A Grassroots Portal Project

[Bryan]

A few thoughts.

I think starting off with a good "send to" page for those new to the ideas of liberty would be great. Start off simple on the main page, then break it down into topics (sound money, civil liberties, health freedom) and explain the current problems with each then show how this results from bad government policies. At the end of each section provide a link to the related liberty forest forum "for your own discussion on this".

We need some guiding principles for the org and for anyone who is to assume some leadership. For example, IMO, to keep it pure and true it should be a totally non-paid grassroots org that seeks no profit for anyone. Transparency in income vs. expenses is good. IMO, we need a model that people will feel happy to contribute to and not feel later like they or their work is being taken advantage of. We need to be like an open-source resource for the freedom movement, maybe write a public license (GNU style) that we can put all works under. We need to define these principles, ones that can never change. We need leaders who will openly pledge to support those principles.

I agree the archive here is a treasure trove, and I've always tried to treat it accordingly-- which is also a large part of why it is of great value to POST TOPICS IN THE BEST FIT SUB-FORUM so the archives can be as useful as possible and not just a big blob.

In a sorts, RPFs has always been the anti-thesis of "all politics is local" - the community here has always allowed for sharing of best practices, information and talent with collaborating on projects. We're not a meet-up replacement, just a world wide gather place (and have had solid international contributors that have ended up making a difference on various local levels). We can use and leverage the CFL tools (which of course we'll all basically totally support) but our organization model is different (open source and grassroots), and as I said in PM, there are some areas they aren't going to want to touch that we can.

I talked to Liberty Eagle some last weekend, she had some good ideas- hope she will post (or I will for her).

 

[acptulsa]

So, does it provide a basis for organization itself or does it provide a wealth of links to both informational sites and action sites? And does it merely have a nice little intro and links from there or does it provide an information digest?

If it is an information digest, the good stuff in these archives needs to be sorted and some of it needs to be repackaged for the site. In addition, we'll need to decide what groups we link to where. A link to the CFL and the meetup site (assuming most of the local groups are using it) could go at the bottom of the statement of purpose and a history of this grassroots movement. The CFL could be listed as an 'information' link and the meetup connection as an 'action' link...

And if we're going to package information, we do need most of us to sort through the archives using the search functions here and try to find our favorites so we don't have to start from scratch. This alone could make all the difference in how well it turns out.

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

I think it'd be best to start on some kind of Online Liberty Alliance. Liberty Forest is something these forums can turn into with a front page and what not, but is Ron running in 2012?

We need some funds to pay a coder. I'd be happy to go the volunteer route, but I don't know if we have any polished web guys (or gals) who would contribute for free.

I could send an email out and see what that turns up.

Re: OLA - what groups do people think we could start reaching out to?

Re: RPFs - I don't know that anything needs to change here. What I envision is RPFs being part of LF...

Re: coders - I have seen people repeatedly talk of how we could do better with volunteers. Can we? Perhaps a team? I know two I could ask, for starters... Perhaps the pay route is better, need more discussion...

A few thoughts.

I think starting off with a good "send to" page for those new to the ideas of liberty would be great. Start off simple on the main page, then break it down into topics (sound money, civil liberties, health freedom) and explain the current problems with each then show how this results from bad government policies. At the end of each section provide a link to the related liberty forest forum "for your own discussion on this".

We need some guiding principles for the org and for anyone who is to assume some leadership. For example, IMO, to keep it pure and true it should be a totally non-paid grassroots org that seeks no profit for anyone. Transparency in income vs. expenses is good. IMO, we need a model that people will feel happy to contribute to and not feel later like they or their work is being taken advantage of. We need to be like an open-source resource for the freedom movement, maybe write a public license (GNU style) that we can put all works under. We need to define these principles, ones that can never change. We need leaders who will openly pledge to support those principles.

I agree the archive here is a treasure trove, and I've always tried to treat it accordingly-- which is also a large part of why it is of great value to POST TOPICS IN THE BEST FIT SUB-FORUM so the archives can be as useful as possible and not just a big blob.

