A bit about Dreamwidth

[sholio]

Based on the number of "... what is Dreamwidth?" answers to the poll in my last post, here is a quick overview. (As I understand it, anyway; I have a number of the people who are involved and/or enthusiastic backers of the site on my f'list, but I'm not personally involved with it. Please correct me if I pass along misinformation!)

- Dreamwidth is a new journaling/blogging site that will be opening up this summer. It's planned to be fandom-friendly (edit: but not exclusively fannish) and fairly small, at least at first. You will need to either buy an account or get an invite code from an existing user to get in, like LJ used to be. (Paid accounts start at $3/month, and you can let your account lapse to a free account later if you like.)

- Here is a list of features that are different from LJ (discovered via foxfirefey)

- Here is a roundup of posts by people who are planning on switching from LJ (link from rydra_wong)

- Here is Dreamwidth's About/FAQ page (still in beta itself) with sundry informative links.

The answers to the poll in my earlier post indicate that (at least around these parts) most people who are opening DW accounts will still be cross-posting to LJ, and many people won't be moving at all, at least not until things shake out a bit. One of the nice things about Dreamwidth is that, from what I can see, it's being designed so that it will be easy to use with other blogging sites -- i.e. you can have an LJ and still participate easily in DW discussions, be friended by people on DW, etc., and it works very smoothly with Open ID.

Comments

[bratfarrar]

Oh man. I hadn't seen that first link, with all the stuff that'll be different. Maybe I will make the switch after all, because I'd love to have a built-in, automated queue for posts. And a split flist.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

They do have some cool features! The split f'list is very appealing to me. Well, that and the comment/post limits, because wow, I do struggle with those!

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

That was very helpful. Thank you. I like the idea of more room to make detailed comments and most of all, to post long fic without splitting it up.

Really like the idea of the split access filter.

Not sure about the price, but will wait to see how things shake, but now I have a better understanding of it.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

You're welcome; glad to help! It would definitely be nice not to have to chafe at the too-short comment limits anymore...

[rydra_wong]

Not sure about the price

Well, if you get an invite code, there is no price -- the basic accounts are free (and ad-free).

So it's just a question of whether you feel the benefits of a paid account are worth it, and/or want to support the service financially.

(As I understand it, the prices for paid accounts are higher than on LJ because they're genuinely planning to make the service sustainable on the basis of paid accounts, with no advertising, and have put a lot of thought into the finances.)

ETA note: not an official DW person of any kind, just over-enthused *g*.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

I wish I'd seen your post before I made mine. I'd just have linked :)

thanks for a great rundown of the important things!

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

d'awwww, thank you, and you are welcome. :)

[snarkydame.livejournal.com]

Now, see, that sounds pretty cool. I'm comfortable on LJ, and have no plans to stop posting here --but I'll probably check out DW, too.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Ditto ... I'm quite comfortable here, but I'm definitely going to poke around and check it out ...

[naye]

I always wanted a DW account, but this makes me want one even more! I didn't know they'd actually realized a full import feature, with comments! Because, really? With over 2400 journal entries, that's one of the things that's kept me from even considering leaving LJ. But with this? Hmm~!

I'm not planning on abandoning LJ, but since it seems like it should be fairly easy to keep dual journals, well. It seems like a really solid kind of place to go, and it's run by people from my own community, and I am quite curious about how it will turn out - and I want to be part of it myself. (The comment length and post length I find ridiculously exciting! *g*)

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

I know! I actually think it would be quite fun to get in on the ground floor of a community-building experience like this one -- it's all going to be fresh and new, but it's going to be mostly experienced fandom people migrating over (at least at first) so there definitely will be a fan community. :) But I don't want to abandon my existing community here. Oh woe, so many options!

[rydra_wong]

I didn't know they'd actually realized a full import feature, with comments! Because, really?

Really! It's up and running and it really really works!

(Yes, I'm still boggled and awed by it. I mean, it works well enough that IMHO it'd be worth people considering just for the back-up value.)

[naye]

That is so incredibly awesome! I've struggled with various backups for years now, and being able to have all entries and comments? Totally worth going to DW just for that! But the rest of it seems rather fantastic as well. I can't wait for April 30! (Or whatever date it will be by the time I manage to get my hands on an invite code...)

[astridv.livejournal.com]

(Yes, I'm still boggled and awed by it. I mean, it works well enough that IMHO it'd be worth people considering just for the back-up value.)

Just what I'm thinking. I'd spring for a journal over there if just for the opportunity to easily create a full mirror of my LJ. I have over six years's worth of posts and comments which I would hate to lose to hackers or wonky servers or LJ going on a deleting spree again. And all the other features and improvements sound intriguing, too.

[sobelle.livejournal.com]

I am not a fanfiction writer but will jump at the change to join DW if for no other reason than it will be supporting a ~home~ for the writers I've loved for years now... without worrying about the bullshit harassment I've seen and experienced on LJ.

[kazaera.livejournal.com]

Here via metafandom, and this is amazing. One of the reasons I never managed migration was that, well, I've been on-and-off active on LJ for over six years and couldn't bear to leave all that behind. With the ability to not just import entries but also *comments*, that's a huge barrier gone.

I don't think I'll fully switch because there is just that much going on on LJ, but dual journals sounds doable and this sounds like an amazing place to go - even better than IJ, which is what I'd always considered before.