READ ME: Planning new Sub-Forums for the 911 BBS Here... - Page 3

Rob McKibbon · 10-19-2003, 11:14 PM

My wife is a language expert..... I'm gonna have to get her to have a look at a couple of these posts???

I really like the BBS the way it is.

Now again, my motor was working fine, but I rebuilt it anyway.
My suspension is also fine, but I'm planning to redo it too.
So much for: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" cliche;
but I really enjoy coming to this site the way it is. Nuf Said?

My car is currently running very well and getting ready to hibernate for the winter..... I'm a busy guy to boot. But I still drop in here for at least 1/2 hour each day to see what's going on. I only click the "Canada" site now about once a week just to check that there's nothing new.

My summary: It's Wayne's World.

Hope this note finds you guys all well, one of my best friends just bought an 86 911 Carrera and he takes delivery tomorrow - you'll see him posting here soon too. (I warned him to have pics ready to post already)

Have a great day!

tangerine911e · 10-19-2003, 11:25 PM

I see the reasoning behind the proposed changes, but I have to say I really like the site the way it is. Even before registering, I use to click on the 911 tech page almost exclusively. It had (and still has) a great range of topics. Sure some are not really relevant, but that is the attraction. Especially with only lots of short bursts looking at the site over the day.

I too check a couple of the other forums, but find the diversity in this one something 'special' - the community feeling that has been built here is fantastic.

No problems if you do change it, it will just take a little more searching across the forums to browse for new info (and deep down I am pretty lazy

)

Ash

Milu · 10-20-2003, 12:57 AM

Well, Wayne is our benevolent dictator so the last word is his.

The idea of neat, tidy forums with everything classified by region, exact year and model and topic, sub-divided into precise subject matter might appeal to some and have a purpose in a formal organised text but not on a living media such as a forum.

The regional forums I would consider a flop. The engine and autoX may not be, but I am sure the subject matter would get more attention if they were on the main forum.

Yes it is possible to change it back if it doesn't work. But, if change is made, the forum will probably die before that is done.

Wayne, if you feel the need to play and tinker with something that is not broken, why not get rid of some of the moribund forums that are dead and merge some of the ones that get little traffic.

jluetjen · jluetjen's Garage

Wayne;
I too would be concerned about dilution of the "Pelican" brand. I think that you'll need some way to compartmentalize the information a bit without separating it. So a solution that keeps it easy for the user to go where they want. Having the Engine Rebuilding Forum listed at the top of the page has certainly helped in this regard. Which brings me to a related thought...

1) When I log in, I jump directly to the 911 forum page. It's an easy jump to the Engine Rebuilding Forum. Moving to the Auto-X and Track racing forum is far from intuitive. Regional Forums -- where are those???

2) In general I find the whole Pelican User Interface cluttered and not user friendly. If I see a neat tool described on this BBS, how many key strokes does it take to get to a parts ordering screen? (5 or 6 I think) How do I jump to the main Pelican screen? (Oh! you mean that the little "Pelican Parts> " at the bottom of the screen takes me to the home page?!?!). From the main Pelican screen, it's not terribly intuitive to get to the on-line 911 catelog.

My suggestion is that before you start splitting up the BBS further, do some work on the ergonomic design of the user interface. Once you have a strong user interface strategy, you'll most likely have some targets for the real estate planning as well as the number of keystrokes to do different things. Using these you'll then be able to determine how far to segment particular BBS's without compromising useability. The result will be that it will be easier for the user to use all of the great information that you have on-line.

304065 · 10-20-2003, 05:33 AM

Wayne, for the first few weeks of the Engine Rebuilding forum it degenerated into an insufferable jerkfest. Query whether that was due to the concentration of "experts" in a single place, on stage.

"Was mich nicht umbringt, macht mich Starker!"

It's YOUR living room, man. . .

makaio · 10-20-2003, 05:39 AM

I vote to leave it how it is. But of course it's your baby. If you do change it, I would get rid of some of the not so frequented boards. Then make it so each member can set up a favorites page, much like the private message buddy system.

Sonic dB · Sonic dB's Garage

Quote:

) In general I find the whole Pelican User Interface cluttered and not user friendly. If I see a neat tool described on this BBS, how many key strokes does it take to get to a parts ordering screen? (5 or 6 I think) How do I jump to the main Pelican screen? (Oh! you mean that the little "Pelican Parts> " at the bottom of the screen takes me to the home page?!?!). From the main Pelican screen, it's not terribly intuitive to get to the on-line 911 catelog.

I agree with this point. Its cumbersome interface and the server sometimes locks up too.

cassisrot · 10-20-2003, 05:59 AM

I love this forum. Please don't change it.

KFC911 · 10-20-2003, 06:03 AM

Might I suggest a 'Foreign Language Forum', so that those of us who are FL deficient can ignore that forum...just like we currently do with most of the sub-forums already available? Seriously, I like it just the way it is...it's a great mix!

Hetmann · 10-20-2003, 06:15 AM

Please don't change the main forum. If you want somethig to do, organize the old posts into subtopics. That way we could research/browse the wealth of information already posted by topic. Keep the new stuff together. That's the fun of coming her, never knowing what you might find.

