Michigan FBody and the Future

[JoeliusZ28]

Also, curious why a new project thread i just created isnt showing up in the stats ... ?

[ktl711]

I think what you propose is quite doable and most people will sign on to it in a heartbeat. The trick will be to get Brian to dedicate a chunk of his ever-decreasing amount of free time to this rework and clean up -- either that, or we need a backup system owner who can take on these tasks for Brian. Maybe we need a stakeholders meeting via Skype or WebEx or (gasp) in person at Duggan's or B-dub's to plan how we can get the site reformatted, and who is going to take on the various tasks. Let's be sure to invite any other tech savvy people that we think could help, like nascarnate326

I'd say that once spring finally breaks and people start coming to the site for info on the revamped Meet & Greet, it will be the perfect time to re-introduce people to the site and get traffic built up again.

meissen, what say you?

[JoeliusZ28]

Bumping this to the top because we should keep talking about this. I want to keep this site going and willing to help in any way i can. In a way i still feel partially responsible for this since I egged Brian to do the update a year ago.

I agree with whats been said about simplifying the site and consolidating the forums. For example, the "articles" and "groups" headings at the very top seem to point to dead ends. Another thing I think would be beneficial is improving the "top X threads" tool at the top of the site. Prior to the update, Brian had that thing down to a science and I think the new version of that utility is a far cry from the old one. My main criticisms are that it shouldnt take up the entire page and that it *should* show which threads have unread posts. I'm pretty sure the average visitor of the site may not even realize there is a forum section 2 pages down, because the forum header, banner ads, and top stats take up more than a full screen by themselves.

I also agree with combining sub forums. The response time of this site isn't the best, and I think the forum and feature sprawl is a component there. When a page doesnt respond in 2-3 seconds people give up and leave because nobody has any patience these days. I'm organizationally OCD as well but we need to realize were competing with facebook here and it is succeeding because of how stupidly simple it is. However, I don't want us to be a Facebook. I'm sure I'm not the only person thats noticed the stupidly simple layout of facebook also attracts a similar demographic. I love this site because of all the helpful relevant information here and I'd love to get back to that. To do that we need activity so lets try and strike a balance somewhere in the middle.

[MP81]

LOL...well, OCD-like may be putting it a little strongly, but you get what I mean. I'm like that on most forums. There are topics/areas I will skip all together, because I know they don't apply to me...like at TGO, I don't go into the carb forum, because I don't have a carb, of the LS conversion forum, etc. Things that clearly don't apply, I stay out of. But for the rest, I like to read it all.

That's good that you at least pay attention. The Cruze forum has its own section for Gen 1 Diesel and another section for the new Gen 2 Diesels - and you always see plenty of confused responses from gas-owners who didn't read what forum it is in.

[DynoDave]

LOL...well, OCD-like may be putting it a little strongly, but you get what I mean. I'm like that on most forums. There are topics/areas I will skip all together, because I know they don't apply to me...like at TGO, I don't go into the carb forum, because I don't have a carb, of the LS conversion forum, etc. Things that clearly don't apply, I stay out of. But for the rest, I like to read it all.

[meissen]

See, my problem is I'm OCD-like.

((((( meant in good fun )))))

[formula218]

Wow, I have never, ever heard of this Gridlife thing before. I thought "Gridlife" was the part of your commute every weekday morning on westbound 696 at I-75...

It's one of those things the kids are doing these days, they make their cars drive all nimbly bimbly like on a curvy race track. I think this group is a little older than their target demographic, and most of us F-body folk stick to 1/4 mile or shows. I wasn't saying that event in particular as it's quite different than a M&G (HPDE, time attack, drifting including 5-6 pro drivers giving ride alongs, car show, live music, vendors, food, etc), though with it pulling 3500+ people from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon, I might not be the only one. I was more saying that that time of year is busy, and maybe moving the M&G to an earlier date could draw in more people.

[ktl711]

Wow, I have never, ever heard of this Gridlife thing before. I thought "Gridlife" was the part of your commute every weekday morning on westbound 696 at I-75...