In a sorts, RPFs has always been the anti-thesis of "all politics is local" - the community here has always allowed for sharing of best practices, information and talent with collaborating on projects. We're not a meet-up replacement, just a world wide gather place (and have had solid international contributors that have ended up making a difference on various local levels). We can use and leverage the CFL tools (which of course we'll all basically totally support) but our organization model is different (open source and grassroots), and as I said in PM, there are some areas they aren't going to want to touch that we can.

I talked to Liberty Eagle some last weekend, she had some good ideas- hope she will post (or I will for her).

+2010

 

[acptulsa]

Are we to the point where someone can say, "This is what we need" and fire that starting gun?

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

So, does it provide a basis for organization itself or does it provide a wealth of links to both informational sites and action sites? And does it merely have a nice little intro and links from there or does it provide an information digest?

If it is an information digest, the good stuff in these archives needs to be sorted and some of it needs to be repackaged for the site. In addition, we'll need to decide what groups we link to where. A link to the CFL and the meetup site (assuming most of the local groups are using it) could go at the bottom of the statement of purpose and a history of this grassroots movement. The CFL could be listed as an 'information' link and the meetup connection as an 'action' link...

And if we're going to package information, we do need most of us to sort through the archives using the search functions here and try to find our favorites so we don't have to start from scratch. This alone could make all the difference in how well it turns out.

We tried to do that before - but it never really took off:

http://operationcatherder.com/index.php/Grassroots_r3VOLution_Field_Manual

Most of the current content is under getting the word out.

Be happy to try jump starting it again!

-t

 

[ronpaulhawaii]

Are we to the point where someone can say, "This is what we need" and fire that starting gun?

((((BANG))))

slow, and steady wins many races.

I'd imagine we could start a new sub-forum in "grassroots projects" for collecting the "best of" info from the archives.

We tried to do that before - but it never really took off:

http://operationcatherder.com/index.php/Grassroots_r3VOLution_Field_Manual

Most of the current content is under getting the word out.

Be happy to try jump starting it again!

-t

One of my prime motivations for this project is the under utilization of our vast resources, such as OCH. The question is how do we best integrate/consolidate?

I'd like to see an absolutely kick-ass "front door"; a piece of art, a thing of beauty . Something even our counterparts will have to admit is "well done"...

We need to decide what kind of elements we want.

(The following is simply thrown out as a starting point)

Logo (contest?)

Welcome Statement (something that will draw in the broadest range of people, hopefully a group effort on the composition...)

Video?

Pages

• Issues (as Bryan mentioned)
• Resources (like OCH)
• Projects (like End the Fed)
• News (select stories and a blogroll)
• Forums (Here, perhaps with links to forums of OLA members)
• About (never forget the about page)
• ???

Featured (daily?)

• project (like The Boston Tea Party 08, this weekend)
• blog
• video
• pic
• post
• member
• ???

What else, or less?

 

[JamesButabi]

Personally I find the vast array of Liberty, revolution, and Dr Paul sights almost overwhelming. While Ive always toyed with the idea of an alliance type site I want to raise a different method.

As fun as it is to register to 10 different sites, and visit each independently daily or weekly to comment, suggest, and see whats going on in the grassroots......wouldn't it be splendid if the owners of these sites would get together, figure out what worked and what didnt on each site, and with the help of the grassroots, incorporate the best elements of each site into a central hub.

One place, one name, one mass usergroup, all managed cohesively by the people who have brought this grassroots movement to where it is now.

I don't know about you, but the last thing I would want is to sign up to yet another site. I think its time to combine efforts, and redirect domains into the middle.

 

[JoshLowry]

There seem to be two projects that are being talked about here.

One is an alliance site, and the other is a portal.

James recommends people combine their sites. That won't happen. People enjoy running their websites and having control over their individual projects that they have started. That's why I think some sort of alliance is our best bet. It is a pain in the ass to keep up with ten different sites but I think the purpose of the footer is that the best run website will attract people from all over and the mass will naturally collaborate there.

RPF/LF are just forums at the moment. I'd love to make it "the" portal with a snazzy front page but I need to find a good web person. I don't plan on turning this website over to a board. I'm going to send an email out and start looking for someone to turn RPF/LF into more than just forums...

