TDGN Community building ideas

[Scary Guy]

So, I just spent the last oh...  hour or so searching the site because I could have sworn a post like this existed before.  I found some other gems of threads that got posted but not what I was searching for in the two locations where i expected them to be.

 

So, the forum is mostly dead, not completely just mostly.  I feel the need to make a The Princess Bride reference but aww shit I just did it anyway didn't I?

 

Anyway the main question is how do we bring this awesome place that we love back from life support?  It's getting updates and that is great, but it also feels like opening up a new hotel in the middle of the twelfth plane of torment.

Someone fix the post box too because I hit enter and the above paragraph disappears it is the weirdest fucking thing.  At least I can CTRL-Z for undo, and I can't even turn that last sentence fragment into a link without it happening.  Okay so no more paragraphs, I'll try editing after posting though (edit, it worked!)

 

So how do we get some fresh blood into the place?  In the updates post I eluded to holding in person events again and recruiting from there.  There used to be parties and things, so that seems like it would be good to start doing again.  I know I've heard of some other goth groups having things like softball outings or other sports activities.  I hate sports but hey they at least did something as a community.

 

Back in the day I helped to start Sunday Assembly Detroit so something like that would be neat where it's basically good works, education, and in person community.  Something like TST does without all the scary Satan pomp.

 

The last gathering we had with any real presence was Troy's memorial/afterparty (and the afterparty wasn't even that well attended, although we still had fun, or at least as much fun as you can reasonably have at a memorial afterparty.)

 

Maybe a part of the problem is the scene is dying out, but I actually think it's making a bit of a comeback.  The music and styles might be changing a bit, but that love of darkness is still there in the hearts of the newer generations.  We have always been The Island of Misfit Toys and I love it.  So many unique intellectual minds, and a few idiots but at least they help keep things interesting too.  So spitball some ideas of other things to do.  I've got plenty listed in the nightlife/daylife posts.

Edited September 19, 2025 by Scary Guy
It worked

[Soulrev]

Yeah this current version of DGN is a little buggy, it seems. For example, at least on my phone, when I scroll all the way to the bottom of a page - it disappears. And a few other annoying little "quirks" here and there. 
 

Honestly I don't know what, if anything, we can do to pump life back into this. Aside from making it more "global" and not so focused on just Detroit and vicinity. That may make a big difference, idk

 

Edit to add - Also one of the most active and successful forums I know of at the moment, is running "XenForo" forum software, and I have to say, I like it a lot. You can check it out for yourself if you want an example - www.thcfarmer.com/forums - it's very clean looking, well organized, and easy to manage. And stable.

Edited September 19, 2025 by Soulrev

[TronRP]

After I got the site working again, I mentioned that this version will no longer be supported in the near future as Invision is upgrading to version 5.  We are currently on version 4 as it was the quickest way to get the forum back after we lost it the beginning of July to GoDaddy due to non access and the site being lock in their system account by Troy.

 

My idea moving forward was to change things up a bit as this is basically my ballgame. 

 

In the past, there have been a lot of concern about adding a chat feature to the site due to how quick people can get into heated discussions, but I was wondering, since there are already Discords out there for DGN groups, wouldn't that be a place for that type of interaction in conjunction to access to the forum.  Of course, if someone accesses it through this site, they would have to enter as a legitimate member.

 

My other thought was to have store links added to the forum since the hosting site actually offers SSL certification.  Members with items to sell would be able to link their store through the main forum front page that will be available to public traffic.  They would also have the option of members only sales which would only be accessibly in the members section of the site.

 

Also, having the SSL certification will allow for the public version of the forum to host links of outside seller sites which would also create seller/buyer hub traffic.

 

The Invision software package allows for "Clubs" inside the forum.  The Club creator would take on the roll of MOD to the Club they create with permissions bestowed by admin.  That would be another way to have more streamline discussions among like minded individuals while still being within the forum community as a whole.

