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View Full Version : Making our Forum a club



GoLfMan
18-11-2005, 11:58 AM
What would you guys say to making our forum into a club? that can do motorsport and cruises and the like? As our community grows i think this maybe a viable option.

chuck you opinions in guys :D

imported_brackie
18-11-2005, 01:24 PM
Not in favour of this. Because we are Australia-wide (and to a certain extent worldwide) it becomes an administrative nightmare to organise secretaries, treasurers, chairs etc. and you must have all of these to be a registered club. I for one just don't have the time or the patience.

Now that the forum has been running (with great success) for 6 months I've been looking at having a shake out and expansion. Technically, this is "My Forum" as I own the domain name, have paid for its registration and have paid all of the hosting fees. Now I'd like to reorganise the site based up on our experiences so far.

1. I would like to have a general "Chat" area that isn't make or model specific, rather that the divided nature that we have at present. What tends to happen is that a useful thread starts and then is sidetracked to the point where the original idea or intent is lost.

2. With the make and model forums gone I'd like to have a Troubleshooting forum that is specific. The one that we have at present works fine, except that posts concerning problems often get put in the general chat areas.

3. Although we have a lot of users, we only have a small core of contributors. Many users have registered simply to get free advertising for their cars/parts. While this in many cases can be a good thing (especially if you're looking for something and nobody else on the forum has it!) it's really just using us as these people just disappear and don't contribute. (If you don't believe me just take a little time to run thru' the Memberlist and check out single postings against usernames.) To tighten up on this I would like to see moderators questioning new users who post straight into the "Classifieds" forums. I police this as well as I can, but I need support.

4. Sponsorship. We (I) need this as domain name reregistration and hosting fees will be coming up soon. I've already approached VW dealers and workshop/parts retailers and have had a positive response. How does the membership feel about adverts appearing on the site?

5. Software. phpBB is free software...And you can tell! I would like to upgrade to better software, for example VBulletin, which would give me/us much greater flexibility and is very customisable. However, it costs an annual licence.

6. Expansion of the site. I feel that the forum should be a part of a larger, more sophisticated VW Watercooled website. In it could be articles and photos of all models, photos of racing and rally events, meets, customised cars...You name it! I have the IT skills to set up the website, but I would need heaps of support in the way of article writing, technical advice and personal contact with advertisers.

7. Merchantising. I reckon all users deserve to have something with our web address on it for free. This could be a sticker, Tshirt, cap etc. To pay for these, dealers and VW trade people could have their logo included and/or advertising space on the site. I've run this past a couple of businesses and have had a favourable response.

So, Guys, what do you reckon? Rather than PMing me with you responses, put them up on the "Site Reorganisation" forum and let everbody comment and contribute. I'm happy to listen to any ideas!

GoLfMan
18-11-2005, 10:25 PM
i like :) good stuff brackie youve done a great job of setting up and maintaining this forum and we all wouldnt be here without ya :)

Gold-mk1
19-11-2005, 12:20 AM
Good work sir !

and sadly......i haven't disapeared ! :D

imported_brackie
20-11-2005, 05:55 AM
I'm gonna keep refreshing this post to remind you guys to have your say on the future direction of this forum. You'll find a poll in SITE REORGANISATION. Please vote (you can vote for more than one suggestion by going back and picking another radio button then clicking "submit") so that I can formulate something and get some action happening soon.

silva1
04-01-2006, 09:10 PM
that's progress it all sounds good to me

16valvertwin45s
27-04-2006, 10:40 PM
JUST ATHOUGHT HERE FELLA'S.
BACK IN 95 I JOINED CLUB GTI (A PERFORMANCE VW CLUB)IN THE UK COSTS ROUGHLY $50 ANNUALLY FOR YOUR MONEY YOU GET AN EXCELLENT QUARTERLY FULL COLOUR MAGAZINE ACCESS TO A VAST KNOWLEDGE OF VW INFORMATION AND GREAT DISCOUNT WITH EUROPES LEADING VW TUNERS AND PARTS DISTRIBUTERS.
30,000 MILES AND 11 YEARS LATER THE MAGAZINE AND ALL THE REST OF THE WORLDS BIGGEST VW CLUBS RESOURCES ARE STILL AT MY DISPOSAL

CHECK OUT
WWW.CLUBGTI.COM

DO YOURSELVES A FAVOUR!!!

vinderliker
28-04-2006, 01:44 AM
Brackie seems to pointing us in the right direction. :D

imported_brackie
28-04-2006, 06:53 AM
We are 1yo next month! (More later.)

