How about some site improvements?

[Buick61]

Now that the big money has rolled in and there's a new server, isn't it time to change the 60 second wait between searches? None of the other forums I'm a member of makes people wait that long, and I'm on a lot of forums.

Next, what's with the 90 second wait that one must endure between reporting posts? When a gaggle of spam is posted all at once, waiting 90 seconds between reporting these things is a hinderence. We're trying to help the site out, so making us wait to do so seems strange.

Where's chat? It's still not here!

What ever happened to having a "car's owned" thing under your avatar ala the "location" info line? That seemed like a popular demand that went nowhere.

When are we going to hear about premium memberships? And will some of that money find its way to another forum's coffers, such as, oh I don't know, Toyota Nation?

Is spell check still disabled? If so, why?

And many people are tired of the Camaro, can another skin be brought out? What about a retro one with some of the best of the past on there?

And can we please up the storage limits on PMs?

The big takeover hasn't really changed the stuff that needed the most attention. It has added a gigantic mess of links to other forums below each page, though.

EDIT: And what about that rep thing? Wherein members can upvote/downvote other members? That seems popular elsewhere, too.

And finally, the engine names given out as some means of ranking members based on posts: Can we get a revamp on that?

[69Firebird400]

Originally Posted by Buick61

Now that the big money has rolled in and there's a new server, isn't it time to change the 60 second wait between searches? None of the other forums I'm a member of makes people wait that long, and I'm on a lot of forums.

Next, what's with the 90 second wait that one must endure between reporting posts? When a gaggle of spam is posted all at once, waiting 90 seconds between reporting these things is a hinderence. We're trying to help the site out, so making us wait to do so seems strange.

Where's chat? It's still not here!

What ever happened to having a "car's owned" thing under your avatar ala the "location" info line? That seemed like a popular demand that went nowhere.

When are we going to hear about premium memberships? And will some of that money find its way to another forum's coffers, such as, oh I don't know, Toyota Nation?

Is spell check still disabled? If so, why?

And many people are tired of the Camaro, can another skin be brought out? What about a retro one with some of the best of the past on there?

And can we please up the storage limits on PMs?

The big takeover hasn't really changed the stuff that needed the most attention. It has added a gigantic mess of links to other forums below each page, though.

Yikes! However, he makes many valid points. I was exploring a handful of the other forums yesterday, and the one labeled "Corvette Classifieds" (http://www.vettehound.com/) really seemed to be an unmoderated piece of junk with some classifieds posted by scammers trying to get people to send money to bogus escrow companies. Nice.

I just noticed another really odd thing that should be addressed; after I submitted this post: Jeff Gilbert sneaks out of GM proving Grounds with Volt Video.

I saw "Page Ranking" in the body of what I had typed. I didn't remember typing that, and as it turns out, typing PR (as in, a common abbreviation for Public Relations) is automatically replaced by Page Ranking. Can that be fixed?

[DuSpinnst]

Buick is right, and I don't even really like him.

[rhvfd10]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

Buick is right, and I don't even really like him.

I'll be dammed if that isn't the most backhanded compliment I've ever heard. LOL But really most of the things on his list would be nice.

[BigAls87Z28]

Buick, as always I enjoy your input for the future of our site, as with anyone. And thats not just some tag line, I am being serious. I like the fact that our major posters such as yourself want to improve the site for no other reason but to make it better. We are looking into the chat feature as well as spell check. I for one know that spell check is an awesome tool.
As for the waiting time for posts, Id say that most sites are between 30-60sec in posting replies to help slow down the spammers and posting-fests that can go on.
As for membership costs and where that money is going, its a direct deposit to Big Al's 2011 Camaro Z28 fund. I look foward to your investments, and I cannot wait to reap..err I mean enjoy the car. Perhaps I will give back by racing a Challenger SRT8 and blowing its doors off in a race on Pinks. We can auction the car off here on GMI to help raise money for a good cause?
Who knows. The future is bright my friend.

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by DuSpinnst

Buick is right, and I don't even really like him.

If you were being honest with yourself, you'd realize that you like me more a lot more than you used to. smooches.

[Branden]

I think a lot of the changes will be staggered to not "Shock" people. I am gonna close this for now and send it to the admins. Other issues may have popped up going from our old setup to Autoforums boiler plate deal. Most forums are 30-60 seconds to post...I see that everywhere. Other features may not be back because they don't work on the new hardware, or create bugs with other programs. I want them to have a chance to respond themselves without a pile of speculation and conjecture to wade through.

[dascrow]

I wanted to go ahead and respond with some improvements and to let you know that obviously we can't make every change but we will always consider them.

Originally Posted by Buick61

Now that the big money has rolled in and there's a new server, isn't it time to change the 60 second wait between searches? None of the other forums I'm a member of makes people wait that long, and I'm on a lot of forums.

Time between searches has been adjusted.

Next, what's with the 90 second wait that one must endure between reporting posts? When a gaggle of spam is posted all at once, waiting 90 seconds between reporting these things is a hinderence. We're trying to help the site out, so making us wait to do so seems strange.

This is a hard-coded value, I don't see it in the Admin CP as an adjustable knob to tweak, so this will have to remain.

Where's chat? It's still not here!

We personally do not prefer chat on the sites. I would prefer that questions and answers stay for future people to learn from... chats are not, so we prefer people to use the forum.

What ever happened to having a "car's owned" thing under your avatar ala the "location" info line? That seemed like a popular demand that went nowhere.

We can look at this again, but I do this as something that can be abused.

When are we going to hear about premium memberships? And will some of that money find its way to another forum's coffers, such as, oh I don't know, Toyota Nation?

We will investigate this as well.

Is spell check still disabled? If so, why?