 

Essentially, I was thinking of being the main presence of the new version of the forum.  Prior to COVID, I would plan personal outings to visit as many offsite members as I could reach, just to say "Hi".  It was actually fun.  The furthest we made it, however, was Adrian, Michigan to visit Class-Punk.  Others were around the Metro-Detroit area.  Before things were shut down, we were planning a trip to Toledo, Ohio to visit sekhmet2002.

 

Drive-wise, we made it up to Holly, Michigan for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.  Later, I had read where a few ideas were being tossed around about having a DGN day at Ren-Fest.  I would still be open to something like that if people were interested in going.  There was also a post about Walk Around Detroit nights/events where you get dressed up and just hit the entertainment strip...was my understanding.  That definitely sounded like fun as that was already something I did on my own...lol.

 

Lastly, I was thinking about hosting/organizing various types of "Get Out & Mingle" events/outings like hired DJ venue events, Karaoke outings, Lounge meet ups and free location hangouts like Belle Isle, parks and other spaces open to the public.

 

Since things are getting shaken up anyway, I figure why not go all out.  I'm currently using a website building tutorial, that came with the site security account, to learn how to add dimensions to the community forum to enhance user experiences.  If I get this right, TDGN might share some Facebook-like qualities and more.

 

I didn't want to limit the site to only being a message board.  I'm thinking more along the lines of an interactive virtual community forum with a real world presence.

~~~~~

 

Therefore:

• New forum layout
• New software upgrades
• New platform for public and member additions
• Varying in-person interactions
• Redefined internet footprint

Although, this is my vision of things, they are not set in stone.

 

Ok, so, thoughts?

[Soulrev]

3 hours ago, TronRP said:

After I got the site working again, I mentioned that this version will no longer be supported in the near future as Invision is upgrading to version 5.  We are currently on version 4 as it was the quickest way to get the forum back after we lost it the beginning of July to GoDaddy due to non access and the site being lock in their system account by Troy.

 

My idea moving forward was to change things up a bit as this is basically my ballgame. 

 

In the past, there have been a lot of concern about adding a chat feature to the site due to how quick people can get into heated discussions, but I was wondering, since there are already Discords out there for DGN groups, wouldn't that be a place for that type of interaction in conjunction to access to the forum.  Of course, if someone accesses it through this site, they would have to enter as a legitimate member.

 

My other thought was to have store links added to the forum since the hosting site actually offers SSL certification.  Members with items to sell would be able to link their store through the main forum front page that will be available to public traffic.  They would also have the option of members only sales which would only be accessibly in the members section of the site.

 

Also, having the SSL certification will allow for the public version of the forum to host links of outside seller sites which would also create seller/buyer hub traffic.

 

The Invision software package allows for "Clubs" inside the forum.  The Club creator would take on the roll of MOD to the Club they create with permissions bestowed by admin.  That would be another way to have more streamline discussions among like minded individuals while still being within the forum community as a whole.

 

Essentially, I was thinking of being the main presence of the new version of the forum.  Prior to COVID, I would plan personal outings to visit as many offsite members as I could reach, just to say "Hi".  It was actually fun.  The furthest we made it, however, was Adrian, Michigan to visit Class-Punk.  Others were around the Metro-Detroit area.  Before things were shut down, we were planning a trip to Toledo, Ohio to visit sekhmet2002.

 

Drive-wise, we made it up to Holly, Michigan for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.  Later, I had read where a few ideas were being tossed around about having a DGN day at Ren-Fest.  I would still be open to something like that if people were interested in going.  There was also a post about Walk Around Detroit nights/events where you get dressed up and just hit the entertainment strip...was my understanding.  That definitely sounded like fun as that was already something I did on my own...lol.

 

Lastly, I was thinking about hosting/organizing various types of "Get Out & Mingle" events/outings like hired DJ venue events, Karaoke outings, Lounge meet ups and free location hangouts like Belle Isle, parks and other spaces open to the public.

 

Since things are getting shaken up anyway, I figure why not go all out.  I'm currently using a website building tutorial, that came with the site security account, to learn how to add dimensions to the community forum to enhance user experiences.  If I get this right, TDGN might share some Facebook-like qualities and more.

 

I didn't want to limit the site to only being a message board.  I'm thinking more along the lines of an interactive virtual community forum with a real world presence.

