What improvements next for FerrariChat.com? | FerrariChat

What improvements next for FerrariChat.com?

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by rob lay, Dec 1, 2003.

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What improvements next for FerrariChat.com?

  1. Bring back online Ferrari trivia.

  2. Complete & updated Links page.

  3. Complete Registry - Online registry with model info, history, and pics.

  4. Enhance board software to allow Full Name to be listed on post with Username.

  5. Enhance board software to allow multiple pictures per post.

  6. FerrariChat.com Consultants - Rewarding those with expert knowledge in various areas like technical

  7. Ferrari Historical Timeline.

  8. Monthly articles to be included in the newsletter.

  9. Online FerrariChat.com store for shirts and other logo items.

Multiple votes are allowed.
Results are only viewable after voting.
  1. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Mainly I'm just looking for guidance what is most important to you and what projects I should start next. Yes, I am very defensive about all the work I've done the past 3 years. Just because I respond back to any ideas with more questions or an opinion, please don't get pissy. I do appreciate all ideas, but it doesn't mean I can implement everything or agree it's the best. I think I've done a good job over the past 3 years weighing the opinions of the entire community and doing what was best for everyone.

    If you don't see something on my voting list that you think should be a possible project, please suggest.

    One closing comment... the message board gets 90% of the traffic, but it's everything else that requires 90% of the work. Although I do enjoy the manual projects personally.

    The voting list will allow you to select multiple options. Please just select the top 3 or so that you want first.

    Thanks,
    rob
     
  2. Texas Forever

    Texas Forever Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Apr 28, 2003
    75,391
    Texas!
    Rob, I voted for the multiple pics... can't never have enuf pics...

    But, I'd sure love to see the old "red reverse" image the the old board used to have. You know, after you read a thread, it changed from black to red. I have been using Mr. Do-Do's tip (you knew this was coming didn't you Doody?) about clicking the "View New Posts" thingie. And it works, I guess. But I still prefer the old (i.e., two months ago) ways.

    From an old guy who has already learned way more than his allotted number of new tricks...
     
  3. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Were you around when we turned that back on? Most couldn't stand it. There's a thread on here somewhere about it. The board was very ugly and distracting. It's better that everyone learns the way the new board functions with the icons than trying to make the new board act like the old board. As I experimented with it that one day, I'm open to testing and seeing how everyone likes it.
     
  4. LRPMAN

    LRPMAN Formula Junior

    Oct 31, 2003
    383
    Aiken S.C. & FL.
    Full Name:
    George Pavlisko
    YOu know Rob you do a GREAT JOB! My sites are driving me nutz and I make MONEY on those. Thanks for your effort!!
    George P.
     
  5. jordan747_400

    jordan747_400 F1 Veteran
    Lifetime Rossa

    Dec 9, 2002
    6,928
    Houston, TX
    Full Name:
    Jordan
    This is a fantastic website, and I think the change to the new software has gone smoothly overall. However, if we can post multiple images in one post, and maybe have our full names as an option under our username, the website will be perfect! Once a few forum issues are solved, then I look forward to some of the other additions listed in the poll!
     
  6. WILLIAM H

    WILLIAM H Three Time F1 World Champ

    Nov 1, 2003
    35,532
    Victory Circle
    Full Name:
    HUBBSTER
    Rob I still cant see pics with my Mac with 0SX. Any clues how to fix this ? Thanks
     
  7. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Please read the Mac thread in the Bugs forum for information on that. There are several browsers on Macs that don't show pictures correctly and I don't think that will change anytime soon. I recomend using one of the Mac browsers listed that does work or use a PC. thanks.
     
  8. 134282

    134282 Four Time F1 World Champ
    BANNED

    Aug 3, 2002
    40,647
    California
    Full Name:
    Carbon McCoy
    William, the forum Rob is referring to is here... More specifically, the thread i think you're looking for is this one...

    ...however, the best thing to do is email Rob repeatedly, asking him the same questions, OVER AND OVER until i posts a thread solely about what it is you're emailing him about... That's how stuff gets done... :)
     
  9. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 17, 2002
    3,612
    Dallas, TX, USA
    William, I see pics just fine with Safari... its a sweet browser... try it out.


    Rob, my #1 item would be either:
    1) Change the "you last visited" date/time to be the date/time I last STARTED my visit, rather than the date I last ENDED my visit.
    2) Give a way to set that manually.
    Or both.

