GT40s.com Improvements - Please help!

[Ron Earp]

Dear Forum Members,

We’re about a month away from the end of 2007 and the beginning of the holiday season for most folks. Thanks to all of you for making 2007 a fantastic year on the forum! We’ve seen a lot of new members join, the forum is expanding with a few new sections that proved popular, and I’ve really enjoyed meeting many new forum personalities this year.

In December of each year I typically update the forum software, add new features, fix bugs, and give it a “tune up”. Some of the duties I perform myself, some of it I farm out to outside programmers who are far more knowledgeable about VB than I am.

In preparation for the end of year tune up I’d like to ask the forum members what features would you like to see the forum support? We all visit other internet car forums I’m sure, so are there features other sites have that you’d like to see here at GT40s.com?

Please, take a few minutes to think about how GT40s.com meets your needs and put down any ideas you might have to improve the forum.

Thanks!
Ron

[Simon]

How about a GTD/KVA specific section. I know there was a GTD specific section earlier this year which got canned because nobody used it, but maybe as a sub section of the GTD or Enthusiasts club section. It wouldn't need to be shown on the opening page, but if you hunted for it, it would be there. There are still plenty of GTD's and KVA's being built.
Maybe if there's no room for it here, there could be a new forum created on the GTD website when it revamps in the new year? (although that would fragment the database of info)

Also how about a database of all the oem parts used for the various replicas? ie front balljoints on a CAV, steering column on a RF40, all the bits that AREN'T made by the kit manufacturers. Apart from the info being of use to builders/2nd owners etc, it could also be used as a selling point (for new owners who didn't get involved in the build/don't want to get their hands dirty)

Simon

[JohnC]

A FAQ for new members?

And how about an area for "How to" articles?

[Russ Noble]

Originally Posted by simonjrwinter

Also how about a database of all the oem parts used for the various replicas? ie front balljoints on a CAV, steering column on a RF40, all the bits that AREN'T made by the kit manufacturers. Apart from the info being of use to builders/2nd owners etc, it could also be used as a selling point (for new owners who didn't get involved in the build/don't want to get their hands dirty)

Simon

That's a good idea Simon.

Domtoni suggested a similar thing for transaxle comparison. Someone has to do it. You could be like Dom and start it yourself. It could be made a sticky so it's easy to find. So could the transaxle one.

The search function. Is it possible to alter it so that it will find a phrase e.g. "Porsche clutch plate" but only bring up "Porsche clutch plate" not everything with "Porsche" and "clutch" and "plate".

What about a feature that will find a word or phrase within a very long thread and only that thread?

Or maybe I just need instruction on how to use the search properly?

Anyway Ron, thanks for a great resource.

Cheers

[Jim Pearson]

Hi Ron,

Can you increase the 200 limit on 'New Posts'?

Such is the popularity of the forum that one only needs to be away from Internet access for more than a few days to have accumulated more than 200 unseen postings.

I think the 200 limit also applies to search results - maybe the same mechanism.

Thanks for all your efforts.

Jim

[Ron Earp]

Good suggestion, keep them coming!

Comments thus far:

• KVA section - the GTD section didn't work out, and there are far more GTDs than KVAs. I'll leave this to the Club Forum if they wish to do this.
• Parts Databases - can certainly be kept by enthusiastic owners and we can host them in a special forum if there is enough interest. I won't upkeep them, but I'll make a place to put them if there is interest.
• "How To" has been tried a few times but it peters out for some reason. I'm not against trying it again, but how would it be different from technical topics that are well-categorized?
• FAQ/Rules needs to be updated. I will do that, the thread exists in the "New" Forum.
• I can improve searching a little bit and will do that. Bear in mind you can select the minimum number of replies to a thread before it will be included in the results. That way you can limit the results to long threads.
• 200 hit limit I think I can fix.

Good ideas, keep them coming.

Ron

[Bill Hara]

Don't know if this a programming thing or my own setup, but when I hit new posts upon logging in, if I then get called away for work purposes, come back about 30min later and hit new posts again, it only shows items from the last half hour. Becomes a pain to go through individual forums to find stuff I haven't read.
If I don't log in as myself but use the forum as an anonymous person, there is a tab called Today's Posts which is also useful. Can this feature be added for use when I'm logged in?

