Proposal: NU subdomains

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Proposal: NU subdomains
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

If Tony ever wants to expand NU and make room for more content, before tackling the hotly contested idea of adding original content, he could add translations from other regions. A good place to start might be establishing regional subdomains.

Africa (AF)
Asia (AS)
Australia and Oceania (AU)
Europe (EU)
North America (NA)
South and Central America (SA)

af.novelupdates.com
as.novelupdates.com
au.novelupdates.com
eu.novelupdates.com
na.novelupdates.com
sa.novelupdates.com

This proposal covers three main points:
1) Expandability & Compartmentalization
2) Navigating NU Easily
3) Original Content
along with pros vs cons and a TL;DR.

My favorite part of this proposal is honestly the clean URLs.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Expandability & Compartmentalization
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

This could be taken as gradually as Tony sees necessary, or as constrained by resources. For example, if Tony ever wanted to add original content without disrupting NU’s homepage, he could add an OC subdomain as well.

Original Content (OC)
oc.novelupdates.com

The feed of each region remains separate, but users could choose the scope of their reading lists. I propose using a unique
Favorites
section for each subdomain.

Currently users can have lists appear on the Main Release Page under
Favorites
and with this users could choose to have a list appear on the Main Release Page of ANY number of subdomains.

For example, a user could see a reading list only in specific regions’ Main Release Pages, such as an OC list that stays in the OC subdomain. Users could always add their favorites to a global list. This of course means visible from any subdomain.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Navigating NU Easily
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

Users could easily switch between regions by changing the subdomain in the URL, or by using a small drop down box in the top left corner of the site.

For example, where the site now says
Novel Updates
it could use the subdomain and say
AS Novel Updates
where the AS is the Asia subdomain and clicking on it drops down a menu with each of the other subdomains.

Each subdomain could even have its own theming color, if the mods so desired
AS Novel Updates
or perhaps change the site’s color.

An interesting advantage of adopting the AS subdomain for Asia rather than keeping it as the dominant domain, is that www.novelupdates.com could be repurposed for site navigation, whatever reading lists a user wishes to see there, and also for displaying global statistics, such as global ratings and rankings.

Rather than editing the URL or selecting an extension, a user could simply click on the
Novel Updates
to the right of the subdomain to move to the global homepage, as it does presently. Maybe the letters NU to the left could fill the empty space from subdomains like so
NU Novel Updates
and function like the rest.

A problem here could be the way accounts work. If NU relies on cookies and users don't allow cookies, users might have problems navigating between subdomains. I don't know if any difficulties will arise but I am sure something will no matter what because JavaScript, amirite?

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Original Content
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

In an event where original content is added to NU, I believe it would be best for original content to remain constrained solely to the OC subdomain, and not appear in global rankings or ratings. Perhaps a method used to filter them both in/out would be helpful, and keep it all out of sight when unwanted.

Because original content is simply too cancerous prolific in that there is so much - and of widely varying, subjective quality - it would be silly to task moderators with managing it. The best solution I can think of quickly is to somehow improve the ratings system and leave it to the user base to find and elevate the quality they are looking for.

This is not the main topic of this thread, I simply wanted to make a note regarding the reality of using moderators to create an environment like that of NU: something many proponents of OC seem to expect will magically occur, preventing an RRL situation.

The only advantage NU has is itself, a superior platform, with an enhanced search/sort.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

PROS
• Easy to navigate
• Clean, isolated feeds
• Potential to compare globally
• Expand NU over time, without disruption
• Full use of excellent existing List system
• The use of regional moderators to reduce workload (Our mods deserve this!)

CONS
• Resource heavy
• Requires more moderators
• Possible traffic complications
• Requires multiple subdomains
• Requires new Reading List behaviors
• Login and accounts might need revamping from using subdomains

TL;DR
By using subdomains, the same site format we have all come to love can be used without bringing releases from one region to another.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––​

This thread is NOT about whether or not other regions and or original content should be added to NU. Its purpose is to suggest a clean, efficient, and user-friendly method to use NU in the hypothetical event that they are added.

It is also NOT about finding which method might be best; it concerns only the method I have proposed, any suggestions or opinions people have regarding it, so long as this restriction does not conflict with NUF policies.

So I'm just curious as to what you guys think of this, regardless of whether or not you want changes to be made here at NU.

 

I think this method is feasible with slight modifications because a new user might find sight navigation a bit of trouble. Because finding new content will no longer mean trying different kinds of stories. Stereotypes will be read a lot before a new user finds ojt about something new.Or so I think. Great thinking though.

 

Kazuma san nice thinking~ i start to wonder if you real konosuba kazuma

 

Disclaimer: Im an idiot who may or may not know what he's talking about
This would be a good idea for expanding NuF and the like, but one of the reasons I find NuF so enjoyable is becaus of the large diversity in the people here........
so.....
i refuse

 

I actually want NU like site for my regional novel (original and or translated to our language) for easy to monitor updates. But since I've no idea about web making this will help a lot...

 

How will this play out when you need to migrate to https and login? (For example, I need to login twice, one in forum.nu and NU proper.)

 

This is a really good idea since it's going to filter lots of content for regional language (which would incentive more translators to appear and translate the novel they like to their language)

But since this is cooperating with Tony's world domination plan....

Btw i don't like the idea of making central and south america only 1 domain
Central and the whole south america (excluding Brazil) speaks Spanish but Brazil is large enough so does it deserve a domain on it's own?

 

I myself enjoy the great number of people here, so i'll abstain from this, unless the plan is to add a "hub" where everyone comes together.
The idea is good, i'll admit that, but i'm not sure if i like it. The size of NU and NUF are big enough to pull this off, and make it function decently, but i don't hope this will cause a gap between people inside the site, and requesting pick-ups will also be harder, because if all the translators that aren't from your area, they might not see it.
It can be that i misunderstood, so please tell me if i did.

 

All your pros don't really seem like a pro to me...

- Not really "easy to navigate", because I will always have to keep track of where I'm currently at...
- I like the current update list because it's a central point where I can see ALL new releases. Why would I want to split that up? Definetly not for pretty URLs...
- Why split it up to have a "potential to compare globally"? Just leave it global and you can compare whenever you want...
- I didn't feel much "disruption" when the last updates where brought in...
- Not sure what you mean here...
- Why regional moderators? I honestly pray that you don't suggest to start talking in anything else than english?

 

Wouldn't expanding the domain make it cost more? Would Tony be willing to pay more?

 

From reading comments - I would modify that the OC portion be a 'sister site' to NU. (Using same format and stuff.)

I would suggest that IF this happens, keeping the forums as more of a single thing would be better. (Cross linking stories too between the different languages.)

With what's being proposed, having peoples reading lists be able to monitor for storues in multiple languages 'shouldn't' be an issue, if its kept at the top level.

 

'Usually' it doesn't cost anything to subdivide a domain. (So if you owned pie.com, you can make things like cherry.pie.com and meat.pie.com to make it easier for people to find what they want.)

 

As I don't know NU's backend I can't say for sure, but with some work Login should be universal across Regions, with a separate Forum login as is currently the case.

If you currently need to log in EACH time you visit the site, that may continue to be the case, as you are declining to use cookies.

 

EDIT: Whoops didn't quite catch that, sorry. That would be a hypothetical question for the mods. I played around with regions based on dominant languages but there were too many and the abbreviations conflicted so I dropped the attempt.

The current is loosely based on continents simply because I don't know how to handle exceptions like Brazil.

EDIT 2: actually a big problem for me was these three: Brazil, India, and the Middle East, which is actually part of Asia and currently qualifies to be translated on NU. Somehow I think Tony might not agree...

 

The idea is not to fracture the site. Subdomains are still the same site, just that each sub is a separate instance.

The key thing is that FORUMS and READING LISTS are shared between them, and that the www.novelupdates.com domain remain a global site, for rankings, reading lists, or perhaps even a GLOBAL FEED: that however I left to the mods in this hypothetical proposal.

 

As Yipie has pointed out, it all depends on the domain retailer that Tony gets his domain from. It might, it might not, hence why it is placed in the CONS list.

 

1) It would not be difficult to navigate. If you have a global reading list, you can view your Favorites from anywhere. Even if you don't, you can still access the READING LIST page and see ALL of your reading lists. The only reason you need to change sites is to browse the feed for novels you don't follow. A quick glance at the top of the page will reaffirm where you are.

2) The point of splitting the release feed up is due to the stance Tony SEEMS TO ME to have taken regarding adding novels translated from non-asian languages. NU doesn't seems to want European novels flooding the Asian novels section and making finding them difficult. The www.novelupdates.com domain could serve as a global release feed anyways, so there you go.

3) Again, this would get insanely messy and difficult to manage. Due to sheer quantity of EVERYWHERE NOT ASIA actual Asian novels could get lost, which I do not believe the NU community wants to see happen. As I said before, there could still be a global feed for this, as long as there are also regional ones.

4) I'm not saying you did. All this means is that these updates can be implemented without you even seeing new languages, at least until the as.novelupdates.com sub is implemented, probably last on the list. At this point the www domain might become global.

5) The Reading List on NU is AMAZING and will natively (or at least almost) support my proposal, and I believe they will work well together. What I mean is that you can choose which domains to see your reading lists on.

6) I don't. A big problem with adding more content to NU is that there will be MUCH more work for our mods. By adding mods with stripped down powers to each region we can delegate work and let our mods oversee things globally.

Thanks for the questions, I hope that clears things up. Even if these do not seem like PROS to you, the goal was to make it work for those who want more content, and not hamper users who don't.

 

Actually this proposal had no plans to alter NUF in any way. This regards the Novel Updates site and the way in which novels from many different languages are accessed. I too do not wish to impair the diversity, and actually think it will improve.

 

welp..... ignore me then