How to make this site better?

[CXS]

Hey SV_Dude, The OP idea suggested is called "Thread Starter" in vBulletin mods.

 

[SV_Dude]

IMHO that's a horrible idea - look at the big local (CO) forum, if that's what you want go for it and I'll be gone along with others since people with a star tend to feel like they own the forum and have a bigger say, blah, blah, blah.

Help pay for upgrades? C'mon, vBulletin upgrades are free unless you want to go to vBulletin 5's attempt at a "social site." Bad idea too. There are tons of free add-ons too. Please don't BS users by making it sound like this is expensive to run.

I never have ran a forum and probably never will so I don't have a clue as what it takes financially to run it. I'm sure it has to cost something to host it or something? Not sure though, it was just a suggestion if there was any costs associated with running this forum.

BTW, I have no idea what happened earlier to prompt this because like many of the users I rarely go out go my generation forum.

That is a part of the reason I am trying to see how we can improve this forum. It would be nice if more people would venture out of their "zone" and be more active in other parts of the forum.

Just one guys opinion worth what you paid for it.

Same here man. I'm a user on this site like everyone else. But I am always willing to put in some time and effort to make things better.

 

[CXS]

I'm not saying running a forum is free but once the vBulletin software is paid for it's just hosting costs which aren't bad if you choose a good host. I'm willing to bet 99% of the people here use other forums too. The main thing that I think hinders use is all the "stuff" added - namely ads and vBadvanced (vBADvanced) that added stuff that doesn't add any value to the users, just mote stuff to load and slow the experience.

I'm guessing there was some drama in the off-topic area which is the nature of the forum. I have seen a few sites using "way off topic" which is unmoderated.

A big problem is forum owners tend to spend more time looking at this as a money making venture and lose site of the end user "experience."

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

This forum is doing well the way it is, but here are some random suggestions:

1. Reputation scores that actually change past "... will be famous soon enough" as no one has managed to progress any further
2. User titles that change with post count and reputation instead of stuck at "Registered User." It's already an option via vBulletin I'm pretty sure.
3. Sure wish we could get rid of all the ridiculous filters on bad language. Anyone driving a 4Runner is old enough to see bad words, unfortunately there are too many idiots who will abuse that option. Still, can't even talk about cam re**** or ******* Spears without being intercepted by asterisks.
4. Larger post character amount!!! My first post in COB's 4Runner Timeline has outgrown the limit of one post. I need more than 30,000 characters. 40,000 would suffice. Perhaps limit this to members with higher posts to avoid spam, though I doubt anyone would even notice.
5. Larger picture limit. 20 is too little for people like me who love to post tons of pics. 30 or 40 would be nice. Perhaps limit this to members with higher posts to avoid spam.
6. Link to build thread directly under avatar. Option in user CP for homepage, set that build thread and have folks post the links there.


That's all I have for now

 

[Kung]

Help pay for upgrades? C'mon, vBulletin upgrades are free unless you want to go to vBulletin 5's attempt at a "social site." Bad idea too. There are tons of free add-ons too. Please don't BS users by making it sound like this is expensive to run.

Are you talking about just the vBulletin aspect? If so, then I'd agree with you, as a license for vBulletin costs something like $180.

However, if you mean the site in its entirety, I would respectfully disagree, as I run two sites with vBulletin forum installations, with approximately the same size user base.

The 'site' itself (the front end - what you see) doesn't take much at all. However, what drives this site is the database behind it that contains all of the information - threads, posts, users, PMs, and the like. That database is being written to ALL the time.

Well, the more threads/posts/users/PMs, the larger the database needs to be. The larger the database needs to be, the more memory you need, and the more you need to consider what kind of hard drive you're running it on, and think about upgrading to better/different drives.

While I can't say for sure exactly what this site is running on, I can say that this isn't the slowest server I've ever seen. It's roughly comparable in speed, I would assume, to the servers that ran the two sites I'm an administrator of.

Those servers ran anywhere from $150 to $200 a month. Of course, you can go cheaper, but if that's the case, you end up cutting costs somewhere - either less RAM (which is THE dumbest thing you can do if your site operates on a database, which vBulletin does), slower servers, or worse yet, having to utilize a VPS (virtual private server - an 'instance' of a server that your site runs on) instead of a dedicated server.

