RULE DEFINITION

[Stuart Mills]

It would be helpful if a moderator could define exactly what is allowed on here. I have read the rules. I am a manufacturer so presumably not welcome? Most of my posts are deleted by moderators. I try not to mention product names or prices or my firms name but I am happy to share my kit car experiences. I posted a picture of a strong man lifting my car at a children in need show, it was deleted. The picture just showed the back end of a car with no name on show. I guess this post will be deleted now but I am just asking for clarification please.

[fuoriserie]

Stuart Mills said:

It would be helpful if a moderator could define exactly what is allowed on here. I have read the rules. I am a manufacturer so presumably not welcome? Most of my posts are deleted by moderators. I try not to mention product names or prices or my firms name but I am happy to share my kit car experiences. I posted a picture of a strong man lifting my car at a children in need show, it was deleted. The picture just showed the back end of a car with no name on show. I guess this post will be deleted now but I am just asking for clarification please.

Why should you be not welcome ? you're more than welcome and we need more manufactures to be sharing their experience and insights in the forum.

[Kinky]

I could not agree more with what fuoriserie says above

So a HUGE welcome from me at least

To answer your question, the issue is when you're plugging your wares as opposed to genuine interest/discussion.

Part of the PH posting rules relates to advertising on the forums, either directly (very blatantly) or very subtly. These will get removed as we don't want the forums to be taken over by people spamming, advertising/selling selling stuff. We have the PH classifieds for that.

So just need to be mindful of how you post

[B'stard Child]

One request because it makes my teeth itch - can you use upper and lower case combinations in your thread titles

ALL CAPS is irritating

[Frankthered]

Kinky said:

I could not agree more with what fuoriserie says above

So a HUGE welcome from me at least

To answer your question, the issue is when you're plugging your wares as opposed to genuine interest/discussion.

Part of the PH posting rules relates to advertising on the forums, either directly (very blatantly) or very subtly. These will get removed as we don't want the forums to be taken over by people spamming, advertising/selling selling stuff. We have the PH classifieds for that.

So just need to be mindful of how you post

I think you've missed the point of Stuart's post, Kinky. I would speculate that he is more than aware that advertising isn't allowed and was looking for a little more guidance on what might be allowed, rather than a simple restatement of "don't advertise".

Is he never allowed to post a picture of one of his cars or new stuff he's developing? Even if it doesn't display any logos or overt marketing? From my experience, Stuart is a GREAT promoter, not only of his own creations, but of the Kit Car Industry as a whole.

I think most of us who frequent the Kit Car Forum know who Stuart is and what he does. Maybe you could cut him a little slack?

[fuoriserie]

Frankthered said:

Kinky said:

I could not agree more with what fuoriserie says above

So a HUGE welcome from me at least

To answer your question, the issue is when you're plugging your wares as opposed to genuine interest/discussion.

Part of the PH posting rules relates to advertising on the forums, either directly (very blatantly) or very subtly. These will get removed as we don't want the forums to be taken over by people spamming, advertising/selling selling stuff. We have the PH classifieds for that.

So just need to be mindful of how you post

From my experience, Stuart is a GREAT promoter, not only of his own creations, but of the Kit Car Industry as a whole.

I think most of us who frequent the Kit Car Forum know who Stuart is and what he does. Maybe you could cut him a little slack?

I agree with you.

[Silent1]

fuoriserie said:

Frankthered said:

Kinky said:

I could not agree more with what fuoriserie says above

So a HUGE welcome from me at least

To answer your question, the issue is when you're plugging your wares as opposed to genuine interest/discussion.

Part of the PH posting rules relates to advertising on the forums, either directly (very blatantly) or very subtly. These will get removed as we don't want the forums to be taken over by people spamming, advertising/selling selling stuff. We have the PH classifieds for that.

So just need to be mindful of how you post

From my experience, Stuart is a GREAT promoter, not only of his own creations, but of the Kit Car Industry as a whole.

I think most of us who frequent the Kit Car Forum know who Stuart is and what he does. Maybe you could cut him a little slack?

I agree with you.

First of all, i'm not a mod so don't take what i say as gospel but:

It looks like Stuart gets given a lot of slack in the kit car forum already, going back through his posts for the past couple of months i can find blatant adverts for products, albeit mixed in with very good non-advertising posts.

A response i read a couple of years ago suggested that manufacturers on here when it came to the forums weren't allowed to advertise their kit but they could respond to threads other people had started answering their questions (provided it wasn't blatantly obvious the person starting the thread did so to get around the rules).
Bumping old threads to provide a reply/advert was frowned upon as was responding to a thread with an answer only tangentially related to the thread itself.

I didn't see the photo but there's a few things i can suggest might be the reason, i'm not saying any of these were the reason merely that 90% of the time it's one of these:

• The picture posted was watermarked with the company details and appeared to be posted more for advertising than anything else
• The picture was posted as a new thread with either a watermark or a link to the business and appeared to be for pr purposes.
• The picture posted bear no relation the thread it was posted in
• The post was more advert than information.

