FAQ's and Dispatches [Discussion]

mcmasterdonia

mcmasterdonia

Just like a queef in the wind, so is life
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TNP Nation
McMasterdonia
Greetings Staff members, I refer you to my statement:

Frequently Asked Questions and In-Game Dispatches

Thanks to the efforts of Sauceistan and other members of the Ministry, the Frequently Asked Questions have been appropriately updated and converted into in-game dispatches. One of the issues though is that these dispatches have been posted onto a separate nation from the Northern Light. Thanks to the efforts of the Delegate and r3naissanc3r, we now have a mechanism where any member of the cabinet can post dispatches to the Northern Lights. As such, I intend for the Ministry to roll these dispatches over onto the northern light nation, and this will allow for easy editing in future.

Secondly, I would like to see the dispatches coded in a different way to how they are at present. Many of you would be familiar with the herrecode method of coding factbooks and dispatches. My vision is to have the FAQ’s all linked together and through a central home page dispatch. This will mean that a nation could navigate throughout the entire FAQ’s simply by clicking links in the interconnected factbooks. Not a hugely interesting proposal, I’d agree, but it would certainly be useful for new members.

Another issue is that dispatches can quickly become out of date, with changes in government, recall motions, and any other issue that might come up. For this reason, the Ministry of Education will maintain a public thread for people to point out issues and for reminders when the factbooks require updating. I hope that this will mean that the factbooks will remain constantly up to date for new nations to read.
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Points to consider:

- Proposals for the layout for the FAQ. This should include a type of herrecoding. I invite members to make draft examples on their own nations. They do not need to include all the relevant information, just a general layout, including colour scheme and the like for us to adopt into use.
- What FAQ's are missing? What ones do we need to work on? Pay particular attention to what FAQ's related to RP that we could set up that would be useful.
 
Perhaps too late now, but here are some comments on the format:

1) The three different blue hues (two for the new header, and one more at the old header and footer) look odd. I think it would be better to maintain the same color/font theme consistently for all of them.

This common theme could either be the same theme we have been using in all our dispatches since December (the one in the old header and footer, e.g., here), or a new one if people feel like drawing something different. Here are some alternative themes I had made myself, when experimenting back in January. If we do settle for a new theme, then we'll need to replace it everywhere.

2) Personally I dislike the very large coat of arms at the top of dispatches. First, I find it impractical and distracting. Keep in mind that people may be reading these dispatches from their cell phones, where they have very limited vertical space. If they have to scroll down a whole screen just to get to the content, many of them will just give up on reading the dispatch (especially new players who aren't yet committed to the game/region).

Second, the coat of arms at the top is redundant, given that the footer already includes another one.

I would suggest removing the coat of arms from the top, and starting the dispatches directly with the navigation links. If people insist on having some kind of image in the header, then I would suggest creating a dedicated banner that has appropriate dimensions (very short and very wide).

The above is also consistent with how most modern high-end websites are designed. There is a minimal header at the top, mostly containing navigation links. Then, there is a much more expansive footer with the full company logo and other details.
 
I would like to second the comment about the CoA. I use NS on my phone about as often as I use it on my computer and large images are a big annoyance sometimes.
 
Completely right about the colours, I realised after I had finished that the colours were shockingly different. I'll get on to amending that soon.

As to the image at the top, I was contemplating using the old The North Pacific banner that we used in updates, but it would need to be changed slightly and the colours may clash. The new coat of arms might match with the colours better.

Thanks for the comments and I'll get onto changing them soon.
 
Assuming we're going to pass the new coat of arms, and assuming that that won't take longer than a week, it may be worth waiting for that. The new design changes the blue hue used, and we may need to adapt the theme around that. The FAQs are good enough to be functional in the meantime.

As I was playing around with color themes for an RL website of mine, I came up with an edited version of the current color theme that should work with the new CoA, and which can also make our dispatches a little more colorful. I can show you on skype if you're on later.

EDIT: For the banner, that's the kind of thing that is great for a contest: ask people to make submissions, then pick the best one through a forumside or gameside poll. The instructions should specify the basic color theme and dimensions to be used by all submissions.

Until there is a banner, I would just ditch the image altogether and start immediately with the navigation header.
 
I changed the colours to suit the ones in the footer, and I also just copied the image that was used down the bottom for the header image too. Looks nice enough and certainly cleaner than it did with the old colour scheme. We can change the colours and stuff again if the coat of arms changes.

Like your idea about a banner competition too.
 
I've put a few new header designs together here: http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=512576

They're all variations of the same simple theme, which squeezes the standard TNP banner to the left of the header. Personally, I prefer the first and last ones, but I am listing all of them for people to choose from.

I'd also suggest that, in dispatches where there are two headers (e.g., the WADP), the one for the FAQ be moved in a small box as shown in the link. The current design with the two huge blue headers at the top of WADP and other dispatches looks rather odd and unappealing.

EDIT: I had one more suggestion. In the standard dispatch footer, we should ditch the "This has been produced/distributed by the Ministry of X" line. I know I added this, but I've changed my mind about it. It's hard to maintain as our various Ministries get reorganized, and it's not really of any use to the target audience. Instead, we could just increase the font of the actually useful information, the links.
 