We should start some kind of footer alliance and have it move over to a non-profit board. It seems to be the best way to include everyone and avoid stepping on toes. For the first go about you could reach out to BreakTheMatrix, LibertyForest/RPF, Free State Project, Operation Cat Herder, EndTheFed, RestoreTheRepublic, The Freedom Revolution, CFL, FreedomsGround, Freeople, Revolution Broadcasting, The Free Turkey, I'm sure I missed others... All of these sites would have a nicely designed footer at the bottom of every page. I don't know if we call it the Online Liberty Alliance as there is already a "Liberty Alliance" but names are easy to come up with. This should be a nuetral organization.

How you go about picking board members, what your we agree statement is, and how people vote for the sites are important questions for probably another thread.

Something like this:

 

[JamesButabi]

James recommends people combine their sites. That won't happen. People enjoy running their websites and having control over their individual projects that they have started.

I agree, but you never really know if thats true without an invitation for discussion. What harm would it be to sit down with these individuals and see if everyone could agree on a combination of all the strengths and discarding of waste, under a new impeccable design of a site. Maybe not even everyone decides its for them and immediately dismiss it. Then again maybe 4 or 5 commodities out of the bunch recognize the opportunity and similarity and a spark ignites. Each site may have different attributes (radio, news, forum, education material, meetups, etc). Each owner still has the option to control the strength their site possessed, it would just be supplemented by the strengths of the other site and coordinated together as a whole.

It is a pain in the ass to keep up with ten different sites but I think the purpose of the footer is that the best run website will attract people from all over and the mass will naturally collaborate there.

I don't disagree with you there, I just think there is a better chance of success, less downtime, and faster creation if you have more people working together with a central focus. You will never get everyone to agree because of some personal interests, but if you put the word out there and get a few major entities to join forces with a fresh, professional look; I think that would provide the pull to the masses you were seeking.

 

[JVParkour]

Ill try to whip something up in photoshop over the next month or so. Maybe get some good graphic ideas for a main page of this website! It might take a while, but i'll try to work on something snazzy...

Wouldn't it be great if we got another domain name, RPF's did, and linked it to this forum? Basically we could start something similar to CFL but more consise and information oriented. A nice clean feel with a link at the top to the forums... Hmmmm...A little more work to the grassroots project section for collaboration of meetups and wallah!

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

There seem to be two projects that are being talked about here.

One is an alliance site, and the other is a portal.

James recommends people combine their sites. That won't happen. People enjoy running their websites and having control over their individual projects that they have started. That's why I think some sort of alliance is our best bet. It is a pain in the ass to keep up with ten different sites but I think the purpose of the footer is that the best run website will attract people from all over and the mass will naturally collaborate there.

I don't know about that. I wouldn't mind if you did a mashup incorporating at least parts of OCH here or even moving the site (OCH) here and incorporating it - We would like to keep managing those assets, however.

Alternately, maybe there could be something on each page of the various sites (programming I know) that would act like tabs taking people to different parts of a single resource (site) or whole resource (site) - glued together that way so we all became one huge site - in essence. But not just the front door - rather major resources on each site - archives, classifieds, forum, skill bank, grassroots roadmap, video, live radio broadcast, etc.

-t

 

[JoshLowry]

I don't know about that. I wouldn't mind if you did a mashup incorporating at least parts of OCH here or even moving the site (OCH) here and incorporating it - We would like to keep managing those assets, however.

Alternately, maybe there could be something on each page of the various sites (programming I know) that would act like tabs taking people to different parts of a single resource (site) or whole resource (site) - glued together that way so we all became one huge site - in essence. But not just the front door - rather major resources on each site - archives, classifieds, forum, skill bank, grassroots roadmap, video, live radio broadcast, etc.

-t

You could do a tabbed header and that would be interesting.

 

[Epic]

Nearing completion: LibertyPlayground.com

A number of us have been working on such a site. It is nearing completion. I posted the following in a different thread:

There are a number of features that an effective Internet hub for the liberty movement should have:

-- Social networking features (think facebook), users should be able to: register, post photos, post videos, join groups, discuss/post in those groups, send public (think wall postings) or private messages to others. User pages should summarize all user activity on the site (all blogs, forum posts, comments, groups, group posts, etc.)