~~~~~

 

Therefore:

• New forum layout
• New software upgrades
• New platform for public and member additions
• Varying in-person interactions
• Redefined internet footprint

Although, this is my vision of things, they are not set in stone.

 

Ok, so, thoughts?

 

I love the whole idea I think you're onto something.

 

Not to push the issue, but did you check out that other forum site I mentioned? Idk a whole lot about the differences between this and that forum software but I think the XenForo software they are using has all that and more, I'm not entirely sure but I like the way that site is set up and ran. They also have a store where you can buy seeds and they have the ability for members to sell things there, as well. I believe it's all included in the forum software they use. 
 

I personally know the guy who owns and admins that site so I can ask him for more info if you're interested. 
 

IDK how hard it would be to transfer everything from here to there, though, so that's one issue unless we were to just archive this and start anew.

 

But I am totally cool with whatever route you decide on, you put forth the time, effort and initiative to keep DGN alive, so I think you've earned the right to do as you wish 🤠👍

 

[TronRP]

2 hours ago, Soulrev said:

 

I love the whole idea I think you're onto something.

 

Not to push the issue, but did you check out that other forum site I mentioned? Idk a whole lot about the differences between this and that forum software but I think the XenForo software they are using has all that and more, I'm not entirely sure but I like the way that site is set up and ran. They also have a store where you can buy seeds and they have the ability for members to sell things there, as well. I believe it's all included in the forum software they use. 
 

I personally know the guy who owns and admins that site so I can ask him for more info if you're interested. 
 

IDK how hard it would be to transfer everything from here to there, though, so that's one issue unless we were to just archive this and start anew.

 

But I am totally cool with whatever route you decide on, you put forth the time, effort and initiative to keep DGN alive, so I think you've earned the right to do as you wish 🤠👍

 

~~~~~

Yes!!!  I was totally checking out the XenForo forum resources.  (Still there.)  They even have a background migration from Invision v4 to their software suite that will allow the site to continue to function during the transfer for the most part.  And it appears that they support Themes that would allow this site to maintain the look that we have grown accustomed to, but with some tweaks. 

 

The way The Farmer site is set up is exactly what I was thinking, format-wise. 

 

I would just need to know what the admin control panel is like in the software.  Most communities have moved to a cloud based setup with A.I. functions which is monitored by the developers so I have no idea how that works when I would need to make edits to the site settings on the admin side.

 

On a personal note, I am just wondering why this software site never showed up when I was searching for other "forum" style community based software sites.  Everything lead back to Invision.  So I re-registered the site with them because we had been down for so long...and here we are.

 

There just appears to be so much more site potential with XenForo. 

[Soulrev]

4 hours ago, TronRP said:

~~~~~

Yes!!!  I was totally checking out the XenForo forum resources.  (Still there.)  They even have a background migration from Invision v4 to their software suite that will allow the site to continue to function during the transfer for the most part.  And it appears that they support Themes that would allow this site to maintain the look that we have grown accustomed to, but with some tweaks. 

 

The way The Farmer site is set up is exactly what I was thinking, format-wise. 

 

I would just need to know what the admin control panel is like in the software.  Most communities have moved to a cloud based setup with A.I. functions which is monitored by the developers so I have no idea how that works when I would need to make edits to the site settings on the admin side.

 

On a personal note, I am just wondering why this software site never showed up when I was searching for other "forum" style community based software sites.  Everything lead back to Invision.  So I re-registered the site with them because we had been down for so long...and here we are.

 

There just appears to be so much more site potential with XenForo. 