My point? It's not ridiculously expensive, but unless someone's independently wealthy, $100 to $200 a month for just the hosting itself (not to count upgrade fees as the site grows, occasional vBulletin and registrar fees, etc.) is nothing to sneeze at.

Regarding CoB's post:

Sure wish we could get rid of all the ridiculous filters on bad language. Anyone driving a 4Runner is old enough to see bad words, unfortunately there are too many idiots who will abuse that option.

Agreed here; on the one hand, it'd be nice if adults could be adults. On the OTHER hand, I've administrated supposedly 'Christian' websites that had no filters set up (because they SUPPOSEDLY self-moderated) that ended up having to be turned on because all of a sudden they thought it was OK to 'occasionally' slip up. ("God will forgive me..." LOL)

 

[02SE]

Less moderation would be a good start IMHO, especially in the Off-Topic section. It's Off-topic for a reason.

Yep, as someone that has been a mod. etc. on other boards, I understand that the urge to push those special buttons is strong. It's also a quick way to lose the respect of Forum Members, if that ability is seen as being abused.

Just a little friendly advice.

 

[Desert Fox]

The FJ forum has a regional section and it is great for organizing local stuff like meet and greets, mod days, help needed and trail runs. That would be good to have here. We post up the trail runs in the Off-Roading (Home of the Monst4rs) thread and they get difficult to follow let alone search back for reference.

 

[rebelbowtie]

There is already a regional section it just doesn't get site traffic. Too many sub forums can kill a forum as a whole.

 

[Nathana92]

Underground. :hiding:

 

[Desert Fox]

There is already a regional section it just doesn't get site traffic. Too many sub forums can kill a forum as a whole.

The community thing if that is what you are refering to does not get much traffic. It is pretty worthless IMO.

I know the section on the FJ forum works great.

 

[mikebontoft]

comments on few suggestions I've found in here:

chat box. in my opinion it completely defeats the purpose of a forum, and is nearly impossible to moderate... especially if an argument breaks out.

picture limit... I don't recommend increasing the limit. if you like to post tons of photos (I do as well) make multiple posts. It seriously makes a difference for users with slower internet.... it plays hell with my phone too.

I also have to admit... I think this site has the least number of moderators I've ever seen. Granted the site isn't all that busy (note that on another model-specific vehicle forum there's about 26 of us. lol)

Spam. again, I don't know if this site just likes to be targeted or what, but hands down you guys have it the worst. Likewise, we rarely see spam accounts like these that pop up... 400 members online at average, both vbulletin sites so I'm not sure why you guys get hit so hard.

with my last paragraph in mind, maybe the registration needs to change. I'll have to go through it to a point and see what it was, but it may have been simple challenge question (2+2=?). no doubt spam bots can answer these.

I would suggest new user accounts be approved by moderators... but it's inconvenient and you guys sound stretched thin as it is. You can definitely tell a spam account by the name... seems to always be two common names followed by 3 or 4 numbers.

edit: custom or post count incentive titles are nice for non mods.

 

[rebelbowtie]

The community thing if that is what you are refering to does not get much traffic. It is pretty worthless IMO.

I know the section on the FJ forum works great.

I've never seen the community tab before as I exclusively use tapatalk to browse. I just looked using my browser and what I'm talking about seems to be gone.

There used to be a regional sub forum that had different forums for states and geographic regions.

 

[Kung]

chat box. in my opinion it completely defeats the purpose of a forum, and is nearly impossible to moderate... especially if an argument breaks out.

AGREED 100%. LOL

I also have to admit... I think this site has the least number of moderators I've ever seen. Granted the site isn't all that busy (note that on another model-specific vehicle forum there's about 26 of us. lol)

Spam. again, I don't know if this site just likes to be targeted or what, but hands down you guys have it the worst. Likewise, we rarely see spam accounts like these that pop up... 400 members online at average, both vbulletin sites so I'm not sure why you guys get hit so hard.

