Maserati Forum - Official Poll #1 | FerrariChat

Maserati Forum - Official Poll #1

Discussion in 'Maserati' started by rob lay, Jun 28, 2021.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

?

Should we break off Maserati into its own standalone forum?

Poll closed Jul 5, 2021.
  1. Yes - separate forum

    5 vote(s)
    12.8%
  2. No - leave here with possible changes

    34 vote(s)
    87.2%
  1. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Looks like the discussion among members is slowing down, so time for me to step back in and push it forward.

    We'll do an official poll in steps, as this is kind of a decision tree, first questions first.

    Based on the initiation of the other thread, I will quote what was proposed by several users...

    As administrator of FerrariChat, a Maserati owner myself, and experience with breaking off the forums LamborghiniChat and McLarenChat, I shared these points.
    • It would be technically easy to break off Maserati into its own separate forum. User logins and existing posts could be moved over.
    • Once separate, then you would have to login separately for FerrariChat and Maserati, going forward no sharing of accounts or content.
    • In both cases of LamborghiniChat and McLarenChat, traffic dropped off about 40-60% by being separate. My opinion is #1 those 40-60% of users were exotic car fans and enthusiasts and owners of both Ferrari and Lamborghini or McLaren - when it broke off they didn't want to jump between sites. #2 Traffic dropped some by having more subforums, thus diluting the participation and "appearing" like there was less going on. Before users had a single forum to view and might participate in more threads.
    So this is simply the first step to see the membership view on whether Maserati should be a completely separate forum or not. Based on the results of this first poll, we can then narrow down how to configure a separate forum or make changes here.

    Thank you for your valuable participation!
     
    JL350 likes this.
  2. Froggie

    Froggie Formula Junior

    Sep 27, 2017
    476
    Belgium
    Full Name:
    Serge
    Done.
     
    rob lay likes this.
  3. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2006
    10,147
    opposite lock
    Full Name:
    Marc Sonnery
    #3 Nembo1777, Jun 28, 2021
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2021
    Thank you for doing this Rob, we were not slowing down just waiting for your return input which you are now providing with this poll.

    However you are not addressing what several including Ivan and yours truly have suggested which is to leave as is but with a DIRECT access for anyone INCLUDING completely new visitors.

    Either we were not clear enough, not explaining it in a way that you understand or you are not responding to it for whatever reason, perhaps because the idea is not easily compatible with the software used for Fchat? or there is some reason you are not -yet- sharing with us?

    To make it perfectly clear let me apply this to architecture, Fchat being a virtual house.

    The way things are now you have to enter the (Fchat) lobby and then instead of going straight on into the salon and library, dining room etc you have to turn into a corridor that says other Italian and in there you have to look for the door that says Maserati room. Only then are you in.

    I feel many here are not asking for a separate house but, as is my case, just a direct access door. Like when a large house gets subdivided into two homes, a new entrance is carved out of the outer wall. Except in this case there is no need to wall off the two half houses totally, tat would be counter productive, just another entrance directly into another part of the forum (the same should really be done for Lambo and McLaren but that is not my problem or interest).

    An additional entrance but which gives access not just to Maseratichat but also to the rest of Fchat. That would mean creating now buttons at top but this should be easy enough. One single login and membership payment.

    People here have heard your point about the falling numbers for the Lambo and Macca sites after separation.

    After that we can always as Ivan said take baby steps being mindful of avoiding excessive and fatal dilution. As AMLC mentioned a 1980 cutoff would be a nice experimental line in the sand between two distinct eras.
     
    Froggie and boralogist like this.
  4. boralogist

    boralogist Formula Junior

    Jun 21, 2005
    998
    +1
     
  5. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    what do you not understand?

    please do not muddy this first step jumping ahead to the next steps, that's not how you efficiently get to the best conclusion. that may be your opinion now after first starting off wanting a completely separate forum, but if membership agrees now to work off what we have, then you can bring everything you want up in the next step.

    just because that is your opinion, doesn't mean it has been decided yet and the overall majority view for the community. let others have a voice and vote first, you are always welcome to start NemboChat if you want to implement everything 100% as you see fit and not listen to others.
     
  6. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2006
    10,147
    opposite lock
    Full Name:
    Marc Sonnery
    I have made my point Rob, we seem to not connect, not be on the same wave length, I never have such problems. Of course it is only my opinion, I am a communicator, not interested in power, I am here to share passion not compete or control, not my thing at all. I will let it rest for now and we will see what others say.
     
