Cities would be better in the Main. At the beginning of this test, I didn't think the idea of a single thread per city was the way to go, given the example of Philadephia at that time with several threads ... but now that has reduced to one interesting Philly thread called "cheesesteaks". That thread could be renamed Philly and moved into the Cities forum alongside the others.
Based on the experience with Other Cities, I think that a single thread per city, with the thread named after a single city each is the most interesting and easiest to maintain during the 30 day time frame. It also provides a "backgrounder" for newbies to catch up on the dialogue that is lost with several threads dropping off. This is particularly important in Cities, which discloses the "characters" of the members and fosters community.
Photoshop Phrenzy! should be in the Main, whoever moderates it. That would clue folks in that "shopped" images belong there ... not in IotD.
IotD should be allowed to evlove in accordance with the "philosophy" that UT has espoused. I have observed that UT's posts are always marked as such with a date, and that other member's posts have been undated. I think the greater number of sources, and the opportunity for active participation in IotD, accounts for the attraction of the community. To revert to restricting IotD to Tony's Image of the Day would be a step back in the natural development of the communty, imo. But that's where, Tony can make it his forum if he wants ... it's just counter to everything I've heard him say since I got here. It would be good if members got the idea that IotD is a place for special impact images, regardless of which members source them. Having other obvious places for other images, like photoshops and photojournals will keep IotD true to it's potential.
Not to pic on anyone ... but to mention some recent examples to clarify these thoughts ... datalas' image of the creek would have made an excellent start to Roslin
to get us talking about Scotland, as we all did in IotD. A great image, to be sure, but a misplaced image and a missed opportunity to start a great thread that would have lasted longer in Cities than in IotD. The same with NBN's great images of Port Aransas regarding Spring Break. Many of the other threads in the Cellar will have greater appeal in there own rights, if images are posted elsewhere in the Cellar besides IotD.
Images not "worthy" of IotD will quietly fall off the front page in 30 days, if they do not attract discussion and are not of interest to the members.
Voting on threads was diss cussed back when I suggested it, and now I find I agree with the views expressed by those who had been here longer. On the other hand ... with all the appeal of Survivor and The Weakest Link ... there may be merit in a convention by which a thread could be "closed" on the indication of a number of members that closure was in order ... either because the post was "rotten" or the "thread" had gone bad by unappealing discourse, such as major digressions off-topic or ranting or flaming and ad hominem attacks.
On a postive note:
Images could be encouraged in 3 distinct forums IotD, Photoshop Phrenzy! and Caption it! (similar to
http://www.captionmachine.com/)
IMHO the images in the Cellar need some creative direction, not restriction.
Or, I could be wrong about all this ... agin.