The Rodding Roundtable
Motorhead Message Central => Rodder's Roundtable => Topic started by: enjenjo on October 07, 2008, 07:20:11 PM
I have been promising changes for some time now, and it hasn't been getting done. With Fatcat working full time, and going to school full time, he has not had much time to change things, and I am just a mechanic, and don't know squat about computers, so I can't change things either. Discussing things with Fatcat, usage is down, and neither one of us is sure why.
At this time, money is not a problem, there will be a donations post around the first of the year, and many members have sent funds, and I thank them all.
There is new software in the works, but there are some problems changing over, so we are still holding off on it. It should be coming soon.
If there are any changes you would like to see, PM me with the changes, and if we can, we'll take care of it. If there are any problems we can solve, we will take care of that too. If there is a problem with the adminisration, or moderation, I would like to hear about that too. I don't want this in public, so do it with a PM to me or Fatcat, or one of the other moderators.
Your input will be appreciated.
Frank
How about cup holders?
.bjb :lol:
Quote from: "Jokester"How about cup holders?
.bjb :lol:
And beer to put in said holders?
Quote from: "enjenjo"I have been promising changes for some time now, and it hasn't been getting done.
Frank you're sounding like a politician lol :lol:
I don't have anything to base this opinion on but I suspect that most members here pretty comfortable with the way things are and don't feel that big changes are needed. You probably get more feedback on that than I do but that's just my opinion. ...And then maybe the changes you're talking about will make your life easier too.
Regarding the slowdown of usage, I think it's more a sign of the times instead of an administration problem. Times are tough in the economy and some of us don't have extra money to put into our projects so without car things to post about we are pretty much left to make social posts, or none at all. Sometimes other interests occupy our extra time. I know in my case I'm doing a lot of home improvement/maintenance type things and it's using more money than I have. Maybe I'll stick some posts up in the Throne Room to show progress on those projects.
I don't have any suggestions for change. People here don't pick each other apart about every little thing and we have a nice mix of opinions and knowledge. Sometimes more members can mean more *. I really enjoy the comfortable camaraderie here and have made very good friendships over the years so whatever you guys decide is fine with me. I ain't going anywhere.
I guess I just felt like saying something since I haven't been posting much lately. :wink:
George has a good point. It is summer and some are out more than on line. Who knows. It was a year ago this past weekend that I met a few of you at ididit's show. Missed most of you this year but made it anyway. I've enjoyed my time here and the knowledge I've gained. It is easier to keep up with than the HAMB. Too much over there going way too fast and too much BS/OT posts. I'm still there but for most of the technical stuff, I get just as good of an answer here.
There has been lots of good feedback keep it up.
I agree 100% with George.
My two cents:
Change, IF, improvements are needed, is good.
Change, just for the sake of having something new is not always good.
Don't fix it if it ain't broke!
Although participation may be lower at times, we seem to have a solid and stable core group which still checks in here daily.
Tech info which is shared here seems to be highly reliable and accurate.
There has always been seasonal fluctuation in forum activity at the RRT.
Many RRT'ers read and/or participate at the HAMB, so I think they do not post as much here 'cause they think everyone here has already seen it at the HAMB. ......There's lots of great people and info at the HAMB, but I just don't have the time to wade through all the "clutter" to get to the good info. .....So, I choose to spend my time here.
My Dad used to tell me, "You're not learning anything while you're talking!" .....I took his advice, so I listen and read a lot. .....I (usually) only post to ask a question or share some info I'm sure is accurate.
That guy with the yellow dog and the purple pickup seems to have summed things up pretty well. :D
yup
Agree "Chaplin George" :D said it rather well. I know for myself I've been busy with getting some things done before winter :cry: comes. Helping the neighbor with some of his projects. I check every morning for heading out to work to see whats up. Have a pile of car magazines that is growing cause I don't have time to read those either. Finally getting something worked out on the springs on the coupe so maybe I can enjoy driving it some yet this year. Thanks for the help from all so far.
bc
Changes? Only if you want. Personally I usually check in twice a day just to look over the new postings. I seldom log in as that doesn't seem necessary unless I feel compelled to reply, which with limited knowledge happens seldom, technically speaking.
