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Simmo,
I really think the way you laid it out in your last post, made alot of sense. I really like this idea and hope that this will become a reality. I think if we do this right it can really help all of us.OK here you go
I have modified the forums as per my post above. The way it works is this. I set up a site (ie: Dom’s “Games & Casino” site) in a lookup database, assigning it a code (in this case 1001). Once i give Dom her code, she sets up a text file on her server containing links to all her banners or as many as she wants rotated. She also provides me with a logo.
I’ve set up a demo (Dom – as i cant access your server, you link to http://www.casinomatcher.com for now so dont be surprised!). There are 3 example banners i created in the loop which are in a text file over on my casinomatcher server for now (http://www.casinomatcher.com/1001.txt if you want to see it) but would obviously normally be on Dom’s server so she can constantly update it without hassling me
I also set up a simple Text logo for Games & Casino which i run from the forum server.So you go to the forum with a parameter which is Dom’s site ID i assigned thus:
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1001
(Contrastingly you can go in via my own link at
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1000 to see my banners/links/logo etc)That will rotate her banners, show her logo and add her website and links in the relevant places. It sets a cookie that remains for 24 hours or until it is overwritten so that user will see her banners/links etc for that time, even if they return later.
This ID is passed to all pages on the site. Note i have genericised the Forum name to “The Online Global Gambling Symposium” so the user sees this tag however they enter, it relates to the domain name (OGGS) and should thus allay multi-site marketing fears hopefully.
The beauty of this sytem is that you can also enter at different levels (although they can navigate back up the tree, however still with your banners/links): For example, if you just wanted your users to go to the Poker forums section, you link thus:
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?c=2&rf=1001
…or if you wanted to go straight into one specific forum then try:
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/viewforum.php?f=2&rf=1001
…or maybe straight in to a specific Post:
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/viewt.php?t=11&rf=1001
As far as you guys are concerned, all you have to do is give me the basics (URL, Site Title), get assigned a code and create a text file of banners before you link over. If you are happy with the Text style logos, i can do that for you, else i can give you a little template to add your bits too.
NOTE: I’m not quite ready for people to go piling in yet as a) i want your feedback on this first so it’s 100% right before rolling it out and b) I want to make sure everyone is clear about who gets what out of this and responsibilities. I dont mind doing all this gratis but I’d like to have some sort of benefit out of it that people consider fair. Actually BB1’s idea suits me if thats considered reasonable by others
Cheers
Simmo!
Wow! That’s quite a development to wake up to.
You are really talented and motivated, Simmo! I am impressed! :colgate:
So I guess I am being difficult but I still have reservations.
Why does it have to say it’s the Online Global Gambling Symposium? Why can’t we each just put our own brand there? And mail our own visitors? If you are going to cookie them anyway, we should be able to tell who is who.
So this will be hosted by- who? If it is successfull it will use a lot of bandwidth.
Then we have the customization as far as color etc. I can hardly read small black font on grey background, nor can most people over 40 and a bunch under forty too. Plus it looks boring and sad. I would like to see something upbeat and energizing.
And I always ask the same – what will you get out of this? Well, in this case it will be an active forum, but you are putting in labor. I always want to pay for what I get, experience has taught me that is always best.
Then we have details…. like we will doubtlessly have some members who will want to use the forum to recruit players for themselves, other than with their own banners in their own section. Again, I think I would get the short stick on this – I am not sure I want to expose my players to this, I have a huge number of return visitors who hang at GamesandCasino regularly.
Lots of things to think about….
So this will be hosted by- who? If it is successfull it will use a lot of bandwidth.
My Server
I have a lot of bandwidth – 700GB allocation a month.
Not to throw cold water on this idea… but it was an idea I had 4 years ago, and which was eventually implemented by a guy named Ryan, who used to post as the Guru (or Gambling Guru). It was called the Collective Gambling Forum, and used phpbb with mods to make the forum appear unique for each site, inclusive of logo, but the posts were all shared.
This forum died a slow death because it was extremely complicated to manage and they didn’t realize enough traffic and weren’t unique enough.
