Who wants change? Lay it on me...

[blindeyed]

After seeing this thread, its easy to tell not everyone is happy here. This is a problem for me. I don't like it when when my fellow F-body enthusiasts don't like coming to the one place I've tried my hardest to improve and to make better. Apparently my motives had adverse affects than for what I had hoped for. The majority of the regulars here have left, and this place is slowly dieing. I will not take this anymore.. Tell me what you want and I will see to it that it will happen. Neither I or any other moderator on these forums run this site. We just see to it to make sure that everyone is happy. From the looks of it, this isn't a very happy place anymore and that tells me I haven't been doing my job. So everyone, I plead with you, tell me how I can bring this place back on it's feet... Lay it on me, anything goes.

[Earlsfat]

Well as far as Dylan and Eric were concerned I understand that there was some "personality differences" amongst the mods... and some ego's got involved... and those guys had better things to do than deal with infantile power struggles. Guessing that's got a bit to do woth why Jeremy's leaving as well, just looking at how someone keeps pissing off the mod's. That started back when Hypsi died, apparently he kept a lot of peace.

As far as what I don't LIKE... I can't really say that I don't LIKE anything, I just can't FIND anything. My primary purpose for coming here in the first place was for information. There were tons of technical threads and general threads that had stuff I was looking for. I'll bet my next month's salary that I can't find them if I did a search, AND that they aren't listed in the new subforums.

IMO - Combining the Chevy and Pontiac forums was a disaster... YES they're similar vehicles etc, but well, I hate to seem sterotypical but Pontiac guys have their reputations, and so do us Chevy guys. I can remember quite a few battles between (forget their names - sorry) the 2 most knowledgeable guys on the boards just because they had different points of view. Not that it wasn't entertaining, but those 2 guys aren't around anymore, you can only assume it's because of the friction and the Mod's telling them to calm down. Only so much reprimanding can be tollerated when you're giving out advice for free when most of the world pays for it.

Thread hi-jacking pisses me off. And I full well understand that AF isn't the only place that happens. However a simple innocent hi-jack can totally kill an otherwise excellent source of information. I can't count the number of threads that have been ruined by hijacks... who wants to sift through 58 pages of "nice job man" type posts when the question and related responses could be read in 2 pages? Not me, my time is important to me, so... I stopped looking here for technical info. And without guys like Eric, John, Dylan, etc... this has become more of a BS type site.

The political correctness is also fatal. I understand that this is a site that my or may not be frequented by younger people, but when you have children getting sex education by the 6th grade... I hate to inform the owners of the site, but most kids could probably educate them on profanities, etc. Not saying that's reason to just totally drop all inhibitions and let this become a complete dirt-hole type website, but the Nazi-type language whip-cracking bullshit is just that... bullshit that serves no purpose.

The user level is down so far that the work involved to bring it back is going to be daunting. I honestly don't know how you'd do it, but hey... I'm a numbers guy. I know the powers that be don't like posting web addresses to competing sites (which I think is DUMB to a level that I almost can't believe - If you're worried about losing your membership to a competing website then you must be aware that your own website totally sucks. And there is nothing wrong with linking to information that you need but don't have.) but if you PM me, I'll give you a list of the one's I frequent and you can see how they're set up. WAY easier to find stuff, etc.

Don't blame you for getting frustrated Jer... keep in touch bro.

[Earlsfat]

This is gonna drive me nuts... Pbody and Mor... Mor... Morley! That's them. Phwew... never mind. Got it. Man...

[blindeyed]

#1 - This is news to me. Last I heard Dylan wouldn't be able to visit for a while because work was cracking down on his internet usage. Eric, he came back for a while, and then he disappeared. I haven't heard anything else, but would like to know more about what exactly the problem was.

#2 - I'd say you would win by a landslide on that bet. The search function hasn't worked right on AF for years now, and I don't anticipate that it will be fixed any time soon at this rate. But how can I fix this, what are some things you would like to see to make finding things easier? I'll try my best.

#3 - What would you suggest then, splitting the Camaro and Firebird forums apart to how they originally were?

#4 - Do you have any threads in particular that your referring to that I might see?

#5 - Again, do you have a thread that your referring to? I haven't been strict about the use of foul language, and haven't run into a thread where it was a problem with someone. So I'm just looking for a reference to maybe a specific situation you are referring to.

#6 - Tell me about it...

It's stupid to forbid such a thing. I personally don't give a crap about posting links to other forums. But the AF policy is that it's not allowed.

Here's a quote by Igor

Originally Posted by Igor

Offsite links that provide information that is otherwise unattainable on AutomotiveForums.com and which would help our members to gain useful information are of course a vital part of what we do: help our members. Creating a general rule regarding this issue is very difficult. However, I know when I see a link posted by a member that is intended to syphone off traffic from AF to another copy-cat AF message board or a website that is shameless self-promotion. If people seem to post a lot of links to some of the manufacturer/car specific message board, that is because they have a ton of valuable information and it simply means that we need to work harder to assemble such information and members on AF. It shows where exactly we have room for growth.

So I personally just try to do as he wishes, since he does own this site, and what he says goes.

