Wildminds is BACK

[Valeria Franco]

Hello daydreamers!

Wildminds is back.

When I heard Cordellia was about to close it, I felt so sorry that I reached out for her and we agreed on transferring the ownership. It took a while to settle everything but now we are here.

About me: my name is Valeria, I'm 35 and I'm a counselor. I was a maladaptive daydreamer. This is the first place where I found answers to what I was experiencing for all my life. 

I'm Italian and at that time (2015-2016) I could not find any search result in Italian about compulsive fantasy on Google. I decided to create the first Italian website and Facebook group for Italian people (now with more of 1000 members). I have also created a non-profit association to give help and talk to people and psycholosists about maladaptive daydreaming (www.maladaptivedaydreamingitalia.com).

I'm glad to see the community around the globe growing and sharing stories.

This is an amazing virtual place to start to feel better and take back your life. To me, it was the beginning to get rid of dreams and start living again. 

I want to thank Cordellia for everything she has done, but she has decided to quit and I wish her all the best. There will be some changes, stay tuned. 

Wildminds is alive. Feel free to make suggestions and to express yourselves.

[Andy Mebbins]

Hello Valeria, thank you so much for stepping in. It would have been a shame if the first MD community went down the drain...

You wrote: "my name is Valeria, I'm 35 and I'm a counselor. I was a maladaptive daydreamer."

Does this mean that you have freed yourself from MD or....? If so, how?

[Rosa Fox]

Hello there!

Thanks for bringing this community back! I`ve met some good folks around here : )

[Newt Llewellyn]

Thanks for the effort. Glad to be home XD

[tasniiem chandraa]

dear Valeria 

thank you for all you ve done :) 

really happy this place is still there

[Theaxe]

Regarding the Header: no, it's not too long, it just needs to be a short little phrase.

Regarding groups: I haven't been through all of them, I had just noticed a few I was interested in didn't have activity in years, and the two I'm part of (the writing groups) have almost no activity. I think if you contacted each group's admin to give them an update that the group will be removed if there is no response from them in 30 days or something? Maybe that would allow them the chance to come back or to let it fall away.

[Valeria Franco]

Yes I meant "where wild minds come to rest"... I love it, but yes, it's not very clear.

Maybe we can think something in the middle:

"maladaptive daydreaming:were wild minds come to rest" is it too long?

About the groups, I haven't really paid attention to them yet. Yes, you're right.

I'll have a look. I'll delete old inactive ones... are there any groups particular that need to be creared off? let me know...

[Theaxe]

I also have another suggestion: Freshening up the Groups. I went browsing through some groups and found many of them abandoned. I'm not sure if you want to give those groups time to see if people will come back, but with their own creators gone, it complicates things. Some groups only allow permission to join, for example. Others might have other reasons to require an active admin. If groups are already active, no problem. I am thinking of the ones that are cluttering the system without activity.

[Theaxe]

That makes sense. If you mean the Header "Where wild minds come to rest" - that might be an option. Something simple like "The Maladaptive Daydreaming Support Forum".. simple. It would be seen along with the site's title. I know it sounds boring, but it makes things clear. 

[Valeria Franco]

Thank you Theaxe for your suggestion!

It's complicated.

The site's name is the same of its address, I mean wildminds.ning.com.

Changing the website address means that people who are inside could not find it any more and its seo ranking would disapper. As this website is pretty old it has gained presence into Google and other search engines. All links from other websites to us would not work any more.

But we can do something else. We could change the subtitle and higlight the words "maladaptive daydreaming" in the homepage (which I'm going to update anyway).

[Theaxe]

Valeria, thank you for taking on the leadership and for accepting suggestions! I am wondering if you have considered giving the site a new name? I also wonder if the Community feels the same way. I know I do. The reason I ask is because when I was originally searching for a place to connect with others, the fact that the forum didn't have "maladaptive daydreaming" in its name or header made me question if I was coming to the right place. 

We have a new admin, many new members, and I as a former member who has come back would love to see a fresh start. If it's considered, perhaps we can create a Name The Board thread to submit and gather ideas? Just a thought.