Celtic Circle - a forum for those with Scottish/Celtic heritage!

[Varlov]

Forum Showcase

Hey everyone! I made the Celtic Circle forum [nofollow] on behalf of my Scottish clan's organization, in which I serve on the board (we are also in the process of achieving non-profit status in the U.S.). This forum is a virtual gathering place for any people who have Scottish/Celtic heritage or ancestry and for those who are just interested in Scotland in general.

While I purchased the very nice premium theme "Comet" (https://smftricks.com/index.php?action=store;sa=view;id=43 [nofollow]) from Diego Andres on smftricks.com [nofollow], I had to revert to the default theme to get all of the mods to play nicely together. So instead I recolored some portions of the default theme to represent my own clan's primary colors and made a neat .svg logo in Canva. Actually all of the images on the forum were put together using Canva and generative AI. I haven't yet emailed all of my clan's members to inform them about this forum yet, so there is only one other member besides myself on there.

Main focus:
Aside from what I have already mentioned above, this forum will also act (hopefully) as a medium for the general preservation of Scottish heritage. Users who subscribe to the forum get access to boards which are essentially digital collections of artifacts (museum exhibitions, research papers, etc.) relating to Scottish clans and history, gathered wisdom, and genealogy/ancestry help and projects. There is also a newsletter/magazine which subscribers receive, and all of the issues from the past (including the new revamped version) are posted there as well — there are 34 issues in total, spanning back to 2004. Lastly, some features are unlocked after subscribing such as topic prefixes and cool member group icons.

It's also worth noting that all subscriptions are treated as non-profit donations and are directed to the Clan Wardlaw Association's treasury. We use those funds to pay for the various fees connected with Scottish highland games and gatherings, maintaining our library in Florida, donating to important cemeteries, supporting the restoration of Scottish castles, etc.

Target audience:
Any people who are aware of and take pride in their Scottish/Celtic heritage and ancestry — there are many thousands of such people in the U.S. alone.

List of mods and customizations:
-Awesome Post Ratings
-Topic Solved
-Custom Form Mod
-Enhanced Quick Reply
-Curve2 Color Changer
-Custom Board Icons
-Badge Awards
-Optimus
-AJAX Recent Topics
-SMF Post Prefix
-ST Shop
-Hashtags mod
-Board Sorting Method
-Simple Colorizer
-Simple Referrals
-Emoji Pro
-Hide Images From Guests
-Avatars Display Integration
-There are 400 AI-generated avatars users can choose from.
-Custom shop items, such as private board purchase: Users earn Crowns by posting then they can buy a voucher to have an admin set up a board for a subject of their own choosing which they will moderate. There are also some Scottish-themed and limited edition items.

I put this all together with the idea of having a somewhat "future proof" solution for these likeminded people. I kicked around the idea of making a Discord server or a subreddit, but running SMF on my own private server is the safest best as well as the most effective. I hope you all like it.

In an effort to help kickstart the Celtic Circle, I am willing to automatically award the higher subscription tier to the first 25 people that join (indefinitely - you will never have to subscribe). If you happen to have a bit of Scottish blood, I hope to see you there!

(P.S. I'm aware that in general it is required to not be using the default theme when showcasing, however, I was forced to stop using a custom theme for stability purposes and the mods are necessary in order to achieve the actual goal of the forum. I would be very thankful for your understanding.)

[Steve]

Very nicely done. Topic approved.

[Varlov]

Very nicely done. Topic approved.

Thanks boss! 🙏

[Diego Andrés]

Awesome site!
In the future if you wish I can help you over on my site to get those MODs working if you are interested.