That said, I feel the boards nature currently is probably just to idle along until a pertinent subject is posted, which gets the accurate response in one to five replies or a compelling project is followed along, like the truck Frank just completed. There's a learning process that's associated with that type of post that's addictive.
Local, to the poster, show coverage is always a window into different areas of the country and an opportunity to see members mugs and rides which might not be readily available to all the members all the time. Like the recent IDIDIT thing. Always interesting!
I also believe that with the recent 30% asset devaluation folks may be watching their spending habits which causes stagnation in the market of projects and purchase. With less to install or modify, less general knowledge questions that can lead to different opinions and options.
This current financial status may tend to drive questions and comments of a more general nature or social commentary which generally doesn't lend itself to the meat of this boards Roundtable page, rather then a specific need.
And, it was kind of a strange car year for me personally, with the weather and increased costs associated with travel and lodging. Maybe for others too.
I slipped back into an old favorite, golf and gave the car thing a small rest.
So, in conclusion, I doubt that any changes will have any dramatic effect on the personally of the board and may in fact prove futile.
Anyway that's my .014 cents................Frank
I also don't see much serious need for change, but if you want to keep it fresh there's nothing wrong with that and hey, it's your place. I haven't participated as much for the last few months, and maybe my reasons apply to others. The business environment is very challenging, there isn't a lot of money available for projects right now, and in any case the economy is causing my day job to take up more of my time, attention, and energy. I also don't go to the HAMB all that much. No problem with it, but as above you have to search through a lot of other stuff to find what you want. If anyone wants to go to the effort to post both places I'd appreciate it but it's your time. IMO tech and progress posts are key and I've resolved to start contributing more as I get in the garage. As a matter of fact I already have all the legwork and pics to put something up that hopefully will interest at least a few, but just haven't had the time.
Just to alleviate any fears about the mentioned changes. The changes enjenjo has mentioned in the past were a new chat room which is now up and a change to the forum software from phpBB to SMF. The reason we want to change the forum software is that the software we are running on now was designed about 8-9 years ago. They have a newer version that is not as friendly to the administrator and does not offer the features we have here now. The SMF software is better supported and has more of the features included by default. I have played with the new software and like it much better than the current but I am having issues with integrating it into the current site design.
One of the key factors in any complete updates that are done to the site is that I want to minimize the number of times you have to sign up for the site. I do not want you have to sign up for the forum then sign up for the chat room then sign up for the next feature. I want you to be able to do many things on different parts of the site all based off one log in to the site. We now have that with the chat room and the forum. You no longer have to create a separate log in to the chat room. Another advantage of the new forum software is that it is much more flexible in hooking into the user login and accessing features.
All I need is some free time to get everything working in my head and on the computer and the updates will come. One of the reasons for this little survey was to see what you guys and gals might what to have on the site so that we did not go to some trouble to add something that no one but myself would ever use.
An example of this is the calendar (http://www.roddingroundtable.com/forums/cal_lite.php) and want ads section that I installed on the forums some time back No one seems to use it much. While it was not a big change nor was it hard to include it just seems that while I thought it might be helpful it has not turned out to be as useful.
I know for myself that making changes is a time consuming process and I am not making changes simply to make changes. The changes we are planning are being made in the hope that the site becomes more secure and to keep the spammers at bay for a while longer. But at the same time if there are features you would like to see let us know.
one of the reasons we don't have many change suggestions might be we don't know WHATS available.
i'm comfortable with where the board is at but i understand the need to have easier and supported software. i sure the rest of us trust your judgment on what needs to be done.
thanks as always for all you and the other mods do. );b(
later jim
Can't contribute much on the change thing as most of what's been said covers it. If I had to vote for something it would be for a little bigger picture size allowed. I have pics I've resized for other forums that I have to shrink some more to post here. I recognize it's probably a bandwidth thing and that's an important consideration. That being said, I'm not a frequent flyer here so it's a very minor issue to me.
As for traffic being down that seems to be for many forums and I agree with the comments about how most of us seem to run into one another at other outposts on the web. Just the same, I find the knowledge level here to be very high and learn something on a regular basis. I personally was touted off the HAMB years ago by the drama and too frequent for my tastes punk attitude. I've been reading that that's changed somewhat since then, but now the "problem" appears to be so much traffic there it takes too much time to try to keep up. Which brings me back to RRT; good folks, good info, a relaxed atmosphere, easy to handle, and doesn't suck up more of my life than I'm willing to invest.
