Please don't vote in the poll until you've read the rest of the post!
Musicbanter needs a design change. This suggestion has been brought to Yac and admin before, but it didn't lead to much. This is the same suggestion from last time, but I figured it was time for another push.
Suggestion : To make a frontpage / news / blog kind of frontpage that you first meet on musicbanter where people can write and make links and portals to the going-ons on the forums. Examples of such news / articles / blog posts could be "Congratulate our new moderators!", "Musicbanter presents : The 5 Best Live Albums in the History of Rock 'n Roll", "MB Community Releases the 2010 Christmas Album!", "Vegangelica reviews : Rage Against the Machine", "Weekly members interview : Janszoon" . Members could earn the privilege to be able to write on this frontpage and at the bottom of such blog posts / articles, there could be a link directing people to the relevant discussion on the forums.
Why do this? With only the forum layout, it can be hard to know what goes on in the different forums, particularly for newcomers who have to notice one thread at a time to find out if the site has anything to offer them. Particularly the stuff that goes on in the subforums is seldom noticed. This would make it easier to discover the going ons and should help generate participation in music related threads and should also help get new members on the site, members who sign up because they see something on the front page that they like!
Anyone who have tried to do community stuff on MB knows that it can be hard to get people on board to read your posts and participate. Part of that stems from the fact that a thread or project can exist for months here before even a regular notices it. I believe this would help - a lot!
If you like this idea, please show your support! With the backing of the community, convincing the admins should be a little easier!
If you have additional suggestions for pros and cons, post away!
