Need help and guidance for setting up a web forum

[null24]

Hi all. I'm working with an intrepid local group of explorers all coming together for the purpose of discussing, learning about, and raising awareness around psychedelic medicine. We're getting very big very fast and have purchased a domain name so we can set up a better area for online communication between members as well as to establish a web presence in anticipation of gaining a wider audience base.

Future plans include bringing in well known speakers, social events, media releases, and perhaps a presence at the S. Oregon Entheogen Conference this summer. It's a really really cool thing and I'm happy and proud to be a part.

Right now I'm working on putting together the web forum. I have no experience with this, but a pretty clear vision of what it should be. In many ways I want it to resemble the nexus- as far as clearly stated and established rules for conduct and as a place for real discussion, not dick jokes and rampant gif abuse. I need help and guidance doing this. I wanted to pick and choose some mods to PM, and barring response I may still, but I wanted to put it out here instead. Does anyone know about doing this and have any tips to make it easy for me? I have literally just now this minute begun working on it so don't have any ?s yet, but just want to know if help is available. Either PM me or respond here if you think the info would be valuable to the wider population of the nexus.

nullz:wink:

 

[Jin]

is this necessary

The Nexus is already here

and having no experience as mentioned in the OP, is this a good idea ?

what about computer programming language , security issues and all that ,

The Nexus is a safe place , Traveler is a pro and takes care of all the security issues ,

keeping identity of members safe and everything functioning perfectly is no small task

think about this ,

nonetheless its not a bad idea , just consider whether taking care of all the issues is the kind of thing possible with no experience ,

edit : the idea about social events is cool yet what more will this website add to the psychedelic community at large , these are some important questions to think about

 

[Dead man]

In the UK The psychedelic society is doing something very much along the lines of what you are proposing. I'm assuming that you are in the US, but maybe they can still give you pointers since they do for people within the UK?

Volunteering as a local group coordinator

The Psychedelic Society: Volunteering as a local group coordinator So you're interested in running a Psychedelic Society local group? Great! What you could do put on a bring-and-share psychedelic supper host a guest speaker put on a film screening host a debate or discussion on a topic rela...

docs.google.com

If anything check out their website, and get get some inspiration/ideas.
You can find them out at:

The Psychedelic Society

We run events and retreats for deeper connection to ourselves, each other, our living planet and to the mystery of existence.

www.psychedelicsociety.org.uk

If you want to set up a forum, phpBB is the software virtually every forum uses (the nexus does as well as Trav pointed out it does not. Sorry, I wrongly assumed it was since this site uses BBcode ).

phpBB • Free and Open Source Forum Software

phpBB is free and open source forum software that is easy to use, powerful, and highly customisable. Our community offers extensive support to end users.

www.phpbb.com

 

[obliguhl]

is this necessary

The Nexus is already here

In the UK The psychedelic society is doing something very much along the lines of what you are proposing.

Yeah, well...there are hundreds of different types of breads as well and noone complains about that :lol:

Every new venture has the potential to bring a fresh perspective. I can only wholeheartedly support this. All the best!

As for Forums...well, in my experience it has been best to set an example by posting high quality content yourself. This will autimatically filter in the right people. In the beginning, you have to be very active yourself and post a lot of quality stuff and people will follow if you've got a bit of traffic already. The real problem starts if you are starting to attract a bigger audience - holding things together will be pretty hard then. The biggest mistake one can make is in mod selection. A forum stands and falls with mod selection! I've seen a ton of forums fail because of egotistical "crazy" mods...and once they are in power, they're most likely never going away. Best to keep moderation limited for as long as possible...and then select only the most trustworthy level-headed members to help you out. People who are able to set a positive example.

 

[The Traveler]

If you want to set up a forum, phpBB is the software virtually every forum uses (the nexus does as well).

No we don't.


As for a solid psychedelic webforum, the first thing you have to think about is how you can protect the privacy of your members as good as possible. There are quite a few security layers at work for the DMT-Nexus and a standard server + webforum-software will not be good enough.