Thanks for doing a good job and hosting a good site.
"If I had to vote for something it would be for a little bigger picture size allowed."
Good point. What I don't understand with the current set up is how to have an acceptable pic in the thread and then when it's clicked on.........some increase in size.
Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out this winter.....
Quote from: "slocrow""If I had to vote for something it would be for a little bigger picture size allowed."
Good point. What I don't understand with the current set up is how to have an acceptable pic in the thread and then when it's clicked on.........some increase in size.
Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out this winter.....
Some folks post small pictures... the board will enlarge them slightly for the thread post. When you clik on the photo you see a smaller photo ( actual size)
I post the largest photo the board will accept , so when you clik on my photos the actual size is larger than shown in the thread.
I'm also very happy with the board. since i retired I am on here a lot (too much) I like the classifieds and have used them a few times, but I don't seem to check them as often as i shuld. As far as traffic, to me it seems to come and go in spurts, but I can always count ona quick answer or reply. I have a super secret :lol: Project that i'm just starting on that i want to document with pictures that I want to share here...all i need is that Model A frame to get started...Like I said at the start of this reply...I'm very happy with this board and appreciate the effort put into it!
Frank....
For what it's worth, I belong to 2 other forums having to do with cars and motorcycles, and both of them also have slowed down in participation...
One of them probably on a weekly basis by a half....
Could be the summer, the economic times we are in or something in the air.
So it's not just this forum.
And as for change, I'm kinda like the rest ...Change what?
Things seem to work real well now.
As Jim said what is available that would be better?
Dusty
What George said.
I really like the slow movement of threads here, the hamb is lost in hours and far too many punks. as long as i can continue the rivalry with hooley and gang I'm in.....I cant work on my own site and sure can't tell you how to run yours but i would vote for larger pics as well , thanks for all you do man , sam
My view is as said , If it aint broke , dont fix it !
I have found the forum very good over the years and unlike others there is rarely any bickering , my only problem is deciphering the American language :lol: :lol: :wink: i s'pose it the same vice versa , but we get there ....... a great site.
Ditto to the prev post from OZ................Frank.
One little thing that probably isn't noticed by people that can type faster than me. When I type a message or comment on a forum I hit the button to insert the comment and then try to back up to the Forum and get the message that the Web page is closed. This doesn't happen on another site I comment on as I can back through my replay, through the question/comment and back to the main page. If this is part of the program to deal with SPAM then so be it. Just a question. GPster
Quote from: "GPster"One little thing that probably isn't noticed by people that can type faster than me. When I type a message or comment on a forum I hit the button to insert the comment and then try to back up to the Forum and get the message that the Web page is closed. This doesn't happen on another site I comment on as I can back through my replay, through the question/comment and back to the main page. If this is part of the program to deal with SPAM then so be it. Just a question. GPster
When that comes up, hit refresh and see if that works.
I think that Joe needs to click on the forum link on the page instead of going back. By going back then hitting refresh I think it can submit a duplicate message....a double post. I'm going to try it to see.
I think that Joe needs to click on the forum link on the page instead of going back. By going back then hitting refresh I think it can submit a duplicate message....a double post. I'm going to try it to see.
Yup, it does.
joe does the page say the website is closed or that the page has expired? when i used MS explorer i would get the expired page when going back. if that is what you get keep clicking back til you get where you want to be. i don't get that now that i am using firefox.
later jim
I don't have photografi memory so I'll have to try it and take notes (and I write slower than I type). Let me get paper and pencil and take notes. GPster
I don't have photografi memory so I'll have to try it and take notes (and I write slower than I type). Let me get paper and pencil and take notes. GPster
What I got was the web page has expired. when I hit refresh it brought me back to my message and I tried to go foreward by hitting my post again which posted my message again and gave me the Web page has expired again. Then I did like I usually do and close this site (X) and opened it again. I know how to work it this way if the problem is me instead of the program. GPster
If you are getting the web page has expired, you should be able to click back through it.
