Poll

What would be your domain name of choice?

ct-forum‎.org
classicaltheismforum.org
scholasticphilosophy.org
scholastic-philosophy.com
I don't like any of these options (please reply in the thread)

Author Topic: Domain name ideas (poll)  (Read 10768 times)

MightyFool

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Domain name ideas (poll)
« on: June 30, 2020, 01:07:12 pm »
Hi everyone,

To boost the visibility of this forum I was thinking of registering a domain name so we lose the .createaforum part.
Unfortunately most of the obvious choices like classicaltheism.com, classicaltheismforum.com etc. are already in use.

Please vote in the poll above or add your suggestion in this thread!
« Last Edit: July 09, 2020, 02:20:28 am by MightyFool »

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #1 on: July 01, 2020, 01:03:23 am »
I'm pretty sure Brian, one of the other moderators here, owns classicaltheismforum.com. It's the domain name we used for the vBulletin forum. It might be worth asking him about it.

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #2 on: July 01, 2020, 02:12:57 am »
That would be great. I'll email him.

Update: The domain was expired and is now being domain squatted by some vendor who wants $300 for it.
So unless we pay 300 bucks, we have to choose an alternative.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2020, 07:47:01 am by MightyFool »

Ouros

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2020, 05:38:38 am »
Can't you try to negociate? Just tell him that you'll only take it at 30$, and that he should be happy that anyone want to buy it.

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2020, 05:47:05 am »
It's not Brian who sells the domain, it's a separate company.
What happens is when a popular domain name expires, is that it's up for grabs for anyone. Domain-squat companies scan popular expired domains to buy them and then resell them for a higher price. Unfortunately, that's a legal practice and can only be disputed if your copyright gets infringed (for example the mcdonalds.com domain name expires and gets bought, they can dispute that because mcDonalds is a registered brand name).

If you go to http://www.classicaltheismforum.com/ and then click on 'Buy this domain' at the top, you can see the price they request.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2020, 08:19:08 am by MightyFool »

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2020, 02:24:31 pm »
I think Ouros meant contact the squatter. (Honestly, I'm not sure the domain name is even worth $30. classicaltheismforum.org would likely serve just as well.)

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2020, 03:38:02 pm »
I don't think you can negotiate. They don't even have an email option and I'm not comfortable calling them since they're in another country.
I'll add it to the list.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #7 on: July 04, 2020, 10:27:54 pm »
Have you considered rebranding as a scholastic, or scholastic and patristic forum? I've long disliked the rather bland theme of "classical theism".

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #8 on: July 07, 2020, 10:09:13 am »
That goes into a deeper question on what would be the purpose of this forum. It seems to me that we're discussing Theism mostly from a Christian perspective, philosophy, and scripture.
Is the therm 'Scholastic' covering all that? Also, why do you think 'classical theism' is too bland?

We can also remove 'Classical' from the name and get the domain theismforum.com (which is still available).

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #9 on: July 07, 2020, 11:55:44 am »
Well, what you do is up to you. I'm inactive and "retired". But I always felt that "classical theism" was both too specific and too broad. It's too specific because almost nobody outside of certain relatively small philosophical circles and parts of analytic philosophy of religion even know what it means. So, nobody knows to look for it. It's too broad because it doesn't really give people much to identify with, and marketing for groups like this is often a matter of identifying a niche (which, preferably, lacks much competition) and focusing on it. (When I called it "bland", I was referring to the "too broad" part of this.)
« Last Edit: July 07, 2020, 11:59:40 am by Mackie Messer »

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #10 on: July 07, 2020, 11:58:33 am »
Not just Christian philosophy, but a specific tradition of it. It's not like we would stop people from talking about other philosophy or theology related subjects (or in off topic other subjects entirely), but the official focus of the forum would be on scholastic philosophy, or scholastic and patristic philosophy (patristic to include e.g. the Church Fathers).

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2020, 09:42:18 am »
>Well, what you do is up to you.

I'm the new guy here so I think we have to decide democratically.
I agree somewhat. I didn't know about 'Classical Theism' too, but I also didn't know about the terms you're talking about. But that might also be because English is my second language.
After reading https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/scholastic-philosophy , I'm more convinced and you're right.

I hope you keep posting on this forum :)

I'll add the options to the list in the OP, and if possible make a poll out of it.
If nobody responds, I'll go with scholastic-philosophy.com or scholasticphilosophy.org
« Last Edit: July 08, 2020, 09:51:12 am by MightyFool »

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas
« Reply #12 on: July 08, 2020, 11:26:16 am »
Yeah. I think a lot of people know "scholastic". "Patristic" might be a bit unusual.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2020, 02:44:59 am »
Your biggest challenge, whatever you choose, is going to be giving people a reason to come here instead of going to the rather large groups on Facebook. I've discovered over the last few years that most people don't actually care that much about freedom of expression.

By the way, do you have a first name I can call you? It doesn't have to be your actual one. I just get tired of calling people "Mighty", "Flying", and things like that. It's so uncivilized.