As for moderators, those are wise words from obliguhl and this is my 'skill' list for how I choose my mods:
* Different from me and other mods as much as possible, this for getting the widest possible viewpoint on issues
* Willing to stand up if I do something out of order or when I make mistakes
* Must have their heart in moderation and the forum
* Good at wording their communication
* Trustable
* Reliable
* High IQ
* Patient


Kind regards,

The Traveler

 

[null24]

Well, jin, who asked you to join? :roll:
No really, guess i didn't elucidate this well enough, but it's really just so that the people who actually are part of this face to face group have a central web location of our own, so as not to run into problems with the folks hosting us now.

Eventually though i do see this GROUP expanding. We have no info on the site on cultivation or extraction of scheduled one substances. This is a group of people who were attracted to using psychedelics for whatever reason. We have people dealing with chronic pain, PTSD, addiction, life all coming together at this common intersection for healing. We have no dogma, and disassociate with any. Eventually, like i said, it would be really nice to see it become part of a grass roots network working to shine a light on this very effective path.

I don't understand your position really jin, it frankly seems a little closed to me. This group was created to answer what i personally feel is the GREATEST need within the psychedelic community at large, face to face interaction, discussion, networking. I don't think I've emphasized it enough, if at all, THIS IS A GEOGRAPHICALLY SPECIFIC GROUP. The person that started it filled a need, i think. But as i was telling someone just today, remarking on the seeming ease with which its all coming together, that if someone doesn't tell me I shouldn't or couldn't do it soon, I'm going to start worrying, so thank you! :thumb_up: Nothing worthwhile is without naysayers. Also, bringing people to speak here locally in a regular basis with sliding scale fees etc performs a service in my mind.

Thanks for the other advice, i don't THINK I'm the person you described, and the other folks are wonderful so far. But the point about a team is well taken. The other community i was involved in, an online one, feel apart due to lack off direction. Made some friends, but it was otherwise herding cats. This group seems to be self organizing.

Now to illustrate my ignorance on the tech end, my response to the last suggestion was the same as trav's ,but for an entirely different reason.

And a side note to trav, if you're reading, while world domination is most def part of the business plan, perhaps an agreement can be made between the reptilian shapeshifting Illuminati and the rebel slave races over the harvesting and intergalactic distribution of pineal tonnage, PM me. Otherwise, I'll be asking some questions here during the process if setting this up.

It's a wordpress, using mybb. We understand is not secure, but really, so far noone has to much computer knowledge, lol. Eh,we're trying.

 

[Jin]

Well, jin, who asked you to join? :roll:

:lol: yess this is really friendly :thumb_up:

I don't understand your position really jin, it frankly seems a little closed to me.

if this is so , why was this stated -

nonetheless its not a bad idea , just consider whether taking care of all the issues is the kind of thing possible with no experience ,

the idea about social events is cool yet what more will this website add to the psychedelic community at large , these are some important questions to think about

all that has been asked , is for the safety and security of this new community that is coming into being , what is so ridiculous about this ? ,

if this is not an issue considering its going to be a local community , that does'nt discuss
extraction and all , then go ahead

why see everything in an offensive light unnecessarily

Thanks for the other advice, i don't THINK I'm the person you described, and the other folks are wonderful so far.

hmmmmm:!:


words , words !
such a poor form of communication
nothing is ever understood these days
hopefully in time something better will be there - intention perhaps

edit :

peace and love is the answer
don't forget that

edit again :

life and DMT is the most awesome thing ever
smoked 4 hits before replying to this thread
so if these words seem misguided
forgive and understand all this was influenced by hyperspace

 

[null24]

As you intimated, perhaps we took EACH OTHERS words wrong. The smile face after the dig was meant to defuse it as such, but it didn't work. I doubt you live around here, that's kind of what the joke meant, in a dig.

jin wrote : hmmmmmm. Wait!

It distresses me that you see me as egotistical and with malign intent, but I'm not sure it's valid, i can promise you, we've never met.

I must be really dense, because i didn't see any concern for safety, just something like "you don't know what you're doing and what's it worth anyway? ". I feel like your trying to make me feel like I'm doing something wrong for doing something I'm excited about and proud of .

