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Choose the name for a new asexuality online community


From West To East

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From West To East

Hi, fellow asexuals!

In the following months, I intend to launch a new online community focused on asexuality and other sub-branches of the sexuality spectrum. It will be a forum, just like AVEN, running on either IP Board or a similar software, with a chat room, forum sections etc.

My aim is not to create a site that competes with AVEN, but rather to contribute to spreading visibility. Let's face it, considering that about 1% of population is considered asexual, we have to agree that there are certainly not a lot of sites out there about this sexual orientation.

After buying a hosting server and installing the software, I will need a small staff team with which to start out and put the basis of the community (write down the rules, organize the forum sections etc.). I will choose this staff team from the most trustworthy founding members who will volunteer to help out.

I want to let you guys decide the name of this new community. I invite you post suggestions for the site's name in this thread and I will pick the one that I like the most. The domain name will probably use a .com TLD, but if you have any ideas about other TLDs, feel free to share them.

I'm really excited about this project and I hope I can find other people who will be willing to give a hand in building a new community.

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How would your site be any different than AVEN? You said it's a forum. So is AVEN. You said there'd be a chat. AVEN has one too. You said it's to spread visibility. How does having two nearly identical sites (one with a forum, ace discussions, and a chat) facilitate this?

How does your site stand out? What is your target audience?

If it's people on AVEN, give them a reason why your site would be better. If it's an external audience (maybe those learning about asexuality or looking for information), why is learning it from your site better than AVEN?

On a more technical note, do you know how to set up a website? What is your background experience in web design or coding? Or project management? I'm not trying to nitpick, or make it sound like you don't know what you're doing, but if you want people to join your team, it would help them to know a bit about your background.

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From West To East

my worry is that it would effectively split an already small and fractured community

I can't say I can relate to this worry. I have seen quite a lot of LGBT forums that coexist peacefully without considering themselves competitors. I assure you, there are already a couple of other asexuality forums, and after visiting them, I realized that it was not them that split the AVEN community, but rather AVEN itself. Many of the introduction threads on those forums mention things like: "I was banned on AVEN, so I came here".

How would your site be any different than AVEN?

It will tackle slightly different areas of the sexual and romantic spectrum, it would include sections that AVEN doesn't have, it would have various features that AVEN is missing, while at the same time it would miss certain features that AVEN has, but which I consider unimportant. The differences will be discussed and decided by the staff team.

You said it's a forum. So is AVEN. You said there'd be a chat. AVEN has one too. You said it's to spread visibility. How does having two nearly identical sites (one with a forum, ace discussions, and a chat) facilitate this?

How does having two nearly identical hospitals in the same city help anyone? How does having two nearly identical Universities in the same area help anyone?

The internet is full of online communities that tackle the same niches, be it LGBT, cartoons, anime, technology etc. . The sites would not be nearly identical. Let me explain: after having studied the internet forum software market for a year, I currently know that there are around 10 major forum software that people can choose from when wanting to launch an online community. Most of these software have the same features (topics, chat room, photo gallery, sidebar etc.). Chances are that if you do go on other forums besides AVEN, you will have most likely come across a forum that runs on the same software as AVEN (which is IP Board), but you didn't recognize it because it had a different template (also known as "theme" or "skin"). There are forums that have the sidebar on the left side, there are forums have the chat room integrated on the homepage etc.. There are many ways to make a forum stand out when compared to other forums in the same niche.

Having two asexual communities would facilitate spreading visibility. Search engines would offer more results to people looking up asexuality, therefore giving the orientation more relevance.

How does your site stand out? What is your target audience?

How it will stand out will be seen once I build it and design it. I don't have a specific target audience. It will be about asexuality, demisexuality and the romantic spectrum, but everyone else is welcomed too.

If it's people on AVEN, give them a reason why your site would be better.

It will have a gallery where members can upload photos and videos, just like Facebook. It will also have various other cool features that will be custom-coded.

If it's an external audience (maybe those learning about asexuality or looking for information), why is learning it from your site better than AVEN?

For Christ's sake! I feel like I'm being put against the wall here. I'm not trying to take people away from AVEN. People can be on several forums. Doctors can work in several hospitals and professors can teach at several Universities. It's not a competition. It's just another online community for spreading asexual visibility.

On a more technical note, do you know how to set up a website? What is your background experience in web design or coding? Or project management? I'm not trying to nitpick, or make it sound like you don't know what you're doing, but if you want people to join your team, it would help them to know a bit about your background.

I have run online forums for several years. I am very familiar with several forum scripts, especially the one I intend to use (IP. Board). As for server management, sure, we could use a tech person in our team, but for now my hosting company will take care of the server administration and configuration. Trust me, we will not face any tech issues that I can't handle. We just need a trust-worthy staff team who is willing to kickstart the community by being active and enforcing the rules.

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How can we volunteer to help out? I think it's a great idea :)

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I like the idea too, and would be willing to help, if I manage to get free time.

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From West To East

Good for you! I look forward to see how it develops. I'll test it when you have it up and running.

It should be ready in the first or second week of October.

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  • 1 month later...

I love the idea of it! I've only recently joined AVEN and i already love it - I think this might be a good as Aven sometimes crashes for me.

I'm not great at computer stuff so I'm not sure how i can be much help but i can be moral support!! ^_^

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It would be better to have a website that works plain and simple. I think it would be better just add more levels of organization to AVEN's forums. Extra tabs with related forums underneath it, assuming we can get AVEN to work :angry:

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I've literally been on AVEN for 3 days or so, so I haven't even had anything to complain about so far. I'd try to design it as if it was some cool kids'n'teens forum, since AVEN gives a rather professional vibe. I can list a couple suggestions for your site I guess

acexy.com
acepectacular.com (ace + spectrum + spectacular)
ace-space or ace-place
...or something like that, these just popped up in my head

Anyway, good luck ~ ♠

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  • 2 weeks later...
From West To East

Ok, guys, it's finally ready! I'm going to launch it tomorrow! Last call for staff members! If you want to be a moderator and later on a junior administrator, PM me!

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