Oh boy, this thread is growing faster than my ability of keeping up with it! I tried to gleam the main points of each post but please forgive me if I overlook something.
So, I'm going to suggest something tricky that may backfire beautifully because we might lack the numbers to pull it off: Restructure and slightly retarget the focus of the forums.
The idea is to keep the Silent World universe in the spotlight while shining extra light on fan-works, community interests and other media as a way to cultivate engagement in these areas to ultimately keep the community alive. The re-read is a fantastic idea and I'm all of it. The issue is that it's unlikely we'll get more about the cannon world to keep the community going once the re-read is done, and I suspect the end won't deliver answers for the big questions in the story either. There's a promised depth to this universe that will go unfulfilled but by fan works. This is a different situation from epic fiction works (eg Lord of the Rings, Cosmere, Star Wars) which are pretty much expansive sandboxes full of tiny moving parts to play with.
I agree with opening a new forum to her other works though I'm not sure having one for each universe will function well because her complete body of work is still small. It might be better to rely on title conventions for threads (eg [ARTD] Thread title) and open up child boards/categories as needed. Otherwise we might end with fully-fledged categories containing one or two threads. This area wouldn't be a way to segregate the other works or some sort of critic-free place, the idea is to give them space without interfering with the SSSS's section organization since SSSS is arguably her most prominent and fleshed-out work.
A dual-approach to her work might be worth trying: General threads about *untitled new things* then "Critical Analysis:" threads about *thing*. The idea is to have this one thread to critique a work without making the people who liked them to feel unwelcome or wrong in these cases critiques heavily outweighs appreciation. I know about forums that just gave up and forbid negative critiques, but the LP thread makes keeping this side of discussion seem possible for me. This looks like the type of community that can avoid falling into a negative spiral of flat hate and namecalling. It'd be important to enforce the separation of content to keep negativity out of threads where it might snuff out the joy of people wanting to enjoy *thing*, and I understand and am so sorry it might generate extra work for the mod team but I feel it's one of the things that may pay off in the long run.
To lessen the moderation burden it might be helpful to encourage a culture of reporting problematic messages so there's reduced need to actively moderate.
As for the forum structure:
> The Board
(Rules, Announcements, Archive, etc sections)
> The Silent World
--- Stand Still, Stay Silent
General SSSS discussions including re-read and analyses, City of Hunger (as possible sticky thread, not enough content to get own child board)
--- Roleplay Forum
Not sure how many rpg-inclined members we have but this is the type of content that keeps going even after a work is long done
--- Fan Works
Fan fic, poetry, art, maps and what else you can think of!
> Minnaverse
--- A Red Tail's Dream
I'm not sure this will generate enough content in the future to justify having it's own category instead of being a child
--- Other Works
Pre-ARTD and post-SSSS era works discussions
--- Mature Content Board
(HIDDEN; GROUP MEMBERSHIP)
Not sure whether this should remain under the main section or become a child under SSSS
> Community
--- General Discussion
Keep it similar to its current shape but maybe find a way to highlight discussions on hot niche-interest threads like Rocks, Biology, etc
------ Personal (HIDDEN; POST COUNT)
------ Politics (HIDDEN; POST COUNT)
--- History and Mythology
Going out on a limb here but these seem interests many of us have in common, with mythology something that drew a lot of people to SSSS in first place
--- Languages Board
--- Entertainment Discussion
Other comics, games, books, TV, etc. Let them shine in their own threads when there's enough content on something to sustain a discussion. I also suggest a sticky dedicated to other works with some aspect that reminds you of SSSS: similar atmosphere, themes, cast dynamic, horror type etc
--- Creative Corner
Art, storytelling, poetry and more. Original works by members, discussions about creative processes, resources. It might be useful to make an exception for NSFW for this section to allow for non-explicit nudity for art topics, hopefully properly tagged
Bear in mind I'm terrible at naming things *glances at own username* and that I certainly don't think this is The Way Things Must Be Done. It's just the sort of structure I see in other forums gravitating around an author's work or specific interest.
The criteria for what gets or not their own categories or child forums is what will potentially generate further positive engagement once SSSS is finished. Everything that gets its own category foments further discussion in that direction, and threads dedicated to a work or aspect of something instead of a single *interest thread* compilation also promote further interaction (eg comic 1, comic 2, comic 3 threads vs Webcomics thread). That's not to say we should get rid of general recommendation threads, just that it'd be useful to create an ambient where getting into more detail without the fear of derailing a thread is a good way to keep a community alive.
Also, imho child boards tend to be overlooked. They're great for content you want to keep sheltered from direct view, otherwise they should be avoided because they don't get enough space and direct links so that has a cooling effect on them. The exception is something like archives or a work of Minna that's done or too short and won't get many active discussions before no matter where it's placed—granted it still generated enough content that keeping just a couple of threads won't do.
