Forum Member Articles Subsection?

@Chris_Colucci

We have a lot of really smart and experienced members on this forum. I think it would be cool to have a subsection where forum members can upload their own “articles”.

Any thoughts on an idea like this? These can range from programs, templates, or just insight articles.

I read the articles that are on T-Nation, but thought it would be cool to read some from the minds of some of our own.

We can come up with ways to lock it down so that everyone is not uploading all sorts of random stuff. Maybe you guys can pick the member that each week can upload their article I was thinking of limiting it to credible members such as @Alpha @T3hPwnisher @The_Mighty_Stu and a few others.

Any thoughts?

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But zep gets it once a week at minimum tho

Forum members becoming full-fledged contributors isn’t exactly uncommon. Waterbury, Nate Green, Romaniello, Alpha, myself, off the top of my head. I’m pretty sure even Shugart was “just” a reader for a few months before starting as an editor.

So I get what you’re saying, but it already kinda exists in the sense that anyone can post an article in the forum if they want to. The quality of their info will determine whether or not it catches on. Not sure a specific Member Article forum is necessary.

For example, Botslayer just put up some more programs for everyone and people seem to be digging them. Stu has no doubt put up a treasure trove of info, it just happens to be spread out over a decade or so and a couple hundred different threads. The old “How Do You Train” threads were also usually pretty good ways to pick peoples’ brains directly and nudge them into writing about their training/diet principles.

Contrast that with the occasional new member who’s “a trainer” and starts an intro thread trying to preach to the choir (and advertise their services) while getting shut down right-quick. The quality control issue would probably be the biggest hurdle, and self-policing what’s good from what’s crap is simpler and less headache than pre-qualifying people for membership to an exclusive sub-forum.

The other issue isn’t just about having someone who knows their shit (insert relevant grammar meme: “knows their shit vs knows they’re shit”). It’s about having the info be presentable. A guy can be a great lifter or a great trainer but a poor communicator in the written form. Not naming names, but one of the first articles I edited was a phenomenally well-respected coach who turned in an article that was about four pages long in Word… but it was three paragraphs.

An article requires figuring out a topic, fleshing out the idea, actually writing it and assembling something coherent, and then editing it so it’s understandable. Not always the easiest thing to do, especially when you’re asking folks to invest time and energy with no tangible (or literal) payoff.

All that said, if it’s something folks are interested in taking on themselves, they can go for it. Encourage, suggest, and cajole whoever you think should be writing and get them to put something up. We can see how it goes.

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cough ARX cough

(cough) Raw meat diet? (cough cough)

S

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Actually, a few years ago Lonnie contacted me and showed me a copy of a document he’d been copy/pasting my advice from over the years into. Surprising how much good advice was in there, he could probably sell it as an e-book -lol

S

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How do you think I’ve been making my living the last 6 years?

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