Ops-Normal.org

Lots of requests and input relating to revamping our website for the following reasons 1) We have moved on from being a rebel version of TOP, 2) We need to differentiate ourselves from TOP, 3) We need to plan for the long-term future of our community by attracting new members - not necessarily solely ex JB contributors of TOP.

To this end I have been racking my brain for a new doman name for our site, and expending quite a few of my pennies in the process. As a first pass I registered Notams.net, subsequently recognising that this might have the potential to cause confusion with real NOTAMS. Then I gave serious consideration to a play on words of av-gas.net, but in truth it has never sat comfortably with me. Too tacky.

Lying awake at 1.00am and giving my brain the freedom to go where it will, one phrase from my own charter flying days some 40 odd years ago kept coming to mind. Whether it was in Papua New Guinea or Southern Africa, making the call "Ops Normal" meant everything was just fine. I had arrived at my ETA, I had vision of the strip, and the aerie was in fine fettle - fuel etc.

If a flight had been particularly difficult - long distance, weather not the best, hard to find strip, etc. then making the call "Ops Normal" meant a great deal. To this effect I have just registered the domain names - ops-normal.com, ops-normal.net and ops-normal.org, just to lock out any competition.

Alison
PS I have listed them in the poll in my order of preference, and promise not to spit the dummy if people choose differently.

I'm going to be an awkward ******* and say apart from Notams I don't think it matters too much (I don't think I can vote for multiple choices!).

I'm sure any of the others will be fine - after all it is down really to search engines and 'word of the ether' and the domain will be bookmarked by users once they have found it.

If admin wants to cast a vote for 4/5 for me or one of her choice that would be fine!

To be honest none of them appeal greatly to me, nor do I have a problem with any of them. I'm not saying I can think of anything better, and clearly you have put a lot of thought and time into this.

When I think though of other aviation sites, most seem to have a name that reflects aviation, ........ and I wonder if that might be the way to go.

I'm taking the hound for a walk later and will reflect on this and hopefully will come up with an idea of value.

I have chosen to stick with av gas, if only because it directly refers to aviation, I echo Capes with this, no strong feelings about the new name, I think it should make the aviation link clear, and appreciate the efforts that you are making.

How about something on the lines of 'The Crewroom' ?

Other suggestions, off the top of my head

CumuloGranite
Blue Sky Thinking
QBM (Q- code: Have you any messages for me?)
QSU (Shall I send or reply on this frequency?)

Ops Normal is fine. I think Av-Gas is fine too, but it's your train set.

How about something on the lines of 'The Crewroom' ?

I like that.
What about : "Happy Landings", so we could have happylandings.com, for example. I am against ' _ ' and ' - ' in URLs, it complicates.
I am not in favour of the Q codes as they won't mean anything to non-flying people.

Issues for consideration when choosing a domain name.
1) Must be available - not already registered.
2) Have relevance to the main topics
3) Does not take a potential user to a competitive site
4) Stand out from the "noise" in a search engine listing

The last is of importance if seeking new members who may only hear through word-of-mouth.

As Google and others often ignore special characters like hyphens a Google search on Av-gas give over half a million hits on avgas. Even with Notams, finding an aviation forum for a newcomer with the name Notams could be problematic. Whereas a search on ops-nomal gives far fewer hits that are specific to aviation. Would like to feel that an active aviation forum with the title "ops-normal" would be relatively easy to find for potential new members. And I get the impression that the phrase is still in regular use in aviation parlance. Plus the .com, .net and the .org name belong to us now, unlike notams.

Alison

PS Votes can be changed by making a different choice to original.

Leave it as it is.

If it aint broke don't fix it!

The problem is Slasher, it is broke. Many of the respected aviation-types from TOP who joined us in the early days no longer look in, far less post.

It is worth noting that the availability of top level domain names - "tlds", ie. .com, .org and .net domain names that have meaning are getting to be as rare as hens teeth, and their registration isn't free. When I saw that all three "ops-normal" tlds were still available I grabbed all three. "ops-normal.org" is short, succinct and has, I believe, great relevance to hoped-for potential new members.

Just need a good slogan to go with it.

Alison

Is it the issue of domain names that causes folk to leave? Not sure it is. It’s probably the lack of “serious” aviation content more than the name. As has been stated elsewhere the critical self-sustaining number hasn’t yet been achieved. I’m more than happy to stick with PPRuNed as it at least shows up in searches and might cause a few to poke their heads in.

What we need is some sort of notice for those on TOP to find us (and that’s been the issue from day 1)

Sisemen, I haven't at any time suggested that the domain name - ppruned.org, has given people reason to leave. I would suggest though that it does nothing for us in attracting new members who haven't prevously been associated with TOP.