Of Stuarts most recent posts here's pretty much the only one i can find that breaks the rules blatantly:

This post should/would normally be deleted because in the thread there is no recent mention of seats for the car, it's also bumping a thread that hadn't been posted in for nearly 2 weeks.

Stuart Mills said:

Great bespoke seats now available for Replicar from;
www.interiorsseating.co.uk/worldclassseating/RX119...
They are
1, comfortable,
2, IVA compliant,
3, made in a choice of colours,
4, choice of piping colours too,
5, wider than the standard product,
6, angled to suit the Replicar chassis,
7, captive nuts are fitted and positioned for MX5 runners
Please note the headrests are required for IVA.

The majority of his recent posts seem fine to me, certainly no worse than other companies posts on PH, there are perhaps a few pushing the line but not that many.

Anyway like the rules say if you've got an issue with the way a thread has been dealt with contact Nathan Lowndes AKA eybic his email is; [e-mail].

[Kinky]

^ wot e says.

And he sounds like a mod (and looks like one too)

[Steffan]

I can well imagine that being a moderator on Internet blogs is a thankless task at the best of times. The kit car business is not exactly thriving currently and anyone with the enthusiasm and energy that exudes from Stuart Mills regularly with his latest ideas and pithy observations has to be to the good of the kit car business. There are precious few kit car manufacturers who have even a fraction of the ability and output that Stuart Mills manages to achieve and we desperately need this kind of energy in this business that is beset with difficulties of marketing kit cars in a time of low economic activity, rising costs and the consequence of IVA requirements amongst others..

I can understand that PH has to seek to balance the input of every contributor and the overall equity in exposure must be the aim of PH who are seeking to manage their business effectively. It would be a real tragedy for kit car fans if the original and challenging ideas and views of Stuart Mills were not seen by as many kit car enthusiasts as possible. The kit car business is in something of the doldrums currently IMO and nothing is more likely to stimulate this business than new ideas and new deigns. I would hope that PH can find a way to ensure such ideas are not lost to the readers and kit car enthusiasts generally.

[eldar]

Steffan said:

I can well imagine that being a moderator on Internet blogs is a thankless task at the beSt of times. The kit car business is not exactly thriving currently and anyone with the enthusiasm and energy that exudes from Stuart Mills regularly with his latest ideas and pithy observations has to be to the good of the kit car business. There are precious few kit car manufacturers who have even a fraction of the ability and output that Stuart Mills manages to achieve and we desperately need this kind of energy in this business that is beset with difficulties of marketing kit cars in a time of low economic activity, rising costs and the consequence of IVA requirements amongst others..

I can understand that PH has to seek to balance the input of every contributor with the overall equity in exposure that must be the aim of PH who are seeking to manage their business effectively. It would be a real tragedy for kit car fans if the original and challenging ideas and views of Stuart Mills were not seen by as many kit car enthusiasts as possible. The kit car business is in something of the doldrums currently IMO and nothing is more likely to stimulate this business than new ideas and new deigns. I would hope that PH can find a way to ensure such ideas are not lost to the readers and kit car enthusiasts generally.

An unimaginative reply, I know. I'd prefer something pithy and witty, but simply..

+1

[marshalla]

Steffan said:

I can well imagine that being a moderator on Internet blogs is a thankless task at the best of times. The kit car business is not exactly thriving currently and anyone with the enthusiasm and energy that exudes from Stuart Mills regularly with his latest ideas and pithy observations has to be to the good of the kit car business. There are precious few kit car manufacturers who have even a fraction of the ability and output that Stuart Mills manages to achieve and we desperately need this kind of energy in this business that is beset with difficulties of marketing kit cars in a time of low economic activity, rising costs and the consequence of IVA requirements amongst others..

I can understand that PH has to seek to balance the input of every contributor and the overall equity in exposure must be the aim of PH who are seeking to manage their business effectively. It would be a real tragedy for kit car fans if the original and challenging ideas and views of Stuart Mills were not seen by as many kit car enthusiasts as possible. The kit car business is in something of the doldrums currently IMO and nothing is more likely to stimulate this business than new ideas and new deigns. I would hope that PH can find a way to ensure such ideas are not lost to the readers and kit car enthusiasts generally.

He could pay to be an advertiser, and have sponsored threads in the same way that insurers, lawyers and oil sales people already do.

[Big Al.]

Just to add we also frown upon members posting their own Youtube clips, as these can be revenue generators and some members in the past have abused that privilege.

[Hoofy]

It's down to common sense, isn't it? If you just start a post that's irrelevant and obviously advertising then you can't expect anything other than that post to be deleted. OTOH, if someone asks about the best digital piano to buy for his son and a music shop owning PHer posted up a link to his own site with a digital piano that his decent for a beginner then I can't see the problem with that.

[Kinky]

Hoofy said:

It's down to common sense, isn't it?

Absolutely

If it's a genuine response to a current genuine/relevant question/discussion, then there's no issue

[Hoofy]

And I suspect the mods won't fall for the two account registration trick:
1) Create first account
2) Create second account
3) Post question with first account about diet pills
4) Post reply with second account linking to diet pills site.

