So in the interest of transparency, are we going to get to see the PM? It effects everyone, right? Its not like you'd secretly negotiate without informing everyone what you are saying, would you?
As explained previously, this conversation is mostly about personalities and our goals. Since Daniel and the two of us have a history of clashes, we need to sort those out before we do anything. That doesn't directly affect you as it's not an organisational or political matter, but rather a personal one. Then there are technical details.
To remind you: Wilmore suggested that we should have this chat before we do anything, I objected and said that we first need to have consultation with tfes.org's community first to figure out what everyone needs. He agreed, and we've done that. Now it's time for addressing any potential personality issues. After that's done, and we've hammered out the general terms of reunification based on the consultation we've had before, we will open it for comments, amend as necessary, and put it to a vote. Please see my previous response to you here:
If large factions of this site end up not happy with the terms and conditions, we simply won't go back.
That is our position as well. We will not implement a solution that is not popular with a vast majority of the userbase. The way I see it, this general idea has gathered a lot of support and not that much dissent, so it could potentially work out. Once we have a more concrete policy sketched, we'll open it for comments, and if we reach a point where it doesn't seem like much more needs changing, we'll put it to a vote. That should hopefully address most concerns and stop any such large factions from forming.
and Parsifal's explanation here:
It's been quite some time, and the overwhelming consensus seems to be a "yes" vote to reunification. I'll post a proper announcement in Announcements when I'm not on my phone, but just so you're aware, we'll be discussing the details with Daniel directly. As has always been the policy on this forum, the community will be consulted on any matters amounting to more than technical details.
Now, while it hurts a bit that you'd seriously accuse us of doing negotiation behind people's backs, I'll humour you. Here's what Daniel said:
Ok, I'm back home now.
I'm not sure how the technical side of integrating the two forums will work but I'm assuming it's possible. I'm fine with moving the admin/moderation team over as is. I'd like to remain as an admin on the forums but primarily as a just-in-case measure. As you might have noticed by now, my approach to forums administration is pretty hands-off. You'll do a much better job of managing the community, so I'm fine with keeping out of the way there.
The Joomla front page is working well and should remain as is. As you know, the Library expanded greatly a couple months ago and there's much more to come in the near future. I'm happy to add content that tfes.org people (or anyone with an interest in Flat Earth Theory, really) wants to contribute. That could be blog posts, news articles or projects like the annotated Zetetic Astronomy. The more content we have, the better it is for the Society.
Not sure what to do about the Wiki. I updated the theflatearthsociety Wiki to the latest version of TikiWiki and moved all of the old articles over. I don't know how the content there differs from the version you have on here now.
I think Wilmore is planning on emailing everyone so we can discuss the details more privately. Probably better to hammer out the details there.
Please don't do this again, Thork. We're working pretty hard to make good things happen, and your attempts at spreading dissent are just tactless. You've had your say during consultation, and you'll have your say before and during the final vote. If at any point a subject that's not a personal or petty technical issue, people will also be consulted.