  7. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    be patient, we need to make it clear if a majority of users want a separate forum or not. once that is clear we can talk about the next steps. I'm not discounting your views and I think we're in agreement, I'm just saying you are a step ahead.
     
    jjmalez, 71Satisfaction and Nembo1777 like this.
  8. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2006
    10,147
    opposite lock
    Full Name:
    Marc Sonnery
    Sorry for dancing faster than the music, a reprimand my teachers at school made often:D:eek:! I will consider the music switched off for now:)
     
  9. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    this poll has another 7 days, but feel free to put your ideas in the other thread as that's probably the way things are heading anyway. I might be able to post what I know is technically possible with that too.

    from an administrative standpoint, like the posts I quoted, there was such a strong opinion at first to completely break off.
     
  10. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2006
    10,147
    opposite lock
    Full Name:
    Marc Sonnery
    Well your mention of the falling numbers for the Lambo and Macca sections were very sobering and only fools don't change their minds so yes I revised my point of view.
     
    jjmalez and rob lay like this.
  11. Froggie

    Froggie Formula Junior

    Sep 27, 2017
    476
    Belgium
    Full Name:
    Serge
    #11 Froggie, Jun 28, 2021
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2021
    Rob,

    Sorry to come back again on the issue.
    As the poll stands, I think it is not easy to just say yes or no, based on the qualifications you add.
    The yes is quite radical: "separate"
    The no is more ambiguous: stay here with "possible" changes.

    I think that the whole issue and discussion in the other thread turned around what would or could be changed if remaining under the umbrella of F-chat, including a large autonomy in terms of googling, login, front page, structure, etc.
    By answering no, a member could think he may be cornered afterwards if the "possible" that you infer does not fill in his expectations. Hence maybe the new comments here...

    Edit: I voted No but am ready to change my vote upon clarifications and confirmation that "a lot" is possible
     
    VAF84 and Nembo1777 like this.
  12. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    I think we'll be OK, we just need to get over the black and white question break off or not as proposed by many early on.

    The next step is where we have fun with all the options. :) In theory the best approach would give us the best of both worlds, a Maserati community that can stand on its own and also not lose anything that we have today.
     
    Nembo1777 likes this.
  13. maha

    maha F1 Rookie

    Mar 17, 2014
    3,390
    dinajpur, bangladesh
    Full Name:
    mahmud
    i never went to new lambo and mclaren forums... and don't wanna do extra log-in to a another new forum..... if it possible please bring back lambo and mac..
     
    JL350, Shark01, Simon and 4 others like this.
  14. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    we are talking about that, we may end up figuring out some technical things with Maserati that will benefit LC and MC too.
     
    JL350, Shark01 and Nembo1777 like this.
  15. ylshih

    ylshih Shogun Assassin
    Honorary Owner

    Mar 21, 2004
    19,809
    Northern CA
    Full Name:
    Yin
    I don't see the traffic stats between LamboChat and McLarenChat, but from my own experience I would say splitting MaseratiChat off would be a strong net negative. I have full access to both the other Chats as a moderator, as the admins migrated the account base over to those on creation, but I now go months between visits. It used to be I would read posts about both Lambos and McLarens and keep up with the latest news and interesting finds, including being on the verge of buying a McLaren. But both marques have dropped off my radar since the split and I don't think I behave differently than many other car enthusiasts.

    The issue is that there is a huge amount of content on FChat, much more than anyone can go through day by day. If you log on to FChat regularly, you're usually just skimming the latest and have to prioritize in order to get back to regular life. If Lambo and McLaren content are in the same search or index domain, then it will pop up as part of the daily perusals and have a chance at being seen and getting engagement. But if it's in a separate search or index domain, then very few people get around to seeing it because they haven't even finished what's popping up on Fchat and won't have time left to log into yet another car forum. If your whole interest is in a non-Ferrari marque, that's fine; in which case you will likely be happy not to see the Ferrari content in the separate forum, but you also lose the other users interested in multiple marques, not just the one marque, which may not be so happy.
     
    Simon, Nembo1777 and Edward 96GTS like this.
  16. thecarnut

    thecarnut F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 22, 2006
    3,008
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    The Car Nut
    While I may at the beginning expressed the desire for a separate Maserati forum, upon listening to comments by others and thinking about all the intellectual property we would be loosing it is my strong opinion we should stay within FerrariChat. Having said this there are some things that NEED to be done to make this subgroup more suitable to the Maserati community.