Also agreed; I've never seen a vBulletin site that

a) had less moderators or
b) had MORE spam members.

The challenge question is fairly easy to mess around with to make it much harder, if not impossible, for users to mess with.

In fact, there's a vBulletin add-on out there that's pretty darn neat. It creates a hashtag based on some parameters that will probably never change. When a spam member is banned, they can be banned by that hashtag.

Why is this important? Because regardless if the user changes their name, IP, etc., when they attempt to re-register on this site, the plug-in will look @ the same parameters, create the same hashtag - and they'll be stopped there.

In short, it prevents tons of automatic (or intentional) spammers from constantly re-registering with different names, IP addresses, etc.

 

[CXS]

However, if you mean the site in its entirety, I would respectfully disagree, as I run two sites with vBulletin forum installations, with approximately the same size user base.

You're preaching to the choir Kung. If you look at my sig you'll see Front Range 4x4 is my vBulletin site so I am familiar with the costs I speak of. I have run other, larger vBulletin sites as well as non-vBulletin sites and have been doing this since the birth of the web so I have some experience. I expressed my opinion and still think this forum is bloated though everyone is free to disagree.

Mine is now a small local site that I keep small intentionally. I approve all new members to ensure I don't have too much crap to deal with. I wheel with the people on my site and usually get to know everyone. I also have no issue with deleting people who are jerks since I don't want to trust a jerk to be a reliable spotter. That's vastly different than this where anyone can join and the "member numbers" look great until you note all the "members" who have never posted, posted once or twice, haven't posted in years. Delete those people and a fair amount of database is freed but loses appeal to sponsors who believe numbers regardless of their validity. Removing the vBADvanced module does it too. Duplicate info, same thing. My members pay my modest overhead every month by donations.

The excessive forums cut down on use, keep people from visiting beyond their gen forum which is detrimental overall. IMHO this could be run more effectively and I offered my views which isn't based on speculation but my experience.

Just trying to help!

 

[-JD-]

I would agree about the language censoring. Seems unnecessary on the Internet on any site not directed at children. Also agree about the moderation.

 

[ChildrenOfBodom]

picture limit... I don't recommend increasing the limit. if you like to post tons of photos (I do as well) make multiple posts. It seriously makes a difference for users with slower internet.... it plays hell with my phone too.

I see your argument. The reason I bring this up is for people like me who have build threads that were created several years ago, where your suggestion is not an option. We can't go back and place new posts to include more pictures and/or text (text character limit being a bigger problem for me). Plus, in the case of my build thread, I have Pic Heavy listed in the title to deter those using phones and whoever in the world still has dial up.

And for the record, my post count is set to 40 per page, never had a problem loading the site on my phone. Tapatalk will resize the images if you're having browsing issues.

 

[Dusty Driftwood]

Having moderated other forums as well, I know it can be a difficult & thankless job. So, let me start by thanking all the people that spend their FREE time moderating/running this board. That said, I don't think there is enough moderation/moderators.

1) I would like to see more topics moved and/or deleted. On Tuesday, I can almost guarantee that there will be 4-5 Merry Christmas threads. One, will be appropriately placed in Off Topic or General Discussions, while the others will be in the Generation specific sub-forums.
EDIT:
5th Gen Merry Xmas
4th Gen Merry Xmas
4th Gen Merry XMas II
3rd Gen Merry Xmas
3rd Gen Merry Xmas II
These count too
Show Off Your Christmas Gifts (3rd Gen)
Christmas Thread (Classics)

2) +1 more for the [OP] Thread Starter label

3) Perhaps some spam could be eliminated by requiring new members to have 25+/- posts before being able to start new threads. This could also lead to post whoring though and would make it difficult for new members to ask questions.

4) I believe new users should be forced to complete their profile as part of their registration. This should absolutely include their location.