 

Awesome!! I'm glad this might work! I'll ask the guy who runs The Farm if he could provide any info on the admin side. I was a moderator there for a short while and from what I could see it was a very "streamlined" and easy to use system but I did not have total admin controls just general moderation tasks. I just didn't have much time to dedicate to that at the time, so I stepped down. 
 

Edit to add - I sent him a msg, I reckon it will take a little while to hear back from him since he's in London, but I'll report back when I hear something!

Edited September 20, 2025 by Soulrev

[Soulrev]

Ok I heard back from him, as a man of few words he just simply said, "Xenforo offers a demo" 🤣  so I reckon we should start there!

[TronRP]

5 hours ago, Soulrev said:

Ok I heard back from him, as a man of few words he just simply said, "Xenforo offers a demo" 🤣  so I reckon we should start there!

~~~~~

Yeah, I kinda figured that would be the case.

 

With Invision, you basically create a dummy site with your hosting company and then upload a "free" version of the software on a trail basis.  Then you have the option to make it permanent or end the trail.  Not sure if it's the same with Xenforo, but if it works the way I envision, then it is worth the hassle.

 

And I do thank you for the suggestion.

This might change the ballgame.

[Scary Guy]

On 9/20/2025 at 9:30 AM, TronRP said:

After I got the site working again, I mentioned that this version will no longer be supported in the near future as Invision is upgrading to version 5.  We are currently on version 4 as it was the quickest way to get the forum back after we lost it the beginning of July to GoDaddy due to non access and the site being lock in their system account by Troy.

 

My idea moving forward was to change things up a bit as this is basically my ballgame. 

 

In the past, there have been a lot of concern about adding a chat feature to the site due to how quick people can get into heated discussions, but I was wondering, since there are already Discords out there for DGN groups, wouldn't that be a place for that type of interaction in conjunction to access to the forum.  Of course, if someone accesses it through this site, they would have to enter as a legitimate member.

 

My other thought was to have store links added to the forum since the hosting site actually offers SSL certification.  Members with items to sell would be able to link their store through the main forum front page that will be available to public traffic.  They would also have the option of members only sales which would only be accessibly in the members section of the site.

 

Also, having the SSL certification will allow for the public version of the forum to host links of outside seller sites which would also create seller/buyer hub traffic.

 

The Invision software package allows for "Clubs" inside the forum.  The Club creator would take on the roll of MOD to the Club they create with permissions bestowed by admin.  That would be another way to have more streamline discussions among like minded individuals while still being within the forum community as a whole.

 

Essentially, I was thinking of being the main presence of the new version of the forum.  Prior to COVID, I would plan personal outings to visit as many offsite members as I could reach, just to say "Hi".  It was actually fun.  The furthest we made it, however, was Adrian, Michigan to visit Class-Punk.  Others were around the Metro-Detroit area.  Before things were shut down, we were planning a trip to Toledo, Ohio to visit sekhmet2002.

 

Drive-wise, we made it up to Holly, Michigan for the Michigan Renaissance Festival.  Later, I had read where a few ideas were being tossed around about having a DGN day at Ren-Fest.  I would still be open to something like that if people were interested in going.  There was also a post about Walk Around Detroit nights/events where you get dressed up and just hit the entertainment strip...was my understanding.  That definitely sounded like fun as that was already something I did on my own...lol.

 

Lastly, I was thinking about hosting/organizing various types of "Get Out & Mingle" events/outings like hired DJ venue events, Karaoke outings, Lounge meet ups and free location hangouts like Belle Isle, parks and other spaces open to the public.

 

Since things are getting shaken up anyway, I figure why not go all out.  I'm currently using a website building tutorial, that came with the site security account, to learn how to add dimensions to the community forum to enhance user experiences.  If I get this right, TDGN might share some Facebook-like qualities and more.

 

I didn't want to limit the site to only being a message board.  I'm thinking more along the lines of an interactive virtual community forum with a real world presence.