I'm sure the engine-rebuild forum is great but I already rebulit mine and so I won't be going there for some time. That forum is of no interest to me at this time... maybe if I get another car.

old_skul · 10-20-2003, 06:25 AM

rcwaldo · 10-20-2003, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mark Wilson
Bad idea. It will split all the tech issues into little sub groups and take away from the mix in the main forum. The main forum will then dwindle to another off topic group. Remember that it is the mix of newbies, experienced, and knuckleheads that make the main forum a pleasant place to hang out for all. I really think this will destroy the dynamic of the board.
Mark

I will third this reply by Mark. I would vote to keep the mix and community. Its part of the magic....

Chris

pbs911 · pbs911's Garage

If this board is segregated into different topic boards, what will become of this board? What will be left?

Personally, I only looked at the engine rebuild board once or twice since an engine rebuild is not in my plans. This is not to say I do not enjoy reading the posts. I clicked on every engine thread when it was posted on this forum, and I gained a lot of knowledge. The same will probably be true any other topics that are broken off. But I have been around here for over 3 years. New members will never know the difference. Since increasing traffice via new members to the board is your likely the main goal, they will never know the difference. Lots of other boards are broken into subjects but the layout is much more user friendly than the Pelican Board.

Personally, I liked the board when you got a little of everything, engine, suspension, wheels, oil changes, cool collar, and off topic rants. The combination of different topics made for a single well rounded discussion area. But then it's not my board.

thabaer · thabaer's Garage

Die Sauerkraut ist in mein Lederhosen.

A year ago I would have felt it was much ado about nothing, now we don't even see a full 2 hour span on a page of subjects in the tech forum when we get on full boogie. My guess from seeing the subject line of Wayne's post was that the new forum would be along the lines of "chassis tuning", i.e. suspension, brakes, stiffening, etc.; it seemed to me like the next logical group to seperate from the general tech stuff.

Then I went and looked at the first topics page in the engine forum and the earlier topics pages, about a week worth of topics per page. I came back to the tech forum and after scanning the topics I came to a realization: the biggest quantity of posts that seem to fit a category is "Porsche Watching". There's more noise about lookie here and not technical content in posts about the new GT, that old tub, my new paint/tires/wheels/headlights....

I value the non-tech content, I think it's a large part of what makes this BBS feel like a community. From looking at the recent content of posts, however, it seems that moving out the sightseeing posts would better serve to get a handle on the turnover in the tech forum.

(anything else in my britches is Top Secret!)

brawlins · 10-20-2003, 08:42 AM

My vote is NO - don't split it up.
I dont have the energy to visit multiple forums - and I enjoy the variety.

One earlier poster mentioned that the Regional forums failed. That should be the place where Atlanta folks decide when to make a fall mountain run - but they don't. How many folks have the time/energy to do bouncing between multiple forums?

Don't mess with success IMHO. However, it's your site.

- Bill

thrown_hammer · 10-20-2003, 08:46 AM

I think maybe create a "Ebay horror" forum. I will not be bouncing from forum to forum. But what do I know...Heck I built a Strosek replica!

Jeff · 10:26 AM

Don't change the main forum but...

Instead of subdividing into "brake, suspension, etc." forums and assigning a moderator to those forums to answer questions and keep the forum active, why not leave those topics in the main forum and assign a moderator/expert to certain topics to answer questions and keep a thread from being pushed to page 2 or 3.

I think it is just as important to keep this forum a fun and interesting place to visit as it is to provide great technical info. I think the fun aspect has built Pelican into a community that is very willing to help one another both on the board and off (Engine drop clincs, fun runs, barbeques, etc.) and many friendships have developed. This is very important because some have come here for entertainment about Porsches with no prior mechanical experiance and have ended up rebuilding engines (which would otherwise have been taken it to a mechanic and no parts bought from PP) with the help of the local Pelican community.

I think it would be more benificial to promote yearly regional gatherings/ "Tech sessions" and keep the Pelican community growing, rather than dividing it. Hey it work for the Greatful Dead and we are sometimes referred to as "Pelican Heads".

I think the search function needs the most attention.

Superman · 10-20-2003, 10:39 AM

Don't mean to "pile on," Wayne but I agree with the naysayers. (You knew I would) I think Warren has an excellent idea regarding a sub-forum for the more wacky, less technical discussions.

Sure, having special folders for each of several things....segregating stuff so that folder contents are homogenous, is appealing. Particularly to an engineer. "Community" on the other hand, is the antithesis of this categorization movement.

Mukilteo911 · 10-20-2003, 10:50 AM

my 2 cents, it makes more work of looking through the topics. I like it all in one forum. Another way to get what you want done while using one forum is to ad a qualifier to each post and allow users to view posts under the topic of one of those qualifiers. For instance when someone adds a new post they would select a topic that it belongs in like engines, brakes, chassis, etc. Then when someone comes to the bulletin and they just want to look at posts related to brakes they could use a sorting feature on the bulletin to sort out all the posts but ones on the brake topic. That way a user can see it all in one, or limit what they are looking for. It means a little work on the web server.

rpiper · 10-20-2003, 11:06 AM

Wayne, it's great the way it is. I usually browse the forum for fun, not to answer any specific question. I certainly don't think of this as a 911 textbook. However, I always get answers to my specific questions when I post them here, and I 've learned a lot by just reading whatever post caught my eye. Nobody has time to browse through each subforum one at a time.