Inksmith and the community
Earlier this week, Khaled and Michael let the cat out of the bag with Inksmith. As often happens with announcements on blogs, word quickly spreads and paucity of information only serves to stoke the flames. So in an effort to dispel any confusion, I'll provide a bit more information on what Inksmith is and where it is heading.
Firstly, what is Inksmith? The holding page at the moment at present lead to a few misconceptions and fanciful theories so it's worth addressing them straight away. The minimalist design featuring little more than photo placeholders has lead to a few erroneous conclusions, least of all that this is a Wordpress exclusive/related project1
Where Inksmith came from
Whilst Inksmith doesn't have any significant relationship with WP, that is, in part, where you can trace its origins back to. WP is probably the most popular self-hosted blogging platform to which we owe a lot to Matt Mullenweg. However, if you were new to blogging and you headed over to the main WP site, you'd probably be intimidated at what you found. Whilst it suffices as a typical product site, it's not the most welcoming site for new bloggers. Even for seasoned bloggers, there is little reason to visit unless you're downloading the latest release or you have encountered an issue with your setup.
It's not just symptomatic of WP as a similar scenario can be replayed at the sites for the other blogging platforms.
Where is blogging's community?
It's interesting to note that whilst blogging is all about the people, there's a bit of a void when it comes to the community element. Why isn't there an accessible entry point where I can find tutorials on how to make the most of my blog and where I can find advice on the useful plugins available for TXP, WP and MT and reviews of recommended themes?
Where can I find interviews and articles written by seasoned bloggers? Why have people chosen X and what have they done with Y?
Where can I find out about what's happening in the world of blogs?2 Where can I talk to other bloggers of similar dispositions? Why can't I have an attractive, appealing and accessible portal to the world of blogs?
Where is the blogging community that I've heard of?
Echoes of a friend
A few months ago, I joined the 9rules network. I'll talk more about it one day but right now, I'll focus on one of the biggest (if not the biggest) benefits of joining. Within the 9rules network, I was able to get to know some truly wonderful people. When Scrivs talks about joining a community, he's not lying. I've been able to chat with a friendly, welcoming and undeniably knowledgable group of people. We may not all have the same set of interests and we may not have the same breadth/depth of experience or ability. In fact, if anything, that has helped us grow together and allowed us to help each other.
Inksmith is an attempt to extend that community feeling to the wider audience. It's not a blogging network; neither is it a Web 2.0 app. All Inksmith is, all that we want, is a door to a community.
To me, to you
And so, that's where Inksmith fits in and that where you fit in. Though we have a lot of plans and ideas for where we want to take Inksmith, what do you want to see? After all, this is for everyone; it's not an elite club3. There will be no entry tests or secret handshakes. The only requirement is that you have a blog and that you want to become part of a community.
So let's start as we mean to go on. Let us know what you feel is missing and what you really hanker after by adding a comment.
Remember, you're an Inksmith.
- Which is a fair judgement due to the fact that all the presently involved project members are Wordpress users and many have also had a hand in theme development as well as backend redesigns. [back]
- Once again, I'll reiterate the fact that this is not a Wordpress site. This will be a place where you can find out about other blogging platforms such as TXP (which incidentally, I'm a big fan of) and MT. [back]
- There are a select number of members at the moment (though we're no longer the Sinister Six:)) but that's only till we lay the foundation. We intend this to be a place where everyone can and will want to contribute to. [back]
-30-
What was hardest for me when I started blogging was the lack of community. Sure wordpress has a forum but it is neither here nor there.
I eventually taught myself the things I needed to know. How to mod wordpress mainly. But it would of sped things up to have a community that fostered help. Tutorials and the like.
Anyways, I think its a great idea. But I wonder, is it going to be a forum, or a blog that is open to submittable content. Or perhaps both (a la sitepoint). Or are you not ready to give out all the details yet? ;D
By the way, is the edit your comment feature a plugin? And if so, where can I snatch it. :)
It’ll be both. We’re envisaging the main site to be the initial attractor, where we will pump out quality content but the forums will be like the bar where we all hang out and get to know and help out each other.
However, this is the question for you all. What would you like to see?