~~~~~

 

Therefore:

• New forum layout
• New software upgrades
• New platform for public and member additions
• Varying in-person interactions
• Redefined internet footprint

Although, this is my vision of things, they are not set in stone.

 

Ok, so, thoughts?

 

No no, fuck all that (well some of that.)

I've been mentioning SSL encryption for years, and Let's Encrypt is free.

We don't need to sell anything, we don't need to be Vampire Freaks.

 

Also the nice thing about this is that it has always been Detroit focused, because I'm interested in Detroit and the surrounding areas in which we live.

Also subgroups seem silly and it just results in cliques.  Like I don't have much interest in the financial section on the forum that was recently added, but it's there and I can look at it if I want to.  We don't need to be the next gothic Failbook.

 

XenForo sucks too because it's proprietary forum software, and I try to avoid proprietary anything like the plague too.  Switching out this for that is just switching out one demon for another.  Not that it doesn't have its benefits as they can manage it for you.  But then you're beholden to them.  Even phpBB would be better if it were administered right.

But it's your ball, you play with it how you want.  I'll say though, if you want a goth community you should spin up a Lemmy / Mastodon instance(s) since they are all centered around community.  Lemmy is basically free selfhosted Reddit and Mastodon works much like X (formerly Twitter) does.  I also just deleted my Discord account again because I hate them.  I want small communities that don't harvest userdata (not that a search engine webcrawler or archive.org aren't doing that right now.

 

Really though I'd like to see someone bring back DIAG for events.  That shit was useful.

Also RSS feeds are nice.

 

/rant

[TronRP]

On 9/24/2025 at 3:55 AM, Scary Guy said:

 

No no, fuck all that (well some of that.)

I've been mentioning SSL encryption for years, and Let's Encrypt is free.

We don't need to sell anything, we don't need to be Vampire Freaks.

 

Also the nice thing about this is that it has always been Detroit focused, because I'm interested in Detroit and the surrounding areas in which we live.

Also subgroups seem silly and it just results in cliques.  Like I don't have much interest in the financial section on the forum that was recently added, but it's there and I can look at it if I want to.  We don't need to be the next gothic Failbook.

 

XenForo sucks too because it's proprietary forum software, and I try to avoid proprietary anything like the plague too.  Switching out this for that is just switching out one demon for another.  Not that it doesn't have its benefits as they can manage it for you.  But then you're beholden to them.  Even phpBB would be better if it were administered right.

But it's your ball, you play with it how you want.  I'll say though, if you want a goth community you should spin up a Lemmy / Mastodon instance(s) since they are all centered around community.  Lemmy is basically free selfhosted Reddit and Mastodon works much like X (formerly Twitter) does.  I also just deleted my Discord account again because I hate them.  I want small communities that don't harvest userdata (not that a search engine webcrawler or archive.org aren't doing that right now.

 

Really though I'd like to see someone bring back DIAG for events.  That shit was useful.

Also RSS feeds are nice.

 

/rant

~~~~~

I'm not sure if you got the wrong idea from my suggestions, but I have no intention of changing the members area of this forum which is why I spent so much time trying to find software that will keep the features we are used to.

 

We are going to lose this current format regardless of what is or is not done.

 

Members here have already created cliques, blocked other members and only communicate with members they "like". 

 

The SSL is because at least 5 members create and currently sell their goods in other locations.  So why can't their own "community" back them instead?

 

DGN got a ban against it a little over a decade ago because the site was promoting seller sites without permission.  I do not intend to make the same mistake in any shape form or fashion.

 

I keep hearing about people wanting to breathe life back into things, well, it definitely has to start somewhere regardless of if it's something that stands the test of time or not.  I'm only interested in self-hosting which is why I test out software packages to determine if it is a fit or not.  Unfortunately, that is a time consuming process to test everything it has to offer, so I don't enter into something like that lightly.

 

My goal is to create an environment that people will want to hang around in without compromising what we stand for.