Mind you, I do wonder about some of the posts on myfitnesspal.com. Every other day, some Indian chap comes on with a new account and makes about 20 posts advertising sex and marriage magic services. The mods then spend a few minutes deleting them all. He's done this for the last 3 months. I wonder if he gets any business. He must do, right?

[Kinky]

Hoofy said:

And I suspect the mods won't fall for the two account registration trick:
1) Create first account
2) Create second account
3) Post question with first account about diet pills
4) Post reply with second account linking to diet pills site.

Yeah, that's an easy one to spot and results in a ban for both accounts. This last happened only last weekend where a PHer had 3 profiles. Had one banned, then used the other 2 to cause trouble. So ended up with all 3 banned!

[Hoofy]

Heh. Dunno why they bother. Guess they don't realise (1) how obvious it is (2) you can see more info eg IP addresses than they can.

[Steffan]

Hoofy said:

And I suspect the mods won't fall for the two account registration trick:
1) Create first account
2) Create second account
3) Post question with first account about diet pills
4) Post reply with second account linking to diet pills site.

Mind you, I do wonder about some of the posts on myfitnesspal.com. Every other day, some Indian chap comes on with a new account and makes about 20 posts advertising sex and marriage magic services. The mods then spend a few minutes deleting them all. He's done this for the last 3 months. I wonder if he gets any business. He must do, right?

Not my area of expertise but he clearly is getting something out of it. It may be the vicarious thrills that some sad bds get out of such nonsenses on the net. The motivation of some contributors, if it can be called a contribution, is a vexed question that requires a lot more understanding of human than I have despite a degree multiple decades ago in Psychology.

As it happens I build about five kit cars a year personally and I will be advertising all these on Pistonheads as I go along this year because SWMBO has threatened dire consequences if I buy anymore kit cars and even with three homes in the UK and still having several kit car businesses as clients in my retirement, I am running out of garagef space having more than a dozen currently plus three daily drivers.

I an nuts (high level Autistic, compulsive obsessive) retired Chartered Accountant and SWMBO is right on this otherwise I would by a load more, which is just daft and even i can see this. Therefore I must move the finished ones on as they are finished. It will be interestIng to see how I fare with this I have not had a problem as yet and I will try not to have a problem. These cars will all be advertised first on PH and I will see how this goes. I am hopeful that other adverts will be unecessary.

If I ever actually work out how to video a finished kit car reasonably successfully and get that onto youtube or indeed PH I will have a go but this is another skill a decrepit old man may find a bit of a challenge. I can still belt bend and weld metal which is good and happily wield spanners . But electronic gadgets are better suited to my 6 years old grandson or his 8 year old sister. I will probably have to enlist their help!

[Stuart Mills]

Many thanks to all those that have offered support and advice.
The reason for the original thread was to try and establish if the rules can be interpreted in a manner that could encourage enhanced use of the KC PH forum.
It is clear that the KC section on here is of low attendance. It can be seen that often days go by with no posts at all. Surely the admin have noticed over the last couple of years that the posts (and therefore I assume readers) are in decline. In fact only 3 posts over this last wet weekend!
I am an enthusiast of all things kit car related. I have, like many others on here considerable experience that can be shared with other like minded folk. In order to attract new members to use said forum it is of course of paramount importance that the threads are as exciting and interesting as possible.
If I were to start a thread that says M.. cars are the best in the world (factually correct or not!) I would expect it to be deleted, if I say that a firm called XYZ have just made some great seats for my M.. then I would have considered it worthy of posting so that others may consider them. Like wise if I find a poor quality seat that I have purchased it may be considered appropriate to name and shame.
Recently I posted a video of a man lifting my car, it was deleted, the mod said links to youtube are frond upon, fine. I posted a picture of the same stunt. It was deleted, the mod said I am pushing my wares.
It was just a little fun that kit car people would enjoy. Not an advert. If I was so desperate for exposure I would be looking for a new career! It is very difficult for me to show an interesting picture of one of my cars without it having some ref to the make or model.
My point is that more could be done to increase numbers of users on the KC section.
What happens instead is that I start to question if it is worth while going to the effort of posting and trying to second guess if it will be deleted or not. The result is that I loose interest and stop posting. I have never wasted a minute of my life and don't intend to start!
I assume it is in the interests of the site owners to boost numbers?
I will risk this;
I have developed a new car, I am not about to type the name or describe it. I will say it will be launched at a kit car show in a few weeks time at a famous race circuit. Is this an advert? Can you see why I have lost interest in PH?
Kind regards Stuart Mills, not an AKA, my real user name, hiding, no!

[Sonic7]

Stuart Mills said:

........I have developed a new car...

Is that the Exocet XS, that's been newly listed over on the MEV Owners Forum, Stuart?

I take it you mean Donington? Great show will be going this year and I look forward to seeing the Exocet XS in the flesh, never know it could be my next project.

Nigel