    1. A direct link to the subgroup. Linking MaseratiChat.com to https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/forums/maserati.87/ is very easy to do and is something I've done in past for my own website.
    2. I would also tweak the "look and feel" of the subgroup by changing the top left banner from FerrariChat to MaseratiChat and making some other small cosmetic changes. I am NOT suggesting any functional changes.

    These are baby steps, and do not seem like much, but I think it will greatly help with the brand's image and access to the subgroup.

    I will vote to not to break from FChat if Rob commits to work with us on improving the look of the subgroup and providing a direct link to it.

    Ivan
     
  17. allandwf

    allandwf Formula Junior

    Aug 27, 2011
    267
    Scotland UK
    I own both , a 348 and an Assetto Corsa 3200. Personally I feel happy enough as is, but would welcome either.
     
  18. NeuroBeaker

    NeuroBeaker Advising Moderator
    Moderator

    Oct 1, 2008
    38,744
    Huntsville, AL., USA
    Full Name:
    Andrew
    This is where I am, minus the almost buying a McLaren part. I pretty much stopped my casual browsing of McLaren and Lamborghini content when it was split off. I occasionally see an interesting Maserati thread in the New Posts search, but the marque world lose visibility for me if split off onto a separate site with a separate login.

    All the best,
    Andrew.
     
  19. Jdubbya

    Jdubbya The $10 Trillion Man
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 28, 2003
    37,253
    PNW
    Full Name:
    John
    I never spent much time this far down Fchat until lately when I bought my Granturismo. But I'll say, for my model at least there doesn't seem to be much technical or DIY help here. It seems there is a lot of stuff for vintage cars. I'm fine with that.

    When I spend, admittedly usually too much, time on Fchat I usually scroll down through a few specific sections almost every time....Silver, P&R, sometimes Business. Then every now and then I scroll further down and swing into the 308 section for old time's sake, maybe check the NW section every month or so (not very active), then stop by Drink and Smoke sometimes to see what folks are eatin and drinkin. :)

    Now I cruise this far down about the same as the NW section which is pretty infrequently because there's not much I've seen for my car. Not a hit on the section at all, just my observation over the last 6 months or so of checking this section out.
     
    Nembo1777 likes this.
  20. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    OK, the poll final at 87%. I'll put together the next one with some options from here. Thanks.
     
    71Satisfaction likes this.
  21. thecarnut

    thecarnut F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 22, 2006
    3,008
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    The Car Nut
    Rob,

    It has been over a month now since the end of the poll and we have not heard from from you on the proposed improvements to this site to make it better for the Maserati brand.
    In post #16 I proposed two simple things that should not be difficult to implement. Your response would be appreciated.

    Ivan
     
    boralogist likes this.
  22. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,407
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    it isn’t easy multiple ideas with multiple user opinions. I was thinking through the best way to focus on what ideas best. Do you think a multiple choice poll with the various ideas discussed?
     
  23. boralogist

    boralogist Formula Junior

    Jun 21, 2005
    998
    Yes. Definitely.
     
    rob lay likes this.
  24. thecarnut

    thecarnut F1 Rookie
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 22, 2006
    3,008
    Atlanta
    Full Name:
    The Car Nut
    Rob,
    To tweak the "look and feel" of this subgroup I would suggest having a graphics designer come up with a couple of design alternatives. A good place for the designer to start is to visit the official Maserati website to get a feeling for the brand and then extend that feeling to this subgroup.
    I spent a good part of my professional career managing a department that was responsible for the website of a Fortune 50 company. Quite a bit of time and energy was spend on focus groups to best understand the usability and appeal of that website. These are things that are close to impossible to ascertain with a multiple choice questionnaire. People generally have a difficulty time expressing what they visually like but they sure have an opinion when they see it. Therefore it is best to show alternatives and then have people vote on the one they prefer.

    As far as splitting the postings into categories I personally do not see much benefit but that is a question you could ask in a poll.

    Also, you could ask if having a direct link to this subgroup (ie: MaseratiChat.com) would be of benefit, especially for attracting new users.

    Ivan
     
    Nembo1777 and rob lay like this.
  25. Nembo1777

    Nembo1777 F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2006
    10,147
    opposite lock
    Full Name:
    Marc Sonnery

Share This Page