[Concept] Quarterly Community Magazine

[DJ Omnimaga]

Yeah HTML is annoying sometimes. The problem with PDFs, though, is people without admin access on the computers they have access to, and unable to install a PDF reader, plus people using older versions of Reader. I personally loved to stay on 2003 version, because the others spammed me with update requests (that froze Adobe Reader upon launching). But old version means some compatibility issues. I guess it's up to you, though. At least PDF is much better and more compatible than .doc.

[Zera]

If you need any additional editing, I can help.

I am curious what the target audience is. It crossed my mind because you are either outside of the U.S., or you write using International English spelling conventions for some other reason. I'm familiar with both U.S. and International standards, so it doesn't matter which one you prefer to enforce. If you want to reach a broader audience, (i.e., maybe TI communities outside of the U.S.) then International standard might make sense. More people who learn English as a second language would be familiar with International spelling; and Omnimaga.org has always been something of an abroad site.

[TsukasaZX]

I have no clue what International English spelling conventions are. Care to elaborate, please?

Also, we'd be glad to have you as an editor.

For those who don't know, all editors really have to do is:
 - Sift through articles submitted and find ones that have enough merit to be included in the upcoming issue.
 - "Nitpick" the merited articles. Look for grammar or spelling mistakes and bits of info that need not be in the article and fix/remove them (or alternatively, have the author fix it if you don't feel right doing it yourself)
 - Have the author rewrite anything that needs to be rewritten or include information you feel needs to be included.

The most important rule of being an editor is that while you have the authority to change an article, you cannot add information not originally present nor alter the article to change its overall viewpoint. Only the original author can do such a thing.

So, updated roster so far:

4 Editors
 - TsukasaZX (Myself)
 - SirCmpwn
 - Zera (?)
 - <empty>

3 Graphics Designers
 - SirCmpwn
 - <empty>
 - <empty>

9001 Article Writers
 - No official staff here, as aforementioned, people can just submit articles and good ones get put in

And as for what needs to be done, here's what we have and have need of:

I believe SirCmpwn will be covering writing these himself
Cover Story: Axe Parser
Cover 2nd Story: NDless

I will handle these myself
Interview option 1: Kerm Martian about DCS7
Interview option 2: Tifreak8x about Pokemon Purple
Interview option 3: Iambian and Zera about E:SoR

We still need people to do these
4 or 5 Reviews of Top Games and Utilities (if there are 4 or 5 top games/utilities)
1 Quarterly Hidden Gem
4 or 5 Upcoming Games and Utilities (mini-articles about stuff that's in the works)
1 or 2 Oldies but Goodies

The reviews of top programs should say who made it, describe the game, discuss both the pros and cons of the program, how easy it was to run it, if there was any backlash to running it (RAM clear, garbled things, all your variables are 9001 bytes, etc), and your overall reaction to it. Don't be too harsh or negative.

The Quarterly Hidden Gem should be written as a similar review but with a section stating why it's a hidden gem.

The Upcoming articles should just go into a little detail about what the programs do and how far along they are, who makes them, and where you can find more info.

Oldies but Goodies should just probably describe the program, when it first came out, and some of the pros (and maybe cons) of the program.

Remember: if you have an idea for an article or a new section of the magazine, please feel free to let us know. If you write an article yourself, feel free to submit it. However, that brings me to another couple questions.

1) How are we going to handle editing/processing articles? How are we going to make sure all the editors get a say on the articles?

2) How are people going to submit their articles?

I was thinking of setting up a catch-all email forward (CGQ[at]UnSyntaxSoft.com for example) that will send any submitted articles to all the editors' inboxes. From there, we'll make all our decisions independently and later that night we can collaborate over IRC (maybe #CGQ on EFNet?) to make a unanimous decision on everything and work from there to clean up articles or get authors to rewrite them.

And yeah, if we write articles ourselves, we have to submit it to the same email forward and be subject to the same processes

But, what are y'all's opinions on it?