[1986Z28]

combine the camaro and firebird discussion with multimedia and off topic, i liked the large amount of new threads in one place everyday, when they all got separated and i had to search i lost interest in coming here. also have a single tech area, separated into 3 groups, engine/drivetrain, interior/exterior, and suspension/chassis. elect some new mods to replace the old ones and start getting more technical info in the tech section, post info on your projects/rides, lets get some of the old members back in here!

[cuda_dude]

I don't think the problem is in the layout. The problem is that people have lives and after a while this place gets old to them. But then there also is the politics involved sometimes and who wants to put up with that.... So I say, we have had enough change... just let it run it's own course

and on the mod's topic... there isn't enough happening here to need mods... hell, I can't remember the last time I saw something that needed my attention.

[Earlsfat]

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#1 - This is news to me. Last I heard Dylan wouldn't be able to visit for a while because work was cracking down on his internet usage. Eric, he came back for a while, and then he disappeared. I haven't heard anything else, but would like to know more about what exactly the problem was.

That was part of the reason, but... probably more of an excuse. Dylan is one hell of a smart guy... if he wanted to get around work for AF he would have.

Eric quit because someone was twisting his nuts and he wasn't having fun anymore. I had a PM he sent me about it, but deleted it a while back.

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#2 - I'd say you would win by a landslide on that bet. The search function hasn't worked right on AF for years now, and I don't anticipate that it will be fixed any time soon at this rate. But how can I fix this, what are some things you would like to see to make finding things easier? I'll try my best.

Heh... if you're trying to attract members as a source of info then you have to get that fixed. If you want members as a bs type site... then you need to remove all the technical forums, etc. You need to make him understand that. As an automotive forum with tons of useful posts that are old... you need to get access to them - or dredge them out of the depths and archive them in a technical forum.

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#3 - What would you suggest then, splitting the Camaro and Firebird forums apart to how they originally were?

Well.. I went back and peeked at it (stress PEEKED)... I think you ought to remove the post on no new threads, and just say if they're gonna post threads, no hi-jacking and no BS. I'd also consolidate the technicals into one forums with the different subforums under that. I guess there's no harm in having the Pontiac / Chevy forums together now as it seems most members are going to have the 3rd and 4th gens which ARE the same cars.

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#4 - Do you have any threads in particular that your referring to that I might see?

Weak example here... http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbul...d.php?t=888491
I'll find more and post when I get time and if I can find them, lol.

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#5 - Again, do you have a thread that your referring to? I haven't been strict about the use of foul language, and haven't run into a thread where it was a problem with someone. So I'm just looking for a reference to maybe a specific situation you are referring to.

Wellllll.... I gotta look. I know there was a member (RaeRae???) that apparently whined to someone about the "Jim's Lounge" IIRC, I know that one went a little off the deep end though. Eric (I know he's gone) was famous for banning people (at least he warned me 2-3 times) for gay / fag comments, etc. Can't really recall specifically, hell, search my posts, where my posts started slacking off is when all that PC/language stuff happened. Dylan used to warn me all the time that there were quite a few mods that wanted to boot me.

Originally Posted by blindeyed

#6 - Tell me about it...

It's stupid to forbid such a thing. I personally don't give a crap about posting links to other forums. But the AF policy is that it's not allowed.

Here's a quote by Igor
So I personally just try to do as he wishes, since he does own this site, and what he says goes.

Apparently someone knows they've got a bit of a mess on their hands - and "HE" apparently could care less. I think you're doing a good job trying to get it straightened out. I'll try to hop on later and see if I can clarify anything I've said to help you out. Just uh... I hope you're not doing all of this pro-bono. Fixing his site so that it get hits and stuff so he collects $$$ due to your efforts and you not getting SOMETHING... that's screwed up.

EDIT - You're link to his post didn't show up for me at first... I agree with him to an extent. But he also needs to realize that if his site is that good, who in the hell cares what competing sites are linked if they suck??? And as far as getting the info on model / year specific cars... I guess he just wants to plagarize the work of other sites???? Sounds like a load of crap. If there's 2000 members contributing on engine tech forum of a 2gen camaro site say on the topic of 1976 Camaro with a 454 with Muncie swap, there is no way in hell AF can compete, sorry. Link the info if it's needed or do it via PM - that's what I do - and move on. I'm not going to try to "keep the traffic here" and give someone a half assed answer or steal is and post it as my own or for Igor's benefit. Besides... if you do it right and polite you're gonna be known as a source of knowledge anyway. "I'll bet Jim can tell me where to find _______."

[blindeyed]

Originally Posted by cuda_dude

I don't think the problem is in the layout. The problem is that people have lives and after a while this place gets old to them. But then there also is the politics involved sometimes and who wants to put up with that.... So I say, we have had enough change... just let it run it's own course

Well my concern is that the majority of those same people still post on other forums, but not here. Not everyone, but a good percentage of them do. So that just tells me they've lost interest in this place due to whatever..

