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Hi Everyone – I have been thinking about this and wondered about the idea of having reference section. In my mind it would list all of the essays one at a time, directly linked to LDS.org. It would also have the 3 proclamations – The Family One that we all love so much, The Living Christ, and the one about other religions (I still have to find it). And then articles and talks that address, assist, invite a StayLDS type model, i.e. the BYU one on doubting, Uchtdorfs addresses and others from mainstream sources that we can help build on. I see it as a place where we can drop by if we are teaching or writing a talk and need a direct link – and not have to hunt. I also see it as a support for lurkers who are seeking their own understanding.
All thoughts welcome.
I love the idea. It is similar to the Quote of the Day thread, and that is invaluable.
I say start it with the essay links, with a HUGE qualifier at the beginning of the original post that the thread is for links to supporting materials WITHOUT COMMENTARY. Make sure it says that this thread is for resource materials NOT discussion – and reference the Quote of the Day thread as an example.
The wordpress part of our site has this already, sort of. We reference articles and resources: http://www.staylds.com/?page_id=438 Favorite conference talks:
http://www.staylds.com/?page_id=442 It hasn’t been updated in a while. It could be done differently than it is right now. Just pointing this out as part of the conversation here.
How about a thread about it here, with someone updating the wordpress section as a result of suggestions in the thread? Maybe – and this related to the other topic about the Mormon Channel – it wouldn’t hurt us to beef up the “blog” part of the site a bit. A search for StayLDS will land one there. And I think it would be perfectly OK to put links there to articles we find favorable on other sites like we do in the forums. Side note: FAIR launched a Roku channel today.
Should we edit the posts in the reference thread from time to time? Example:
Currently the second post in the reference center thread enumerates all the essays. One essays was inadvertently left off the list but provided several posts later. Should we edit the first post about the essays to include the one that was omitted, keep like things together; or should we let the thread grow organically?
Another example: Say a new essay comes along. Do we edit the one post that has all the essays or do we let the link to the new essay fall on page 5 or whatever page it would end up being when a new essay drops?
Essays are one thing. We know what is and what isn’t an essay. Various links to info with no centralized subject would be much harder to consolidate.
Another question, do we want to limit posts to that thread to make the information easier to find or just let it grow? E.g. posts that discuss the info in the links or posts that say “Thanks, I enjoyed that.” There’s nothing wrong with either but they create space between reference posts. References become less dense and the info harder to find. Just a thought.
My answer to question 1:
I’d be inclined to consolidate the essays to one post, keep them all together. I don’t know that a full blown exercise of consolidating like material is worth it. The essays are special.
My answer to question 2:
I think I’m down for letting the thread grow however people want it to grow at the expense of making things easier to find. It’s okay for there to be space and I’d rather not curtail interaction.
I think there is nothing wrong with deleting the simple thank you or agreement comments after a week or so. Nobody is going to remember or notice, imo, at that point.
Brian Johnston wrote:The wordpress part of our site has this already, sort of. We reference articles and resources:
http://www.staylds.com/?page_id=438 Favorite conference talks:
http://www.staylds.com/?page_id=442 It hasn’t been updated in a while. It could be done differently than it is right now. Just pointing this out as part of the conversation here.
Is there an easy way of knowing how much traffic this part of the site gets?
Nibbler – Please fix as needed. I am glad someone caught the first one. I will try to go back and clean it up tonight. Ray I will take down the other message –
Everyone please feel free to add talks, addresses, quotes that can be ready referenced.
DJ – I like the blog idea. We should check into it. I was even thinking a How I Stay type deal, kind of like Sunstones, Why I Stay.
Thanks everyone for the encouragement and input.
I can’t do it from the device I am using right now, but the Uchtdorf talk in the current thread about being fellow travelers needs to be added to the Resource Center and to the thread listing excellent support materials. (Working from memory here, so I can’t think of the name of that thread.) Perfect. Will do. I did cut and paste some of the suggestions but the full link will be better.
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