An accidental introduction and a vac attacked by an idea.

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

Hey there, I'm wetdryvac, and I've been lurking here a bit.

I appear to have stuck my foot in an idea...

...I'd replied to jolantru that I knew of some free web hosting stuff... and then that hmm, maybe it would be good trade to build websites for folks here... and one thing led to another.

...and the queue of, "Well, I think I can just about manage to build a couple (2) non-work-for-me-related websites at once while working other projects," Filled up in under a couple hours just from that comment thread: http://community.livejournal.com/cyberfund_creat/93818.html?nc=9

I, uh, didn't expect that. Clearly, this requires organization on my part.

The idea was, "OK, so I can't really afford to pay folks for stuff at the moment, but I have a skill... and people seem to need websites."

One thing led to further another thing, which led to me thinking, "What are the basics needed to rapidly build sites for people in trade for reading/viewing their stuff?" And further, "Hmm, I create lots of stuff which people might buy - this seems as good a promo as any since it draws attention..."

So I put together a basic, "How I think this might work," Over at: http://www.wetdryvac.net/CyberfundedCreativity/

And then thought, "Hmm, I think this is fair trade, and fits in with what goes on in this community - but I'm not completely sure." So, I'm open to people saying, "Not here, not now," At which point I'll remove all the stuff from here and just trade with the folks I have in cue. I'm also open to... er... whatever ideas the community may have regarding this. Dunno how great a call there is, and I'm completely aware that I gain a lot of benefit from people using my web dev skills for their sites. I bet I'm missing other things as well - I'm really good at project builds and art and stuff, but stick me in a community setting, and... dear gods, so many people. I wager I'll social blunder myself any time now, if I haven't already. Yell if I do - I'm about as socially ept as your average rock, but I do apologize and attempt to fix

*grins*

I've been back-reading the archives some, and the whole idea behind this community really gets my brain churning as both artist and author. Once I have a better comfort level with what folks expect, I'll likely be diving in with art and written word in addition to this tentative web geekery.

Comments

[jolantru.livejournal.com]

Hey, looks great and sounds great. :)

At the moment, I have decided to use Wordpress... but once I get things rolling (and that might take a couple of months more), I will contact you. ;)

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

Sounds good to me. Good luck and skill!

[shadesong.livejournal.com]

Page isn't loading. :(

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

If you're interested in building websites for cfc projects, you might want to look into this thread where we discuss a searchable index of projects (http://community.livejournal.com/cyberfund_creat/91311.html?thread=139183#t139183). :)

[wetdryvac.livejournal.com]

*nods*

That's a pretty quick build on the face of it. I'll toss a query onto the thread.

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

::grins:: One of the things I want to do is create a sort of crowdfunded/cyberfunded co-op site. The focus would be on writers and people who support writers -- artists, editors, website designers, etc.

I'd love to talk to someone with more of a clue than I've got on that.

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

This sounds very promising.

1) I think that website building could reasonably qualify as cyberfunded creativity. Good design is certainly artistic; writing code is certainly creating; and we've pretty much established barter as an acceptable mode of "funding."

2) This site encourages people to network, trade skills, and promote each other's work; your idea qualifies for that also.

3) Regarding organization, it would probably be helpful for you to:
* keep a list of projects in your queue, and
* create a landing page for your webspinning so it can be added to our Links list here.

You might also consider giving priority to group projects over individual projects. There's one group project likely to develop soon, the CFC project database; and others for the future, such as the co-op site.

4) I'm hoping to put together a rather complex website later in the year. My coding skills are ... well, I have a blogging icon that says "There is now a Level 0." But maybe we could discuss possibilities.

5) Don't forget that some people have money to spend, even if other folks are broke. Allow for the possibility of both cash and barter.

6) Don't reinvent the wheel. The first few sitebuilding requests may require totally fresh builds. But after that I'll bet they start to stack, because people will want similar things: a site to post their writing, a site to post their art, a personal blog with space for ads and promotion, etc. You could tell people, "Okay, I have these standard scaffolds coded, and the visual appearance can be customized." That would save you work and help people understand what is possible. You might also consider making such scaffold code available to more skilled coders as long as they include your credit line ("Art server by Wetdryvac").

7) Regarding credit, certainly you deserve recognition and promotion for your work. I've seen webspinners use a text line, or a button that leads to their landing page.

8) As long as you are doing your best to be polite, and willing to help resolve mishaps, I think the social dynamics will work out okay. Tell us if the gregarious and enthusiastic folks overwhelm you, and we'll try to back off some; or holler if you want help navigating some social channel.

9) I'll go look at your preliminary site and see if I have comments for that.

Feedback

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Here are my thoughts on your "website trades" page:

1) Security section looks good.

2) Some people hate nondisclosure agreements, or consider them unnecessary. You might state that you're willing to sign one, or not, as people prefer.

3) You might look at the "Creative Commons" alternative to copyright, which is a good system for people who want to share their work. It can be arranged to require giving credit to the creator.
http://creativecommons.org/

4) You mentioned a splash page. Can you do a frame page with clickable parts? Frex, I've seen websites where the first page looked like a computer console of some kind, and you clicked on the controls to go to different sections of the site. They're usually built with connected image files and Javascript for the mouseovers. Stating whether or not you can do this would save time; it's popular enough that people will probably ask.

5) If people don't know FTP or HTML, how should they learn? Some links to recommended tutorials or a list of books would be helpful.

Okay, that's it for now. I think you've got a good start there.