fed up people leaving forum

bbsmk1 said

theres been 2 pages since i got online whats going on

quick finger Mc-graw

insomnia

the wife's away on a conference    

this has actualy been a very good thread so far lots opinions shown ect
 :wink:

A5OPY said

The classified section seems to be causing the most problems on here
I think communication should be done through PMs to avoid some of the negative stuff that has been said by both seller and potential buyers. could solve some of these issues.

There's lots of merit in tightening it up.

One suggestion, which was only aired at committee level, was to have 2 levels of 'membership' (call them 'advertiser member' and 'full member'). Advertiser members pay something nominal, say ?1, through Paypal, and we insist on their address in the signup process. They'd get the ability to post in parts for sale but nothing in the post and not other member benefits such as insurance discount, etc. It was more for anti-fraud/anti-scammer reasons (we'd discourage 'here today, gone tomorrow' ads and also capture their address in a reasonably reliable way). But if we did that, there would have been the complications of 2 levels of membership (in fact, 3, since we'd need to offer an upgrade from one to the other) and there would have been loads of moderating of parts offered in the chat area, etc by people unwilling or too tight to pay ?1. eBay takes money on each transaction, after all.

At the end of the day, although a lively classifieds area is a Good Thing for a car club to have, it shouldn't be the main focus of the club and it would probably be better to not compete head on with commercial listings sites such as eBay, Pistonheads, etc. This was part of the reason why cars for sale was restricted (we didn't perceive it as an overall loss to the car seller, since pretty much everyone would advertise elsewhere too) and the slowdown evidenced, is not in fact an issue for the club.

bens_cab said

this has actualy been a very good thread so far lots opinions shown ect
 :wink:

sometimes its good to chew the fat this is when things move forward.

indeed it is chewing is the new olympics 8)

although its getting late and reading pauls posts is starting to hurt

I've not been on here long, not posted many posts either. I spend most of my time on here browsing searching for inspiration and asking the odd question. I have however seen that alot of the time the most activity is in the "Fun" posts, when there are many questions that get asked that simply get ignored.

I dont know if it's just me getting the wrong end of the stick and talking rubbish, but i have seen people post up in the past saying theyre leaving because of this.

Just my 2p.

that has been very interesting. people have expressed veiws which are the main reason i am not joining.

good thread and im glad to see it being done in the open.
not very bothered about being able to post in the for sale section as i have my car and not that interesting in selling it.

most posts like this are moved or start in club buisness for once its in general chat which makes a change

as paul said the for sale sections should be made a big part of the forum as were not ebay piston heads ect i think perhaps the for sales section should pm only to see what happens

bens_cab said

 i think perhaps the for sales section should pm only to see what happens

I agree, only the person posting the item for sale should be able to re-post in that thread. That way they can add additional info or let people know its been sold etc. If someones really interested in purchasing something or want more info on it then asking question's via Pm would be better than cluttering up the thread. Would stop idiots slating stuff. etc  :dontknow:

When I've wanted to buy something or get more info on the item I'm interested in I've always used the Pm facility and its worked a treat.

This is a very interesting thread.  I've been thinking about this for a while and since my last login there have been 12 pages of discussion.

Paul has mentioned expanding numbers joining the forum and this is a good thing, however if 2% of the people posting become vocal and negative then the whole vibe will change.  I remember looking on here when it was the Campaign Register but have only been on regularly since this year and even in the last few months I have noticed a change in the general feeling.

From a very personal stance I have had direct contact with several of the members on here and they have been nothing but helpful, friendly and knowledgeable - even giving me their phone numbers to talk through things.  This is the epitome of a real club.  I have also tried to give back by posting a fitting guide as my mechanical knowledge isn't as in depth as many, but this is something I could do.

There are some people here who post predominantly in the General Chat and Mk1 Chat sections who provide very little in the way of help.  Their tone is often negative, but worse than that they are regularly personally insulting.  If you'd just found the website after seeing a club stand is this the kind of thing that would make you want to join?

How do we change this?
Well firstly it has been made very clear that for swearing 3 posts and you are out.  Why can this not be the same for personally insulting people?  Are these "keyboard warriors" who provide little in the way of practical help the kind of people you want to be the web representation of the club?

