Can we have a Discussion About the forum .

Right you are Tacho, more than daily, all night for some,, just looking at time of the posting last night, greenie after midnight ,, Ianoz 3.30am,, chocs from 4.30 am ,,atkipete early AM.
Colin

Aaahh, I need me 'beauty sleep' just like you lot do, it weren't after midnight for me, it was after the movie on TV.

You'se lot down south that run on that bleedin' "mickey mouse" time, sheesh, --- stuff playin' around with that lot, ---- me,

---

I'm runnin' on NORMAL Eastern Standard Time.

regards greenie [smiley=vrolijk_1.gif]

The reason I don't share event pictures is I need some fresh ones people have not seen for the HCVC Yearbook.

For several years I put them in both only to receive multiple complaints from hcvc members who are also forum members. I prefer to use other people's photos as my first choice but by the time I know what pictures of mine I'm using most of the events are too old to be relevant on the forum.

Sorry if that upsets some people.

Yes we do listen and we do what seems to be the majority view. As you have seen some people want sections removed while others like them and those sections got at least one person involved in old trucks so expanded the hobby.

We all came to this from different backgrounds, some are current or ex drivers, some are reliving their younger days, some come from other hobbies and find old trucks interesting and useful as part of their other interests. These are usually either transport, history or old machinery (including tractors etc).
Likewise we all have different vehicle interests, some only like big bangers, others like small, others like unusual.
I would hope people had the tolerance to appreciate the differences.

For the record my personal interest at present is Australian built stuff from the 1950's, 60's and 70's but that doesn't stop me appreciating the work that has gone into a 1927 International, the number of trips and distance travelled by a 1934 Bedford, the detail of a model or the look of a big banger. My interests have changed over time. I joined the club so I had an excuse to get my 65 falcon ute out more often. I didn't join an early Ford club as I like a bit of variety.

I am also selling a couple of things at the moment and have not listed them on the forum as they weren't directly related to the forum. They are a tent and a 10x5 trailer with a crane. I am going through some old magazines and sorting out what I am keeping and what I am getting rid of. Vintage Commercials Down Under magazine obviously qualifies as relevant but I am not sure about Restored Cars or Australian Classic Car as some of those have relevant articles (October 2009 Australian Classic Cars had a 4 page article on my Inter for example) so am not sure whether to list them or not. The old Victorian Railways News or Newsrail magazines are not relevant to this site.

The quandary for me is some people know and think I should put the lot on the forum, however I feel that as a administrator I need to lead by example and only list relevant stuff. Some of it is easy to work out other items (eg Restored Cars and Australian Classic Car) are right on the border as they often contain relevant material but not every issue does and I don't want to go through a couple of hundred magazines!

Well I take the wife & kids away for a few days. to come home to this great mature discussion.. Good work!

here's my take on some of the points raised...

1) The for sale section

During the most recent discussion about this issue Bparo asked for expressions of Interest for People to be Moderators of this Section. As I have had a fair bit to say on the subject (particularly in the "members only" section) I thought I'd be a Hypocrite Not too put my hand up for it. Resulting in My being appointed a Moderator 2 Weeks ago.
I've spent the last couple of Weeks (In between spending some Holiday time with My family) getting up to speed on how the "office' of the Forum works.
I'm also in the process of Drawing up some NEW RULES for the For sale/Wanted Section (I'm up to version 3 At the Moment) Once I'm happy with them, The rest of the Moderator/Admin Staff will review them. Then they will come into effect.
Without pre-empting anything, I Think they will go a long way to alleviating most(If not all) of Peoples concerns. Whilst I have no Intention of being Atilla the Hun! Some "stronger" Moderation (where deemed Appropriate) will be Included In the new Rules..

2)Server upgrade

A couple of things I've discovered in the last couple of Weeks Is:
Whilst the Upgrade has being very Problematic, is just as frustrating to the Forum Administrators as it is to the forum Members.
It would appear that It is one of those Projects we've all had where that bloke "murphy" is ever present.
But one thing I can say is.
that if the upgrade Less than successful!
It won't be from a lack of support & commitment on the Forum owners (The HCVC.) behalf.

Trevor (Slospeed)
Mate, I'm not for a minute questioning your passion or Commitment to the Movement, & you have My FULL respect for standing up and having your say.(As does Ianoz)
But, I have to Disagree with a couple of Your suggestions, Specifically.