    Why?
    A) It would help address Dr. Tax concerns, I think.
    B) It would allow me to not miss posts... the posts made DURING a visit... they don't show up in this one unless I refresh repeatedly at the end... they don't show up in the next visit because it only shows new since the last visit ENDED.
    C) It would prevent long interrupts from screwing everything up.
    D) It would prevent long posts from screwing things up. For example, I am now going to go refresh Fchat in another window, otherwise by the time I finish typing this long post, Fchat will think I am on a new visit, and reset everything.
    E) It would allow me to keep up with General and Texas on a daily basis, and other forums on a weekly basis... just reset last visited to a week ago, and then hit those rarely hit forums.

    At that point, the new mechanism would be way better than the old board's "red if visited" method.


    My second vote would be a minor restatement of the multiple pics statement... I actually see one pic per post as fine... the extra headers are no biggee... but the interface for posting pics is hideous!!! It is soooo time consuming to post pics. I gave a critique of this in another thread. However you fix that I don't care, but I'd loosen the reins on you as implementor by changing the problem statement to:

    == Make it easy to post a bunch of pictures.

    Like let us specify a directory from which it posts every .jpg in the directory. Even if it posts them each as a separate post, one pic per post... as long as it was one post command, we'll all be real happy. Keeping closer to reality, just getting rid of some of the redundant and useless steps (as described in my other post) would be a HUGE win.

    HTH,

    Brian
     
  10. ronr

    ronr Formula Junior

    Oct 30, 2002
    813
    DFW, TX
    Full Name:
    Ron
    Can you make the post order go opposite whichever way it's going now?

    And complimentary Paris Hilton videos.

    haha, just trolling...
    RR




    (all's well on FC for me)
     
  11. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    So it looks like everyone wants multiple pictures per post and full names back. Both are pretty tricky to customize, but I'll work on it. Don't expect it anytime soon.

    I promised several of the Consultants I would get that going in December and since it won't be that hard to start, I will stick to that plan.

    Thanks for all the feedback.
     
  12. Chiaro_Slag

    Chiaro_Slag F1 Veteran

    Oct 31, 2003
    7,789
    CA
    Full Name:
    Jerry
    Thanks for all your hard work Rob - Just to let you know, this site is one of the main reasons I was able to get my first F-Car.

    Very much thankful for your hard work and the great people that gather here.
     
  13. benedict

    benedict Formula Junior

    Nov 6, 2003
    741
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Ben
    UOTE=rob328gts]So it looks like everyone wants multiple pictures per post and full names back. Both are pretty tricky to customize, but I'll work on it. Don't expect it anytime soon.

    I promised several of the Consultants I would get that going in December and since it won't be that hard to start, I will stick to that plan.

    Thanks for all the feedback.[/QUOTE]


    I think overall the site is amazing and very user-friendly. One minor suggestion, many sites have a function where if your post is responded to, you get an email notifying you of such. I often have so many posts in so many different areas that I spend alot of time hunting around to see if I got any responses.
     
  14. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    We have that, you just have to manually select it since I didn't think everyone would want this by default. When you post select "email notification" from the drop down for Thread Subscription.
     
  15. ferraridriver

    ferraridriver F1 Rookie

    Aug 8, 2002
    4,134
    Bay Area Calif.
    Full Name:
    Dave
    I'll ask again, how about "forum jump" in place of "rate this thread" at the bottom of the threads.

    Please please.

    I have absolutly no interest in rating a thread, but it is convienent to jump to another forum without having to go back to the top.
    Most all VB sites I visit have this function.
    One of the best is http://forums.atlasf1.com/index.php .
    The admin. there is also a moderator on the VB forum. He/She knows all the tricks of VB.
     
  16. wax

    wax Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jul 20, 2003
    51,458
    SFPD
    Full Name:
    Dirty Harry
    Re: Top of page - links:
    Not collapsible yet. (If width is Minimized, Menu overhangs)

    (Independently, I am not a moderator) I've already got the simple modification to source code ready for a collapsible menu, if that minor fix is on the agenda -

    BUT -

    I wonder what Administrators/Users think about a simple Pull-Down Menu. I can whip one of those up, no time flat. Cross-platform friendly, too.
     