-- Blog System for all users (with commenting). blogs are very popular/important to the two main liberal hubs (huffingtonpost and dailykos).

-- Forum system. Obviously. Should break down in specific subforums that allow organizing at a more local level. RPF is great. But more is needed than just forums.

-- Event system. Listing/info of all events related to liberty movement. Ability for users to post events.

-- Digg-type link submission and voting system. (as mentioned in previous posts)

-- Generally attractive, simple design. A frontpage that gives a snapshot of what's going on in all the sections (blogs, forum, etc.)

A site with these features would be an effective ENABLING site, rather than just an information one. Currently, one has to go to lewrockwell.com or mises.org to read articles by "professional" libertarians/austrians, then go to ronpaulforums to hear the latest from the average guys, maybe go to dailypaul to read some blog entries, then go to campaignforliberty to see if the site has improved.

We need a better platform. Or at least some competition so that campaignforliberty.com knows who to copy.

With all of this in mind, I introduce Liberty Playground: www.LibertyPlayground.com

You can see a sample digg-type page at: http://www.libertyplayground.com/buzz/upcoming.php

The site is not ready. Registrations have not enabled. There is only placeholder content right now. Some links are not correct. I don't have massive servers yet.

But the infrastructure is in place. All of the features listed above currently work, and more are in the pipeline.

I have no illusions that this site will instantly turn into a magical hub of libertarian activity. However, "free market" competition needs to exist so that there eventually be a comfy internet home for the liberty movement. I hope to provide some of this competition.

If interested, any benefactors/contributors/volunteers can message me (fyi - I am using the Joomla content management system).

Thanks,
Jack

----------------------

PS - this could be linked in to RPF if the powers that be wanted that. (accounts would carry over, etc.)

 

[Nate K]

^^ nice

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

A major grassroots meeting happened tonight.

We are taking back the movement.

Something to be what we expected - not what we got.

Expect major announcements and changes in the next 45 days.

We expect you to BE THE MOVEMENT! - not lemmings. C4L is a piece of this, but not the center - the center needs to be distributed and open. And it will be.

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!

-t

 

[Josh_LA]

just what we need, another portal/social network.

dailypaul, rtr, btm, etf are not enough.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

just what we need, another portal/social network.

dailypaul, rtr, btm, etf are not enough.

no - glue - coming out of and part of a very major site that will not fracture the major groups, but make them one.

Think mashup.

-t

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

no - glue - coming out of and part of a very major site that will not fracture the major groups, but make them one.

Think mashup.

-t

A directory?

Or actually linking the sites together, or trying to take from other sites to all go on one?

OR.....

Something like iframes or framing of some type to keep them on the main site BUT still viewing the other sites and or pages?

if its frames, many sites will have advert issues due to frames/masking/fraud flags.

I would like to know more about this though. As far as TOO MANY social groups, websites and everything. Who cares really. They said the same thing about the money bombs and even our worst money bomb STILL made money and would be considered a success.

I think that various groups of people mesh better with others and is why this site is home to many whereas the cfl daily paul and other blogs are home to others. Trying to cram everything into one site might cause SOME issues but odds are you have thought that part through. Simply meaning, there are reasons people start their own sites, to get away from anothers policies or politics and go with something more inline with their style AND so on.

I can't wait to see the many things that will soon be happening. Social Networks, meetup groups, cfl precinct leaders and other clubs, groups and organizations. Exciting things are happening and to try and cage all of that grassroots excitement would be counterproductive.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

A directory?

Or actually linking the sites together, or trying to take from other sites to all go on one?

OR.....

Something like iframes or framing of some type to keep them on the main site BUT still viewing the other sites and or pages?

if its frames, many sites will have advert issues due to frames/masking/fraud flags.

<WINK!> But we are still in the very early stages - hay - this has only been rolling a few hours... give us a chance to work out the details...

Other major projects will be rolling out in conjunction...

 

[newyearsrevolution08]

<WINK!> But we are still in the very early stages - hay - this has only been rolling a few hours... give us a chance to work out the details...

Other major projects will be rolling out in conjunction...

I know it is new and is why stuff like this should be brought up now rather than later. Anything to get rid of any kinks now I would assume to be beneficial to the project in the end.