4) Eliminate from the new forum the 4 current categories
General Board, Challenges and quizzes, tractors and other old stuff and the model section

& the Other is

I would go thru and clean out all 1367 people who haven't posted anything(non contributor) then I would go thru and delete anyone who hasn't contributed for the last 5 years first then next month clean out anyone who hasn't contributed for 4 years and so on until you make it the last 12 months.

As I have no desire to turn this into a Slanging match.
Let's just agree to disagree.

And I think tacho has summed it all up pretty well with this post.

There's lots of points of view about this forum, what is good and right and what is bad and wrong. In the end ,is it any different to any other club or organisation you belong to?

There will always be the shy or brash, the doers and the knockers and all shades in between. Thanks Ianoz for having the courage to bring up the subject for discussion and let the views be aired.

For me the forum is a part of my daily routine and I'm pretty happy with the way it is. The things I don't like cannot be changed, but I do wish that some would show more appreciation to those that put in the effort to contribute to this forum.

Geoff

Just a few of My thoughts on this Great Discussion.

hayseed, [smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif] [smiley=thumbsup.gif] I think congratulations are in order for you for putting you hand up for the job, I for one appreciate what the moderators have to do, it's a job that you won't please every body all the time,
Colin

Nothing like a good discussion to sort things out, but for me as a reasonably new recruit , i dont have

much of a problem with the forum etc. I am not a puter whiz but do the best i can. Putting up pics

is a bit slow for me but ,what the heck, i eventually get there , & just hope some one may like what

i put up. The moderators (& officials, or what ever you want to call them) have my on going respect

& gratitude for the voluntary work they do that keeps the forum afloat.

Unfortually no where on earth can every person be totally satisfied. my way of thinkin is ....if you dont

like the subject....no body is breakin your arm to read it..........

Older members (as in many organisations) can get a bit cheesed off at times & want to chanbe things,

or dont like a new direction that is being traversed.

maybe for better... may be for worse, i dont know.

I think a variety of subjects to cater for peoples likes & dislikes carnt be all that bad

I think i am sayin that i dont find the forum as it is ,,aint too bad....

I think one thing needs to be remembered here and that is that it is the Historic Commercial Vehicle Club of Australia and not Historic Truck Club of Australia. As such it caters for all types of commercial vehicles. I have a diesel motorbike that was used for deliveries in India, also a 58' Nissan Patrol that the army had, as well as my bus. All of these fall under the umbrella of commercial vehicles as well as a myriad of other vehicles stemming back to the days of horse drawn vehicles. In my case I find that this forum pretty much covers everything we own in one way or another. and also draws so many people to join the club. Let's face it nearly 600 people can't be wrong. I agree we have lost some very good people from the forum but not all went because of the content, some went because of the sh!t that was thrown at them by forum members both on the forum and behind the scenes. As far as topics go if I see something that does not interest me then I don't look at it. As far as cleaning out stagnant members goes I have to disagree. I am a member of another 8 forums and have found that a question I have posted is all of a sudden answered by someone that has posted nothing up till then. Who knows what info is waiting to surface.

you haven't logged on in the last 12
There could be something in that to look at there
you haven't posted in the last 12 months
Some other forums I'm on I can go a long time before posting but look at it every day, some times I'm beaten to posting the info wanted by others who spend more time in front of their computer than I do
Ian

Me kno of a few th@ can't log back in
n have been MIA for long time

cya

Seed

Congratulations on putting your hand up.

Just a couple of points. Yes we will agree to disagree.

Regarding eliminating those topics I look at it simple when the HCVC has a show or does any advertising what pictures are on the flyers. Trucks
Way back when the club started what was it about. Trucks (actually fire trucks).
So that is why I believe that the club needs to have a bigger say in what is on the forum, if it was to get back to being a truck forum then and only then will it get back some of the valuable people it has lost. I hear it at every event about the crap on the forum that is not related.
I know i will get jumped on but if you want to see the other stuff just google it and I am sure you will find other forums that specialize in what you want.

Now regarding cleaning up the forum.
As it is an open forum you don't need to be registered to look at it so why carry all those who don't want to contribute on the site. I still say if you haven't logged on or posted in the last 12 months bye bye. Just like the clubs membership if you don't pay up your gone well here all we are asking is for you to contribute at no $$ cost just a little effort.

I am still surprised that the forum still hasn't set up the moderators as anonymous that way they could have people come and go without any problems and maybe more would put up there hand to help.

Keep on Truckin Ol school.

Trevor

...i think it is YOU that is losing a lot of relevence to this forum SloSpeed...so leave all of the more gentle people here be happy with whatever topic they choose to view, ...and maybe just look in when you feel like it : : :

....and i'll continue to be passionate about the forum....