Re-focusing on TG's main goal

Hello,

While we have implemented many changes here at Therian Guide to try to suit the differences between our members, some people did feel like we were distancing ourselves from our main goal.

The main goal of Therian Guide is to provide helpful information on Therianthropy. I believe the key to reaching this goal is to talk more about our experiences as Therians.

I realize it is hard to talk about this. Therianthropy is a core part of our lives and many of us could not even imagine not being Therians. So our Therianthropy is completely mundane to us and not something we see as worth talking about. The problem with this approach is that we are left with a forum that is devoid of information about what Therianthropy really is. When somebody new comes to the site, from Tumblr or another place full of misinformation, they have no material here from which to decide if they are actually Therians or not.

Yes, we can have a dictionary for the Therian Words, but without experiences to back this up these are just hollow words that we can throw at eachother. In truth, we have more threads about what Therianthropy isn't and about how wrong everybody else is, than we have threads about Therian experiences. I think it is time we change this.


To help with this, I have developed a new system called "Recommends".

Say for example you are a fox Therian and you have found a post by another fox Therian, describing an experience of his or her vulpine Therianthropy. If you found this post useful, you can click the "Recommend" button on the post and the system will automatically note the post as useful to other fox Therians.

When another fox Therian checks their Recommends page, they will automatically get a list of the most useful posts that are relevant to their Therianthropy, as well as some suggestions of people to talk to about their experiences.


If you want to be listed as the Go-to person for your theriotype (we will eventually award a special color to some of you), all you have to do is write about your experiences and invite people to click the "Recommend" button on your posts.

If you want to do something for other Therians who share your theriotype, simply browse around TG, find posts that talk about experiences you think others should know about and click "Recommend" on them.


In fact right now I would really appreciate if you did some of that right now!

We can do this! Come on.


P.S.: If you are missing the "Show today's posts" button, just click the TG Forums logo image and you'll be taken to a page with the latest posts!

LP,
Dusty

Recommends seem like a great idea! I have noticed a few small changes to the site myself already, haha.

What a great idea! I'll dig through my essays and see what I can post.

(2018-08-01 1:46)Shattered Chaos Wrote:  I have noticed a few small changes to the site myself already, haha.

Ah yes, I didn't mention it but I've been making small fixes to the site to make it a bit easier to use on mobile and got rid of some ancient problems it had on desktop.

LP,
Dusty

Is there a way to publicize how the labeling and categorization works?

I love the recommendation system. But right now, everything I am being recommended are posts written by me, which is frustrating. Especially when I know there are other dog therians on the site, several with years of activity, that are not being treated as the same category because their theriotype is breed-specific.

Once I figured out how the labeling system worked, I changed the way I listed my theriotype to get both species and breed info. Obviously, it's not right to push everyone to label their theriotypes in a specific way. But since the labeling system wasn't explained in detail in this announcement, I think a lot of people just don't know, and don't realize they are "missing out" on potential recommendations because they are using a narrow label.

So is there a way to spread that information more openly?