I always thought that one of the beauties of the M&G was that it was one of the first shows of the season, and a great way to show off all those winter projects, as well as great incentive to get those winter projects finished! Now, it's getting buried under a ton of other shows. I'd much rather see it be held the week before Memorial Day rather than the second weekend after Memorial Day. That would also keep it further away from Camaro Superfest, so that people who travel from out of town don't feel like they have to choose one or the other.

Back to the topic -- lots of very supportive and constructive suggestions here! I hope you guys get a chance to implement your ideas, as it could just be the refreshing kick in the a$$ that the site needs in order to bring people back and get them active again. That, and maybe naming an official "Woodward coordinator" to get the notices out about MiFBody gatherings. People do have plenty of alternatives to interacting online, but MiFBody was really the only multi-generational Camaro & Firebird (and occasional errant M*stang) group where all Gens of F-Bodies were welcome. It's the M&G and the experiences on Woodward that make MiFBody really unique.

[DynoDave]

Conflicts. Yes, this was the same weekend as the POCI Widetracker's Spring Dust-Off car show in Davison. Also, the Chrysler Employee Motorsports Association (CEMA) show at the Chrysler Tech Center. Always tough choices.

Engine Mechanical: Power adders, intake/exhaust, engine swaps, tuning
Engine/Body Electrical: ignition/electrical
Drivetrain: Driveline, Wheels/Tires/Suspension
Interior/Exterior: Appearance, Audio Video, Make it Shine
General Tech
Projects (may be worth splitting this forum up into Fbody and non-Fbody projects?)
Tutorials

See, my problem is I'm OCD-like. I have to have all of the forums, sub-forums, sub-sub forums marked READ before I can leave. I'd hate to miss something! So I go into every single one if it's showing an unread thread. So for ME (and I'm not the majority), I'd like to just have an Engine Mechanical section, defined as containing Power adders, Intake/Exhaust, Engine Swaps, Tuning. I would prefer not to have all of those as sub-forums under Engine Mechanical when I go in there. Does that make sense? Not sure I'm describing it right, and that may be what you meant.

End of the day, it's Brian's call, and it sounds like he's open to the idea of reducing some of the unread forums. So good on him for remaining flexible to changing the site. It's not a dream way of spending some of your July shut-down time.

[MP81]

Yeah, I'd guess it's probably the second weekend after memorial day or something, like how the M&G used to be the first weekend after memorial day, but DGP stole that.

[formula218]

I'm not sure. I don't know how they choose a date (like 'third weekend of ____, ect), i just know last year was the only year i was able to do both because they were a week apart. Obviously i know there are probably not a ton of other members who go to Gridlife but June is a busy month.

[MP81]

Did Gridlife change their date this year as well? The M&G was moved back a week to not coincide with the Detroit GP.

[formula218]

I for one really liked the update. The only thing i dislike about the forum is the Shoutbox and "Top stats cluttering the forum page, but i just keep them minimized, not really a huge issue IMO. I usualy check the site at least a couple times a day while i'm at work. And it's usually my first place to ask questions unless they're LT1 related.

I really wish that the M&G wasn't the same weekend as Gridlife or else i'd always make it, that has kept me away all but 1 year i've been a member. I love hanging out with other F-body guys but racing always beats car shows for me.

[ktl711]

Or just enhance the search function...

[MP81]

You may not even need to archive it, per se, just consolidate the forums. Or even leave the current structure - but bring it all under one main category to clean up the main forum homepage, if that makes sense.

For instance:

FBody Discussion currently has: Power adders, driveline, tuning forum, intake/exhaust, ignition/electrcal, engine swaps, wheels/tires/suspension, appearance, audio video, general tech, make it shine, project forum, tutorials.

Perhaps it could be something like this:

Fbody Discussion:

Engine Mechanical: Power adders, intake/exhaust, engine swaps, tuning
Engine/Body Electrical: ignition/electrical
Drivetrain: Driveline, Wheels/Tires/Suspension
Interior/Exterior: Appearance, Audio Video, Make it Shine
General Tech
Projects (may be worth splitting this forum up into Fbody and non-Fbody projects?)
Tutorials