5) Classified Section: Threads must be formatted correctly and have the appropriate information OR BE DELETED
A) All Threads in this section must start with FS (For Sale)- FT (For Trade) - WTB (Want to Buy) in thread title as well as WHAT GENERATION the part applies to.
For Example: FS: 4th GEN Carpet Floor Mats - Tan
B) All Threads must contain the following information
---1) What is for sale/trade (model, specs, etc.)
---2) Condition
---3) Price/What you want to trade for
---4) Location of item
---5) At least one picture of the item for sale or for trade
C) Moderators lock Classified Threads that have not had any activity in 90 days or when the part is announced SOLD
D) No "Feeler" Threads - Its either for sale or it isn't

6) Sub-Forum Consolidation: I believe most people stay within their generation's sub-forum because there are too many other sub-forums with watered down content. By eliminating some of them, it may encourage more participation from different people. I would like to see...
A) Merge FJ Cruiser & Lexus 460/470 with "Other Vehicles"
B) Accessories: I think this section could have it's own set of sub-forums like Classified Secion. Then, you could merge Audio/Electronics, Performance Zone, Suspension & Pimp Zone into that sub set.
C) I think the Polls sub-forum can be deleted as most people already post polls in the gen specific sub-forum.
* There are probably other consolidations that would improve forum flow and encourage people to venture out of their specific sub-forum, but this is a good start.

7) For the love of God, someone please teach Thai how to use the multi-quote function!

8) I would like to figure out some way to get more people to use the Garage feature so there aren't so many useless "build" threads. I am sick to death of people starting build threads because of what they are planning on doing or because they bought Camo seat covers from AutoZone or put a set of all weather mats in.

These are just suggestions that I think could make the forum better. Im sure not everyone will agree, but I think they could help.

In regards to some of the other suggestions, I don't care about the language censoring or the inclusion of a chat box. But, I really like the idea of a link to the build thread under the user's avatar. Having the poster's age next to their user name would be cool, but I'm sure some would prefer an option to hide their age. It would also be nice to have more room in private messages and user inbox.

 

[Kung]

You're preaching to the choir Kung. If you look at my sig you'll see Front Range 4x4 is my vBulletin site so I am familiar with the costs I speak of. I have run other, larger vBulletin sites as well as non-vBulletin sites and have been doing this since the birth of the web so I have some experience. I expressed my opinion and still think this forum is bloated though everyone is free to disagree.

Oh, I don't disagree with you at ALL there. I also don't disagree that the site could be run more efficiently - e.g., not only with an eye towards keeping the site running well for the members, but for the hardware it's running on.

The reason I responded as I did is because of two reasons:

1) Simply put, it was obvious you were familiar with vBulletin, but I had no specifics beyond that (unless I missed reading them somewhere - in which case you have my sincere apologies)

2) You know as well as I do that there are a TON of users out there to whom the words 'the site' encompasses ANYTHING related to the actual website. (E.g., "Your site gave me a virus!" when AdSense got jacked; or "Your site is slowing down my computer!" when IE's security settings are SO high that it won't allow some of the site's key code to run; and so on. LOL)

So when someone says "It's not that expensive to run", well, that all depends.

If you run it as YOU do, heck yeah, it's not all that expensive to run at all. That being said, you know as well as I do that VERY few run a vBulletin forum with a HUGE emphasis on running it efficiently and keeping it streamlined.

That being said, I know *VERY* few admins who run their vBulletin site as you do yours. LOL (And that's a compliment towards you for sure.) Additionally, in some cases, depending upon the focus of the site, not all of the measures you're able to take with your site can be taken.

ANYWAYS...the above explanation is why I responded as I did; my apologies if I jumped the gun or made unfair assumptions.

 

[Kung]

1) I would like to see more topics moved and/or deleted. On Tuesday, I can almost guarantee that there will be 4-5 Merry Christmas threads. One, will be appropriately placed in Off Topic or General Discussions, while the others will be in the Generation specific sub-forums.

3) Perhaps some spam could be eliminated by requiring new members to have 25+/- posts before being able to start new threads. This could also lead to post whoring though and would make it difficult for new members to ask questions.

Best ideas yet! LOL

7) For the love of God, someone please teach Thai how to use the multi-quote function!

LMAO!

 

[CXS]

my apologies if I jumped the gun or made unfair assumptions.

No apology needed Kung, I probably came on a bit too strong myself. :thumb3: