Our Forum

[Gary C]

Is it me, or are there too many sub forums on this site.

Most of the successful car forums have a lot less, promoting more discussion. It seems that grouping on specific model is spreading users too thinly and reducing the interaction.

Maybe their should be a general chat area and only 911, Boxter, Cayman and Cayenne forums ?

If you can bear it, a look at Scoobynet or MLR shows how active forums can be. Why can't ours be more active

 

[Mark_Bennett]

I've been saying the same thing for ages.

But every register (or rather the majority of the owners) invariably insists on having their 'own' area ( "with none of that rubbish <insert model not owned> here..." [:'(]

 

[pauljmcnulty]

I tend to agree in principle, although you seem to have missed the 944 forum, which is the busiest on here by far? [8|]

And, that'll be my point - you run the risk of missing what's important to other members with specific interests.. There's no way you can easily use a forum like Pistonheads for day to day threads like events, technical advice, values etc. The posts are lost from the front page in minutes, and who the hell wants to read yet another "what are the correct wheel offsets for a 1983 944 with optional widgets?" thread on the general forum? Being honest, as someone who is only interested in the front-engined '80s cars, I don't want to wade through threads on Boxsters or Cayennes. Sorry.....

We have a general forum for non-specific threads, but if you want answers from a smaller group of fellow owners then you have an area to go to for that - without boring the majority of readers who won't know what you're talking about.

The problem is that we can't just delete sub-forums because they aren't used. Regions are a good example, most ROs use an e-mail list and not the forums. But, there's no harm in letting Region whoever having a forum they can use if they want to.

I use the "new posts" facility to see what's happening, and with that I don't need to worry about the sub-forums that aren't used.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

Forums:

924/944 and variants
911 pre xx
911 post xx (and Pre 996)
996/997/Boxster Cayman
Cayenne/Panemera

 

[pauljmcnulty]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

Forums:

924/944 and variants
911 pre xx
911 post xx (and Pre 996)
996/997/Boxster Cayman
Cayenne/Panemera

I'll let you suggest that the 968 is a 944 "variant".....[&:]

Still a good idea in thoery, but is going to upset eneryone in practice. I suggest we set up a working group and discuss it off-forum! []

 

[carreraboy]

ORIGINAL: Mark Bennett

Forums:

924/944 and variants
911 pre xx
911 post xx (and Pre 996)
996/997/Boxster Cayman
Cayenne/Panemera

Mark how about everything post 98 Water-Cooled on one Forum thay all look the same 996/boxster/gt3/997/gt3 etcetcetc CAyman, blah blah blah....

WESSER FORUM!

 

[Gary C]

First, must apologise to the 968 & 944 & 928 & 912 & 914 plus all the other type owners.

Its just that its nice to talk about all Porsches, with the current division, its a little quiet.

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: carreraboy

Mark how about everything post 98 Water-Cooled on one Forum thay all look the same 996/boxster/gt3/997/gt3 etcetcetc CAyman, blah blah blah....

WESSER FORUM!

And everything else rear engined doesn't look the same ? []

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: pauljmcnulty

I'll let you suggest that the 968 is a 944 "variant".....[&:]

...and that proves my point.

It wasn't an exhaustive list, just an example, but immediately there is a "you've missed xyz"...
It's only a short step from there to making the usual threats to leave the club...[&:]

(Not having a go at Paul! [])

 

[pauljmcnulty]

It's only a short step from there to making the usual threats to leave the club...

That's it, I quit.....[]

 

[Gary C]

Maybe the forum should be pushed more in PP ?

 

[3.2_fordy]

ORIGINAL: Gary C

Is it me, or are there too many sub forums on this site.

Most of the successful car forums have a lot less, promoting more discussion. It seems that grouping on specific model is spreading users too thinly and reducing the interaction.

Maybe their should be a general chat area and only 911, Boxter, Cayman and Cayenne forums ?

If you can bear it, a look at Scoobynet or MLR shows how active forums can be. Why can't ours be more active

Gray
Just look at the different forum uses that have posted all from different sub forums
If you would to generalize the the chat it would be lost on us all ,The one`s I know just look at the forums that they know and would not look at all that had been posted in the last few days or weeks so, I think you must have all the sub divisions just to keep them interested
Have used pelican and the rest I find it a bore[8|][8|] The only one I find relevant from this site is the IB site but that is a sub forum for IB cars[][][][]

 

[twinny]

On-line forums cover two basic needs, chat and tech information the problem with this place is that it offers neither. Harsh? maybe, but consider this...

I'm a PCBG member and also a moderator for IB.com. I'd pretty much given this place up for dead two years ago. The threads were appallingly boring and repetetive."What oil" etc. Then I came across a post about IB.com and from there Pelican in the US, the rest is history.

Look at the quality and quantity of postings here. Look at the numbers; single figure replies and double digit views. I sold my Targa this year and shipped a Tubo'd 3.2 Carrera from the US. Since June I've had 337 replies and over 6000 views on the thread in IB.com!

