New extended Ultima Forum

[stig]

Just to let you know the expansion of the forum capabilities is well under way given the recent discussion about the demise of the club and its replacement with a new dedicated forum.

This will organise the threads a bit better and will help facilitate meets etc.

Here's a first stab at the forum thread organisation, please feel free to make suggestions:

Daily Chat - this will be a mirror of the forum as it stands
General build help/advice
Engine
Transmission
Bodywork and aerodynamics
Interior
Fuel systems
Electrical
Suspension
Brakes
Wheels & Tyres
Meets and events
Regional discussions (will be broken down by country - USA, Czech Rep., Spain etc.etc. - please send in your requirements for listing)
Gallery
For sale/wanted

[steve_d]

Is this going to stay within PH or are we moving somewhere else?
If within PH then that will be great.
You realise this will start a trend as all the other marques will want to copy it.

Steve

[mhussa]

Would it be possible to limit the number of threads to say 4 (or 5 max)?

The reason I say this is that part of what makes the PH thread usable is its simplicity, no need to watch multiple forums. The only problem is that discussions about varying things go on at the same time.

How about:

-General Chat
-Engine/Transmission - probably the most popular subject looking at previous posts.
-Build Help/Tips
-Meetings/Events
-For sale/wanted

and a members gallery (which isn't really a thread but could be implemented as one).

Anyway, just a suggestion.

[davefiddes]

Note sure that having a huge number of different forums is such a great idea. where I've seen that done before discussions seem to get forgotten more easily (which forum was that in?) and there is less of a community spirit. Bit like having a dinner party in a warehouse.

What about: General Chat, Technical Stuff, Club Meets and For Sale/Wanted

Then divide up these as the traffic increases in the future?

[mhussa]

Thats a much neater list.

I second the proposal.

[stig]

Ironically, since posting this, I had a rethink along those lines and cut the thread list down as follows:

General build

Engine & drivetrain

Events/meetings

Regional

For sale/wanted

Gallery

- great minds must think alike!

[stig]

steve_d said:

Is this going to stay within PH or are we moving somewhere else? If within PH then that will be great. You realise this will start a trend as all the other marques will want to copy it. Steve

Steve - the changes are being facilitated by PH so err... yes.

Incidently, some other marques already have something similar.

[peterpsg]

What will happen with all the threads/topics to date ?

Is someone going to read thru 100+ tabs of old stuff and sort them all into the right sections ?

Or are we going to have a section called 'old_posts' ?

[crafty]

Is it possible to have general chat stay the way it is, then when you add a post, you also choose the thread that the post should go to. Maybe have another row under the emoticons where you must chose the thread where the post will go. Then when you are reading any post there could be a navitagtion bar on the side with all of the threads, so its more like a filter function.

With only a handful of posts every day it will keep the activity in one place (general chat) and make it easy to do research (using the filter). I feel if we only post to the threads the momentum that works in the current format may be lost.

Forums like LS1tech need to have threads because they have hundreds of posts a day and the general area would not work as it the replies and posts come too fast to allow the general chat area to be readable.

[stig]

I think it's something that will be 'organic' for a time. General 'chat' will be as it is, but when threads crop up that suit a relevant section, they can be moved. Once people get used to it, they'll post directly in the sub-sections.

Of course, if you'd all rather it stay the way it is, it's no problem. Saves me a job!

[mhussa]

Hello Stig,

Somebody mentioned indifference and apathy in the previous post about the ultima club. A pattern is emerging, the response looks underwhelming sofar.

The other clubs seem to have a greater membership and perhaps more motivation to improve their respective setups. At least you are willing to put the time and graft in.

Pity because the car is fantastic it could do with more visibility in the mainstream.

As Elvis once sang "A little less conversation and a little more action!", wish I would follow that advice!

[Roy. N]

I belong to some other forums which seem to work well with these headings:

Mechanical:
Electrical:
Fuel:
Suspension & Handling:
Other:

I think having quality search facilities is the real key?

Just my 2d. worth - keep between the green bits.

[YIIHAA]

Could we add a "dreamers" forum, where people that don't own or have not even seen an Ultima can suggest that it might work well with an F1 engine?

[davefiddes]

[mhussa]

A nod of respect and a Thankyou to all those who contribute to this forum with positive comments and who build excellent detailed build sites. They have all been valuable research tools for me.

To the dreamers I say, disregard the comments of the "hubristic" and participate. I saw the car 2 years ago at Stoneleigh and have been itching to build it and am in the process of getting things sorted for the build.

Eventually the "dreaming" can be become "doing" and this is a supercar which is accessible to more people than anything else car I've come across.

peace

[Graham-P]

stig said:

I think it's something that will be 'organic' for a time. General 'chat' will be as it is, but when threads crop up that suit a relevant section, they can be moved. Once people get used to it, they'll post directly in the sub-sections.

I believe that this would be the best way to go and would be the one to vote for.

Hey MHUSSA you are welcomed to come over and take a look at my build if its going to tip the balance of you getting one or not!!

Graham

[mhussa]

Thanks Graham-P, Its too late. Chassis is due sometime in Feb which is useful because the garage is full of crud. Its a single! garage, will be adding soft insulation to the walls to prevent damage to the bits and yes I am serious.

Looking at a 2-3 year build time depending on time/money/spec. Could make it quicker with a lower spec but to me that would be missing the point. Slow but sure.

Thanks again for the offer, may take you up on it when/if build motivation is low.

[Hugger Z]

Thanks for taking the initiative to improve the forum Stig. For the regional thread, you could always just have a link to the US forum site. There is not a lot of traffic on there though. I see more of those guys posting here most of the time.

I too spend a lot of time at LS1tech and there are a lot of threads to get lost in. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of everything you were reading/posting.

And I am another dreamer, hoping to make the car a reality for me in the near future. Thanks for the great build sites to follow.

[ezakimak]

i think an "active topics" link would be worth while. It would work like this
once you clik on "active topics" it would bring up the last 20 posts or so across all the forums sub headings. that way when you want to check what the latest news is you can see whats going on under all the headings.

creating a new post/thread would still require you to enter into the appropriate section say "dreamers" for example, then you could ask your question regarding wok's

[ultimarobert]

I still think an icon for an "owner" or "club member" under the user name would be a good idea.

And I would not exclude "dreamers" from main topics since a lot of interesting reading comes from these individuals.

Edited to say: "Member-Owner", "Member-Builder", Member-Dreamer" and "Member-Retired". It would be nice to know who is actually on the road and who is in the building process and who is considering and who was once on the road with an Ultima, but switched to a Mini :-)

>> Edited by ultimarobert on Wednesday 2nd November 08:53