TrekNation

"This article is about the website. For the 2006 film, see Trek Nation."

Infobox Website
name = TrekNation
url = http://www.treknation.com


commercial = No
type = Fan site
registration = Free
owner = Christian Höhne Sparborth
author = Christian Höhne Sparborth

TrekNation is a reference and community website for the long-running "Star Trek" franchise. It also serves as a hub for its network websites: TrekToday, a news site updated nearly daily; TrekBBS, which describes itself as the largest "Star Trek" community on the Internet; [ [http://www.treknation.com/ The Trek Nation] Accessed on August 22, 2007] and Jammer's Reviews, a "Star Trek" review site.

TrekNation

History

TrekNation was established on June 27, 1999 by Christian Höhne Sparborth as a network site for Sparborth's sites TrekToday and TrekBBS after he left another network, the TrekZone Network, over disagreements with TrekZone's founder. [cite web
url = http://www.trektoday.com/archives/june1999_classic.shtml
title = TrekToday News Archive — June 1999
accessdate = 2007-08-19] Other websites included in TrekNation were Jamahl Epsicokhan's review site and the now defunct Warp Eleven.

In addition to serving as a network site, TrekNation conducted a number of interviews with past and present "Star Trek" cast, crew, and contributors; published articles and columns on the Trek franchise; and posted reviews of ', ' and "". The site also maintained both an episode guide for the various "Star Trek" series and a now defunct section dedicated to the Wildstorm "Star Trek" comics.

After the cancellation of "Enterprise", the articles and interviews began to slow down. As of 2007, TrekNation's main updates are "Retro Reviews" of the original ' and '.

TrekNation and its networked sites have been affiliated with the UGO Network since TrekNation's founding.

Trek Nation Episode Guide

TrekNation still maintains an episode guide for all Trek series (including ). Although information on the episodes themselves are not as detailed as that at Memory Alpha, all episode pages for "", "Voyager", and "Enterprise" contain links to both TrekNation's review of the episode and reviews on other websites. Links are not provided to the Retro Reviews of "Star Trek" and "The Next Generation". Most episodes from all six series also include a parody written by [http://www.fiveminute.net FiveMinute.net] .

TrekBBS

History

TrekBBS, founded in late 1998, is the largest and most active section of TrekNation, with over 8500 registered users. Sparborth, the site's founder, was the first head administrator. In June 1999, TrekBBS became part of TrekNation, and was updated with a new layout, known to many posters as "Big Blue". The site also became affiliated with UGO at this time.

In December 2002, a banned troll crashed the database by creating thousands of blank accounts. Unfortunately, the database was unrecoverable, and Sparborth had to restore the database from an old backup created in September 2002. This meant a loss of four months' worth of posts and user accounts. The board was also upgraded to a newer version of UBB.threads, complete with a new layout ("Big Gray", the current layout), however, the server had continual issues with the new version of the software, and continues to have problems to this day. Most of these problems have been corrected with the switch to vBulletin, which occurred on February 23 through February 24, 2008.

After restoring the boards, Sparborth decided to step down as head administrator, and turned the job over to the administrator Lisa, who had been the "de facto" head for several months. [cite web |url=http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=569232 | title = On the software update & on my resignation | accessdate = 2007-08-20 |work = TrekBBS] In September 2004, Lisa resigned as well, and Bonnie Malmat, known on the BBS as T'Bonz, replaced her as head administrator, a position she still holds. [cite web |url=http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=3385418 |title=New Management|work= TrekBBS |accessdate = 2007-08-20] In 2005, Malmat was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times on her views of fandom in light of and about TrekBBS's stand on the contentious issues surrounding [http://www.trekunited.com TrekUnited's] "Save Enterprise" campaign. cite news|author = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|title = Effort to save 'Star Trek' goes boldly — nowhere|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=322440|publisher = Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|date = 2005-05-02|accessdate = 2007-08-18] In 2007, the Los Angeles Times again interviewed Malmat for her opinion of fan reaction toward plans for a new Star Trek film by J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof. cite news|author = Los Angeles Times|title = How do the Trekkers feel about Abrams’ ‘Star Trek’?|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/movies/la-et-startrek11oct11,0,6097529.story?coll=la-home-entertainment|publisher = Los Angeles Times|date = 2007-10-10|accessdate = 2007-10-14]

Forums

The board includes dedicated forums for all aspects of the "Star Trek" franchise, including each television series, the movies, novels, games, and fan creations such as fan fiction. Additionally, there are a number of forums for discussion of topics other than Star Trek. These include forums for other science fiction shows such as "Battlestar Galactica", "Stargate", "Doctor Who", & "Lost", as well as forums on less specific topics, including general media, politics, and miscellaneous discussion. The board also has an active social community, which has led to the creation of several spin-off boards.

Notable Members

Several "Star Trek" professionals frequent TrekBBS. They include actress Chase Masterson, [cite web | url=http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=41199&Number=8027349&Board=TTnews&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=2&vc=1 | title= Chase Masterson's member profile | accessdate = 2007-08-27] frequent illustrator Rick Sternbach, [cite web |url= http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=11741 |title = Rick Sternbach's member profile |accessdate = 2007-08-20] graphic designers Michael Okuda [cite web |url= http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=28513 |title = Mike Okuda's member profile |accessdate = 2007-08-20] and Andrew Probert, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=36972&Number=8004095&Board=UBB8&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=1&vc=1 Andrew Probert's member profile] Accessed on August 23, 2007] and "Enterprise" producers and writers David Goodman [cite web |url = http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=17263 |title = David Goodman's member profile |accessdate = 2007-08-20] and Mike Sussman. [cite web |url= http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=16615 |title = Mike Sussman's member profile |accessdate = 2007-08-20]

