As you may be aware, a team of volunteers has been working for a couple of years now on a kind of "wikipedia for Ars Magica" that we call HermesWeb. The original idea of HermesWeb was that it was going to be an expansion to the Project: Redcap cross-linking site (which I maintain).
We developed HermesWeb separately from Project: Redcap for a number of reasons. It is now time to merge the two sites. What this means is that Project: Redcap is going to become a Wiki. All of the current content is being migrated to the Wiki (that is 95% done already).
The question I pose to the community is, when we actually go live with the redesigned Project: Redcap / HermesWeb fusion, what would you like the new site to be called?
If there is a name change, then the original Project: Redcap sites will redirect to the new domain. The trick is that we'd need to acquire the new domain name, so it has to be available.
I'm in favor of Harco - it's the place to go to to get in contact with that old Redcap, but also has a large library (the encyclopedia of all things ArM). It's the hub of the "order" - if you want something, you should head there, and if you can't find it there you'll at least find a Hermes Portal (link) to it.
That is a great name! Unfortunately, as a practical matter, all the major top-level domain names for Harco (.com, .org, .net, etc) are already taken. So I don't think we can use it.
Keep it simple i think, just keep the "Project Redcap" as is, its fairly easy to both find and remember that way.
Although dropping the "project" part isnt so bad either, but i think it sounds better as "Project Redcap", since thats what it is.
And a google search for "Redcap", gives redcap.org as 2nd hit, not bad. Far better than a few other AM sites i´ve had to search for a few times.
Why shouldn't you vote? You're a person, ain't you? Not wanting your vote to count more than someone else's is one thing (although the Rhine Tribunal will tell you that archmagi get 3 votes), but need not ignore your own wishes in this matter.
I'm the one who chose "ars-magica.info". Why? Just because people who don't know the game might find it more easily when searching google/bing/yahoo for "Ars Magica":
"redcap" means nothing to people not knowing the game, not having read the core rules
the redcap project is on google 3rd page (might depend on your country though)
when you want help or ideas about a RPG, you type the RPG's name in google, not some organization from the RPG's background
Thus it is not easily accessible to newcomers and beginners.
I happen to like that, and it raises the possibility that we could have more than one domain name for the site. It's possible to have multiple names that all point to the same location.
There are practical questions about who would pay for a new domain. They cost somewhere between $10-$30 a year. I suppose that could be financed by a Paypal "tip jar" but I have always thought those were kind of cheesy.
It depends on how much each contributor put in the jar : for small transactions Paypal is simply too expensive.
By the way, please note that having a site (with only one name) referenced under multiple different addresses is not that handy as search engines rely on the address but also a lot on the site title (and obviously content, links, etc.). Having multiple domain names for the same site is mostly useful when they are .com, .net, .fr, .org and other declinations of the same address which is also the site name.
On the one hand i completely agree with you, however that link isnt nearly as easy to remember. Redcap.org is the 3rd link on first page after just Atlas games and Wikipedia if i google Ars Magica.
And at least, once you read even the slightest of the game material, redcap is one of the words that pop up very early and tends to be fairly easy to remember.
Of course you should vote. No reason for you not to in a case like this. If it was a case where you NEEDED to either stay unbiased, at least officially, or keep your vote completely secret to avoid influencing the outcome, then you shouldnt vote but i cant see how either is relevant here.
Apart from the silent majority in the middle, the user base is likely to be polarized:
[]Regular users and hardcore Ars Magica fanatics: It's all about cosmetics, and the change of habits. In case the domain name did not change, the use of the new system would be straight forward. If it changed (according to a scheme of personal gusto, that is, cosmetics), old school users would have to be told to use the new address. Either way, it's a matter of finite time to alter the bookmarks and minds of the former user base. In the end, users will flock to the site regardless of its name.[/]
[]The casual visitor: The casual visitor enters the site through Google after having queried for terms like “magus” or “covenant”. He might even be familiar with role-playing games in general. In this scenario, it's imperative to convey the basic idea of Ars Magica to the newcomer as fast as possible, and contaminate him with True Faith before he has a chance to leave the site uninfected. He might be teased enough to click the About-button by content that is interesting enough to stir even more interest, or to follow one of the numerous links dotted throughout the text. Meta data, such as an appropriate domain name, might help as well. Anyway, the point should be: “This is a page of project , an article associated with Ars Magica, a role-playing game. Give it a try. It might be fun.”[/]
As far as ranking and SEO is concerned, that's entirely a matter of its own. Fortunately, we, as a community, have at least some basic means to exercise power of some sort.
I think this is heavily country-dependent, I checked and it is on 3rd page on google, 6th page on bing and yahoo. I assume the fact that it is an english-written website searched from a non-english-speaking country count in this result, maybe also the fact that you may have searched and clicked it more often than me, or other kabbalistic reasons. However please note that Atlas Games and Sub Rosa are on first page anyway.
Thus if the name stays "redcap", some effort should be made to improve ranking in google so that it is easier to find for newcomers (I myself had some hard time finding it at the beginning).
On the other hand, if the name changes, it is always possible to keep the old domain name and redirect to the new website.
