Idea for a news page in the Wiki section

[Laird]

There's still no pagination, nor any possibility of customising the period - it's hardcoded to the most recent 14 days.

As you'd probably noticed, I'd added both of these features by the time you'd responded.

Thanks for your comments.

And thanks for yours. We are in agreement.

I have another suggestion: that we come up with a catchy (and maybe playful) name for this news service, so that people can get a good grip on it when referring to it, or when referring others to it, and especially so that it turns up in search results for that name. Right now I can't think of one, but I'll post again if I do. Brainstorming welcome.

[Laird]

Right now I can't think of one, but I'll post again if I do.

Here's a suggestion: "PQ's ParaNews". Simple, and rhymes.

Or, if we wanted to indicate that the news items go beyond parapsychology and into philosophy of mind, consciousness science, and alternative views on science, then we could go with "PQ's ParaNews Plus" or "PQ's ParaNews+", although that might be going overboard on the alliteration, and might come across as a little self-aggrandising.

Here's a suggestion: "PQ's ParaNews". Simple, and rhymes.

Or, if we wanted to indicate that the news items go beyond parapsychology and into philosophy of mind, consciousness science, and alternative views on science, then we could go with "PQ's ParaNews Plus" or "PQ's ParaNews+", although that might be going overboard on the alliteration, and might come across as a little self-aggrandising.

That sounds good to me - unless you want to publicise the full name and call it PsienceQuest ParaNews, at the cost of the rhyme and the alliteration.

[Laird]

That sounds good to me - unless you want to publicise the full name and call it PsienceQuest ParaNews, at the cost of the rhyme and the alliteration.

That works too, and as you say has the advantage of publicising the full name.

(By the way, we've generally been referring to "Psience Quest" as a two-word name separated by a space. I've noticed that you've been writing it as one word or at least without a space separating the two words - is that simply your preferred spelling?)

That works too, and as you say has the advantage of publicising the full name.

(By the way, we've generally been referring to "Psience Quest" as a two-word name separated by a space. I've noticed that you've been writing it as one word or at least without a space separating the two words - is that simply your preferred spelling?)

Hmm. I'm not sure why I've been doing that, as it appears as two words in various places. I suppose I assumed it was meant to be like that at some stage. I'll try to stop.

Given the number of news items we are accumulating, I am wondering whether a weekly bulletin may be more appropriate after all.

One other thought - I wonder whether it would be appropriate to add a comment at the start, to the effect that while we hope news about parapsychology is adequately covered, news about other topics will represent a selection. For example, I don't think we are attempting exhaustive coverage of philosophy (even philosophy of mind), or allied subjects. And considering the range of things that "the paranormal" covers, I think it's necessary to be selective about that. Though as things are now, I think it's reasonable to include all the news about the allied subjects that's posted here.

[Laird]

Given the number of news items we are accumulating, I am wondering whether a weekly bulletin may be more appropriate after all.

Given your role as the proponent of this venture, I think your judgement is best respected on that matter. And we can always try it one way and then change later if necessary.

One other thought - I wonder whether it would be appropriate to add a comment at the start, to the effect that while we hope news about parapsychology is adequately covered, news about other topics will represent a selection. For example, I don't think we are attempting exhaustive coverage of philosophy (even philosophy of mind), or allied subjects. And considering the range of things that "the paranormal" covers, I think it's necessary to be selective about that. Though as things are now, I think it's reasonable to include all the news about the allied subjects that's posted here.

I very much agree with those sentiments. Honesty (full disclosure) is the best policy.

Given your role as the proponent of this venture, I think your judgement is best respected on that matter. And we can always try it one way and then change later if necessary.


I very much agree with those sentiments. Honesty (full disclosure) is the best policy.

Thanks. I think it will be better to make it weekly, as it looks as though we'll have two or three dozen items a week in the psi section alone.

I have added a note at the top about the completeness (or otherwise) of coverage of parapsychology and other topics.

[Laird]

A couple of other suggestions for news pages:

• Perhaps we could precede each entry with a small icon to indicate its nature. One icon could indicate "News item re something external which occurred or was published during the period covered by this news report". Another could indicate "New items re something external which occurred or was published prior to the period covered by this news report". Another could indicate "News item re something external to occur in the future". And yet another icon could indicate "News item about an internal discussion on Psience Quest that happened during the period covered by this news report". There could also then be a legend at the top of the page which explained the meaning of each icon.
  
• I feel that some of the links we've got there so far cover too many words, and that we would be best off instead linking the minimum text necessary, such as the title of the video/article/etc in question. Otherwise, it feels like a bit of cognitive overload.
  

[Laird]

Also, does anybody else want to weigh in re naming of this news report? So far the suggestions are:

1. PQ's ParaNews.
   
2. PQ's ParaNews Plus.
   
3. PQ's ParaNews+.
   
4. Psience Quest ParaNews.
   

Any other suggestions? Any preferences?