Gosh, imagine that, I'm late again, but just coz I aint here every other minute like the old days doesn't mean I aint lurkin in the shadows keepin' an eye on you guys..
Like many have said, if it aint broke don't fix it.
But like every good hot rodder, if ya can make it look better, go faster etc, who cares if it aint broke? :lol: :lol: :lol:
Do whatcha gotta do and I'm sure we'll all work out how to drive it.
I'm just a lurker now as I have sold my cars and am building an airplane,
but I have always been happy with the RRT.
It was always a great resource and I was continually amazed at the depth of knowledge of the people here.
If you guys don't mind, I'll continue to lurk. I enjoy reading the level of camaraderie that goes on here.
Harry
Quote from: "tonto1"I'm just a lurker now as I have sold my cars and am building an airplane,
but I have always been happy with the RRT.
It was always a great resource and I was continually amazed at the depth of knowledge of the people here.
If you guys don't mind, I'll continue to lurk. I enjoy reading the level of camaraderie that goes on here.
Harry
no need to be just a lurker. post about the plane you are building, i for one would be very interested in the build. please!!
later jim
Quote from: "river1"Quote from: "tonto1"I'm just a lurker now as I have sold my cars and am building an airplane,
but I have always been happy with the RRT.
It was always a great resource and I was continually amazed at the depth of knowledge of the people here.
If you guys don't mind, I'll continue to lurk. I enjoy reading the level of camaraderie that goes on here.
Harry
no need to be just a lurker. post about the plane you are building, i for one would be very interested in the build. please!!
later jim
Me too. After all, isn't it just a flying hot rod?
Personally I think this is about the best forum around, and I know I've brought problems here and got intelligent answers / suggestions pretty quick, and I REALLY appreciate that! There are a couple of other boards I went to where it seemed like everyone got on to everyone else for stupid things. Not here. As far as changes, well the only other thing I'd like to see is a function where, say if I was having problems with a carb for example, I could enter 'carburator" in a search and everything about carbs would come up and so on. Now, I could be wrong and that might be possible right now, but not that I know of. No big deal, just a thought!
Quote from: "Topsterguy"As far as changes, well the only other thing I'd like to see is a function where, say if I was having problems with a carb for example, I could enter 'carburator" in a search and everything about carbs would come up and so on.
Your wish has been granted.
Check the top of the page ...
See the button that says "search" ?
http://www.roddingroundtable.com/forums/search.php
Wow! There IS a Santa Claus! Thanks! Ain't this world of technology great..........I just have to catch up with it! :lol:
I frequent three different message boards and must admit I probably have dropped off a bit of late but it's more to do with being busy with other things.
I'm happy with the way things are here and I'm happy knowing I can just log back on whenever I like.
I share the opinion of most here that things aren't broke.......
I like it here
Been busy as hell with my own things, Getting ready to move south, Built my own forum with another guy, Not Hot rod related, Took a few bits of advice from Fatcat, which has worked out extremly well, You guys will like SMF if and when he makes the change...
It is not hot rod related but if anyone wants a look at SMF here it is...Thanks a ton fatcat for the advice you given me, The server is working out excellent, Have not had a single problem yet "Knock on Wood"...
www.dtsfab.com
Enjenjo you do a fabulous job, "No matter what team smart says about ya"
keep up the good work, I been goona try and stop by chat but keep forgetting the time..Look at my watch and miss it by a few hours... :D Anyhow ill try and stop by, kinda miss shooting the * with you ol boys... :D
Hey, long time no see. You're moving south? Where? How's the body building business going? Sold any to that guy who was bugging you last year? LOL I went and looked at your site. Are you still building the bodies or did you go back to 4X4's and buggies?
Lately o a lot of sites I've been seeing a lot of "You need to upgrade to a new computer if you want to see any part of this site. HA HA HA HA HA..."
Please don't do that to us dialup, 9 year old computer users.
My puter's so old ('00 Mac G4 OS 9.1) it won't even work on cable, etc.
Still glassing, But not bodies, To many cheap bastards wanting something for nothing, Not worth it... :D
Not exactly positive of What town, heading south friday to do some browsing, check into a few job prospects etc etc... Didn't sell that ol bastard anything, His Cadillac was a POS he wanted to trade... :lol: