Soft Velocity is the company that is currently "making" Clarion. They have always had an active community, mostly through the news.softvelocity.com newsgroup, but I’ve noticed, over the few years I’ve been a clarion user, that they, and the clarion community in general, have been slow to take on some of the better sides of the Interweb.
One of these, not so obvious at first glance sides, is that of giving back to the community. It’s so easy with functionality like a blog these days. Just becoming a little more human. There is something within us that likes to hear actual opinions and ideas from people, especially when we’re in a similar situation.
Anyway … Community Server :: Blog is one half of a new initiative by Soft Velocity.
The Other Half of the initiative are the forums. But I’m not interested in that part at the moment.
What I’m interested in, or more, wanting them to take on, is more than just that blog. I’m speaking as two people I guess. One is the Reader, and one as the Thinker. Both of these combine to tell me …
I want to see an easier-on-the-eye blog. With pictures. Pictures are good, as I’ve recently begun to see …:).
The blog should be self-contained. When you click on a post, why would it go to a completely different theme/scheme? Make it a little more friendly for the casual browser, who finds it through posts like this. Easier to navigate. To find out exactly what Clarion can do for them.
And start pimpin it, if not already. Get it onto blog sites, get other bloggers to do articles, interviews, shouts to the community. Because although it’s a great community, we want to expand. I want to be a better developer. And I want Clarion to get better. In heaps of different ways, not just functionality.
It’s an exciting time, and we should be taking hold of the methods and means that are becoming very real today.
Anyway … just a note. This is in no way a flame ladened missile. Whether right or wrong, it’s how much it makes people think. If it doesn’t change a thing, then cool. But perhaps a thought might occur while disagreeing that leads to someone becoming a better developer, furthering their understanding.
And that’s the purpose of Dev Dawn.