I’ve written / deleted many times in this little box, trying to strike the right balance between cynical and a ‘hopefully’.
I like your words, but I sincerely believe this will be nothing more than an elitist club.
Oh Podzie, don’t worry it isn’t an elitist club! I’m in it :)
If it’s elitist, then I have no idea what I’m doing being in there:) Speaking more seriously, the success of this depends on it being accepted by the community.
The last thing on my mind is for this to be elitist. Because, that will mean we’ve already failed in some way.
The first step will be to setup the foundation but the long-term goal will be this to be a community driven venture.
Right now our goal is to lay out the plan which is why I’m canvassing for thoughts from the community on what it is that you guys would like to see most.
Thanks again for your honest opinion Podz. Like you, I dithered and dathered over this comment but what I will say is that I’m fully behind about getting any thoughts out in the open so that we can address instead of letting it build up/work against us.
Well only time will tell on the elitism issue. But I hope your fears are unfounded Podz, as it does sound like a good project.
And Phu, I know you’re not an elitist kind of guy, so I have hope on that score. :)
I thought I read somewhere that Inksmith was supposed to have launched by now? Any news on when it actually will? Intrigue is getting the better of me!
Typically, though, keeping the cynicism at bay is proving difficult. You say the only requirement to be an “Inksmith” is “that you have a blog and that you want to become part of a community”, so why is it that only a select few have their names on the holding page? I’d assumed it was the guys running it, until other photos (Beccary and Geeksmakemehot) started showing up. So that’s a point of confusion at the moment.
That said, I’m looking forward to the launch and hope it meets (mostly my own) expectations.
That’s correct as Becca and Jennifer have joined the team. I should have stated it explicitly but I didn’t want to cloud things. In retrospect, that may have been a mistake.
You know what they say about rumours:) Things are still at an early stage so any launch date announcement will be a while off. As well as providing some background information, part of the justification behind my post was to gather thoughts and feedback to try and get an view on what people want to see.
I like this idea. I definitely think blogging lacks a real community… a few days ago I said to myself, “the blogosphere has sharp edges.” Maybe this will smooth those out.
I think what it all comes down to is, for most bloggers, “how can I get more visitors? how can I make my blog better? how can I meet other bloggers?” Sure, we would all like to have a blog that is read by a thousand people every day, but to be realistic, there are enough of those blogs already. I would really like to see a way that fresh bloggers can meet other bloggers who share the same interests, blogroll each other, work together, etc. You get the idea.
(editing comments rules. I need this plugin)
I thought of one more thing… I’m sure you’ve already thought this, but I just wanted to mention that this shouldn’t be a place for the 8 or so mug shots that are there now to group blog. I would definitely like to see a place like fad.tastic where anyone can submit an article.
Don’t see this as an elite club. The reason behind those specific people is because they bring a certain amount of credibility to the project. They’re tried and test names. Believe me Podz I thought of many people made a list of who I’d like to bring on the ground floor. Did I omit certain people that deserved this because they’ve contributed to communities etc, for sure, without a doubt. I wish we could make a community site completely and utterly by the community, the only problem is that too many cooks in the kitchen will try and make something for everyone and fail miserably.
To clarify this venture COULD NOT BECOME an elitsit type of thing, but it’s setting. From the .org name to a lot of other things (which will become clear as time goes by).
@C Montoya - Yes the idea is that the community will be able to contribute articles and thought columns etc, there will be an editor or editors in place just to check up on things (being civil, grammer etc) but I guess the best way I can describe it is a place where you can have a virtual cup of coffee and meet people that share the same interests.
If what you say is true, I’m excited.
Hi Phu. Long time no talk. I read about this somewhere so I thought I’d come and read your article. Whilst I won’t disagree with your argument that this won’t be an elitist club from an “ability” point-of-view, I have to say that apart from yourself I don’t see anyone currently there that doesn’t use WordPress, and let’s be honest, you aren’t well-known for your use of TXP are you? I know but I wonder how many others do. I shall reserve judgement until I see some names that I know better.
I think the “community” idea is a good one though it has been tried before so we shall see if this one works.