Thanks

Bill

[JackW]

"if I then get called away for work purposes, come back about 30min later and hit new posts again, it only shows items from the last half hour"

the answer to that Bill is don't do any work until you have read the GT40 posts. Where are your priorities man?

Cheers

Jack

[Bill Hara]

I know I know... In a moment of weakness I started a new job and have to impress for a few days

[Doug Sainlar]

Russ, re: searches, I think if you put the phrase in quotation marks, like "Porsche clutch plate", the search engine will do as you are hoping to achieve. It works for me when I use other search engines, give it a try and see if it works for you with our forum's version.

I've been hoping to see the GT40 store open up. Any plans on that?

Doug

[RichardH]

on the search function - is there a minimum number of characters to use ie 3 or 4 - i have noticed that if you use a phrase with three char words - it finds nothing. for example a search on "oil pump" finds everythibg with "pump" because the other word is under the minimum search criteria.

[Russ Noble]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Russ, re: searches, I think if you put the phrase in quotation marks, like "Porsche clutch plate", the search engine will do as you are hoping to achieve. It works for me when I use other search engines, give it a try and see if it works for you with our forum's version.

I've been hoping to see the GT40 store open up. Any plans on that?

Doug

Doug,

Thanks. No that doesn't work for me here.

Cheers

[Mark Pickford]

I agree with Richard, that the limitation on search words needing to be greater than 3 letters can be unhelpful.

There are plenty of subjects here that could be searched for using just the words oil, rcr, gtd, (most manufacturers names infact), fan, cam etc etc.

As a semi weba-phobe, I sometimes feel that I am missing things simply by not knowing exactly how to phrase a search to find what I am looking for.

Also, where some threads are many pages long and often drift away from and back to the subject, could the search result take you directly to the post within a thread that contains the searched for term? Rather than going to the start of the thread?

[Ron Earp]

OK,

I've changed a few things - the search engine will return 500 hits now and the minimum word length for searching is two letters (I have to rebuild the search index so it might not work yet).

I've also changed the "Forum/Thread Read Marking Type" to database type, from cookie type. This should be more accurate although you must actually look at a particular forum for the threads there to have been read. After 30 days of no activity they are marked as read. For instance, if you never look at the Transaxle forum those threads will be new to you, until 30 days have passed and they'll be marked as read. We can try this method, I'm not sure I like it.

Keep ideas coming!

[Doug Sainlar]

Ron, I notice now that when I click on the "New Posts" quick link at the top of the page, I get not only the 9 new posts since I was last on the forum, but also 9 PAGES of old posts, with a comment something to the effect that those posts have not been updated since my last visit, but have unread posts in them.

Is it possible that is happening as a result of your changes in the search engine?????

Just curious--I can ignore all those extra pages just fine, it was just a surprise!

Doug

[Ron Earp]

Originally Posted by YerDugliness

Ron, I notice now that when I click on the "New Posts" quick link at the top of the page, I get not only the 9 new posts since I was last on the forum, but also 9 PAGES of old posts, with a comment something to the effect that those posts have not been updated since my last visit, but have unread posts in them.

Is it possible that is happening as a result of your changes in the search engine?????

Just curious--I can ignore all those extra pages just fine, it was just a surprise!

Doug

That is correct.

Now, to tell the system that you've read all of those go to the QuickLinks menu at the top of the page and select "Mark Forums Read". That will tell it you have read EVERYTHING on the forum and it will only show you new posts.

The problem with this system now that I don't like is that threads I choose not to read due to interest will collect as unread until I use the "Mark Forums Read" option or wait 30 days.

I was trying out the switch to help Bill's issue. I think I'm going to put it back the way it was.

Ron

[Bill Hara]

I agree Ron, this is not the solution I was after. I just wanted the auto refresh that seems to happen after about 30min of non attendance to extend to about 1-2hrs... Not interested in 9 pages of old stuff...

Thanks for trying though

Bill

[charlie c]

A great thing they do over on EliseTalk.com is the tradition of the "UberPost", which are locked, always-top-of-the-list threads in each section that admins can use to lay down the usual routine info, so that noobs like me aren't constantly being told to "use the search!"

For instance, under "All GT40", the UberPost might be something like "GT40 kit manufacturers: this year's list", whereas under "Powertrain/Transaxles" the UberPosts might have titles like "Transaxles - The problem in a nutshell" and "The Semi-Latest Rundown on ZF, RBT,