If I am prepared to do everything necessary in the area of search engine optimisation to increase our visibility then the last thing I would want to do is show any association with TOP. Which would be somewhat counter-productive, don't you think.

It would be nice to have our site stand on it's own feet, not just as a mutinous rebellion from TOP. For that we need a new domain name. I have already installed a new set of aviation-related forums on the development site at http://www.av-gas.net/forum for the perusal of our membership, but have had little interest and few comments as to it's suitability. It is my intention to migrate most of the current "Social" and "Other Interests" from ppruned.org to live below these aviation forums.

This evening I will move the development site to my preferred domain name http://www.ops-normal.org. I sincerely believe that doing so gives our site the best long-term potential. Also believe that everyone who has spent significant time at the sharp end of an aircraft will be familiar with the phrase "Ops Normal". To me it signifies that everything is A-okay, however traumatic events have been that have got you to that point.

Ops normal is a verbal thumbs up.

Alison

Alison, with respect, I think the point you many be missing is that there are plenty of people who have spent a lifetime in the aviation industry, or just have a keen interest in aviation matters, without having much to do with what you call 'the pointy end'.
If you are wanting to sideline those people and make the main focus on cockpit crew, that's a decision for you to make, but I don't think you will get the breadth of views and dialogue you seek.
Whilst I am not exactly someone who travels once a year to Mallorca and has a friend whose neighbour's brother-in-law knows a pilot who flies a Boeing 340, even those people might have expertise or viewe in other areas to contribute to a forum.

Alison

I do like Ops normal.

Question re is opsnormal or any other domain name with those words in it that
doesn't have the hyphen ?

Capetonian wrote:Alison, with respect, I think the point you many be missing is that there are plenty of people who have spent a lifetime in the aviation industry, or just have a keen interest in aviation matters, without having much to do with what you call 'the pointy end'.

Equally how many know about NOTAMs or for that matter in this turbine world, know about avgas. All I'm doing is trying to find a domain name that has an upbeat feel about it and is aviation related. Whatever name we come up with some will feel left out. As I mentioned finding domain names with tld's that are succinct and fit the bill is no mean feat. Let me assure you I've spent hours looking. What I show here isn't some thought bubble. I am putting in a great deal of effort. It's far too easy to be critical, much harder to make positive suggestions.

Capetonian wrote:If you are wanting to sideline those people and make the main focus on cockpit crew, that's a decision for you to make, but I don't think you will get the breadth of views and dialogue you seek.

The only people I am attempting to sideline are those associated with TOP.

ALL our 'users' need to draw breath and re-read what Alison is saying:-

We need a domain name that does not continue any association with the previous place.

She wants, and I and others have expressed the same wishes, to have ALL with an interest in aviation to join and contribute. This, of course, assumes that the majority WANT an aviation link. If all that is needed is a simple JB type site then I suspect it will shrink to a few members and probably die - probably without Alison. There are, after all, hundreds of other sites where JB type postings can go back and forth - and there has been little, if any, comment on this point.

The domain name is, in my opinion, of less importance. Yes, to have an association with aviation is great (and the range of folk who will understand OPS NORMAL is far greater than just flight crew, Cape - but it does not depend on 'understanding'. ). Remember PPRUNED means zilch to 99.9999recurring% of the real world.

What IS important is the site structure and encouraging aviation interest but (see above?). So far the actual interest out of 140 or so members demonstrated here in perpetuating and adjusting the site has been miserable and must be very discouraging to Alison. All those with 'no interest' need to be aware that it may well finish up with them being the only ones running it for the dozen or so of them!

I (strongly) agree with Alison and Boac.

Agree again.

Ops normal seems to achieve it all.

Also catches the military crowd.

It would be interesting to understand why a section of the original members returned to TOP, did they find this rather too confrontational over TOP, or possibly that it is a glorified JB and had no serious aviation substance, some feed back might be helpful if any of you are reading this.
Agree with BOAC comments, and again, appreciate your efforts Alison

It would be interesting to understand why a section of the original members returned to TOP

I will throw in my two cents on that one, This will probably piss off a couple of people, but here goes. I think the reason some have left is the lack of serious discussion. While I enjoy a good joke, there are some who keep banging on about quite childish things, even on serious threads. It really does get tiresome. Whatever name is chosen, it should be done soonest. If people can't be bothered to contribute ideas, then just go ahead and pick a name. I think we are all agreed that the reason we all pitched up at TOP in the first place was aviation. As someone said above, we all managed to find TOP. Let's stop arguing about bloody hyphens, just do it, and move on.

Flychat???