News - Forum changes, and your thoughts please!

[AdminFred]

This forum has been running very successfully for many years and is acknowledged as a great resource of information and assistance, and as perhaps the best place to chat all things F-Type. So, a huge THANK YOU to all of you for contributing to its success, especially to those who have administered and moderated the forum to date, and to our most prolific posters too.

You may have seen various discussions recently about planned improvements to the forum, and this post is by way of a preliminary 'Heads Up' that we're working towards some things which should, we hope, see the forum continue to thrive, while becoming more user-friendly and reliable. We're also planning to add more features, and you may see that we've already done a little pruning to get rid of some dead wood.

We'd like there to be more benefit to being here than just the conversations, so we're talking to partners old and new who can help with things like history checks and warranties, so that members can genuinely benefit, and we hope to have some special offers for members as well.

So, that's a taster of the plans as they stand, but we'd like to invite your thoughts, suggestions, and requests. Please post those things in this thread, and we'll respond to them; while we can't promise to fulfil every wish, we'll do our best to please most of the people, most of the time.

Over to you!

[NaCl]

A U.I. overhaul would be nice. The current website theme is clean but a bit basic and doesn't have any F-Type theming/imagery (e.g. like the XE forum has).

Also, I assume the current design is based on a template as the Porsche Macan UK forum looks exactly the same!
https://www.macanforums.co.uk/

[AdminFred]

A U.I. overhaul would be nice. The current website theme is clean but a bit basic and doesn't have any F-Type theming/imagery (e.g. like the XE forum has).

Also, I assume the current design is based on a template as the Porsche Macan UK forum looks exactly the same!
https://www.macanforums.co.uk/

Thanks, and yes, most forums run on templates of one kind or another. We'll be moving to a highly reputable bulletin board software, which should mean an end to the slow functioning which we've seen on and off here.

Better branding and images is a great idea, thank you, we'll work on that.

[WhoKnows]

I think it would be useful to have a few stickies as in the few months I've been here I've seen multiple questions on similar topics. Eg

What issues to look for when searching for a new car that are specific to ftype (dim DLR, squeaky exhaust valves etc)

Things that can go wrong once you have one and how to fix the common ones (most appear to be fixed by charging the battery or unplugging the battery )

[WShudds]

Great news! These are some ideas/requests
- Stikies and knowledge base for manuals, etc
- user tagging (@) with notification
- Improved search functionality
- Thread or sub-group subscription with notification
- Easier access to Your Threads so I can update with new content, for instance
- user ranking (senior, Junior, etc),
- on user interface overhaul with F-type branding, see TT UK forum which is hugely popular and has gone through a similar overhaul in 2022
- better upload support including documents and videos,
- minimum user ID requirement including vehicle description so we know who's got what, country where they're based
- Tapatalk support
- Keep it ad free or ad an option to stop ads

[simpleR]

Comments:

1) A new admin "AdminFred" - are you the new Rob? or another new 1st time poster/troll? Only teasing. Welcome. I think it is time to modernise the forum so it remains the place to go for any and all F-Type queries especially as they aren't being made anymore!

2 Quote "partners old and new who can help with things like history checks and warranties". ALA GAP insurance who I presume sponsor the forum already here and no more history checks for me! Hopefully not by a dealer trying to sell cars lets hope. We have had dealers on here before.


The top 3 for me would be:

1) Enforce additional details such as signatures on user profiles at point of registration. Useful to know country, current car engine, MY or status "owner, looking, selling" etc.

2) @tagging so it generates a notification.

3) Benefits of being a member on here. A few sticker here, a reserved space at the front at Gaydon there, special offers etc

[AdminFred]

I think it would be useful to have a few stickies as in the few months I've been here I've seen multiple questions on similar topics. Eg

What issues to look for when searching for a new car that are specific to ftype (dim DLR, squeaky exhaust valves etc)

Things that can go wrong once you have one and how to fix the common ones (most appear to be fixed by charging the battery or unplugging the battery )

Thanks for this, those ideas are already clearly on the radar, along with a review as to whether we keep the present homepage design, which prioritises recent threads, or go for a forum-by-forum layout, which might prevent the slightly 'silo' nature of some conversations...

[gasgas]

doing a good job, thanks for the forum, i would like to see the latest post for eack item/question come up first please

[AdminFred]

Great news! These are some ideas/requests
- Stikies and knowledge base for manuals, etc
- user tagging (@) with notification
- Improved search functionality
- Thread or sub-group subscription with notification
- Easier access to Your Threads so I can update with new content, for instance
- user ranking (senior, Junior, etc),
- on user interface overhaul with F-type branding, see TT UK forum which is hugely popular and has gone through a similar overhaul in 2022
- better upload support including documents and videos,
- minimum user ID requirement including vehicle description so we know who's got what, country where they're based
- Tapatalk support
- Keep it ad free or ad an option to stop ads

Thanks for taking the time to put that thoughtful list together. I'm glad to say that the new software should address the majority of those issues, and thanks for the pointer towards the TT forum. I'm not sure about Tapatalk, I think we need to scope the likely use of it before making a decision, especially as it isn't supported by the software we intend to use (they say it will integrate safely, but requires a third party's involvement).

When you say 'an option to stop ads', do you mean a subscription for an ad-free version? I'm afraid that running a site like this does bring costs, and some kind of revenue is necessary to cover them...

[AdminFred]

Comments:

1) A new admin "AdminFred" - are you the new Rob? or another new 1st time poster/troll? Only teasing. Welcome. I think it is time to modernise the forum so it remains the place to go for any and all F-Type queries especially as they aren't being made anymore!

2 Quote "partners old and new who can help with things like history checks and warranties". ALA GAP insurance who I presume sponsor the forum already here and no more history checks for me! Hopefully not by a dealer trying to sell cars lets hope. We have had dealers on here before.


The top 3 for me would be:

1) Enforce additional details such as signatures on user profiles at point of registration. Useful to know country, current car engine, MY or status "owner, looking, selling" etc.

2) @tagging so it generates a notification.

3) Benefits of being a member on here. A few sticker here, a reserved space at the front at Gaydon there, special offers etc

Thank you, for this and all your other posts here.

Rob is still here, providing very valuable support. In a while, he'll be taking a step backwards - by way of insight, he's a forum developer, but not an F-Type enthusiast, and the forum is now firmly in enthusiast hands.

You often provide valuable insight into individual cars' backgrounds, based on the various markers in registration, servicing, etc and it would be great if we can capture some of that in a way that is easy to refer to without you having to post individual replies. Might you be kind enough to assemble your knowledge in that area, to be made into a sticky perhaps?

Could you elucidate what the issue is with dealers please?

Signature information is definitely on the radar, though it may take a short while to introduce. We don't want anything which will turn people away, either by being onerous to do (eg lengthy questionnaires to join the forum) or forcing those who like privacy to reveal a lot of information, so I'm not sure exactly what form those things will take at this moment.

Yes, @tags is one thing we definitely want, and effective notification etc.

Yes, we're working on offers, etc, and awaiting an answer from JBC - if you know any of their organisers, feel free to help us make the connection, please.