If you do go ahead with this idea, I hope you are all willing to contribute some uniqueness to the forums, otherwise you will head down the exact same path.
For the record, Got2Bet did not join in the forum in the end because it ultimately did not meet the unique needs of the site.
I remember this forum clearly. It just never got very busy.
I agree with the forum needing to be unique to do well.
I dont think managing it is too much of a headache the way i have it set up, but as for uniqueness, I’m always open to ideas
Dominique wrote:Why does it have to say it’s the Online Global Gambling Symposium? Why can’t we each just put our own brand there? And mail our own visitors? If you are going to cookie them anyway, we should be able to tell who is who.It doesnt have to – i thought that it should have some sort of identifier so gamblers who hit it from different sites realise its a central reservation. But it doesn’t have to be that way – again, I’m open to ideas.
regards colours, setup etc, then to be honest its quite configurable but i can MOD it as we go. I could in thory have different images, colours, folders etc for each site but then where do you draw the line. I think its best to get it out there and see if takes off before investing that sort of effort.
If we got it up and running we can see how it goes and take all the ideas that will undoubtedly come up onboard and see whats best.
All i really need is a Poker moderator (I’m not very knowledgable on the game itself) and a handful of participating sites to get it going. I can add a couple of forums for Bingo/Sportsbook people if required, no problem.
Cheers
Simmo!
All i really need is a Poker moderator
I’d be happy to help there… Poker is 95% of what I promote….. and I play live and online virtually every day.
I’ve played in a couple tourney’s too… Tunica, and at the Horseshoe, not to mention the local ones I play in….
just let me know
fatbill wrote:I’d be happy to help there… Poker is 95% of what I promote….. and I play live and online virtually every day.
I’ve played in a couple tourney’s too… Tunica, and at the Horseshoe, not to mention the local ones I play in….
just let me know
Cheers Bill – you could be just what i need
Cheers
Simmo!
Okay people…
I brightened it up, enlarged the fonts for the oldies
and removed the “generic” board name.Take a look: http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1000
Still waiting on ideas regarding “uniqueness” (although personally I’m not convinced this is 100% essential, although obviously great to have).
Later today i hope to have a simple “panel” that you can include on your sites (PHP) which shows & links to the latest X topics. I’m also going to work on a method so sites can create their own stylesheets, but don’t hold your breath on that one.
Aside from this, I’m pretty much ready to roll – I’d like to start with sites that have a fairly reasonable user base and with webmasters that are prepared to give it some profile and can register and contribute to get the ball rolling.
Send me any final ideas & if you want to get involved, PM me. I’ll start with five suitable sites which gives me a chance to make sure its all working smoothly, then all being well, open it up to others here who are interested.
Also, are you guys happy that in return for my involvement and admin/moderation, you’re happy with BB1’s proposal that i can so a maximum of one monthly mailing to registrants?
Cheers
Simmo!
Okay I’ve now added the ability to change the colour scheme remotely.
The way it works is you modify a simple CSS file (quite basic) I provide you when you register your site and upload it to your server root. This contains colours to match your site. You then test it by calling the forum with an extra “mode=test” parameter. Once you like the look of it, you can change it to “mode=retrieve” and the Forum server grabs it and loads it in for you.
Heres an example of how it can change the look:
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1000 (OGGS colour scheme)
http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1003 (CasinoMatcher colours)You can change the CSS any time on your server and use the “mode” parameter to test and send it up to the server whenever you wish. So if i wanted to change the look of the CasinoMatcher site, i’d change the file on my http://www.casinomatcher.com server, and call http://www.oggs.com/pokerforum/index.php?rf=1003&mode=test – once happy with it, i’d change the mode=test to mode=retrieve, and job done.
I’ve stopped short of changing fonts etc for now but i could add this later. For now, its to give the forum an identity for your site. I’ll roll it out to those who have already signed up tomorrow to check out.
Cheers
Simmo!
EDIT: Forums now live: thread continued here: http://www.casinoaffiliateprograms.com/bb/showthread.php?p=38984#post38984