[blindeyed]

Originally Posted by Earlsfat

Heh... if you're trying to attract members as a source of info then you have to get that fixed. If you want members as a bs type site... then you need to remove all the technical forums, etc. You need to make him understand that. As an automotive forum with tons of useful posts that are old... you need to get access to them - or dredge them out of the depths and archive them in a technical forum.

I've actually been talking to an administrator of another F-body site who specializes in vBulletin Search upgrades. They have a plugin for vBulletin that will most likely fix all of our search problems.. but they haven't released it to the public yet. They're just testing it out on the forums they operate. I've been looking for some sort of way to help out and fix this forum, even help advertise it on Fquick (see sig). But I never get acknowledged. It's gotten to the point to where it's useless even making suggestions about how to improve this site.

Originally Posted by Earlsfat

Wellllll.... I gotta look. I know there was a member (RaeRae???) that apparently whined to someone about the "Jim's Lounge" IIRC, I know that one went a little off the deep end though. Eric (I know he's gone) was famous for banning people (at least he warned me 2-3 times) for gay / fag comments, etc. Can't really recall specifically, hell, search my posts, where my posts started slacking off is when all that PC/language stuff happened. Dylan used to warn me all the time that there were quite a few mods that wanted to boot me.

I never went into the parlor enough to ever come across any problem.. From my perspective that was a no fly zone lol.

Originally Posted by Earlsfat

Apparently someone knows they've got a bit of a mess on their hands - and "HE" apparently could care less. I think you're doing a good job trying to get it straightened out. I'll try to hop on later and see if I can clarify anything I've said to help you out. Just uh... I hope you're not doing all of this pro-bono. Fixing his site so that it get hits and stuff so he collects $$$ due to your efforts and you not getting SOMETHING... that's screwed up.

EDIT - You're link to his post didn't show up for me at first... I agree with him to an extent. But he also needs to realize that if his site is that good, who in the hell cares what competing sites are linked if they suck??? And as far as getting the info on model / year specific cars... I guess he just wants to plagarize the work of other sites???? Sounds like a load of crap. If there's 2000 members contributing on engine tech forum of a 2gen camaro site say on the topic of 1976 Camaro with a 454 with Muncie swap, there is no way in hell AF can compete, sorry. Link the info if it's needed or do it via PM - that's what I do - and move on. I'm not going to try to "keep the traffic here" and give someone a half assed answer or steal is and post it as my own or for Igor's benefit. Besides... if you do it right and polite you're gonna be known as a source of knowledge anyway. "I'll bet Jim can tell me where to find _______."

Couldn't agree with you more man. I'm not in on it to help him profit in any way, just here trying to do what I can. If they tell me no links to other forums are allowed, so be it. I've seen the same rule enough on several other forums I go on, so it's nothing new to me.

[SG007]

Honestly? Nothing has gone wrong with the car in so long.
Yes I know, JINX. Now I'll be like Jim after a cheesteak, looking for information on spun bearings or some other wacky sh*t.
I have been busy with life, bottom line. Just haven't had time to sit down and post for hours on AF anymore.
Psst...hey Jim, you know if you ever got a flat tire, I could come change it for you

[Earlsfat]

In my best Timothy Dalton voice... "...you are playing with fire, Aura..."

Yeah, Blind, I ffel for you brother, but I think sites are kinda like Cuda says.. after a while you kinda get bored. I'd guess it'll pick up again, but not sure how many of us will be back on regularly. Me??? I've got some really oddball questions / issues, which although I'd like SG top come over and uh... give me a hand... I've got a site where what I'm doing has been done quite a few times and the info is there and the guys who put it there are still around to help if you have any issues. Mark Iv 454 in an early 2gen is common overthere... no offense to the guys here at AF, but I'm going to bet not too many of them are gonna be able to answer to my questions when I'm working on it at 4 in the am... the traffic isn't here. I think it was at one time, but with the reformatting, loss of threads in searches, etc....

[Genopsyde]

heh, and everyone wonders why I refused to become a mod. I too was upset when jims parlor was eliminated. anyway, the new/current layout blows. camaro and firebird need to be separated again. if a firebird owner wants to view the camaro section, i'm sure they know how to find it, if not, they don't need to be using a computer. and just have 2 subforums. "General Discussion" and "Technical Discussion" It's not that the place is dead. It's that none of the boneheads leave the banter thread. It's not the only thing going on here. close the banter thread and don't make another one. it's old news. if you put everything back into 1-2 places, it will liven things up substantially, or at least make it appear so.

[1986Z28]

what he said^

[cuda_dude]

I think this place loses people easily because it isn't a site dedicated to just camaros or just firebirds. Places like LS1tech and countless others are huge piles of knowledge with very knowledgeable people that specialize in just camaros or firebirds. This plae is more of a general car discussion site with a small handfull of people that know what they are talking about.... and because of that, this place is and always will be a newbe hangout with large turnover.
Just my 2cents

[skibum1111]

I personally think the layout of this particular forum can be confusing if you don't know where to look for information. I'm also on a bunch of other forums for different vehicles (lets face it, the xterra forum is very slow here) and the layout here is better than most. It got confusing when it got splintered up into a bunch of different sub topics of sub topics. Just my