The Delegate mentioned that the new seal will be given a "grand opening" on a certain date in the near future. I'll update all TNP images I host (including the various dispatch and Executive Staff banners) then - I've already made the new versions, so all I'll need to do is replace the files on my dropbox account.

Which version of the header do you like better?
 
Alright.

I like the 1st, the 3rd, and the fifth one.

Question: Where there is only the FAQ header, and not the WADP one, the FAQ header would simply be to replace the links in the WADP header... Right?
 
mcmasterdonia:
Question: Where there is only the FAQ header, and not the WADP one, the FAQ header would simply be to replace the links in the WADP header... Right?
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Yes. Same goes in all large dispatches that have their own separate header (e.g., the recent Zombie series).

One issue is that the FAQ has too many links, which makes the header overflow. I think that's a bigger issue, though, and that the FAQ links need to be consolidated a little:
1) We currently have both a "Endorse the Security Council" and a "WA Endorsements & TNP Security Council" dispatch, with all of the information of the latter included in the first. I would just merge them into one.
2) The merged SC dispatch should be incorporated into the WADP, as the two are directly related. There is a lot of overlapping and some conflicting information.
3) "RMB Guardians" should be merged into the "Home" dispatch (they are mentioned there anyway), which contains the points of contact for new nations.
4) I don't think IRC deserves a whole separate dispatch. We could have a link to the IRC page in the standard dispatch footer, or just mention IRC in the "Home" dispatch along with the rest of the contact information.

Finally, there are a bunch of content issues:
1) Putting aside its subtle defender bias, the NPA dispatch is currently useless for newcomers. Someone new to the game will read the dispatch and see a military that is plagued by inactivity and dies every few years, is infiltrated by spies, and is constantly in the midst of political bickering about its orientation. What they won't see is us encouraging them to join, how they can join (there is a link at the bottom, disguised as "more information"), or what they'll be expected to actually do in the NPA. Also, having a huge version of the flag there serves no purpose. I'd just scrap and rewrite the whole thing.
2) The Executive Staff dispatch should be expanded into a "ways to get involved" dispatch. This would include citizenship instructions, the RA, the Executive Staff itself, WA Ministry, and roleplay - it should also mention the NPA, and point to the specialized NPA dispatch. It's somewhat similar to the second-day telegram one of our scripts sends out.
3) We should have a "culture" dispatch, discussing roleplay (especially the map and DU/NPTO), as well as the various long-standing cultural programs (Lennarts, Stories, trivia, and so on). It could also have a discussion of cultural symbols, such as the story of the flag and CoA.
4) Potentially, we should have a summary TNP history and a brief discussion of our government structure and laws. These could probably go in the "Home" dispatch.

If the Ministry agrees, I can slowly work towards making these changes. I already have TNL access, so I could work directly with the dispatches. I'd probably start by applying the stylistic changes (header and footer) directly, then do the content reorganization in a separate dispatch.
 
1) Agreed
2) If my incorporated, you mean linked to, then sure. I'd rather still keep the "Endorse the SC" one separate, as it is useful for linking directly to.
3) Not sure about this, we've been meaning to have a meeting with the Delegate about the RMB guardians and expanding on their role. I'd be keen to leave that one for a little while.
4) Sure. No problem with that.



1) Agreed. It is definitely not a FAQ at this point. The history itself may be interesting for some but not wholly useful for a new player.
2) No problem with that. The Executive Staff FAQ before the one I released recently was very basic and contained no information, the current one is simply a placeholder.
3) Agreed. My preference would be for the RP one to be separated from general culture, but linked to in the original culture document. This is because I would like it to include a number of 'facts' about the RP world in TNP, and I think it would get very detailed.
4) No issue with that, though summarizing our history may be difficult. We have the North Pacific Hall of Delegates dispatch that I need to update, that could be useful for that too.

On the final point, I am more than happy for you to handle the stylistic changes yourself directly, as that makes it so much easier for me - certainly not my strength. As to content, I think I may try to delegate some of the dispatch content writing to other members of the education staff. I certainly know I have staff skilled enough in culture and RP to handle this matter, same goes for the NPA. If you could handle the Executive Staff one (leaving appropriate placeholder links) that would be great? Unless you have a preference for which one you would like to focus on, more than happy to accommodate.
 
mcmasterdonia:
2) If my incorporated, you mean linked to, then sure. I'd rather still keep the "Endorse the SC" one separate, as it is useful for linking directly to.
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I was going to make it an individual dispatch that is formatted as part of the WADP (like the ones we have for awards, reports, "join the WA", and so on). I was also going to edit the contents, including moving information around across WADP dispatches.

So, we'd still be able to link it separately.
3) Not sure about this, we've been meaning to have a meeting with the Delegate about the RMB guardians and expanding on their role. I'd be keen to leave that one for a little while.
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OK, let's wait to see how they evolve then, and decide afterwards.

3) Agreed. My preference would be for the RP one to be separated from general culture, but linked to in the original culture document. This is because I would like it to include a number of 'facts' about the RP world in TNP, and I think it would get very detailed.
4) No issue with that, though summarizing our history may be difficult. We have the North Pacific Hall of Delegates dispatch that I need to update, that could be useful for that too.
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We could perhaps have a short section on general culture and history in this "home" dispatch, along with the brief info on government and laws. Then, the RP one would be a separate, fully-fledged one.

mcm:
On the final point, I am more than happy for you to handle the stylistic changes yourself directly, as that makes it so much easier for me - certainly not my strength. As to content, I think I may try to delegate some of the dispatch content writing to other members of the education staff. I certainly know I have staff skilled enough in culture and RP to handle this matter, same goes for the NPA. If you could handle the Executive Staff one (leaving appropriate placeholder links) that would be great? Unless you have a preference for which one you would like to focus on, more than happy to accommodate.
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I can do the "getting involved"/ES one. I'd also like to do the consolidation of the Security Council dispatches, along the lines of what I described above.

I'll also take care of the aesthetic changes some time this week (including relegating IRC to the footer).
 
A couple more people I asked on skype, including the Del and Speaker, also opted for #1, so that seems to be the most popular choice. I'll go with that.
 
I have applied the stylistic changes across all dispatches by TNL other than previous press releases. I have also started working on the getting involved and WADP/SC dispatches.

Once we have a roleplay dispatch, I will go through all of them again and add it to the FAQ header/box.

One more suggestion I had was to change the name of this set of dispatches. "TNP FAQs" is not accurate, given that none of these dispatches is actually an FAQ.

I would suggest using instead "The North Pacific Handbook".
 
r3naissanc3r:
One more suggestion I had was to change the name of this set of dispatches. "TNP FAQs" is not accurate, given that none of these dispatches is actually an FAQ.

I would suggest using instead "The North Pacific Handbook".
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Any opinions on this?
 
r3naissanc3r:
r3naissanc3r:
One more suggestion I had was to change the name of this set of dispatches. "TNP FAQs" is not accurate, given that none of these dispatches is actually an FAQ.

I would suggest using instead "The North Pacific Handbook".
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Any opinions on this?
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I certainly like the idea :3
 
I don't really care about the name, more concerned about content. I think that FAQ would stand out more to newcomers, even if it doesn't exactly contain questions - it contains a lot of answers.
 
I've moved this from what is now Gameside Affairs, and I'd like some opinions on how we can further address the absolutely necessary task of updating our forum side FAQs.

Check the FAQs section off of The Docks to see what I mean - I'd like to suggest a joint ministerial project with Home Affairs and Culture to get the Guides uptodate while Comms, HA and Gameside looks to update the dispatches on site.

r3n has also floated a name change to "The North Pacific Handbook", I'd also be fine with "The North Pacific Compendium" and I'm open to more suggestions.

Dispatch Link: http://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=485369
Forum section: http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/forum/3006725/
 
Regarding the gameside dispatches, these were the latest plans for content (taken from here):

As discussed here: http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/topic/7445125/1/

We have a couple of new FAQ Factbooks that we need to work on. I would like staff members to sign up for one of them to work on together as a group. Myself and the Deputy Minister will aim to give you a template to work off to help you with this.

The tasks listed are examples of what should be included in the dispatch. I do not intend for this to limit you, but simply make sure that these areas are discussed and included. Once people have expressed their interest, I will distribute the template for how to approach this and I encourage you all to use a NS friendly gmail account for easy google docs editing.

For now please focus on signing up for which task you wish to work on. Discussion of content can occur later.

1. The North Pacific Army Dispatch - http://forum.thenorthpacific.org/topic/7445125/1/
Staff Assigned:
Tasks:
- How to join the NPA?
- Why members should join the NPA? Information such as how many members go on to be Ministers and/or Delegate is relevant here.
- What do members of the NPA do? Supporting allies, liberating regions, taking regions, acting in the regional interest etc.
- Information about the governing structure of the NPA, ranks, awards, etc.

2. Role Play Dispatch
Staff Assigned:
Tasks:
- Defining the world of RP in TNP - The world of Eras, the major languages, how fantasy RP works? This could include a list of definitions and abbreviations that we use in TNP Rp. Such a list would be spoilered and located at the bottom of the dispatch.
- The Map. Who edits it and how to claim a spot. What are the rules?
- Types of Role Play Nations can be involved in - National RP, Embassies, Treaties, etc.
- Role Play Mentors/Moderators - Who can they speak to for advice?
- How to get started in TNP RP for new members?
- Major organisations they can get involved in - Democratic Union and the NPTO. What are they and what do they do?
- Link to examples of RP

3. Culture Dispatch
Staff Assigned:
Tasks:
- Discussion on long standing cultural symbols in the North Pacific - the North Pacific Flag and the Coat of Arms
- Cultural programs - the Lennarts, Stories of the North Pacific, Trivia Programs, Special events/theme weeks
- How to get involved in the culture Ministry?
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I think certainly, at first glance, the forum-side ministry FAQ is in need of major reworking. I'd be willing to work on that, provided I get in contact with the appropriate ministers.

(this one)
 
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