  17. Nuvolari

    Nuvolari F1 Veteran
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Sep 3, 2002
    6,370
    Toronto / SoCal
    Full Name:
    Rob C.
    Something that I think this site could really use (and I am talking about improving on a really good thing here) is a classifieds section. YES YES I know about ferrariads.com but that is a totally different site that gets very easily forgotten. I am very sure that a lot more parts and cars not to mention wanted ads would be posted than what is seen. Only advertisers and non commercial posts should be allowed. I am sure this will be very well received by the membership.
     
  18. Wayne 962

    Wayne 962 Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 27, 2003
    502
    Hi Rob. I run the largest Porsche forum on the Internet (forums.pelicanparts.com). I have some suggestions. First of all, the multiple image post thing is easy, if you want me to help you with it. Check it out on our forums - integrates perfectly with vB, and it doesn't store images in the database (storing in the db is bad, as it will grow to unmanageable size, and become slow).

    I think that you could certainly use a classifieds forum, just like the ones on Pelican: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=17 They are very popular.

    vB 3 beta is nice, but still quite buggy. The search doesn't work very well. A custom search integration (hack) that can search both current and old system with one search (two panes in a window) would be idea, and not too difficult to engineer.

    I think it would help to break down the General discussion and/or tech forums into 12 and 8-cyl models. It would be good to have all of the 308/Mondial stuff, etc. in the same forum...

    A racing / autocross forum would be good too...

    Just a few suggestions for now. I've been running the Pelican forums for almost six years now, and have learned a thing or two over time (if you need assistance...)

    -Wayne
     
  19. Brian C. Stradale

    Brian C. Stradale F1 Rookie
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 17, 2002
    3,612
    Dallas, TX, USA
    Already there... FerrariAds link up top. I think that's a better format by far than a forum for holding ads.


    I agree that breaking up the Tech Forum might be good... I currently just go in there every once in a while and scan for posts with "360" in the title... but the main thing that needs to be split out is the 308's... not sure which else should go along with the 308's... I'm sure the experts there can answer that. Maybe model years would make more sense... since the same technologies tend to be used... and the experts who were owners during those years would be able to answer questions on both 8's and 12's???

    I would NOT agree that breaking up the General forum that way would make sense. The vast majority of discussions are of interest to all us Ferraristi.


    Well, unlike P-cars, very few F-cars are autocrossed... but a "Track" forum would be cool (and autocross posts would naturally show up there)... maybe that would allow some of the track-junkie Ferrari owners to participate more actively... not needing to sift the track stuff out of General.

    Or perhaps to keep things clear, since we periodically get track-related posts into Racing right now, maybe we should rename the existing Racing to "Racing Fans" and the new forum to "Track Participants", or some such.
     
  20. Wayne 962

    Wayne 962 Formula Junior
    Rossa Subscribed

    Nov 27, 2003
    502
    Right - I got the impression that the Racing forum was 'spectator' oriented, not actual club events oriented, etc...

    -Wayne
     
  21. tifosi12

    tifosi12 Four Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Oct 3, 2002
    48,581
    @ the wheel
    Full Name:
    Andreas
    I'm relieved to see that most FChat voters want the same thing, that I consider the #1 missing on the new board:

    Multiple pictures
     
  22. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 26, 2001
    29,386
    E ' ' '/ F
    Full Name:
    Trailer Swift
    I like the thought of the racing fans/track participants forum split.

    Also, we need more bikini girls :D
     
  23. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Wayne, thanks for the feedback, I'm a little swamped now and actually going to a PCA track event this weekend, but I will contact you soon.

    My intention for the Racing Fans forum was spectators, autocrossers, trackers, club racers, and all. Maybe I just need to retitle it.

    I am storing all images in a directory vs. database. I was warned about that early on. After one month and even only one image per post, we have 200 Mb of images.
     
  24. Willis360

    Willis360 F1 Rookie

    Aug 4, 2001
    3,928
    Redmond, WA
    Full Name:
    Willis H
    Definitely need to add full name. Half the time, I'd have to guess who some of the posters are. :) Why don't people use the same name as they did in the old site?
     
  25. rob lay

    rob lay Administrator
    Staff Member Admin Miami 2018 Owner

    Dec 1, 2000
    59,406
    Southlake, TX
    Full Name:
    Rob Lay
    Wait a second, I just checked, it's already named just Racing. How about these choices instead...

    Racing (fans & drivers)
    Racing and Tracking

    Hmm, I don't know, any other suggestions, for now I think they should be one forum as we don't have enough traffic yet for two.
     

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