Simplify ... Simplify.

This post is inspired by Darwish Naji's experience during the period immediately before his http://hotice130.blogspot.com/ joining Jordan Planet citizenry. His experience was reminiscent of my own experience and the experience of couple of other citizens who probably wouldn't want their names publicized and would rather remain anonymous.

What makes this topic interesting is the fact that existing members who have been citizens for a while themselves don't know anything about the appropriate manner with which an aspiring prospective bolggers become a citizen of Jordan Planet.

I'm not suggesting that somehow there is a huge level of fortified secrecy surrounding the manner with which a prospective blogger become a citizen what I'm saying is there is a need for something like a pull down key that would take the person for instance to a topic titled [FAQ] frequently asked questions.

The purpose of this topic would be to answer the most frequently asked questions that comes to mind when the person become interested in Joining Jordan Plant. I understand that currently there are brief statements scattered here and there that gives the person some hints on what to do, but judging from Darwish Naji's experience, my own experience and that of couple others, I felt that this topic warrants some addressing and I chose to be the one to address it.

A few days ago, Laith Zraikat suggested http://laithz.jeeran.com/archive/2005/12/4304.html that the citizen ought to be given the option to post or not post some blogs on Jordan PLanet since some of the topics are too technical for some people and find it very boring and may not want to be burdened with looking at it. I personally thought that the suggestion was a brilliant one, as many times the citizen would want to be in the driver seat deciding whether a specific topic warrants the trouble of having the whole world look at it or it simply would be better off confined to the main blogger home page.

So Mr. Zraikat's suggestion would be added to the FAQ list. The question would read something like this : Will the citizen of Jordan Planet be able to post some blogs on Jordan Planet and withhold some other blogs from being published, or all the blogs appearing on the citizen's blog main will be published on Jordan Planet once he become a citizen without exception?

Answer : All blogs will exclusively be appearing on Jordan Planet, you can't choose between which one you can publish and which one you can hold back.


Having said all of that, now let me go back to the main topic and see if I can develop some hypothetical questions that are most frequently asked.

Question: How do I join Jordan Planet ?

Answer : Fill out the application provided.

Question : How long will I have to wait ?

Answer : Usually about 30 days from the day of your submission.

Question : What are some of the qualifications that you look for?

Answer : Interest in blogging. Blog, blog, blog.

Question : How will I know if I was approved ?

Answer : You will receive a letter of approval notifying you ( I've never received no letter)

Question : Once I'm approved, am I obligated to blog on a daily basis?

Answer : No

Question : Is there certain number of blogs that I need to maintain in order for me to keep my citizenship in good standing?

Answer : NO

Question : If I don't blog because I'm busy or have exams will I be penalized?

Answer : No

Question : What do I do to quit Jordan Planet?

Answer : You can't quit, this is a cult.[ Just kidding here] You can quit any time you want by sending an email to one of Jordan Planet staff members.

Question : Will my blog be censored?

Answer : No not unless it has something in it that violates the law.

Question : Who owns Jordan Planet?

Answer : The spirit of volunteerism

question: Is Jordan Planet for profit organization?

Answer : No

Question : Is Jordan Planet Governmental portal or non- governmental?

Answer : Non-governmental.

question : Do I have to be a Journalist to be a respected member?

Answer : No

Question : How do we resolve disputes?

Answer : There has never been any so far.

Question : Is faith, race, gender, ethnicity, play any role in this portal

Answer : No

These are by no means inclusive questions, I'm sure many more questions will come up as we go along, this meant to be a sample of what the questions and answers might look like.

This isn't something that needs to be implemented now or any time in the future, please note[ disclaimer] that I'm doing it as a blog not as a suggestion or a request or an edict. I have no say so over anything that goes on within the Jordan Planet administration, I'm simply a fresh citizen that has been around Jordan Planet for less than 90 days.

Feel free to comment on the blog or simply ignore it. I feel that simplification is the best policy, the more we simplify things the better they become. If the potential members are able to retrieve all the answers or finding them handy on the sight they will love it more.

People are parched for information, I know that Jordan Planet is a little over one year, I think that in the span of its short life it has done many marvelous things, but refinements never stop, they are an ongoing process. Adding FAQ feature is in my opinion a plus for the portal that will increase the level of visitors and traffic tremendously.