7
2	3	6
4	5	20	33
Friends
2	1	2
1	1	1
4	1	4	8*
	Grand Total		41

*Assuming that the friends provide one blog each month.

Yearly liberal estimate-

41x12= 492

492-30* = 462

*Two volunteers have voted to blog for around 5-6 months and 6-9 months each. I am assuming an approximate average-6 months. One volunteer is from 1 blog/month and the other is 4 blogs/month. Thus, 30= 1x6 + 4x6.

Month-wise Conservative estimate - 

People	Blogs/month	Total
7	1	7
2	2	4
4	4	16	27
Friends
2	1	1
1	1	1
4	1	2	4*
	Grand Total		31

*Assuming that the friends provide one blog every two months.

Yearly conservative estimate-

31*12 = 372

372-48* = 324

*Two volunteers have voted to blog for around 5-6 months and 6-9 months each. I am assuming an approximate average-6 months. Both the volunteers are from the 4 blogs/month. Thus, 48= 4x6 + 4x6.

Slight correction in the table. The final figures were correct in both the cases, though.

There is no doubt that dropouts are likely. At the same time, we might get additional volunteers.

Overall, it is a risk, though, IMO, a calculated one.

[Ali]

Ok, I will proceed in purchasing the blog software and integrate it to Shiachat.  Let me find the time inshallah..

[hasanhh]

Since I first read this proposal, I've been a little confused. Showing my age, what is the difference between a thread and a blog?

Second, I personally will want my "blog" subject to review because as alisayyed wrote above, it will be more widely available on the Net --and I don't want to make SC look dull or contrived.

I also will want it reviewed for quality and subject. If I research a topic like a college paper or an opinion piece, I want criticism -grammar, clarity, et alia-- so the opus is worth someone's time.

And then I'd need directions if another software is employed. I can't handle Adobe must less anything complicated.

I also do not want to take-on a commitment. Work on a piece for a couple of weeks once a year is within my capability, but my internally generated prompts are not usually  of general interest.

And there is the submission procedure.

Thanks.

Edited December 23, 2015 by hasanhh
added thought

[Abraram]

I'm sorry for the confusion. I was actually looking forward to represent my writings some where and then I thought that it would be a great idea to write on ShiaChat. Obviously, I will not be the only writer on the blog. There are tens of subjects and every writer would be able to write according to its expertise and interest of the reader? I'm not the representative or any one to whom the blog belongs. Its actually, I have a simple interest in the blog that would surely benefit the ShiaChat. I just wanna be a author and want the voice of Shia to be heard by each and everyone.

[alisayyed]

On 12/23/2015 at 10:42 AM, hasanhh said:

Since I first read this proposal, I've been a little confused. Showing my age, what is the difference between a thread and a blog?

Threads are mainly for discussions.

Blogs are mainly for an audience. They can lead to discussion in their comment sections, if any.

Second, I personally will want my "blog" subject to review because as alisayyed wrote above, it will be more widely available on the Net --and I don't want to make SC look dull or contrived.

I am sure that all the blog submissions will be moderated, and possibly, corrected and enhanced. One can always ask for assistance from fellow SCers, if he/she is not very convinced about the quality of their blog.

I also will want it reviewed for quality and subject. If I research a topic like a college paper or an opinion piece, I want criticism -grammar, clarity, et alia-- so the opus is worth someone's time.

That is a very good suggestion. We should try to incorporate it. We should have an 'Enhancer'.

A volunteer whose main job is to enhance the quality of the submission. Kind of an Editor, but with the focus being more on enhancement. I won't mind doing it.

And then I'd need directions if another software is employed. I can't handle Adobe must less anything complicated.

I dont think anything more than a simple copy-paste is required. Though, it would be better if the contributors added links, images and videos for clarity and authentication. Again, it wont be difficult and help is readily available in the form of SCers and blog volunteers.

I also do not want to take-on a commitment. Work on a piece for a couple of weeks once a year is within my capability, but my internally generated prompts are not usually  of general interest.

There is no hardcore commitment, the kind of which you will have to free a slave, in case you break it.  The votes in the announcement thread was to mainly get to know the level of interest. Whenever you get an inspiration, please go ahead and put it into words.

And there is the submission procedure.

Dont worry about it. It will be as simple as creating a topic thread. Probably easier.

Hope that helps.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2015 by alisayyed

[Reza]

Just a reminder, the blog is up and running! Please get in there and start typing!

[alisayyed]

I was planning to inaugurate mine today. Or rather I will inaugurate it today, Inshallah..

[alisayyed]

I am tagging all those who 'liked' the Announcement thread about the shiachat blog and then some.  We have a tab for the blogs- Member Blogs. It would be nice if we gave it a good start.

So, all those who expressed interest are requested to write their first blog, in at the most 10-15 days. 

 

@DigitalUmmah, @skamran110, @Hamzah313, @reisiger, @azy, @hasanhh, @Sumayyeh, @Wise Muslim,

@Murteza, @darksunbloodmoon, @magma, @Qa'im, @Abrar7866

 

I will also be starting a thread where everyone can discuss about writing their next blog.

[DigitalUmmah]

Can someone point me to how I set up/ write a blog here?

[Chaotic Muslem]

11 minutes ago, DigitalUmmah said:

Can someone point me to how I set up/ write a blog here?

@Ali

I can see the member blog tab next to the chat tab at the top of the forum page, but when I click on it it takes me to the main page of forum.

It dose not also appear under the create tab.

[alisayyed]

@DigitalUmmah Please hover the mouse on Member Blogs- Click on Blogs- Mention your new blog's name- Click on 'Submit New blog entry''/Add new entry'

 

[DigitalUmmah]

1 minute ago, alisayyed said:

@DigitalUmmah Please hover the mouse on Member Blogs- Click on Blogs- Mention your new blog's name- Click on 'Submit New blog entry''/Add new entry'

 

Ok brilliant - thanks I never noticed that. Let me finish getting nahjul balagha uploaded on my site then ill start blogging inshaAllah