I may have little to no exp maintaining a website. I didn't know how to print a poster when i started, and i can pull ink with the best of em now. I do however have exp walking a healing path with psychedelics. I've stated endlessly that i have a long way to go (and don't trust those who say they don't) but they've taken a 'treatment resistant' junky who shot heroin for twenty years and made him someone that I'm proud to be. A man grounded in the world, living to the best of his personal ability, drawing from the divine character imbued in all of us from the eternal, so as to live from the heart. Psychedelics took my fear and turned it into love for myself and therefore the people around me, making the environment were all in the best it can be.

I think that alone qualifies me to speak on the efficacy of my path in an attempt to help others, not to mention maintaining for several of the hardest, loneliest years of my life without picking up. And the one thing i can credit is my work with tryptamines. I don't smoke four times a day, in fact I've taken DMT less than a dozen times in the four years I've been working with it, that's the effectiveness of it to me. That is the core value of this group . Not to discuss drugs, how to procure or use them, you're right, there's plenty of that and no i have nothing to add there. But rather working with others in a face to face setting, outside off expensive psychotherapy and world travel, to trade each others stories, to find out what works, to help build a framework within which the new psychedelic experience can be practically apprehended. These aren't people who want to go to music festivals, who can't afford to go to Peru, who have professions and families and are trying to move into the future with deliberate intent with the help of the psychedelic.

If its egoist of me to have put down every thing else I'm doing, to have forgone things like shelter and security to dedicate as much if myself as i can to this without a phd, then so be it, I'm an egoist jerk. But i never meant to hurt your feelings. I'm sorry that i don't feel i deserve the negative attention. Im sorry if I've rubbed you the wrong way somehow in the past jin if that's where you're assumption comes from. I'm southern and don't pull much bull, maybe.

Long and short, this has become personal and shouldn't be. I think we offended each other without intent, and i for one apologize if anything i said was taken personally. And perhaps i an egotistical enough to be offended as i stated above, but despite multiple executions, the offender still lives. I am, after all still human. Perhaps a minority here, but, i am what i am. Like it or not.

 

[Jin]

I must be really dense, because i didn't see any concern for safety, just something like "you don't know what you're doing and what's it worth anyway? "

yes some of it was meant like that ( but not all of it ) ,
because there is always a lot of talk that goes around ,
and nothing ever gets done

ok lets get past these personal issues and get back at the topic

Psychedelics took my fear and turned it into love for myself and therefore the people around me, making the environment were all in the best it can be.

I think that alone qualifies me to speak on the efficacy of my path in an attempt to help others, not to mention maintaining for several of the hardest, loneliest years of my life without picking up. And the one thing i can credit is my work with tryptamines. I don't smoke four times a day, in fact I've taken DMT less than a dozen times in the four years I've been working with it, that's the effectiveness of it to me. That is the core value of this group . Not to discuss drugs, how to procure or use them, you're right, there's plenty of that and no i have nothing to add there. But rather working with others in a face to face setting, outside off expensive psychotherapy and world travel, to trade each others stories, to find out what works, to help build a framework within which the new psychedelic experience can be practically apprehended. These aren't people who want to go to music festivals, who can't afford to go to Peru, who have professions and families and are trying to move into the future with deliberate intent with the help of the psychedelic

since everything is well intentioned just get back on track with this , don't lose focus over unnecessary things

when helping others is truly the goal , don't bother about the naysayers

let nothing get in the way of healing and light

 

[null24]

exactly. In fact, i appreciate resistance, without it things would be too. ..easy.

No matter what anyone may say, this is an awesome thing. As far as getting things done,you don't have an argument there. this is a pretty special group of individuals though. We'll have at least one speaker at the southern Oregon entheogen conference this summer.

Back to matters at hand. I just got admin access to the board and am going to try to put it together today. May have some questions around the mybb platform thing.

Btw, i just took four hits of Oregon medical grade cannabis and the following is influenced by that:
I ate your olive branch. It was good, thank you.