Updates

[Mikari]

People can post their recently updated or new sites in the plugs board. We could also make an updates sub-forum, kind of like the Banner Trade sub-forum, where everyone can have their own post they update. That's something I've been thinking about a lot too.

That sounds like a great idea. I probably wouldn't post much since I don't update a whole lot after a site's completion, but it would be an easy way to keep track of everyone's updates.

[Destinie]

Since I've been more in the habit of actually finishing a shrine as much as I can before posting it on the web, I tend to update very rarely. The most I update is if I prune it for outdated information or links, add links, or change the layout. Most of the shrines that I have are for characters that aren't in a series or require a lot of constant updating. (Aside from Meowth and Giovanni.)

As for updates now, I just use the livejournal site and post them there and have the link redirect to that post. I used to keep long logs of all the updates but I felt like that wasn't really worth it.

And now, I seem to change layouts once a year. o_o; I used to do it every month or every few weeks when I was younger. I even kept a "Past Layouts" section. I don't have as much time anymore and I am much pickier about what I want my sites to look like, so that makes it more difficult to make layouts.

On the other topic: I think having an updates sub forum would be nice! Like when I do make a layout change and want to get some feedback on it or update with a new section or something. I think that would be really useful!

[Mikari]

If collective updates / collective layout updates are allowed to be kept in the sub forum too that would definitely make it more active. XD

[Aku]

I think I have a tendency to do that second thing--make shrines "complete" and upload them with the intention of leaving them pretty static. It's funny because ~back in the day~ I would decide on making a shrine, make the layout for it, and then fill it with content... but I think that was when shrines were much more informational and I created less of a narrative around them. I think it's a bit harder to do it that way nowadays since I'm more concept/writing first, building second.

I'd like to do layout changes & revamps more often than I do, but I'm busy lol. I've always archived "updates" of sorts on my updates journal, but I think if I were to update a shrine more regularly I'd find a different way of doing that. Probably old school updates page style.

All this being said, I'd be interested in going back to my old method to see how differently a shrine takes form if I create the site, and then try to fill it with more regular updates. XD

[Destinie]

@aku I know what you mean about slowly updating shrines in the past. I had several shrines that we're "live" but the content was never finished! XD but somehow people still liked them!? ;)

[Mikari]

It's easier to do live shrines with fandom & media updates, though those things get more views in fandom archives anyway. There's only so much I can say information-wise before everything has been said, assuming the series isn't ongoing.

[Aku]

@aku I know what you mean about slowly updating shrines in the past. I had several shrines that we're "live" but the content was never finished! XD but somehow people still liked them!? ;)

Yeah! In a way I feel like it was kind of motivating to have it out in the open. XD You're more likely to update something that people are waiting for/expecting something out of! (I also think it was kind of a way of making a "claim" on something, especially back in the day when shrining was a much more common thing lol).

[dubiousdisc]

@aku I know what you mean about slowly updating shrines in the past. I had several shrines that we're "live" but the content was never finished! XD but somehow people still liked them!? ;)

Yeah! In a way I feel like it was kind of motivating to have it out in the open. XD You're more likely to update something that people are waiting for/expecting something out of! (I also think it was kind of a way of making a "claim" on something, especially back in the day when shrining was a much more common thing lol).

Actually, I found it less motivating! D: At one point I used to have a fansite like that (I ran it for seven years, actually), and what really turned me off was people having high expectations as to what I was supposed to do next...Regardless of what I did, I kept receiving comments and mails of people complaining that the site wasn't supposed to go this direction but this and that and why don't you write this and why don't you do that...it had become so nerve-wracking that in the end I closed the entire project just to stop dealing with that. Now that fansites are less common, I actually feel glad about it since, whenever I receive a mail, it's usually on the lines of, yay, you have a fansite! instead of having an userbase that takes it for granted and polices what the site should or should not be. B:

[anon]

@aku I know what you mean about slowly updating shrines in the past. I had several shrines that we're "live" but the content was never finished! XD but somehow people still liked them!? ;)

Yeah! In a way I feel like it was kind of motivating to have it out in the open. XD You're more likely to update something that people are waiting for/expecting something out of! (I also think it was kind of a way of making a "claim" on something, especially back in the day when shrining was a much more common thing lol).

Actually, I found it less motivating! D: At one point I used to have a fansite like that (I ran it for seven years, actually), and what really turned me off was people having high expectations as to what I was supposed to do next...Regardless of what I did, I kept receiving comments and mails of people complaining that the site wasn't supposed to go this direction but this and that and why don't you write this and why don't you do that...it had become so nerve-wracking that in the end I closed the entire project just to stop dealing with that. Now that fansites are less common, I actually feel glad about it since, whenever I receive a mail, it's usually on the lines of, yay, you have a fansite! instead of having an userbase that takes it for granted and polices what the site should or should not be. B:

I agree. I shut down one of my sites because in addition to loss of interest, I also felt pressured to update the site so often. My site was dedicated to a series that had ended a long time ago but was recently revived with light novels... I couldn't stand the multitude of fanboys trying to send me stuff and pressuring me to translate their crap, oh, my gosh.

[Mikari]

In the past fan sites were the battle field of fandom wars at times and the more sites that supported a side the better. I actually found it all pretty amusing. XD