As for the For Sale section I don't think having a 1 post only option is a good thing, sometimes you like to "get in first" if there is a bargain to be had or to update what parts are still available.  

I think for all sections having a link to report an abusive thread and another link to ask for a thread to be deleted (e.g. parts that are now sold)  which would be immediately highlighted to moderators could save the moderators having to attempt to read all the threads.  Some of the mods who don't come on here regularly may be able to spend 10 mins a day just deleting and locking / removing threads rather than 2 hours reading all the posts.

Also, for the record I think paul_c does a great job which is predominantly a thankless task   :clap:  :clap:  :clap:


Just my pennies worth.

MK1_Arron said

I know i'm not a very credible member of this forum an' all that but I just want to voice my thoughts;

i disagree. not having a mk1 doesn't devalue you as far as i'm concerned. if paul_c sold his mk1s, would he be a less credible member? as for your thoughts, though the word seems to contradict itself in your use of it and the action, no mans voice has any less worth than anothers, wether you agree with it, or not.

wooders said

MK1_Arron said

I know i'm not a very credible member of this forum an' all that but I just want to voice my thoughts;

i disagree. not having a mk1 doesn't devalue you as far as i'm concerned. if paul_c sold his mk1s, would he be a less credible member? as for your thoughts, though the word seems to contradict itself in your use of it and the action, no mans voice has any less worth than anothers, wether you agree with it, or not.

guessing your all out of stella

SCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRUMMPy. an a buxom wench wot to serve it with.

hmm thought so lol

your a bit like vinny jones in gone in 60 seconds dont say much of any real worth then come up with some very good and well thought replys

 :wink:

wooders said

MK1_Arron said

I know i'm not a very credible member of this forum an' all that but I just want to voice my thoughts;

i disagree. not having a mk1 doesn't devalue you as far as i'm concerned. if paul_c sold his mk1s, would he be a less credible member? as for your thoughts, though the word seems to contradict itself in your use of it and the action, no mans voice has any less worth than anothers, wether you agree with it, or not.

Exactly, which is why one member leaving (collo16v) needs to be looked in perspective of an overall trend, rather than us trying to please each individual user. Eventually all users who stick around long enough, change from being the kind who ask questions, to the kind who helps out others asking questions.

As stated 11 pages ago, the overall trend is up.

R11ysf said

 


Well firstly it has been made very clear that for swearing 3 posts and you are out.  Why can this not be the same for personally insulting people?  I think for all sections having a link to report an abusive thread and another link to ask for a thread to be deleted (e.g. parts that are now sold)  which would be immediately highlighted to moderators could save the moderators having to attempt to read all the threads.  Some of the mods who don't come on here regularly may be able to spend 10 mins a day just deleting and locking / removing threads rather than 2 hours reading all the posts.

Some good points in your post  :y: .

On the issue of personal insults, action is taken against the offenders, though it is not made public knowledge and is kept to pm's, which is fair in my opinion.

A few other forums do have the ability for members to click a buton to report an offensive post by another member, I like that facility, though Paul_C knows more than me on whether this is feasable to try on this site, but even with members doing self modding/reporting of offensive posts, it still doesn't prevent mods from having to check out threads, so wont save time but probably create more work. So one for Paul to give his wisdom on
 :wink:

Off to meet Bert now and choke on the diesel fumes, so check back in later  :mrgreen:

I think Eck's idea of only the original poster being able to reply to their own "For Sale" posts is a really good idea. Really frustrating on other forums when you can't add more info or photos. All comms are easy to do on PM.

I did feel sorry for Ben's Cab recently - not in a pity way but in the constant ribbing about his car. He's rightly proud of what he's built and I got sick of people jibbing him about bigging up his car. Again these posts to him added nothing but if I were him it would have hacked me off no end. Very few people have done what he achieved and it's too easy for a joke to get a bit out of hand.

Some posts replied to can be so easily mis-read, we can't ever read the context of the post and sometimes jokes (often in-jokes here) can come across as rude or belittling. I can think of a few members on here that think their posts are really funny but to those not "in the know" or regular readers/posters they just come across as rude and unnecessary.


I don't post much as I don't really have the confidence to but read everything on a daily basis. This is still a good forum with some good chaps and chappeses and things are always going to have peaks and troughs. I think this is just a trough time of year!

Cheers all

Michael