[rthprog]

Hmm, perhaps this would be better suited for a blog?

[TsukasaZX]

I don't really think so. CGQ, in my vision, would be something akin to a TI version of Nintendo Power. It'd present the information in a visually appealing and visually diverse manner that I don't think you can really get with a blog. Furthermore, CGQ is meant to be portable like a real magazine, albeit still digital. With a blog, like any HTML, you lose that "offline" capability because you can't really store the whole thing offline.

[Zera]

I would only suggest having one editor. If you have several people checking the same documents for spelling and punctuation, they're going to impose different "corrections" on top of one another, and possibly cause conflict.

I have no clue what International English spelling conventions are. Care to elaborate, please?

American and British English

Based on your usage of "whilst" and "amongst," being chiefly British. (as opposed to the American "while" and "among")

[ztrumpet]

Subaru, I think that all sounds really good!   I can't wait to see this.

[TsukasaZX]

M'kay, then one editor it is (myself), but I still want a "committee" of people to determine what articles should and shouldn't be put in and what articles could use extra info or less info or whatnot.

As for the English deal, I just have multi-regional flavor in my written dialogue, mixing in a little southern and a little British but I'm true blue American

[SirCmpwn]

I'm almost done with the cover, it's a little harder cause there is no official logo for Axe yet

[SirCmpwn]

Here is the current version of the cover.  Here is a list of everything that has its own layer:
*TI-Nspire cracked!  TI releases... and its background
*CGQ Logo
*Introducing... AXE PARSER
*Inside:...
*Inside:... Green background
*Axe image
*Gradient background
Any of these things are super easily changed, so let me know what I should do with it.  Feedback is appriciated.

[TsukasaZX]

Very nice; however, I'd like to make a few suggestions:

1. Different font for the "Introducing Axe Parser" bit. The sans-serif font you use seems a tad dull in my opinion.
2. The top attention grabber needs to be shifted right a few pixels so it doesn't hit the edge of the image
3. How about changing the footer of the cover to say "Volume 1 \ Spring 2010 \ April 15" in white instead of black?

Other than that, this is an epic win of a cover and you my friend are hired for doing ALL the covers

[ztrumpet]

That's really nice!  Excellent job!

[SirCmpwn]

Thanks for the advice!  I'll fix the cover later, but for now, here is an example PDF file that outlines my proposed layout.  I am the graphical editor, after all, I may as well do my "job"
http://cid-c5fee036bc0d72bd.skydrive.live.com/self.aspx/Public/Sample.pdf

[SirCmpwn]

*bump*
I kinda need feedback to make it better guys

[TsukasaZX]

Not to be rude or anything but I'm not liking the totally grey and uniform design. It's too dull and dark for a magazine. The pages should mostly be white except for maybe a few that wouldn't be. The pages would just be adorned with graphics and fancy borders and whatnot and each section should be somewhat unique. Basically,  even if Section A has the same design each issue, it'd be visual distinct from Section B and C.

Furthermore, I propose changing "Letter From the Editor" to simply "From the Editor". Furthermore, I think the "editors" bit should be changed to simply "staff' and be located at the bottom of the page and done in a much more subdued manner (smaller avatars and text).

In addition, I think "Letters to the Editor" should be renamed "The Community Speaks" and done in a very Nintendo Power Pulse-esque manner (Question, then answer below it in italics. Everything is in a slightly small font).

Table of contents should be right after the cover and before anything else.

Finally, I would also like to go with an NP-esque approach for Reviews, where a review would be something like this:

Program Name
Rating: #/10

By: User McSomebody
For: TI-##

This is a summary of the program along with the writer's thoughts on everything.

Pros: blah

Cons: blah

To be tactlessly honest, I would very much like to make the page designs myself. The other graphics people, SirCmpwn included, would be responsible for the cover and for creating any graphics I feel a particular page/article needs as my abilities to create diminish greatly outside basic text logos.