UMSF Changes Ahead- PLEASE READ Options

[nprev]

Hey, everybody. Members of the admin/mod team met this week with The Planetary Society (at their request), and the bottom line is that the Forum will be transforming in several ways in the near future. As those of you who are TPS members probably already know they've rolled out a new interactive interface recently and their initial thought was to incorporate us into this in some way. During our discussions we made it clear that above all else we must preserve the high quality of discourse here and accessiblity of same to both the amateur and professional spaceflight communities at large. We feel very strongly that this unique synthesis benefits both communities substantially.

That said, we are also painfully aware that our current Forum software & interface is, in the words of one member of our team, "very 00s". We badly need a more modern, functional, accessible and sustainable platform, and there was considerable discussion as to what the best options for that might be. TPS agreed to investigate a bit from their side...but more importantly, this is where you the Forum members come in.

We respectfully ask all of you to please share your thoughts and suggestions on this issue. In particular, we would like to know your ideas in the following areas:

1. What aspects/functions of the current incarnation of UMSF do you feel are the most important to preserve? By this we mean things like topic searchability, opportunity to engage with subject matter experts. etc. It is likely that the current site will be archived with reachback capability, so this is the perfect time to tell us what you like & what you don't about the way the place functions now so V2 will hopefully be a significant improvement in as many ways as we can do that.

2. What things would you like to see in a future version of the Forum? Should mention up front that years ago we decided to change the name to RoboticSpaceflight.com but for various reasons that was too difficult for us to implement in practical terms with our limited time & skill sets (stuff like link migration, etc.). However, with this new major revamp that change will finally occur. Aside from that, we'd like to know what sort of modernized interface(s) you would like to see, and especially any recommendations in that regard based on your own experiences elsewhere on the web.

And of course any other relevant ideas anybody may have would be most welcome. This is your time to shine; let's hear it!

Thanks to you all for your help, and as always for your superb contributions to our special little corner of the net.

[marsbug]

One of my favourite things about the place is the simplicity of layout. I think there's a good (and hard won) sense of accessibility of threads on any given topics, without losing how complex those topics are when you dig into them. Good luck to the admin team and staff, I know from experience that projects like this involve a lot of hunting down bugs, I appreciate the effort!

[PFK]

Some thoughts folks.
As a humble chemist I've not had much to add here over the years, though visit it most days. On some occasions I have been able to add something from a science background and have also asked for, and received, help in the past. I have pointed work colleagues and others with a vested interest to the site before now; how many have kept with it I don't know. People from other disciplines can help through expertise - I remember a powder Xray guy from, I think, UCL indexing the raw Xray data from the first such measurements from Mars for example. I've no idea whether or not he stuck with the site; the notion of trying to assess that data from people whose activity has dropped is an interesting one. Many may be like me, but for many the lack of login-in might just show they never visit.
Of course one issue is that at any one time there might not be much going on in terms of big name missions reaching their peak. So that's where something directing new or semi-lapsed members to things might be good. As with others I enjoy revisiting the build up to events; in just the last few months I went back through the immediate timeline to NH at Pluto and then Ultima and revisited, for the umpteenth time, the Huygens landing. Great stuff, and genuine historical records of events that are forever drifting further back in time - in less than 18 months it'll be the 20th anniversary of Huygens for example. So many of the students who'll start at my Uni next month, and who have a genuine space exploration interest, weren't even born! Add to that the amazing, custom made imaging we see then you've got a genuine resource. BUT it does need signposting - took me a while to figure out the start of the really crucial timelines for the events I mentioned.
So without compromising simplicity, I think some method of directly linking newcomers to the start of the really crucial phase of some of those stories so they can "relive" the excitement would be good (not just to the thread but to appropriate posts); same for the best images.
This site is a goldmine of info and of contributions from people actually doing the science (witness Alan coming on the NH threads). That in itself should attract people who are genuinely interested and won't just add to unwanted nonsense. They will also have their part to occasionally play with genuine insight into their respective fields. But it has to be "welcoming" in terms of directing them to things that showcase the site's greatness and they should feel able to ask a genuine question and get more than "google is your friend" as the answer.
As was mentioned in a thread a while back, never underestimate the value, away from pure science, that the efforts of people here involved in the missions themselves and in image processing can have. Given all that's gone on, and is still going on, over the last few years, the ability of these endeavours to take people away from the hassles of Earth should never be underestimated. This site can help with that enormously; keep it simple as many have said but also don't hide your light under a bushel!