For my own part I decided a while back that there wasn’t a place where you could read articles about how to do things, written with a new user in mind. When we started FreshlyPressed I decided it would be a good time to do something about that so FreshText was born. A place where I can write about things I’ve done and how I did it. Articles about new tags and what they do. Stuff that is in the latest revision that the general public hasn’t seen yet. Of course it’s new so it will take some while to build up but it is a part of the FreshlyPressed community that is open to the general public.
So as you can see I have certain views about how these “communities” should develop and be helpful to others. I shall wait and see if Inksmith fits the bill or ends up becoming yet another WP club for geeks. The very thing I shudder at the thought of.
Stuart, see I’m seeing this from a completely different perspective. For me when I look at the current inksmith crowd, I don’t see a wordpress user or a txp user or a MT user. I’m seeing a blogger and more importantly a real person.
While the origins did come as an idea for a WordPress portal, the benefit of expanding it to the entire blogging community became a lot more apparent. Which is why I said that the community will have EVERY opportunity that the founding members have to contribute to the site.
Like you said there is an obvious lack of place for the blogging community to hang about, hopefully this will be it. It’ll live or die by the people that get behind it rather than the people that set up the framework for it.
It’s not about the software, although there will be articles and areas for the software, I can’t stress this enough and I’ve said it many times now, it’s all about the community.
Thanks for your comments Stuart. It has been a while:)
You’re completely right when you say there appears to be a WP tilt but I would hate for this to be thought of as a WP-only club.The way you should consider the initial members is as the builders/planners; with (for example) AListApart and StyleGala, the respective technologies used by the people involved are irrelevent to the widescale value and content that they put out. Such is the case here. That there is an initial WP tilt is more an accident of the people that we know/popularity of WP and not an intended indicator of the site’s direction.
What Khaled said is right. Think of us as (hopefully competent) bloggers who want to work together for something that we’ve been hankering for. Once we get the framework sorted out, you are the one of the people who we hope would find value in what we’re doing and who we’d hope would help to contribute and spread value.
All I can say is wait. There’s a line at the end of Pulp Fiction where Samuel L Jackson says “But I’m trying; I’m trying real hard”. Whether he succeeded and whether we will is left open. But we hope that he did and so, we hope that we will too.
Sounds like Inksmith will be a good thing and hopefully it won’t be dragged into too many “flame-wars” before it gets off the ground.
[…] In this case, there’s a solid, conscious reasoning behind the concept and deployment of Inksmith which simply amazes me. Even though it’s difficult to put into words because the scope of it is immense, I can only describe it as being a more human aspect to blogging and web development, straying away from what has, in some cases, become so anonymous in nature. […]
Then I shall keep my fingers crossed and wait to see what happens. ;)
As a wordpress user myself, I’ve never experienced something like described. I always felt the forum was a very good place for help of any kind. And after the transition of the wiki to the codex, things were even getting better. Can anyone say the wordpress codex isn’t awesome? I can’t say anything about other blogging software communities, as I’m not familiar with them. But getting help and tutorials with wordpress has never been a problem for me.
Yes, the Wordpress Codex is awesome. I’ve been able to get all my questions answered there. I think Inksmith can help with a lot of other things, though, like to how to promote your blog and keep visitors coming back.
I read the first few comments, and skimmed the rest, so I’m not certain how much this adds to the conversation. Nevertheless….
One of the most significant hurdles to building any truly open community of bloggers is that blogging, while not really just the practice of writing an open-access diary, isn’t as far removed from the personal journal as most people expect it to be. The paradigm is typically that of a single person casting a single voice into the aether, which wouldn’t seem terribly conducive to community solidarity.
However, I suppose there is room for organization around the platforms, technologies, and methodologies of distributing those individual voices, but that’s not necessarily too much easier to pull off. There is a tender balance between spoon-feeding and boot-camping the new blogger: if you build for the unwashed masses, the signal-to-noise ratio tanks; but if you build assuming some minimum level of sophistication, you alienate or intimidate the neophyte. A tough call, even if you can preempt this with different sections for different capabilities; but then you’re fracturing your community anyway.
