Welcome to Puppets and Stuff Rebecca................ I'm sorry if I seemed to have judged you, the fact is I'm a creature of habit and don't adjust to change very easy. I was able to access your site as you explained and found the maneuver fairly easy. I'll have to admit the essays look a bit intimidating and had a hard time viewing the screen, it appeared to be dark in spots............ bad eye sight or dirty glasses could be partial to blame. I'm sure as time goes by and you add more content things will fall in place for your viewers. I agree with Shawn my writing skills are a bit to be desired and I'm spell checks number one fan. If I can be of assistance please don't hesitate to ask. I'm not quite sure what I can contribute to the site since I'm not a writer but like I said as the site progresses I'm sure I can add something. I joined will add avatar for profile photo later.

Thanks for coming back and posting your response. I think that clears that up!

My comments about the photos was not to try and stir any trouble up - I just know how many puppeteers out there prefer not to have their work used without permission, and in particular people assume that if their work is publically available on sites like Flickr or Deviant Art, that it's somehow "fair game". It's best to avoid using those images from those sites and simply get permission from the artist themselves.

As for your website itself, I guess my main 'issue' is that it will likely be hard to encourage participation when there are already wonderful forums out there for puppeteers: this site and Puppethub.com come to mind.

Anyway, I wish you luck with it!

Hi Rebecca Welcome to P&S
thanks for the lowdown on your site,will have to check it out.

You know Na brings up a good point. What is it about your site that is going to make it unique?  I think it may help on your entry pages to explain that.

One other thing I think you should look at is changing the Login Register link on the main site.  Make it something like "Learn More" or maybe "Site Details".  Then on that page you can explain what the site is all about and put a link to the social go site.  It might even be worth explaining that it is actually a different site/URL. 

Welcome Rebecca! Thanks for your explanations! Hope you enjoy Puppets and Stuff!

Thank you so much for the warm response.  Certainly, I am going to take your suggestions into consideration and definitely plan on changing the lingo a bit to be more user friendly.  In regard to what makes the site unique, I guess it is a little different in respect that it represents writers, illustrators, comedians, and puppeteers.  It is a community of creativity so to speak.  I see the forum here is an excellent resource for puppeteers and do not in anyway think I could replicate that, nor would I try to.   I am just hoping that some puppeteers may join as a means to showcase their puppets via videos and photos.  In other words, Sit Down Essay could be like You Tube for artistic endeavors as opposed to any other activity.  Any thoughts?  Again, thank you so much!

Well, I just went over to Puppet Hub and see they already have a great site up and running.  A lot of the features I discussed are present on their site and it seems to be operating wonderfully.  So, I think Sit Down Essay would just be another resource out there that could add to an already well represented community.  Perhaps, some puppeteers would like the idea of communicating with other types of artists as well.  Perhaps in the future, there would be "mash-ups" of sorts where a writer, puppeteer, videographer, and comedian all work together to form a project and then launch it via the site.  Obviously that is down the line as there is not very much traffic yet...

Well, I just went over to Puppet Hub and see they already have a great site up and running.  A lot of the features I discussed are present on their site and it seems to be operating wonderfully.  So, I think Sit Down Essay would just be another resource out there that could add to an already well represented community.  Perhaps, some puppeteers would like the idea of communicating with other types of artists as well.  Perhaps in the future, there would be "mash-ups" of sorts where a writer, puppeteer, videographer, and comedian all work together to form a project and then launch it via the site.  Obviously that is down the line as there is not very much traffic yet...

I think you are correct it can work. Just from my experience I use to be a member of a bunch of different sites including puppet hub. After a while it was to much to keep up with and I ended up on the computer more and got less work done. So for me I concentrate on Puppets and stuff primarily as my main source and visit the others from time to time. I deleted a lot of the accounts like my space, etc. If you have the time to invest in a public forum it is great. You need to find several trustworthy friends to help moderate and keep things approved. It is frustrating when you try to upload pictures and add things to a forum and it says waiting to be approved. Some will just leave and not come back. I know this keeps spammers out ...that is where moderators can help.

I agree with Billy. I spend a lot of time on the net, but with daily messages from Puptcrit.org, my membership here, and an occasional drop in on Puppet Hub (and this is only the puppet sites I visit regularly, just part of my daily rounds), it's very hard to make time for another site.

It'll be tough getting people active on a regular basis. I've worked on a number of sites, and it's always been a big problem getting anyone to do anything. I'd recommend - as Billy suggests - getting some friends involved. The trick is you see, it's a catch 22. People are more likely to join in if they see the site is already active. How do you get people to get it active? They have to see other people using it... etc. I think this site is great because so many of the regulars keep making new threads or updating old stuff. You'll find that with most forums: the regulars keep the site going, while the new people check in and out.

Please don't think we are trying to knock you down before you get on your feet. Honesty is the best policy here and if we are not honest with you then we can't be of help. As I said in a post on my wall at your site if you want to throw things at me for testing I'll be glad to help. Shawn often shares testing with me to see how things will work out with certain features and such.