Spell check is not built into the site, so if you are really interested I would suggest an add on. I prefer firefox which has a spell-checker built in, but I think there is an add on for IE called iespell which you may like as well.

And many people are tired of the Camaro, can another skin be brought out? What about a retro one with some of the best of the past on there?

Unfortunately maintaining multiple skins is not a trivial task so this will likely have to wait.

And can we please up the storage limits on PMs?

The PM system has been increased, users now have double the capacity.

The big takeover hasn't really changed the stuff that needed the most attention. It has added a gigantic mess of links to other forums below each page, though.

I'm inclined to disagree, but I'm biased. We've made improvements to the site but things take time and rome was not built in a day.

EDIT: And what about that rep thing? Wherein members can upvote/downvote other members? That seems popular elsewhere, too.

And finally, the engine names given out as some means of ranking members based on posts: Can we get a revamp on that?

Again, not a trivial undertaking because you are going to have a million different opinions as to what is better or worse.

Originally Posted by 69Firebird400

I just noticed another really odd thing that should be addressed; after I submitted this post: Jeff Gilbert sneaks out of GM proving Grounds with Volt Video.

I saw "Page Ranking" in the body of what I had typed. I didn't remember typing that, and as it turns out, typing PR (as in, a common abbreviation for Public Relations) is automatically replaced by Page Ranking. Can that be fixed?

I'm not seeing this PR thing, so I can't address that. (Edit, found and fixed)

[69Firebird400]

dascrow, that's some of the fastest I've seen issues addressed in almost three years. Excellent work!

[Old Dood]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

We are looking into the chat feature as well as spell check. I for one know that spell check is an awesome tool.

Cool...I LOVE the Speel Kecker. It make me look less ignorant them I am actually am. hehe
I do not like ADD-ONS like Firefox or that IE thing.
It means more resources being used on my registry...

Originally Posted by dascrow

The PM system has been increased, users now have double the capacity.

REALLY? No Kidding? We have 100PMs now?
That is great news to hear.
Thank you!

[Buick61]

Originally Posted by dascrow

I wanted to go ahead and respond with some improvements and to let you know that obviously we can't make every change but we will always consider them.


Time between searches has been adjusted.


This is a hard-coded value, I don't see it in the Admin CP as an adjustable knob to tweak, so this will have to remain.


We will investigate this as well.


Spell check is not built into the site, so if you are really interested I would suggest an add on. I prefer firefox which has a spell-checker built in, but I think there is an add on for IE called iespell which you may like as well.

Unfortunately maintaining multiple skins is not a trivial task so this will likely have to wait.

The PM system has been increased, users now have double the capacity.

Again, not a trivial undertaking because you are going to have a million different opinions as to what is better or worse.


I'm not seeing this PR thing, so I can't address that. (Edit, found and fixed)

I think I speak for everyone when I say, "Holy crap!" 69Firebird400 is right, that's the fastest anything's been addressed (on that kind of level) in years. And that's not a knock on the admins/mods, it's just an observation. Thank you!

Originally Posted by dascrow

We personally do not prefer chat on the sites. I would prefer that questions and answers stay for future people to learn from... chats are not, so we prefer people to use the forum.

We can look at this again, but I do see this as something that can be abused.

I don't believe you two (I think you're two people) were here when Chat was functional, but it was one of the best value-adding features of the site. It was more of a social thing, so the lack of archiving for future reference isn't an issue. It's a community-building feature, and those that participated ended up getting along much better in the car-related sections of the site.

As for the cars under the avatar, I'm confused as to why you'd think it'd be abused? Is the location information field abused by a lot of members? I haven't seen anything like it, so I don't see why the car field would be.

[Buick61]

And can we also address why I can't get to the site from home unless I use a proxy? The DNS change is the reason, what's the solution?

[paul8488]

Hey Buick, as with BigAl I like to see positive suggestions for the site, and it's also encouraging (even for us moderators) to see someone like dascrow repond right away. I know I'll try to make a better effort in the future, as it's clear that members appreciate a timely response from those in charge.

I have to say that personally, aside from an appaling lack of cowbell, the site is running very well right now. Much of what you suggest will help fine-tune it, but I find the loading times very fast and I never get 'Try again later' messages. I also think all members deserve a shout-out... we haven't really had to be too heavy-handed lately in moderating, as discussions and conversations have been of very high quality lately.

[Beau Tie]

Why can't I get an RSS for just the new ticker? Everytime I use their RSS tool, it does an RSS for EVERY forum post.

[69Firebird400]

Originally Posted by Buick61

I don't believe you two (I think you're two people) were here when Chat was functional, but it was one of the best value-adding features of the site. It was more of a social thing, so the lack of archiving for future reference isn't an issue. It's a community-building feature, and those that participated ended up getting along much better in the car-related sections of the site.

As for the cars under the avatar, I'm confused as to why you'd think it'd be abused? Is the location information field abused by a lot of members? I haven't seen anything like it, so I don't see why the car field would be.

I'll second everything that Buick61 said here about chat; some of my most active periods as a member here were during the times that we'd all agree to get together at a certain time. Then I'd end up posting more during the day, driving up site pageviews and increasing the site's ad revenue. I mean, I guess those interested could establish a chat room elsewhere, but that takes our eyeballs away from GMI, so the site runs the risk of us being distracted away for a while rather than having it in the front window of our screen.

About the car info, I also had the same question about how it could be abused. If one or two bad apples said something inappropriate there, mods could just address that on a one-off basis, but the same theoretical possibility of abuse would surely exist for the location field. IMO it's more important to know what we drive rather than where we're located when we're posting on an automotive forum.

Otherwise again, thank you for the updates!

Just a check:

Does GMI have a dedicated PR person?

Edit: Good, PR no longer becomes Page Ranking!