The milking season ends for us next week so then I can afford the time to begin site reorganisation. Unfortunately along with the extra time comes the hosting fees and the domain name registration. Our database on the server is more than full. We're allowed 10MB but currently we're at 10.1MB and I'm sure that when I apply for next year's hosting there'll be a fee rise. I also intend to purchase new forum software. (Perhaps something that's secure enough to save me time spent very day kicking out spammers and drug/porn vendors!) To run this software and enlarge the site will take up a lot more server space and cost more $$$s.

I need help. The revenue necessary to turn this site into more than just a forum needs to come from the Trade. I'm perfectly comfortable having trade people advertising in the classifieds as long as they are responsible, don't get into slanging matches and don't put others down. Our classifieds should be just that....ours.....and not just a way for the Trade to sell more stock or get rid of things that are slow movers.

So, what I'm proposing is that as part of the "Greater Site" each business gets a page with links to their existing website/email and a personally updatable list of what they have for sale. I think I can get my head around SQL enough to give them a login so that they can upload themselves, however if necessary I can do it for them (within reason!) Any IT people in our memberlist might like to help me out here.

Also as part of this expanded site I would like each member to have a personal gallery with server space for pics and descriptions of their ride(s).

So, what can you do to help?
1. If you are already in the trade email or pm me and express interest.
2. If you are prepared to approach a VW business that you already deal with and explain what we're trying to do, that would be great. The first thing that they'll ask is, "How much?" Tell them less than $100 per year. We don't want to overkill, so one business in each major section of a city, or in regional areas one business per district would be enough. We could have in addition to this tyre specialists, suspension and exhaust centres etc that know VWs. For example I'm webmaster for http://www.discoveryauto.com.au and although they are Landrover/Rangerover people, they also are Bilstein dealers and chip specialists. If we can get half a dozen on board that would pay for everything I reckon.
3. My missus will be cutting stencils for T shirts and caps next month. There's been some discussion of what people would like on them and she thinks she can so it. (We may have to get some of the graphics stencils professionally cut.) Caps are a bit more difficult to screen print and if it doesn't work out we'll have to get them embroidered. A large VW dealership here in Tassie has expressed interest in paying for this if they can also have their name on the caps. They want to merchandise them and use them to publicize us when they sell VWs new and used. Maybe your local VW dealer would be in it :?:

Thanks for the comments on making us a club. Really, I wouldn't want to be in that. The organisation of a club would be almost impossible because we are spread across a continent. Who would put their hand up for offices? Who would write articles and publish a magazine? We just don't have the population base.

Golf Loon
28-04-2006, 09:46 AM
I am in for sponsorship, say the word Brackie.

I think there should be extra sections for sdvertisers to post info, but no pop up adverts.

el_foolio
28-04-2006, 06:58 PM
wow, its all so exciting! The sponsorships/merch sound awesome!

GoLfMan
28-04-2006, 08:17 PM
fantastic!!! its the step up we need i think next year when im out of school and ive got my P's i shall do some advertising and enquiries to dealerships and the like!

SOHC
28-04-2006, 09:00 PM
man... i would be too excited about it, make it well known and we can have more members, more watercooled VAG cars and more fun around Australia!

Edison
13-05-2006, 01:34 AM
To run this software and enlarge the site will take up a lot more server space and cost more $$$s.

Is running the site on a broadband connected computer any good ? It would allow unlimited storage, and if there is already someone using the broadband in the house where it is, it may not cost, except for the computer, which might also be from donated parts, like a new motherboard and CPU here, a HDD there, just a though, as some of us may already have a lot of that...
Maybe we'd need an alliance with some computer nuts...

imported_brackie
13-05-2006, 06:11 AM
Yes, all possible. We don't have broadband here in Sticksville so not an option for me, but our traffic is heavy and growing. The servers that ISPs run have much more capacity than home PCs and can handle multiple users on line at the same time very capably. (Ever tried to access a site and "Too many users" has popped up?) I'm negotiating a very good deal at present so we'll be OK.

worm
13-05-2006, 11:39 AM
If u need any PC parts, I got a box with MB CPU ram in it.... and some other bits and bobs... if u want any of it im more than happy to send it your way

Edison
14-05-2006, 06:28 AM
Oh! and a home computer with a bit of storage would be good even with a similar config to the current one, as there are all those image pointers, urls and all that. Storing pics that way would be cool and straightforward. Doesn't everyone want some decent low cost storage for ebay pics, pics here all sort of stuff, but can't be bothered/can't afford it. Pooling resources is always a good thing for everyone.