Your professional opinion requested…
So I’ve been thinking about doing some stuff to Jewschool. Some big, big stuff. But the thing is, in order to do this stuff, I’d need to chuck Blogger and move to another publishing engine. And in doing so, taking the time to port the current blog entries, their comments, the images, etc., would be a hassle like no other. So I’ve been thinking about just wiping the site clean and dumping the archives all together. That being said, I’d like to put the question to the public because Jewschool, after all, is here to serve its audience. Thus I ask ye, o denizens of the School of Jew, should I dump the archives or do you want me to keep ’em?
[Update] Ok, we’re keepin’ em.
i think you should keep. There was been great blogs, greta stories, great pictures. In the end its up 2 you, but i say keep em.
Last night, (conveniently after pesach), I took down a few dozen mass-market paperbacks I’ve read over the past decade or so adn decided to get rid of them (trade, donate, etc…). I haven’t touched them since I finished reading them and I realized that I don’t need them to take up space any longer. Sentimental value for posterity? Eh…
How much is the cost to keep the archives alive? If the alternative cost is not being able to google some remark by so&so, and the price is even a few measely hundred bucks that none of us will shell out, then I say move on. Evolution.
Mobius,
The site has you have it is great, any changes you make will be great and if you want to make Jewschool better, DUMP THE ARCHIVES and make it the best it can be
It would be nice to know what exactly you’d be trading the archives for before commenting…
It’d be nice to have the archives there to look at, if there’s any quick way to make them static pages just to read over. Especially for all those old posts you can link to and say “I told you so” when what you predict comes to pass. ;p No serious need to save comments or comment functionality, but if you could keep the original posts, it’d be cool.
I’m curious, what would be involved in the process of archiving entries and comments from the Blogger system? Would it need to be done manually? I think it would be great to maintain the archives, if possible. Jewschool.com threads turns up front page on Google searches for so many diverse topics and discussions from years ago, and a lot of sites link directly to Jewschool permalinks.
Oh, which blog engines are you considering?
Keep it if you can.
It is definitely possible to import the archives to some other format. While some links, might break, I don’t think you should give up on the idea. If the new blogging software you’re using doesn’t support Blogger importing, you could always just make a new template that allows you to export in some sort of regular text format (such as XML). I think the trouble is worth it.
The past shall not stand in the way of the future!
(I always wanted to say that.)
Oh don’t toss them, there’s such great stuff in there.
They don’t have to be right on the page though maybe you could just have a link to the old stuff and start fresh on a new page?
Please don’t trash the archives. In the end, Jewschool shows and creates a crucial dialogue in the Jewish community at a very important time in our history. To have notes of these dialogues, examples of what we were interested, what Jewish life was like, how we perceived the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and so on, is very important for Jewish folks in the future who will certainly be interested.
This is a slice of life and opinon – you should keep the archives.
G.
ps. how do I post to this site – when I don’t want to comment on an article already posted but to alert people to something or want to start a thread – I don’t particularly want to set up my own blog and hope that you pick it up ?
On the other hand….
who moved my cheese?
sorry george, but this isn’t an open publishing system. be on the lookout tho… the next incarnation of jewschool will have built in message boards.
Oh I think you can dump the stuff if it makes life easier. There will be tons of people commenting again, and contributing to the discussions that pop up on Jewschool with links and so. If it’s to much trouble, I say screw it.
What? And have my profound contributions become nothingness?
I say, do a biur chametz and start fresh.
I like the archives and use them regularly, but if they stand in the way of progress maybe you should get rid of them.
Maybe you can compile all of your old links into a “Links” page on the new site…
I never use the archives as designed. Rather, I find myself googling for Jewschool stuff (!) – amusingly most often resource-oriented things like the link to HaFontia Shel Ben or whatnot. So I guess I find them useful and valuable but I am not attached to the Blogger format.
I can’t imagine it being difficult to keep. All you need is a link.
I would keep it.
Since I am merely a “hater” who simply must “hate on” always, allow me to suggest that both scenarios suck equally.
Keep the archives! I found this link with instructions to make the exporting process easier. It assumes you’re importing into Movable Type, but I assume it will work with other systems as well. Click my name or go to http://neologasm.org/b2mt/
Whatever you do, do not wipe out the archives permanently. They need to be part of the historical record. What will future historians of Jewish blogging do without them? No, seriously, I think you have an obligation to preserve them.
Now that your ego is nice and stroked…..
was there a posted deleted or am i going crazy, again?
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keep em. its the not library of alexandria, but jewschool’s part of something bigger that should be available to you and others for the future.
Oh my. I think I have to agree with John Brown. There’s a first …
I guess it’ll help to have some idea of what you wanna do (so that we can copy you of course 🙂 ) but I honestly think that deleting the archives is madness. Plus all your links from Google will die eventually. Why lose all those great articles and ensuing discussions? Jewschool is a Jewish treasure – a snap shot in time of the Jewish world. Yeah, it’s no Jewlicious but really – posterity demands that you keep the archives.
And I REALLY need you to lemme know whats happenning for that thing we were talking about …
If your plan is to change to a spectacle-based site, Jewschool will meet the same fate as Jakeneck, homie. The reason why Blogger works is because it’s easy to use, for ALL team members. Spectacle confused the hall out of me and several other ‘Neckers.
Next time you all go back to your “Jew School”, Pray for devine forgiveness for all the corruption your culture has done!
And read my comments in your Halocaust section dated 5-17 and 5-18.