I’m sure it can be done. The forums are pretty fair, though there’s an existing problem I’ve had that I haven’t figured out myself nor received help for (which is fine). The Codex is phenomenal, if a little rough around the bleeding edge. So there’s quite a bit of room for a user-friendly layer atop all that. It almost sounds like A List Apart for blogging; but that’s not so much a true community as a magazine with a connected forum.
And that sounds like what would be the best model from the point of view of writing for the blogger-at-large: publish articles and let folks comment on them in fora. You could pull away from the cliquish field of ALA by letting anyone submit articles, but then there’s a need to decide what to publish and what not to publish, else you’ve got more noise than you want.
It’s ambitious, and I’d like to see where it goes. I’m not sure what else to make of it, though.
Just to point out Daniel you’ve hit the nail on the head on several of the points you’ve made. I especially take your point about trying to actually make the site something for everyone, can that actually be done? Well there are ideas afoot, and I’m sure we’ll be learning as we go along. The analogy to ALA but for bloggers is a very good one, but there is more to it for sure.
Definitely sounds like an interesting idea. I liked the boy band idea too, but I suppose this is a decent fall plan. ;)
Seriously, though, I do hope it works out well. Having a single resource for all the wonderful blogging tools would be fabulous. I think I’m pretty good at searching and finding what I think I’m looking for, but it’s undeniable that blogging resources are all over the place. Wordpress is a perfect example - because it’s open source, because anyone with a little PHP knowledge or CSS/HTML skills can create something and add to the platform, there are all kinds of plugins and themes out there, and many many of them aren’t linked from wp-plugins.net or wordpress.org. You just have to yell what you want into the aether of Google and hope you get something back.
Even better, of course, is the prospect of a place where, say, theme creators can get together to talk about the vagaries of templates, CSS, cross-browser support, or whatever. I hope you guys do include something like that, though I feel certain you will, given that all of you already post about those sorts of things anyway. Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. :)
Sounds interessting. Will this be Multilingual?
Hi if-else,
It’s me-liz. :)
What a beautiful site you have. It underscores your warm writing voice. I feel so comfortable here that I don’t want to leave ever. Maybe I’ll just bring my pillow and camp out.
That’s the kind of place I want. I want a place where people recognize me, where I don’t get lost in the shuffle, where I can easily navigate to find people at my level–like me. Forums don’t do that.
A presentation in a chat room on a blogging topic would be a way to make me feel a sense of community. I’ve seen it done before.
This sounds exciting, but really hard to execute.
smiles,
Liz
I am getting my comfy chair and coffee mug ready for a long sit in once it is launched. While having an aim of joining networks such as 9rules is part of blogging - there are a lot that don’t get through for one or another reason. While they may want to get better and show promise - if they don’t get in it can be off putting and actually going anywhere for support or help from others is a rare and hard to find thing. I am hopeful that considering the good ethic basis you have about non-elitest and open community, you will be off on a great start to achieving a bridging of the gap. The learning curve in blogging is painful and it seems a lot like crawling over broken glass when you start. To have the chance to go somewhere where there is a sign post through that glass sounds just what people need. I can’t wait personally. :-)
I’m starting the countdown… The blogsphere is urging for something like this.
[…] After reading this, I bet something awesome is comming… […]
Actually it would be really cool if a place like Inksmith was a safe haven from jargon like blogosphere. I hate that word.
Ok… blog community then…
I finally figured out what bothers me about the Inksmith page. Everyone on the page has the worst frown or scowl possible. Don’t you guys ever smile? How about taking some pictures after you eat ice cream or ride a merry-go-round and replace the funeral shots you guys have now?
I can translate everything to redneck if you would like :)
Puppies make me smile! So does unicorns and the color pink. I just never seem to have those around when I’m in front of a camera…
I went to the site and only found the Plesk landing page:
This is the placeholder for domain inksmith.org. If you see this page after uploading site content you probably have not replaced the index.html file.
This page has been automatically generated by Plesk.
Maybe they are pushing the site live as we speak?
Sorry to disappoint you all but it’s not go-live… All that is happening is that we’ve just moved from Dreamhost to MediaTemple:)
Hey, this sounds like a great idea. I think that something like this is really needed at the moment, hopefully just like a single base where people can refer to rather then there being a million sites you have to go to to get some information. Nice work guys :)