Thanks for pointing it out I have been here for almost 3 years and never noticed the exclamation point button was for bad post reporting.

 

A little story....

When I first started reading this forum (long before I joined), it was full of fresh information. After I spent time reading and then later joined so I could post, things seem to not be as fresh. The forum was getting stale.

Now, the forum wasn't changing, I had just been around the forum enough to have seen mostly what there was to see.

I think everyone goes through that as they expect the forum to evolve with them and sorry that's not going to happen. However, I was determined to make the forum what I wanted to visit each day. I wasn't a moderator, so I started using the REPORT button. Every thread that I though should be closed or moved, I reported it. I'm talking hitting that button probably 5-6 times a day.

Keith (rxrotary2_7) was the only active moderator at the time. I believe that was around the time he was getting his business going so he was busy outside of the forum let alone basically being the only active moderator. So, after about 3-4 weeks of getting emails from me hitting the Report button, he just said "Hey, you want to try this for real instead of using that damn button?". So I became a moderator and started to shape the forum into something I wanted to visit every day. Some people like it, some people didn't. I will be the first to say I ruffled more than a few feathers.

I took it upon myself to try to make the forum how I wanted to see it. I didn't wait for someone to do it for me and everyone else can do it too. Start with the suggestions I posted in my last message. If everyone pitches in, it does make more of a difference than you can imagine.

 

^ Mahjik became a mod because he learned how to push Keith's buttons

Seriously, I can about count the number of times I've seen a post reported on my two hands and I've been modding for years. People will take the time to create a thread and stir up a little controversy while hoping to get their way but they won't take the time to simply report a post or ask a question directly of a mod.

The ones I do laugh at are people who post rude things in the spammer threads. Sometimes they're funny, but then I have to delete it along with the spammer

 

lol, it worked!

 

Hey guys, I understand completely what you're saying; I wasn't really advocating a repeat of the Adanced Tech section. More like making a 3rd Gen Lounge for 3rd Gen related material, but in a non-technical fashion. That's all. And TRUST ME, if you guys moderate the general 3rd gen section (which would be tech only) strictly (and I'll beat the crap outta the report button too ) ppl will (for the most part) realize non-tech stuff has to go into the 3rd gen lounge. That's all. I think it's very different from an advanced tech section, as the basic questions weren't to be placed in the Advanced Tech section...and so not many threads made it there, and as such, not many ppl saw it.

MY idea, is as such.

- You click on the 3rd Gen Section. You immediately see all the technical posts ONLY. NO non-technical stuff. Pro: issues that need attention will receive them.

- You have to CLICK on the 3rd Gen Lounge to go there. That's where ppl can post random pics of their cars, progress w/ their cars, my new exhaust, etc etc. So IF you want to see that stuff (and most ppl will, cuz there will inevitably be a ton of pics in there for ppl's viewing pleasure), you gotta GO there. Pros: No cluttering up the (by default) tech section.

That's all. Does that still receive a big no?

~Ramy

PS: For the record, I didn't know about the report button's use. I thought it was for threads that violated forum rules only. Be forewarned; I'll now be using the report button 24/7

 

I'm in no position to say no.

However, honestly its the same idea. Whether you call it: 3rd Gen Regular & Advanced or 3rd Gen & 3rd Gen Lounge, the idea is the same. You want to separate the more technical threads from the non-technical ones. All that is changing is the naming of the classifications.

The problem we ran into was that nothing really became "technical" at that point. And the ones that did become "technical" didn't start out that way. So to you keep the threads that start out as "What's the best exhaust" but end up more technical in the non-technical or the technical section?

I hear what you guys (maybe gals to) are saying, but it's the same sheep just in different clothing.

IMO, you are better off utilizing the rest of the forum sections (i.e. moving threads that need to moved). There are quite a few sections that some posts can go which are not quite lounge material, but don't belong here. Utilizing sections such as the General Automotive section would also allow poeple to get introduced to knowledgeable members from the other gereration sections. We have a lot of people who think they are braving new ground with the FD when in reality the FB & FC guys have been doing most of it for a lot longer.

