rant Does anyone actually care about this site any longer?

We all see that the interactive footfall on the forum has declined to a trickle in spite of Mk4 ownership never being higher in the UK. The site does have a distinctly dated feel and showing a lack of maintenance which might not be attracting new participants.

There are group buy stickies from years ago and trader sections from 'membership expired' traders and in this section we have the essential 'recommend me android apps' from 2010. I have no idea if anyone is tasked with site development and maintenance but it has the feel of terminal decline about it. There was talk of new blood and revamp last year but there is no apparent sign of it. I do hope the site does remain open and available for an archive reference of technical information if nothing else but it could just become a zombie site with cobwebs clearly on show until it finally becomes phone browser incompatible.

I must admit it does need a good tidy up.

I honestly have no idea about IT stuff, so couldn't comment on the maintenance side of it, however the forum is less active than it used to be.

The fresh blood you speak of is slowly being implemented, Rosie, AKA Supragal is now a new mod and is dealing with all the membership pack requests.

There is still plenty of events being organised with many members attending.

Maybe a tech savvy member could make a decent app to use on phones for ease of use?

I use tapatalk as its easy to read, but its a crap app to be fair.

I find the Facebook sites seem to have taken over which is a shame as this place is absolutely pacled with all the info you could ever need! Some fantastic build threads also which has helped me out no end with my build and id say the membership fee is worth the access to the info on its own if nothing else!

Facebook has caused a pretty hefty decline in most car forums over the past 6 or 7 years. If you want to stay current and justify a membership fee, you need to provide something of value that nowhere else has. I think we should have a well structured, searchable technical/modification WIKI that is only accessible to paid members. There are plenty of people on this forum with the knowledge and experience to generate something very useful to the MKIV community.

It's the same all over, and in particular car orientated sites, I moderate the Skyline forum, and that used to be very busy, but now it's really quiet, and I also blame Farcebook for the decline, and IMO it attracts the wrong kind of people.

The site is very quiet in comparison to years gone by, but what makes you think Supra ownership is at an all time high?

I very rarely use facebook and prefer the structure of forums over anything FB has to offer.

There is also a factor of that the sites search and resources are so good already that if a new member had an issue and joined up they could probably find a solution without actually posting anything further?

Like the new Zealand site with the great specs/vin data, used it loads over the years and appreciate whoever collated it many many years ago but never posted on there.

Also regardless of ownership level compare to yesteryear what is certain is owner turnover is down, so not so much new blood in fact a disproportionate amount of newbies are from overseas. Also when they were truly bargain performance cars then the owners were often hands on, semi innovators and the car was far more likely to be run as a daily or certainly not laid up/stored so much.

It still has it's uses. Like now when I was bored.

I think the forum is pretty active still, compared to a few others I'm on, but Facebook has taken a lot of the traffic for sure.

I dont even have a Supra anymore, but still enjoy coming on lol.

I'll admit, as a Trader, I havent been as active in regards to posting. If our membership goes through for another year, I am aiming to post on here more often for 2018.

I have come across this problem (if there is one) on other motor forums too. I too suspect FB has an influence, but I prefer the knowledge base element of the forum. To be honest i'm not sure there's anything wrong with this site at all, but keeping things tidy and up to date is probably important.

I just joined a few months ago and I'd check the 'What's New' section every day when I can. I pretty much bought my Supra on an impulse so I've been here cramming up on what I have, what I'd need and what I'd want to make my Supra better. Paying for the annual membership is worth it to pay back for what's here.

I haven't really contributed much yet as I'd be useless with guidance, but my general feeling is that this is one of the friendlier forums I've been on and it'd be a place I'd like to start contributing to if it means the site stays active.

My main gripe with being a new member though is the amount of potentially useful threads that I've looked at that which now have broken Photobucket images. Obviously Photobucket's fault rather than this site, and it's an issue with all forums now but I do feel that I'm a bit too late to the party and missed out on so much good content that I could learn more from. Uploading images and video directly to this site is also a bit more cumbersome than other places and perhaps could be something that I'd love to see improved.

I do have Facebook but I never post on it or would buy from a group member on it. I guess I'm just old school and prefer the structure of forums, so I do hope this place stays active.

The photobucket issue is something we could all help with, by at least posting up photos of the areas in question even if we are not doing the same job, but we also have to be slightly conscious of the storage etc of the forum as a whole as I'm sure it goes through a periodic purge (generally not of tech etc stuff mind) to delete chit chat threads etc.

my hobbyist membership is due and was thinking about letting it go this year , peeps know who iam and will normally pm me if they need any info , as for selling products the P+P killed that years ago , my car is hardly used , but ill come on here a few times every day

The photobucket issue is something we could all help with, by at least posting up photos of the areas in question even if we are not doing the same job, but we also have to be slightly conscious of the storage etc of the forum as a whole as I'm sure it goes through a periodic purge (generally not of tech etc stuff mind) to delete chit chat threads etc.

Maybe this thread needs input from mawby? Is it him who does the website stuff? Is storage close to being an issue? If it can be confirmed that it's not then yes we should get cracking taking photos.

For example I remember a good guide for fitting coilover but all pics are borked. If I get round to fitting mine, I'll be sure to take photos and add to that thread unless the OP sorts it in the mean time.

The site is SO quiet compared to a few years ago.

Luckily there is a wealth on info on here with the manuals and for those that use the search tool, but asking a question or trying to sell/buy something can at times barely get a response as everything seems to happen mostly on wanky Facebook which is shite for both this forum and those of us that don't use Facebook.

I care about this a great deal. It’s the best forum I’ve ever been apart of. Great group of people behind the scenes. I think Rosie will make a great moderator so hopefully that will help.

Does anyone know how the super mods are doing? Don’t see them about anymore.

i still don't see build threads and helpful stuff on face ache i have joint a few sites too, prefer it hear being the thread is a conversation about the title and talk about related items

I have to say have noticed the forum going down hill each year, when I 1st joined members seemed more helpful and honest plus the mods were active.

For example if someone on here now asks question or advice, members rather pick faults and tell them they wrong rather then being helpful. I work in engineering and get asked the same questions over and over again but I don’t attack the person I explain an answer to tell and try to make sure they understand.

Plus I think the mods aren’t active enough at all. Suprachat has fair few good build threads that needs moving to build thread section but nothing as of yet.

Plus how many members have waited years for membership packs and lifetime membership after 3 years of paying only way it seems is too keep hastling the mods until they can be bothered.

I do think if mods can’t be bothered they should say and someone else takes the position,

We are all here for our passion of the mkiv supra and should work together rather than attacking each other for silly reasons and instead of criticising one another

I think most people use Facebook supra pages that's why it seems quiet

Big meets and shows get the interest going on here imo always have done, but build threads make the forum what it is, trouble is if you get no comments or what seems like a lack of interest its offputting to make the effort shrinking pic sizes for the upload, especially if its something in depth with loads of pics

Have to agree on the points about mods not being as involved anymore, i know its their spare time, poeple have busy lives etc, when I got too busy at work and having two kids I dropped my EO status as I felt I couldnt give what was needed anymore, I was never replaced either that must’ve been 3 yrs ago now (I would offer to do this again for the north east area If required)

I've messaged the mods twice about a hobbyist/trader application but never heard back from anyone.

I've messaged the mods twice about a hobbyist/trader application but never heard back from anyone.

Possibly because SRD offer this service so it comes into conflict.

This isn’t the first time someone has tried contacting the club to become a trader and been ignored. Hide n Seat tried but didn’t get a reply back which is a shame as the forum could do with a decent upholsterer again. Their work is fantastic and competitively priced too.

Possibly because SRD offer this service so it comes into conflict.

 

This isn’t the first time someone has tried contacting the club to become a trader and been ignored. Hide n Seat tried but didn’t get a reply back which is a shame as the forum could do with a decent upholsterer again. Their work is fantastic and competitively priced too.

SRD have only literally just bought Hecklers business.

And quite frankly, how can we say we can’t have two traders that offer the same service, yet actually have more than two traders that offer the same services.

Shame about Hide n Seat though.

The traders themselves have really shot themselves in the foot with the forum by posting so little, although a requirement for a trader and hobbyist membership should have always included a rough quota of posts per week/month. It is new threads and footfall that keeps the forum alive. Some traders literally only post on here when they want something, which is pretty disgraceful imo.

Even though Im working ridiculous hours at the moment and maybe get a couple of hours a day when im not at work, asleep or eating, i try and get on the forum each day. I dont see how 'being busy' is an acceptable excuse for people who want to be mods to not post on the forum for weeks/months on end. If they can't be bothered, they shoukd quit and let other people take it on.