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COMMENTS (the most recent comments are last)

ADVERTISING?

Re possible advertising on the site: I am strongly against ads on the contents pages. I am for listing our individual, foundation, and corporate supporters and even taking ads from them in a separate section and urging our users to patronize them. I am for trying a paid personal ads section if people feel there is a need for it and if it could be accomplished without too much trouble, and would make sense economically.

--Jonathan Ned Katz, 8-12-08

BHNYC COMMENTS, 9-11-08: GENERAL OVERVIEW OF SITE?

I believe that eventually the site should have a home page or a WELCOME page that gives a more general overview than is now available, helping people quickly see why they should want to be here and want to stay and explore. The home page will be like a hub from which which people go out on journeys or projects, but to which they return to take another journey or find an activity they want to join in.

My guess is that the organizers have already been thinking about this, or have a plan for such a page. But here's a very rough idea for the kind of message that might work. Obviously other metaphors are possible, and perhaps better, but maybe this will assist people's thinking.

I don't think this overview should be long or necessarily take up the whole page, but it should be prominent so strangers perceive it as the first thing to look at to get oriented, even though there will be teasers and leads to various available sections of the site. Orientation is the goal, I believe. Or orientation plus seduction. An overview can also help people imagine what's not there and could be contributed by them.

It's also a friendly version of a statement or purpose or mission statement so people can get a clear sense of what characterizes this site. Viewers need to quickly be told what makes it special in a world where people are dropping in momentarily on dozens of sites a day as they flit around the net.

One should imagine naive person, who got told by a friend, "Hey check our this new site." What's the first, easy-to-read-and absorb thing that a naive stranger should see.

And I'm suggesting that its best to have a key, central metaphor/image, since that can stick in people's minds even as they encounter more specific detail. Town square isn't the only metaphor for a hub and entry point, but it could helps people immediately realize that this site is not like a book, or a catalogue, a map, or an exhibit, even though it has aspects of venues/media like those.

So.... here goes...

Outhistory.org is like a town square for a worldwide community of people with curiosity, love, knowledge, or enthusiasm for history and sex... Sex of all kinds, but especially queer sex, as it's been enjoyed and challenged through all eras and in all parts of the globe.

Outhistory.Org is a meeting place for like minded people. It's a place to post your questions, thoughts, and documents -- especially your documents and discoveries. A place where you can get an idea for project to undertake with your students. A place where you can get maps for exploring sex.... sex in comic postcards, sex in ...., sex in ...., ........., ...., ....

Like a town square, it's a place to feel at home, where you can hang out with friends, and where you can start out on distant journeys, but where you can return to feel grounded and where you can bring back your historical finds and share them with others who would like to see them.--bhnyc, Aug. 20, 2008

JONATHAN NED KATZ RESPONDS TO BHNYC (above), 9-13-08.

Thanks so much bhnyc. You were the first to leave a message for us -- and I took your advice and added the following welcome to the Main Page of OutHistory:

OutHistory.org: The Town Clock

Welcome to OutHistory.org, the town clock around which all of us interested in the history of sexuality and gender can gather to exchange news of the latest historical detective work, the startling new clue discovered, the mystery unraveled -- the town clock whose hourly chime reminds us of time’s passage and the substantial changes in the acts, feelings, relationships, ideas, words, and judgments of people within society and time.

OutHistory.org is produced by The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies (CLAGS), located at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The site is directed by Jonathan Ned Katz and the OutHistory Project Director for CLAGS is Lauren Gutterman. The site was designed by Cidamon.com using open-source MediaWiki software. The Arcus Foundation funded the site's coordination, design, and maintenance in 2007-2008. The content of OutHistory.org is provided by volunteers. For more about OutHistory.org, see About. Email : outhistory@gc.cuny.edu Telephone: 212 817-1955

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