Members run roadster forum

[robo]

Is there no way we as members could not buy this site and bring it up to date. Its not just the spam although its done untold damage. I think the whole site has outgrown the boots its wearing. I do believe it could do with things like a traders section, gallery, seperate build thread section, in the workshop section, and thats but to name a few. I had a quick look up on google and a forum would run out to pennies per member to run and maintain. How do we go about talking to haynes with the view running the show with the mods we have?????

Bob

[shh120m]

In theory it would be a nice idea,but in practice could it cause problem once politics/opinions get in the way?

[robo]

[quote=shh120m;84273]In theory it would be a nice idea,but in practice could it cause problem once politics/opinions get in the way?[/QUOTE

We have two shit hot mods that make all the decisions so where is the problem?
Its not like we would all be bitching about how its run , just bring it up to date with a few more sections job done ish

Bob

[shh120m]

might be a good idea then, seing as haynes dont really care. They would probably want one squillion pounds tho

[The V8 Files]

Originally Posted by robo

Is there no way we as members could not buy this site and bring it up to date. Its not just the spam although its done untold damage. I think the whole site has outgrown the boots its wearing. I do believe it could do with things like a traders section, gallery, seperate build thread section, in the workshop section, and thats but to name a few. I had a quick look up on google and a forum would run out to pennies per member to run and maintain. How do we go about talking to haynes with the view running the show with the mods we have?????

Bob

Bob I agree with all your reasoning above, looking at other forums and their presentation this does seem a little dated and would really benefit from both updating and reorganising some of the material.

Whether Haynes would allow the use of their name/logo outside of their control is another question.

Just some randomly plucked figures - prior to the spam issue I believe there were approx 200 member, assuming only 60% would be willing to pay for example a £10 annual membership that could raise approx £1200 annually. I have no idea how much a forum costs to run.

I think what we're really missing here is any form of an update from Haynes/Admin!

Nathan I see your point but I think that could be easily solved by paying members electing the Mods, my guess is the existing Mods would be re elected without hesitation if that ever happened

Just my thoughts

[robo]

Other forums like the one below are free membership in part with paid up only to view certain areas. sign up is about a week while their vetting is done. No one joins without a bit of a proper email address with of few emails exchanged . A section for everything and thousands of happy bunnies Oh and no spam

http://www.nsra.org.uk/newforum/index.php

Bob

Only 5 oft the 25 currently logged in are proper members and 3500 of the active members are spammers .Great

[twinturbo]

4 ways forward.

1) It gets fixed up
2) It gets abandoned and we all say cherio
3) It gets abandond and we build a fresh comunity losing all the super content.
4) it gets transferred to new management/system with the old content rolled in.


3) & 4) require a platform

vBulletin is a pay for licence, however a converter is available to convert the forum to phpBBx

https://www.phpbb.com/community/view...f=65&t=1722325


there's various options for where and how to actually host it. Ranging from free to expensive.

TT

[twinturbo]

Actualy make that 5.

Admin get's devolved to the comunity but remains on Haynes Servers.

Rob

[spud69]

I seem to remember Ronnie, Bonzo, starting his own builders forum a while ago - guess what it's still live:

http://www.bonzoronnie.com/forum/

[PorkChop]

I think the problem ultimately is due to the outdated software the forum currently uses (V3.6 was released in 2006 IIRC). vBulletin are now going onto V5 (which is in beta release, the stable version is 4.2). The upgrade would cost $209, with an outright purchase being $249. Plus factor in admin time/cost to perform the upgrade, then there is a financial cost for Haynes to consider before it can be done.

I will say it would be a right shame to lose this forum, so I hope abandoning it isn't on Haynes' list of options!