MightyFool

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2020, 02:59:48 am »
Yes, that's going to be a challenge. I hope I don't have to do that alone. I'm not really that active on Facebook, so for me, a forum helps out.
Haha well you can call me Gerlof, that's my real first name.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #15 on: July 10, 2020, 04:39:10 am »
Thank you, Gerlof. Are English and Dutch the only languages you speak?

We will have to look for more new administrators and moderators to help you out. (N.B. readers: We're recruiting. Send Mackie Messer a message if you want to help.) I've built this place twice. The first time I did so almost single-handedly, after Scott died. The second, I had help from Brian and a little help from the others. I also almost single-handedly kept the place running the first time, and kept it running with Brian's help the second time. So, I've dedicated huge swathes of the last five years to this forum (or, rather, it's previous two incarnations). I simply don't have the time or desire anymore. (I'm also arguably not a classical theist (or, at least, have a complicated relationship with it), so am poorly motivated.) I promise, though, that I'm dedicating the time to things most people here would, at least, respect.

If you're willing to do the leg work, I have a lot of ideas, which I'm happy to share. I even have some letter templates I wrote up that I never got to use for some of them. I think it has become very clear to a lot of people that Facebook and Twitter censor in recent weeks, and there is a hunger for independent discussion groups that don't have to worry about getting censured by Facebook, or Twitter, right now. (I've literally watched it happen to a good friend of mine, who also happens to be a professional philosopher, and even his abstruse philosophical articles were getting censored, even though they had nothing to do with his politics. So, it's no longer possible to deny that people are censored on major platforms. Add to that the fact that most people here are conservatives in virtue of most being classical theists and most classical theists being serious members of traditional religions, and you have a reason why people might want an independent classical theist discussion forum or group.)
« Last Edit: July 10, 2020, 02:21:18 pm by Mackie Messer »

jd3

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #16 on: July 10, 2020, 10:21:45 pm »
I'm happy to help out and would love to hear some of those ideas. Could you say more about what specifically it takes to build a forum and keep it running (what does it cost, what is the time commitment, what technical skills are necessary etc.)

I also agree that we need to decide what the purpose of the forum is. How broad should the focus be? It could be very specific (e.g. Thomistic scholarship), somewhat specific (e.g. classical theism), less specific (e.g. Christian philosophy), or very general (e.g. philosophy of religion). My vote would be classical theism, since the more general forums already exist and going more specific could limit membership (we are already having trouble getting people to post as it is).

It also gives some wiggle room on all sides: if you are really into Thomas or Scotus, or Feser or Hart, you're in the right place. But even if you are an "open theist" or just someone interested in theism in general, you are still close enough to the subject matter to join in.

Let's keep the discussion going.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #17 on: July 11, 2020, 01:28:01 am »
I'm happy to help out and would love to hear some of those ideas. Could you say more about what specifically it takes to build a forum and keep it running (what does it cost, what is the time commitment, what technical skills are necessary etc.)

You need advertisement, you need knowledgeable, active people, and after you reach a certain size you don't need, but should have, someone with technological skills. The first is so that people know you exist and where to find you. The second is so that people will stay after they find you. The third helps with aesthetics, security, and things like that. The second takes the most time. I was probably burning at least five hours a day on here after Scott died. It got better after a while, but the fact is that most people aren't interested in contributing to forums. They ask questions, get what they want, and leave.

Administrator-wise, be careful not to recruit all "idea people". That is part of what happened with the first forum. Between our emails and moderator forum conversations, you can find the classical theism podcast, the classical theist YouTube channel, and the classical theism Facebook group, and more, all there. (A moderator suggested the first two, but never acted on them -- in both cases within a few months other people filled those niches. We discussed and veto'd moving to Facebook partly for the reasons I've mentioned, partly because some people felt it would lower the overall level of conversation. (I supported moving to Facebook at the time, but in retrospect I think the decision to not move was right.))

Quote
I also agree that we need to decide what the purpose of the forum is. How broad should the focus be? It could be very specific (e.g. Thomistic scholarship), somewhat specific (e.g. classical theism), less specific (e.g. Christian philosophy), or very general (e.g. philosophy of religion). My vote would be classical theism, since the more general forums already exist and going more specific could limit membership (we are already having trouble getting people to post as it is).

I'm inclined to think that classical theism sites succeed in spite of their names. It's too much of a philosophical term of art. Nobody outside certain narrow parts of philosophy even knows what "classical theism" is. It also doesn't give you much to work with in terms of specific aesthetics (if you ever want to, e.g., build a website, or make the forum look a bit nicer).

If you're going to go broad, I recommend theism, not classical theism. Everybody knows what theism is, and you might get some interesting internecine disputes with neo-theists on a theism forum.

If you're going to go a bit more specific, go with scholastic. If you go with "Thomistic scholarship", you're going to have to compete with the Thomism Discussion Group on Facebook, and that is a competition you'll lose. (Most of the professional philosophers who are also Thomists are active on the Thomism Discussion Group, and it has thousands of members.) Besides, other scholastics (e.g. Scotus and Bonaventure) are at least as interesting as Thomas. As far as I'm concerned, some of them are also right about more (e.g. Scotus).

Quote
It also gives some wiggle room on all sides: if you are really into Thomas or Scotus, or Feser or Hart, you're in the right place. But even if you are an "open theist" or just someone interested in theism in general, you are still close enough to the subject matter to join in.

Too much wiggle room, I think, and too much of the wrong kind. Relevant comments in this thread: https://classicaltheism.createaforum.com/philosophy/the-necessity-of-creation-revisited/msg72/#msg72

Sorry for the slapdash reply. No time for proper writing!
« Last Edit: July 11, 2020, 11:50:14 am by Mackie Messer »

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #18 on: July 11, 2020, 01:37:43 am »
By the way, jd. Mind if I call you John?

jd3

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #19 on: July 13, 2020, 11:22:14 pm »
Sure, if you want. But my first name isn't John.

I think the main issue is the lack of interest. I browse reddit as well, and none of the theism forums have much action, unless they are Catholic, Atheist, or dedicated to debates about religion. The forums dedicated to discussing Thomas, Scotus, philosophical theism etc. are pretty dead. I wonder if most of the interested folks have some other place already besides here and reddit (facebook, Feser's blog etc.) and maybe this forum isn't really necessary. What do you all think?

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #20 on: July 14, 2020, 09:44:14 am »
Those were doing poorly before the forum even opened. They've been dead for years. With the exception of Ed's blog, the big Thomism, Scotism, etc. groups are all on Facebook.

I don't think the forum is necessary (it never was), but I do think it can provide a service for those who want to talk about philosophy, scholasticism, religion, theism and related political issues, and the like, without censorship. It's just that I can't be the one who puts in the work to build it up this time.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #21 on: July 14, 2020, 10:26:09 am »
I'll add a few more quick comments. The first is that Ed's combox isn't what it used to be, either. I remember back when Scott was alive, Dan was active, Brandon was way more active (I barely ever see him comment there anymore), monk was there, Kantian Naturalist hadn't been chased off yet, etc., and the level of conversation on there has gradually devolved over the years. One of our other moderators once said he thinks that it's because Ed rose to popularity on the back of the New Atheist movement, and that as the New Atheist movement dwindled so did his blog.

The second is that I honestly do think that the average level of conversation on forums is higher than on Facebook or blog comments sections. There are, sometimes, very exceptional conversations on Facebook because of its reach. You can end up finding a conversation between a bunch of professionals. But most of the time it's quite low brow. The forum usually manages to stay above that level.

The third is that I think the forum has the potential to develop non-English subforums and serve people interested in scholasticism outside the Anglosphere, or who aren't particularly confident in English. There is a real poverty of scholastic or classical theism groups in those languages. (There is one decent place in French, but it tends to be dominated by a very specific, history focused way of philosophizing. There is nothing wrong with that, but there is a lot more to philosophy than just that. I don't know of any in German.)

(Edit 7/18/2020: I should add one more thing, Jason. (I'm just having a bit of fun with you. I assume you're the gentleman who contacted Brian a while ago.)  In your previous comment, you seem to have assumed that this forum was never a debate forum. That isn't so. A lot of the best threads were essentially informal debate threads. As an experiment, I tried setting up a formal debate forum on the vBulletin forum, but it never took off. The preponderance of Q&A over debate on the old forum has more to do with that being what people wanted out of the forum than regulars or moderators' preferences.)
« Last Edit: July 21, 2020, 01:35:52 pm by Mackie Messer »

Ouros

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #22 on: July 21, 2020, 10:51:16 am »
@Mackie

As one of the newest member on the old forum, I must confess that I'm one of the Q&A crowd. As an excuse, if I have to, of which I'm not sure, it's because I don't even study philosophy in a rigorous way. That's not the case of the oldest members, at least it seems so. Doesn't all the contributors of the blog of Ontological Investigations have actual, academic training in the discipline, for example?

And when the majority of you lost interest in the forum, for X,Y,Z reasons, that was one of the deadly blow that put the forum in its actual shape.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #23 on: July 21, 2020, 11:21:50 am »
Yes. There is truth in that. If there is no one knowledgeable to answer questions, there can be no Q&A. Hence, if the forum relies primarily on Q&A for traffic, then if there is no one knowledgeable to answer questions the forum is likely to die.

Incidentally, Scott had no formal philosophy training, but was knowledgeable. He had degrees in mathematics, computer science, and law. So, even today there are exceptions to the rule that only those who have studied philosophy formally are knowledgeable about it.

Mackie Messer

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Re: Domain name ideas (poll)
« Reply #24 on: July 22, 2020, 08:11:27 am »
It's worth noting that part of the reason we opened Ontological Investigations was that we were spending so much time answering questions that we decided we may as well switch to a format better built for it. The other is that we always expected that over time the people who were asking questions would become knowledgeable to answer them and pick up some of the slack. Presumably, that was why they were asking questions, but the few who stayed either kept asking the same questions, or lacked confidence to help others. (Ouros, you, I think, were one of the exceptions who showed actual development.)
« Last Edit: July 22, 2020, 08:21:49 am by Mackie Messer »