At this time there are discussions going on that vary from the 1.5% base rate cut through the selection of a new TV to a guy rebuilding his SC engine in his garage. Pretty diverse I'd say. The problem with this forum is that it satisfies neither of the two criteria. It is no longer the centre for technical debate nor is it topical in a day to day sense.

At the end of the day it is what it is - an on-line extension of the club.

DDK has the early cars covered. IB.com the middle years cars. There's a gap in the market for everything after that, but I suspect that with one or two exceptions those cars are being looked after by OPC's and good independants so the need for a technical forum is limited. Can't see many 996 owners trying to resolve their RMS problems on the kitchen table.

Just my two cents, feel free to argue the point.

 

[Big_nige]

what he said, I only post here out of boredom.

 

[bones]

Can't say that the layout of the forum bothers me that much, everything else Porsche I want online is taken care of by DDK, Impact Bumpers and Pelican, not that I've had the time to look at any of them for ages. I think the present forum suits the club as it is.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

Hi Twinny,

I think you're right in one sense, but this forum has several areas where it's the number one resource in the UK, such as the 944 forum with a very active tech and social content, or Scotland with a very active social region. I think it's wrong to compare niche UK forums with large US forums though.

Other models are better served by other forums, which is why the early 911 or 928 forums are less busy. Most regions have busy e-mail rings and don't need the forum so much.

I think we've got the basic layout, and it's up to members to use it if they choose.

Phil, you have hit the mail on the head. So many people phone me with questions that are answered in the 944 "faqs", or could be answered pretty immediately by other users. Some are just not forum users - fair enough - but many more are not aware of what it does.

It's important that people include forum details, with some encouragement, not just a link, in their new-member welcome letters. That's a start, and if the ROs and RSs use the forums and build in content it'll continue to flourish.

 

[Gary C]

So what we really need is to promote the use of the forum by club members ?, this forum has ~9800 members, Scoobynet has 90,000 members and 8,000,000 posts.

Had a look in the last PP for a mention, does not jump out at me that it actually exists.

With these member numbers I still think its spread too thin.

 

[pauljmcnulty]

ORIGINAL: Gary C

So what we really need is to promote the use of the forum by club members ?, this forum has ~9800 members, Scoobynet has 90,000 members and 8,000,000 posts.

Had a look in the last PP for a mention, does not jump out at me that it actually exists.

With these member numbers I still think its spread too thin.

I think SN might have an element of, dare I say it, a "younger" demographic.....[&:] The Porsche forum world is also very much more diverse, you only need to compare Subaru and Porsche model line-ups to see that we don't all drive one car. I gave up on SN, as it has absolutely no interest for Legacy owners. That's not good, even if it has 8 million threads!

I don't know the breakdown of members and non-members here, but I'd hazard a guess that about 1 in 10 Club members use the forums. Probably about the same ratio that comes to regular Region monthly events, but we wouldn't rationalise the regions.

I know what you mean about spreading it thin, but the opposite is the Pistonheads format, where I have to wade through pages of posts about 997 prices, 996 engine speculation, Nissan 'Ring times and gawd knows what else to find one or two posts that are useful to me as a 944 (plus 924 and 968) enthusiast. In fact, there are always calls for ever more specialised sub-forums from members here.

You can't just say that because one particular forum hasn't been used for months it should be scrapped. It's there because it's relevant to a group of members who'd be very upset if it were taken away - imagine how you'd feel as, say, a member of a region that was missing. We'd also be forever mucking about with it, which is more work that no-one needs. Anyone who was at the seminar where it was suggested that the Registers were split into three groups will know how passionate people are about their own litle niche, and rightly so.

I agree with you about promoting the Forums, be it in the PP, on the website, through new member's welcome letters from their Region and Register. The more the merrier, it's another member benefit after all. That's why we fight to keep the forum to a higher standard than most others, it's what the membership consistently ask for. []

 

[Tony M]

I posted a thought a few days ago in the 'Pointless posts' thread suggesting that now was a good time to rethink the Forum.

I believe most members are social and would use a Chat section with sub sections for talking 'Porsche Specific'and 'General' chat.

With regard to the Model sub sections the majority could be lumped together under a 'Technical' heading and persons wishing to discuss specific model aspects could discuss these aspects relative to their own model (s).

A further section 'Events' could be included with sub divisions by geographical area instaed of solely region. I for one would be interested in attending events in other 'Regions' if the information was easy to find in the forum.

A final section with sub divisions of 'Sales' and 'Wants' would complete the Forum.

As things stand at present, there are far to many headings and the easy way out is to click 'New Posts'and scan down the topics. I generally don't even bother to open 95% of the topics and I feel sure that I do miss some good stuff but frankly I haven't got time to wade through the whole lot.

 

[twinny]

Here's an wild idea......

Scrap the tech assistance provided by the register secretary and promote the forum as the only focus for tech enquiries. That way they (the RS's) can focus on providing a solid interesting column in PP each month and the wealth of knowledge they lies dormant within the membership may be forced to the surface to be shared with others.