Mini-sites?

Talk with others about anything shrine-related, be it presentation, content or something else.
Larissa
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Mini-sites?

Post by Larissa »

Looking for some advice, here!

So I'm planning on converting some of my existing fanlistings into mini-fansite type things -- a couple pages of content, but not a whole lot more than that. The problem is, I'm not really sure what to call that kind of site! I'm looking to have about as much content as your average one-page-site, but since they won't be on one page, that name's out.

Back in the day they used to be called mini-shrines, but I've been pulling away from calling my fansites "shrines" the past few years (just not big on the term myself) and I'm kind of stuck on what to refer to them as. I'd like to have some way to link these sites on my collective, but am not really sure how. The best idea I have so far is "mini-site", but that sounds a little awkward, haha.

Any ideas?

(As an example of the kind of site I'm talking about -- something like my Fang/Vanille site, or my FFVI OST site. Stuff that's got more than just an about page, but isn't a "full" fansite.)
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Aku
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Aku »

I personally don't think that shrines need labels, but that's just me. A shrine is a shrine in my eyes. Lots of one pagers have almost as much content as some people's full blown "shrines". I think appropriate size is subjective and it's really about quality over quantity anyway. On my network, I don't consider "Duality" at the level of "Mind Your Sugar Levels", and neither of them are my one page shrine to Caesar, but I classify them all the same and include them in my collective without much differentiation at all.

That being said, i think mini-shrine or mini-fansite I think is a perfectly acceptable way to describe the format, since that's kinda what it is haha. I'm not creative in that regard. I guess I'm more curious as to why we feel the need to differentiate. Are we maybe setting standards for ourselves as to what amount dictates a "full blown shrine" whereas sites of lesser volumes wouldn't live up to that name? For me, I feel like they are all "shrines", and the way we've begun to differentiate at Amassment is more about "format": multi-page, one pager, mini-shrine, and what have you. It's still a shrine, but the format you've chosen to do it in may not always be the same. I think that's an exciting direction for shrines to be heading if that's the case. :)
Todd
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Todd »

I agree with everything Aku wrote. A site is a site is a site. We tend to focus on format a lot because it has to do with the craft of shrining, and in the case of one-pagers, they're neat, fun, and easy for people who have not made shrines before because they generally require less work. That's not always the case, though, as my Magus Zeal one-pager is around the same size as my Edward Chris von Muir fan site, which is a multi-page tribute. I love that we continue making sites in many different formats and sizes. Don't feel like you have to differentiate your smaller sites from your larger ones; they're all shrines, or fan sites, or whatever we call them. (I've started calling mine fan sites, recently.)

As for fanlistings, I think if you have more fanlisting content than fan site content, I'd probably still refer to the site as a fanlisting, even if it's a fanlisting with a little bit of info. That's just my personal preference though for my previous fanlistings. Mini-site works if you like that title. I don't think it sounds dumb at all.
Larissa
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Larissa »

Thanks, Aku! I really appreciate your take on it and I think you bring up a good point about format. It really is just about how the content is presented, really. I think the reason people differentiate is due to existing mentalities about the size of a shrine meaning something, if you know what I mean? (Let's be honest, it may have diminished in recent years, but it's a thing -- and one I'm glad is going away. All fansites are good fansites! :heh: )
Todd wrote:As for fanlistings, I think if you have more fanlisting content than fan site content, I'd probably still refer to the site as a fanlisting, even if it's a fanlisting with a little bit of info.
I'm not really sure what you mean by this? I'm not looking to make fanlistings with about pages (I have plenty of those), I'm looking to expand them past a simple about page into a couple more content pages about the subject and why I like it. I linked some examples above. That's why I was looking for a separate name for them. Mini-site seems to work, though, so I think I might go with that. Maybe mini-tribute, as well.
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dubiousdisc
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by dubiousdisc »

+1 to everything Aku and Todd said before, but I can see needing some sort of explanation for the reader when you're writing the "welcome to Blah Blah, a _ for Character Blah". In that case, I'd phrase it something like "small fansite", "small tribute", "small site dedicated to [blah]".
Megan
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Megan »

For me I usually make it a one-pager and then just have a button on the page linking the fanlisting, which is what I am trying to do with all of my fanlistings that I don't plan on making a full-blown tribute too! But if you want to have different pages I think you should call it a mini-site like you said! I think I am going to do that as well for a few of my fanlistings as well if I don't have enough to put into a one-pager/tribute! :) I do think that if the information is a lot that you should just emphasize it as a tribute and have a fanlisting just a sub-part, or a small extra for that subject!
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Aku
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Aku »

Larissa wrote:I think the reason people differentiate is due to existing mentalities about the size of a shrine meaning something, if you know what I mean? (Let's be honest, it may have diminished in recent years, but it's a thing -- and one I'm glad is going away. All fansites are good fansites! :heh: )
Agreed! :yay: Honestly I think this mindset is kind of what we need to be able to branch out & discover new ways of "shrining" something. I feel like as a whole we confine ourselves to these really tl;dr essay shrines because they are the norm and what is expected, but there are probably so many other ways we can "break the meta" & think about how to show our love & dedication to various topics.

I also like dubi's take on it--like said, it's really more about format, so just introducing it as a "small fansite" is at least telling your visitor what to expect. It may even make the idea of a shrine more approachable to someone who is used to seeing shrines we make that are much larger in scale.
Larissa
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Larissa »

@dubiousdisc: Oh, I like that take on it too! This is why I asked for advice, I knew you guys would have a better way of describing it :heh:

@Megan: Yeah, I have a one-page site that also has a fanlisting, but I found it really hard to work the fanlisting component into it since I built it to just have one page with written content -- and likewise it's hard to do it the other way around, y'know? :|a Thanks for your input :heart:

@Aku: Yeah, exactly! I mean, I open fanlistings because they're for stuff I like, and while it's hard to write a whole lot about certain subjects I wouldn't open the site at all if it wasn't for something I'm really passionate about. So while I don't want to go the full, traditional, basic info + essays + media setup I do want to have something on those websites and I want to let visitors know that it's there past the list of fans.
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Todd
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Todd »

Larissa wrote:
Todd wrote:As for fanlistings, I think if you have more fanlisting content than fan site content, I'd probably still refer to the site as a fanlisting, even if it's a fanlisting with a little bit of info.
I'm not really sure what you mean by this? I'm not looking to make fanlistings with about pages (I have plenty of those), I'm looking to expand them past a simple about page into a couple more content pages about the subject and why I like it. I linked some examples above. That's why I was looking for a separate name for them. Mini-site seems to work, though, so I think I might go with that. Maybe mini-tribute, as well.
I was mostly referring to the FF6 OST fanlisting, which has some basic info + track lists. I was looking at it as if it were mine, and I'd call it a fanlisting. Opinions on the tracks would be a great addition that would lean it towards fan site status in my own personal standards, but in its current state, it has an extended about section, and the fanlisting is the main draw. This is all personal preference, though, as if these were my sites I'm talking about.

I do see that it is more than a simple fanlisting though, and I understand the need to want to call it something else.

I stand by my stance that a site is a site is a site, and what we call them doesn't matter. You're free to call the site what you'd like. No one will judge one way or another. :)

I'm happy to see you extending some of your fanlistings! That's what I would want to do with mine if I ran them, because if I'm a huge fan of a subject, I most often have things to write about.
Mikari
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Re: Mini-sites?

Post by Mikari »

I just call them mini-sites, I use the name for small sites and one page sites. I haven't really thought about it too much. ^^;;
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