The main problem is people just post everything here (or in their main generation sections) because of the visibility, not because they don't know any better. For instance, Howard posted a link to a picture of his old race car here. Now, I'm not picking on Howard, it just an example as he knows a lot of people only visit one or two sections (i.e. they only come to the 3rd Gen and Suspension sections).

Again, that's just my opinion.

 

Again Mahjik (not to be a pain in your side) I see your point 100%. But I don't think it's simply a matter of naming. By making the DEFAULT section you see the tech section, it'll have a COMPLETELY different effect than making ppl go visit a tech section (which has a lot less likelihood). And the 3rd Gen Lounge would still have plenty of traffic...you'd just have to click on it to get there. See, I'm a firm believer in not just what you do, but HOW u do it having a huge impact on it's success.

That's my $0.02...
~Ramy

PS: Would it be offensive/annoying to report a thread and simply say "this belongs in the interior/exterior/audio section" ? I thought that might be taken negatively (in a "do your job, Mr. Moderator" fashion). Def. didn't wanna give that msg out.

 

Just to echo Ramy, I've reported a few posts, but they were usually just scammers, spammers, or trolls. Although once I did report JimLab who IMO, was getting WAY out of hand. Still, I never considered "pushing the button" just for repeat/redundant threads, or even for threads posted in the wrong section. I always figured that if I ever attracted attention, especially from a mod, I wanted it to be positive and not a complainer.

 

I don't know if it would be annoying, but that's what I was doing before I became a moderator. That's probably why Keith got tired of seeing me hit the report button.

IMO, it's a feature there for everyone to use. If you don't use it, the moderators don't know what the forum members dislike.

 

Woooweee! Lets get it started in here! (I have very strong Moderator-type tendancies haha)

 

Now, just because you hit the button doesn't mean a moderator agrees with you on the suggestion. So, you might think a thread belongs in another section but dgeesaman & rynberg disagree so nothing happens. In other words, not get upset if your 'suggestion' doesn't happen as it's still up to them.

Just keep in mind, you are giving 'suggestions' not 'orders'.

 

I'm pretty surprised by how little the report button is used. Then again, it's not exactly obvious.

Feel free to use the button, Ramy. Just don't get carried away... :

 

Yes yes I know...I was just j/k around. I won't report the same thread 74 times until it's finally moved

 

Nope, not offensive at all. Carry on. Pull the trigger.

Regarding changing the forum structure by adding another section, Mahjik does point out how 'simple' categorization leads to some difficulty. Especially because while every thread has a subject line, the actual discussion is what matters and that constantly evolves. I'm not saying it can't be done, but people will have reason to disagree will all manner of classification. Plus, you have people who will only read the tech side, and people who read the 'other' side, and then you'll have cross-posting for the visibility. Or people posting pics of their 18x10" deep dish rims in the tech section because they claim it improves handling. (LOL). Newbies will have questions that contain both technical and non-technical issues. There's never a clear dividing line, so any discussions in that grey area will suffer some.

All that said, most experiments on this forum w.r.t. adding sections have not worked out. The people in charge know this, and honestly I understand their reluctance. Especially since a split setup didn't work before (although it predates my membership here). I don't know more than that.

IMVHO I think the split idea is a good idea, but I don't think the ease of management, use, and quality of content will change enough to warrant it. I'm not saying no, but I think it still needs deeper consideration.

Dave

 

By all means, consider...consider!

 

Agreed.

An "Advanced Tech" section inevitably gets a lot of the same newbie questions as a general or basic section because people will quickly figure out that it's where the people with the answers hang out. Frequent moderation will be required to move "frivilous" topics down to the general tech section, and frankly, there's just not enough advanced discussion going on here to warrant a separate section.

As Mahjik mentioned, this has been suggested and attempted before, and we're back to a single 3rd gen. forum.

Now... if someone wants to make me the super moderator solely in charge of banning Mark Strong (yzf) each time he creates a new account, I'm more than happy to sign up for that gig.

 

I vote jimlab to be the SUPER MOD!!

 

I love that idea, but I fear that *coincidentally,* the # of forum members would drop to like 20 members

 

I still feel that a 3rd gen Rx-7 "technical notes" test should be administered to anyone who desires posting privileges in the 3rd section (regardless of the intent of their post.... whether it be "loungish" or "techie")--the purpose of this being to admit posters who have some "common sense" regarding these cars.

