My most immediate feedback is that you should charge your phone. It's making me anxious.

Don't worry, you do enough :-) I was just chatting about the relative merits of the different systems.

Quote from: Lüc on December 08, 2019, 05:31:09 AM
Yes, I originally set a 600 character limit (2 x the original 300 which was a bit short to account for image URLs and BB tags).

There is a separate line limit as well (which is currently uncapped) and I think a font size limit as well.

I'm happy to change any of those values based on feedback. Any suggestions on what I should set those to?

Five lines and twelve point font.

In terms of practical experience, there has definitely been no incentive to post in unused forums. You just have to look at the old witt to see that.

I do agree that it can be hard to find official announcements if everything gets posted to one board, but there are still many sub boards, and it seems hard to believe we're going to have so many postings from one ministry that they'll be lost in the shuffle.

And of course, we should be posting announcements and policies to the websites, not just making forum posts about them, anyway.

The benefits of the wiki are that it allows anyone to add things, nothing can be lost, we can keep track of who added things, and it's much easier to categorize since you don't need nested folders or anything

I agree with miestra. Having more centralized boards is actually better since you see stuff you wouldn't otherwise see, and we don't have so much traffic that it's really a problem I think. If we get back to a point where there's so much going on that it's hard to keep track, okay, but we're not there yet!

Likely story!  We're wise to your scheme to make us subscribe.

Ben morgun, buna vhespra, es azul.
Good morning, good evening, and hello.

I wished to consolidate all information about the new Zuávs da l'Altahál Rexhitál on Wittenberg.  This thread will be an overview of current policy, recruitments, and promotions.

Els Zuávs da l'Altahál Rexhitál is the new face of the Talossan military, to the maximally operable extent that I am permitted.  We will reward rank for real achievement.  When you see someone with a rank in the Zuávs, then you will know that they did something to earn it.  We will be a cultural organization, working to defend the throne and the country by creating, propagating, and promoting interesting creative and practical work of a Talossan nature.

This is not a political organization.  It is not affiliated with any party or movement, and while els Zuávs are subordinate by law to the elected government, we will act independently and apolitically.

This is not an empty organization.  You will be rewarded with pompous ranks and awards that mean something, because you will receive them only for real achievements.

This is not a violent organization.  Violence is anathema to els Zuávs.  We are waging war, but it is a war on apathy and philistinism.  Our battlefield is the waiting world, ready to be changed into something Talossan.

Policies
All outstanding officers and enlisted men and women of the Zouaves with enlistments or commissions prior to Oct 27, 2019/XXVIII have been discharged, with thanks from a grateful nation.  Further, all existing regulations, provisions, or other guidelines of any form, barring those found in laws currently in effect, regarding the Zouaves and published/declared before the same date are declared null and void.

The Zuávs Mission is defined as follows: "Els Zuávs da l'Altahál Rexhitál work to defend the throne and the country by creating, propagating, and promoting interesting creative and practical work of a Talossan nature."  All officers and enlisted men and women of the Zouaves shall be expected to direct their efforts towards this mission.

All of those who apply to join the Zuávs will be granted the rank of Private, without exception, and may begin advancement immediately.  Only new activity is eligible as an exhibition, but there are many approaches you can take to the creation, distribution, and promotion of Talossan culture.  An incomplete list might include:

• translating a poem or story
• creating and populating a new category of articles on the wiki (not a single article, sorry!)
• recording a Talossan song
• making a suite of promotional posters to encourage people to immigrate
• conducting a well-organized public opinion poll
• creating a new website to promote some aspect of our language or culture
• publishing a significant body of opinion columns in a magazine or newspaper (generally five of significant length would be a reasonable tranche)
• editing and presenting a full edition(s) of a magazine or newspaper (generally consisting of five articles or columns in total)
• arranging or giving a promotional interview in another country's media regarding Talossa
• a set of articles examining different aspects of Talossan history
• or significant advertising in five or more places about the wonders of Talossa.

If you're unsure if something will qualify, please ask!  My answer will rely entirely on whether or not the activity creates, distributes, or promotes Talossan culture -- and that's a very broad category of approaches!

Ranks
Enlisted Ranks

Private
All enlistees begin with the rank of Private.  While this may seem humble, it serves as an immediate notice that you intend to improve your country in a real way.  Few Talossans can say as much.

Private Second Class
   Promotion to Private Second Class (PSC) is predicated on any single good-faith exhibition of creation, contribution, promotion, or preservation of Talossan culture.  For example, translating a single poem, creating and populating a new category of articles on the wiki, recording a single Talossan song, making a suite of promotional posters, or similar activities would each be sufficient to merit promotion.  Activities unrelated to culture, such as writing laws, will not ordinarily be considered as justification for promotion.  Failed attempts will also not merit consideration.

Private First Class
   Promotion to Private First Class (PFC) requires five exhibitions of a similar calibre.  They may each be of the same nature, or they may be varied among many avenues, as the Zuáv pleases.

Specialist
   Ten approved exhibitions are necessary for promotion to the rank of Specialist (SPC).  Despite the title of the rank, there is in fact no requirement to specialize in any particular field of achievement.  However, should a Specialist so request, they might be recognized as an expert in one particular regard.

Corporal
   Twenty approved exhibitions are necessary for promotion to the rank of Corporal (CPL).

Sergeant
   Thirty approved exhibitions are necessary for promotion to the rank of Sergeant (SGT).
All sergeants must, further, pass the Sergeant's Exam, a language exam focused on Talossan English phrases to be customarily used.  It is expected that you will consistently employ these phrases in the place of their English equivalents when socially appropriate.  The Exam may be retaken as many times as necessary, but promotion to Sergeant will not be considered without a passing grade.

Sergeant First Class
   Forty approved exhibitions are necessary for promotion to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC)

Master Sergeant
   The highest enlisted rank may be reached after fifty approved exhibitions.  An enlisted Zuáv at this rank will have made a lasting and distinct impression on Talossan culture; their place in Talossan history is assured.  This is not an exaggeration.  Only a score of people in Talossan history have ever reached this level of achievement.

Officer Ranks

Second Lieutenant
   Officers in the Zuávs are expected to help administer the organization, and will be assigned tasks as necessary.  These tasks will generally be supervisory in nature.  Master Sergeants who wish to advance to Second Lieutenant (SLT) must pass the Officer's Exam, a basic language exam focused on brief conversational Talossan, before they are eligible.

First Lieutenant
An SLT who excels at their position will be promoted to First Lieutenant (FLT).

I'm getting a weird skew on my profile pic at the top of the page.  Maybe turn that off, since it's warped and skewed different ways over the past couple of days and doesn't seem necessary?

Two things:
1. The link on the website should probably be changed.
2. Because every board is monitored by an officeholder of some kind where applicable, and these are the people to whom those with initial complaints about a post should address themselves (per Lex.J.2), then we should probably list the person(s) in question on each board's description.  For example, the Dean of the College of Arms for that board.

It's really a shame that both Witt X and the different RepubliWitts were allowed to just go offline, and that they currently only exist in archive form on the computers of a few people.  At the time, the argument was that there were a bunch of conversations in the forum only available to registered users, where people in the Republic said stuff they didn't want others to know now, but it is going to be a big gap in our history going forward.  In time, the Republic will be known for what people said about it, not what it was.  That's a serious loss.

You're doing a great job!