Additionally, many professionals affiliated with Pocket Books post about "Star Trek" novels, including current editors [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=6528&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Margaret Clark's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] and [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=729&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Marco Palmieri's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] and former editor John Ordover. [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=924&Number=1702897&Board=TrekLit&what=showflat&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1 John Ordover's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Authors such as , [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=2793&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Christopher Bennett's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Margaret Wander Bonanno, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=10555&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Margaret Wander Bonanno's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Greg Cox, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=27067&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Greg Cox's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Keith R.A. DeCandido, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=551&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Keith DeCandido's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] , David Mack, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=18568&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= David Mack's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Andy Mangels, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=15713&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Andy Mangels's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Michael A. Martin, [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=&User=39979&page=12&what=showmembers Michael A. Martin's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] (who is also currently a moderator on the board), [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=10500&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Terri Osborne's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] Geoffrey Thorne, and Dayton Ward [ [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/showprofile.php?Cat=0&User=1129&what=search&Searchpage=1&topic= Dayton Ward's member profile] Accessed on August 20, 2007] also make regular posts at TrekBBS. Because of these visits, several authors have included TrekBBS in their acknowledgements, particularly in "Articles of the Federation" [DeCandido, K.(2005): 399. "Articles of the Federation". New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 1-4165-0015-4] and "The Art of the Impossible", [DeCandido, K.(2003). 353: "The Art of the Impossible". New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-6405-2] both by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and "Ex Machina" [Bennett, C.(2005): viii. "Ex Machina". New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-9285-4] by Christopher L. Bennett. Additionally, Margaret Wander Bonanno credits TrekBBS and several of its posters (including two former moderators) for reviving her "Star Trek" writing career on the dedication page of "Catalyst of Sorrows". [Bonanno, M.W.(2003): dedication. "Catalyst of Sorrows". New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-6407-9]

TrekToday

TrekToday is TrekNation's news site. It went live on February 5, 1999 [cite web
url = http://www.trektoday.com/archives/february1999_classic.shtml
title = TrekToday News Archive — February 1999
accessdate = 2007-08-19] , and has had near-daily updates since then. In addition to posting news about "Star Trek", Trek Today posts TrekNation's Retro Reviews and Site Columns, highlighting past Trek news and highly active threads on TrekBBS. The current news editors are Sparborth and Michelle Erica Green, who also writes the episode reviews.

In early 2001, TrekToday was the first site to post information about the characters for the then-upcoming "Enterprise". [cite news
url =http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/05/star.trek.cast/
author = Allen, Jamie
title = Site offers possible glimpse at new 'Star Trek' cast
publisher = CNN
date = 2001-03-06
accessdate = 2007-08-21] Sparborth was later interviewed in 2002 about the possible end of the "Star Trek" franchise. [cite news
url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,72882,00.html
author = DiLiberto, Jr., James
title = Witnessing the End of the Enterprise?
publisher = Fox News
date = 2002-12-13
accessdate = 2007-08-21]

Jammer's Reviews

Jammer's Reviews, formerly known as Star Trek: Hypertext, is the only TrekNation site not founded by Sparborth. Instead, the site was founded in 1995 by Jamahl Epsicokhan, known on TrekBBS and his site as Jammer. Jammer's site originally focused on reviews of "Deep Space Nine", "Voyager" and "Andromeda". Star Trek: Hypertext was part of TrekZone before migrating to TrekNation upon the latter's founding in 1999. In 2000, Jammer was invited by "Voyager" producer Joe Menosky to pitch a story, although nothing came of it. [cite web | url=http://www.jammersreviews.com/misc/articles/pitch/intro.php | title = Jammer Goes to L.A. | accessdate = 2007-08-20] Also, from September to December 2000, Jammer's "Voyager" and "Andromeda" reviews were syndicated by Space.com. This ended in January 2001, when Space.com closed their science-fiction section. [cite web | url=http://www.jammersreviews.com/info/faq.php | title = Jammer's Reviews — FAQs | accessdate = 2007-08-20]

On TrekBBS, Jammer is one of the moderators of the "Deep Space Nine" forum, a position he has held since the forum's creation. On his website, he has begun reviewing the new "Battlestar Galactica" and "The Next Generation".

pin-offs

Sparborth owns two other websites which are similar to TrekNation. The first is [http://www.csifiles.com/ CSI Files] , launched in 2003. It publishes news on "CSI:" and its spinoff shows. It also includes a TrekBBS-like forum, [http://talk.csifiles.com TalkCSI] . The second site is [http://www.getdesperate.com Get Desperate!] , a site for "Desperate Housewives" news. This site launched in 2005. Sparborth owned a third site for "Andromeda", Slipstream Web, but this site is now defunct.

Several message boards have spun-off from TrekBBS itself. Among these are [http://www.flukiescafe.com/ Flukie's Cafe] , [http://www.kellyzkorner.net/forums/ Kelly'z Korner] , [http://www.lonaf.com LoNAF] , [http://www.refcl.com/ rEFCL] , [http://renext.nusseymagazine.com/ Renaissance Next] , [http://www.terranbbs.net TerranBBS] , [http://www.trollkingdom.net Troll Kingdom] , and [http://www.wordforge.net Wordforge] .

References

External links

* [http://www.treknation.com TrekNation]
* [http://www.trekbbs.com TrekBBS]
* [http://www.trektoday.com TrekToday]
* [http://www.jammersreviews.com/ Jammer's Reviews]
* [http://www.trekbbs.com/members/faq.shtml TrekBBS FAQ #1]
* [http://www.trekbbs.com/threads/faq.php?Cat=0 TrekBBS FAQ #2]

See also

*Outpost Gallifrey
*GateWorld
*TheForce.Net
*Memory Alpha