As I envision it, the test would be multiple choice (the most simple type of exam to grade ) and would have a set of questions the "gurus" deem "basic knowledge" as far as the FD is concerned. Of course, all of these things need to be defined and justified. The intent is to hopefully weed out your typical fuckwad that comes on here (stereotype/generalization here).

Perhaps a given question set could consist of 50 questions that could be rotated/changed every 6 months (out of a database of questions), and you would only allow those with a certain percentage of questions correct to pass.

If you don't pass, say within 3 attempts (say, a "prospective poster" will be identified by their email address)? Well, you can't post here So there

I dunno. Just an idea. Ramy, I like your new company

 

mdpalmer,

If we had some sort of multiple question testing implimented.... I will definitely fail I'm a horrible test taker!! Even though my SAT score back in 1990 was pretty decent... LOL! Damn! I'm old!

Ive given up in the idea about some VIP or special 3rd gen sections... hence from now on, I'll be posting tons of pics of my car and progress pics.... Just pics!... I think I'm already doing that these days.. LMAO!

OH, Also.. I want to hit 10K posts by end of Feb.. Lets see if I could DO IT!

 

Just because you can't change things doesn't mean you have to contribute to the problem. I know you're frustrated along with many others, but that still doesn't change things.

I for one never understood what the big deal is. I've been on this forum for a LONG time and only about a year or so ago became an "active" poster. I honestly believe that the moderators do a fairly good job on this forum. I also don't mind sifting through the useless threads to get to the substantial ones. As long as a thread is correctly titled I have no problems with how the system is currently set-up. Once in awhile it gets annoyin' but overall I can deal with how things are.

Regarding the comments about searching: Over the years I've almost always been able to find what I've been looking for using the search button. Granted, it might have taken some time and I would have to figure out what "keyword" actually worked, but I still did find the information I was originally looking for. The few times I didn't find the info I was looking for, I opened up a new thread and quickly got my answer.

The system as it stands now, works. Of course, everything can be made more efficient, organized, and ultimately better, but who knows if that will ever happen or how much work is actually involved to make it so.

 

i dont see a need to change anything. it keeps the forums from being too dry and boring. we're all 3rd gen owners and its a good way to mix and communicate w/o being serious all the time

edit: +1 about searching

 

They should make a plugin for vbulletin that lets you see all the subforums that you are interested in as one long list. Kind of like subscribing to a forum and not just a thread.

For example, you want to see the 3rd gen section and the 3rd gen parts section everytime you log in. So you could have a "home forum" page that blends those two sections together and orders them by most recent post seamlessly. You would scroll down and every other post or so would be from a different forum section. Then it wouldn't matter how many subforums were created or how little traffic they got because anyone interested in that topic would see it.

 

Ramy's suggestion is sound and viable, and it is a mistake to close your mind to it simply because a previous system, which was different mind you, did no work. What Ramy is suggesting is essentially just a subsection in the third gen page (as the time slip/dyno and archive pages are now) that will allow us to post our project updates, pics, polls etc in a 3rd gen specific area without clogging up to main 3rd gen area. This will not be a "perfect" solution, but it will be effective enough to produce the types of results we are realistically looking for. People like to post in high-traffic areas, and I'm quite confident that a 3rd Gen general discussion section would attract enough post flow for people to want to use it. I know I will. The Key is visibility.

Again, grey areas and imperfections will exist, but so what.

 

Very well put.

I think there are a lot of misconceptions about what ramy's suggestion really means. I'll let him keep clearing things up because he's doing a good job, but I urge people to really consider his suggestion and put a little more thought into it as it isn't as complicated as some people are making it out to be. Personally I feel there is more than enough support to keep a tech section and a lounge section more than active, I would actually go as far as to say that it would improve traffic overall since there do seem to be a good number of people who are unahppy with the lounge type atmosphere in the tech forum. Having a lounge subforum would give pepole a good outlet for updates on their cars, pictures, random non-tech related questions (ie: should I buy an FD ), and plenty of other 3rd gen information, and I honestly don't see how it could hurt anything.