News

The Reefuge

Administrator
Jul 9, 2011
4,152
1,929
Where To Now?
Hi everyone,

So, just for a little bit of fun, I would like us to play a game. To play this game, we are going to assume some things.

1. The Reefuge has unlimited money to spend on it's website. (Let's assume $100,000,000,000)
2. Even the most "out-there" ideas are possible to do.

So, I would like to hear what you guys would like to see happen to The Reefuge in the future. What features would you like to see? What new and unique ideas would you like to see implemented? I would like to hear from the most basic ideas, to the most far-out ideas related to a reef community.

Go!
 

Ziggy

Member
Jul 6, 2015
154
61
Adelaide
Just a simple one from me, I'd love to see the location of folks under their name when they post please. :) Otherwise, love, love, loving this site :)
 

Sam Parker

Moderator
May 6, 2013
4,802
2,397
Geelong
Yeah I'd be in favour of a Reefuge annual event. Get a bunch together, do some Reefing things together and some non Reefing things together as a community building thing that Franklin mentioned.

I'm happy to have the first at my place, plenty of room stay here or nice enough motels near by :)
 
Just a simple one from me, I'd love to see the location of folks under their name when they post please. :) Otherwise, love, love, loving this site :)
That would be great...in fact I would love to see age also (where people elect to show it) and years keeping marine species.

My logic is that age lends itself to social groups forming and years experience lends itself to weighting the advice offered. Of course there will always be those that have 10 years experience and those that have had 1 years experience, 10 times over.. :)
 
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I would love to see ta better system for displaying images, the current one is less than ideal. I would also like to see long term editing possible on certain posts, an example being the initial tank details in TJ's as they are always evolving.

Now these may not be practical but I used to rofl at the Friday night antics of (was it Antman32 or similar?). Perhaps a once a week slot for reefing but similar to the old Rex Hunt fishing show.

Personally I would also like to remove the automatic link to defunct TJ's.
 
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Rob

Member
Apr 26, 2012
743
424
Currently we have a fantastic forum of users helping users and trust this will organically grow over time although the concern will be it will just plateau in the fact new members will = old members which are not returning for information. To grow the site I think it needs alternative content that will encourage non reef users to take up the hobby and the seasoned ones to return to the site to read / educate themselves. Plus obviously nothing can be sustained without revenue which I assume in this case is sponsorship.

1. Professional Content..

Encourage some high profile well written BLOGs on the site within a specific site area. This could come from interesting site sponsors or lecturers / divers / students in the marine biology/sciences field. Some of all that cash would go along way to encouraging some phd student contributions I'm sure. This content can then be pushed to subscribers. Maybe there are currently students out there writing papers which we could host for them…



2. Create Interest and articles

Every month get a member (does not need to be a TOTM) to write and fill in tank details and some pics, tank params etc then create a banner of tank shots within the header of the site which could drill down to a standardised details page detailing equipment, maint schedules, inhabitants etc. more defined in layout and content than the free form journals. Do it slowly so content is always being added throughout the year. Throw in a sponsors tank within the banner now and again to take to their shop. Another item to push to subscribers.



3. Everybody likes looking at tanks, even those without one

a) Get a group buy together of IP web cameras and get as many users as possible to set it up and stream to become the biggest forum of “real time aquaria” in the world. Hell DLink should just give us ~50 cameras to start it off and in return for a “real-time aquaria” sponsorship worldwide.

b) Create an app (based on a photo album style) which has predefined (= really cool) transitions/music between photos of the tank, equipment and inhabitants. The user fills in the content with pictures and a single sentence/remark related to the pic and then see their tank come to life. Creates an animated picture sequence to be uploaded to reefuge youtube channel. Transitions somehow have to be aligned with a aquaria theme not just appear, fade blinds etc. Maybe from a FTS you define an area within the pic the next pic transitions from (kind of like an animated drill down). It will be soo awesome people will become a member just to get their tank shots animated into a short clip.



4. Create an aquascaping app hosted by the reefuge

Create a aquascaping app which includes rock work, corals and fish, just like those home design programs. However would be cool to get the fish to swim around and the corals to sway with the beat (whine) of the Vortech. Maybe based upon merit points / ratings on the site lets you include different fish or elements to the animation. You could even throw in a tank crash occasionally and based upon compatibility you could even define which corals are compatible, distance around them etc. Cloud based app hosted by reefuge with an android / IOS front end.
 
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Savage Henry

Member
Feb 2, 2015
653
254
More articles written by members, such as DIY articles, anecdotes, bad experiences etc.

It is really great to be able to read an article and then to be able to contact the writer for further information etc.

Maybe we could make a list of possible subjects and have members choose a topic. Give them a month or two to work on it. Have them submit a draft on the Forum so that other members can make comments before the final version is prepared. The final version prepared and posted on the forum with the author acknowledged prominently, and any one else who contributed post first draft acknowledged discreetly.

Also, I would like to see a page where members list their fish and how long they have had them for. There could be a condition that the fish must first have survived for one year or so. It would also be great if the list included: Date obtained, fish length when obtained, where it was purchased, any measurements of the fish during it's lifetime, the size of the aquarium the fish has been kept in etc.
 

lukusis

Member
Sep 3, 2014
415
144
If it ain't broke.......

Seriously though, the forum is awesome, content is great and the community here speaks for itself.

Anything I would consider adding/changing has already been mentioned above :)
 

newbiereef

Member
Nov 8, 2011
874
154
gracemere
central point for things like the pooled resources so they don't fall down sort of like a warehouse with a mod looking after it
 

Agent M

Member
Oct 21, 2011
3,536
1,586
Melbourne
Everybody likes looking at tanks, even those without one

a) Get a group buy together of IP web cameras and get as many users as possible to set it up and stream to become the biggest forum of “real time aquaria” in the world. Hell DLink should just give us ~50 cameras to start it off and in return for a “real-time aquaria” sponsorship worldwide.
@Rob I love this idea!!

My suggestions, one half baked:

- bring back the Chat Box :) but with more history visible this time so you have more of a chance of seeing what you missed when you log on
- Classifieds section - the only thing a certain other Aussie forum has an edge on us with is this. I think we can do way better. I don't know how though, lol. I just know I don't want to have to go seek it out too much to look at it and I want to be able to see whats for sale at a glance. Group brainstorming session could be beneficial here. If we could somehow provide people with buyer protection, like eBay does, that would be AMAZING. Or have it on a phone app so you can get live updates of new ads.
 

jart

Member
Apr 10, 2015
207
106
@Rob I love this idea!!
- Classifieds section - the only thing a certain other Aussie forum has an edge on us with is this. I think we can do way better. I don't know how though, lol. I just know I don't want to have to go seek it out too much to look at it and I want to be able to see whats for sale at a glance. Group brainstorming session could be beneficial here. If we could somehow provide people with buyer protection, like eBay does, that would be AMAZING. Or have it on a phone app so you can get live updates of new ads.
Would be nice to have a couple of filters on the side panel so that we could filter by things like:

* location/State
* willing to ship
* ???
 

The Reefuge

Administrator
Jul 9, 2011
4,152
1,929
Would be nice to have a couple of filters on the side panel so that we could filter by things like:

* location/State
* willing to ship
* ???
You can already do that. Click on the state next to the title and it will filter it :)
The other information can be found in the ad itself;

http://thereefuge.com/marketplace-au/pair-of-premnas-clownfish.712/

Location:
Aspley
Postcode:
4034
Phone Number:
0438860172
Price:
100
Shipping:
No

Or do you mean to have that info on the main listings page?

Thanks.
 

Buddy

Member
Mar 13, 2012
3,142
1,526
@Rob I love this idea!!

My suggestions, one half baked:

- bring back the Chat Box :) but with more history visible this time so you have more of a chance of seeing what you missed when you log on
The chat box has been politics for the last couple of days.... you aren't missing much!

Just a little one from me. I remember there used to be an "unanswered" posts button. I would occasionally check that and try to reply to as many as I could.
One reply was usually enough to get others posting in the thread. I am not sure how many unanswered posts are around these days though!
 

macca_75

Member
Apr 22, 2012
2,125
844
Currently we have a fantastic forum of users helping users and trust this will organically grow over time although the concern will be it will just plateau in the fact new members will = old members which are not returning for information. To grow the site I think it needs alternative content that will encourage non reef users to take up the hobby and the seasoned ones to return to the site to read / educate themselves. Plus obviously nothing can be sustained without revenue which I assume in this case is sponsorship.

1. Professional Content..

Encourage some high profile well written BLOGs on the site within a specific site area. This could come from interesting site sponsors or lecturers / divers / students in the marine biology/sciences field. Some of all that cash would go along way to encouraging some phd student contributions I'm sure. This content can then be pushed to subscribers. Maybe there are currently students out there writing papers which we could host for them…



2. Create Interest and articles

Every month get a member (does not need to be a TOTM) to write and fill in tank details and some pics, tank params etc then create a banner of tank shots within the header of the site which could drill down to a standardised details page detailing equipment, maint schedules, inhabitants etc. more defined in layout and content than the free form journals. Do it slowly so content is always being added throughout the year. Throw in a sponsors tank within the banner now and again to take to their shop. Another item to push to subscribers.



3. Everybody likes looking at tanks, even those without one

a) Get a group buy together of IP web cameras and get as many users as possible to set it up and stream to become the biggest forum of “real time aquaria” in the world. Hell DLink should just give us ~50 cameras to start it off and in return for a “real-time aquaria” sponsorship worldwide.

b) Create an app (based on a photo album style) which has predefined (= really cool) transitions/music between photos of the tank, equipment and inhabitants. The user fills in the content with pictures and a single sentence/remark related to the pic and then see their tank come to life. Creates an animated picture sequence to be uploaded to reefuge youtube channel. Transitions somehow have to be aligned with a aquaria theme not just appear, fade blinds etc. Maybe from a FTS you define an area within the pic the next pic transitions from (kind of like an animated drill down). It will be soo awesome people will become a member just to get their tank shots animated into a short clip.



4. Create an aquascaping app hosted by the reefuge

Create a aquascaping app which includes rock work, corals and fish, just like those home design programs. However would be cool to get the fish to swim around and the corals to sway with the beat (whine) of the Vortech. Maybe based upon merit points / ratings on the site lets you include different fish or elements to the animation. You could even throw in a tank crash occasionally and based upon compatibility you could even define which corals are compatible, distance around them etc. Cloud based app hosted by reefuge with an android / IOS front end.
Any Graphic Designers out there to help make a template? I think a TOTM (not prizes or anything - just a "featured tank" would be great. Standard formatting, similar shots (such as FTS, support sump, etc, "feature" Coral or fish, etc. Listing of Equipment, desired parameters, etc.Also if someone is pretty handy with a camera and could offer some time that would be great so we aren't just using "iPhone" pics.

I for one would love to see @Rob's first - Firstly, I have seen the tank first hand and it's pretty stunning. Secondly, it's full of tech and DIY if that's your thing. Thirdly, his idea, lets (make) let him go first :rolleyes

The WEBCAM "wall" - love the idea. Are you thinking a cheaper "DIY Basic" or an off the shelf plug an play?
 

ReeferRob

Solidarité
Oct 22, 2014
2,661
931
Bel Air
The classified section is kind of odd the way it's set up. I like looking at what's for sale down there.

Buddy, it's not been that political other than us bitching about how idiotic politicians are, lol.