33 replies to this topic

[LXCHEV]

Stumbled across this notice today from the admin team at www.aussiev8.com.au. I know we have a few folk here who are members of both forums, so thought I'd share more broadly...

 

18 years! Quite an innings and what a shame - so much incredible technical information. They are discussing options to see if there's any chance of somehow preserving the posts - perhaps hosting a read-only version, but even that comes with costs, so unlikely....

 

 End of AussieV8.JPG   129.05K   25 downloads

[claysummers]

Bugger.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[skap]

Unfortunately, this is exactly where this place is heading.

 

need to stay with the times..

[Statler]

As long as there are people who will type out 3 page essays on FB Groups , every Forum is at risk. Even this one.  Even if this is where they are syphoning the knowledge from. 

[yel327]

It'll only happen if you use FB!

[AbsynthHatch]

Losing these forums will be a tragedy. There is so much knowledge in the member base and so much valuable information for the enthusiast, its incredible.

Can someone explain to me in laymen's terms why these beloved forums are folding please.

I get that there expenses behind the scenes and that it takes a lot of work from moderators etc but what has FB got to do with it.

Please excuse my ignorance.

[dattoman]

Sad news for them

I used to frequent there myself and I hope they find a way of preserving

 

Yes our forum is buggy... yes it needs upgrading

But without a big cash injection that we don't have... and I won't ask for (as I don't know who could even do the updates without losing stuff) then we stay as we are and keep it alive while we can

 

As long as there's coin in the tin.... and there still is... we will stay open till it breaks

[Uncle Chop Chop]

So what do you call a big injection of cash?

[dattoman]

I honestly don't actually know... thats the problem

I know Tiny paid for some upgrades to be done... that weren't 

And the hosting we have atm is 'mates rates' thru the current hosts

And I have been told any attempt to migrate the current database to a new platform will lose most of it

Because I'm not a computer nerd...I don't know the ins and outs of it all

I know someone who runs another forum... bigger than ours... on a similar platform... and I will be chatting to him about how his works

[claysummers]

Like Byron said Facebook sucks the life out of a lot of things. Has positives if used wisely, but it sure does highlight idiocy.

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk

[Uncle Chop Chop]

Sounds like the same issue that was with the old Ikonboard forums, which is what these forums are based on. Mainly because the same guy coded both. The database format is totally different to what the current gen forums use and the claim is that they can't be converted. Mind you, Camil Collard managed to create converters from most forums to the one he helped create. So it can be done, but...

[Westside Performance]

There is no need to convert anything.  This forum is coded on HTML, one of the first website languages and all browsers read HTML.

 

I agree this forum is very clunky in the way it operates, the search time outs are a pain in the arse, attaching photos is difficult, even though this area may have been improved over the years.

 

Its a shame to see these old forums go down but in reality, Facebook is not a useful alternative because Facebook is where posts go to die!  Try searching for that 2 year old post about upgrading your Torana brakes on Facebook, you will never find it. The Facebook search function is nothing like the search function that we have here at this forum.  Google searches also work for this forum, but Google searches never link to FB posts.

 

Facebook also has a charter to prevent internet stalking, so their search function is intentionally ineffective. 

 

If this Torana forum goes down, years of knowledge and information sharing will be lost forever, but I have a solution.  Lets make this forum a subscription service. 

 

There are over 4000 members here. If half of those members upgraded their membership by donating $10 per year, I guess that would be enough to keep this site going. 

[Bigfella237]

I think you'd find that once you made it 'subscriptions only', that 4000 number would dwindle to around 40 members and the forum would be gone within a year or two.

 

Would you propose making it readable by everyone but only postable by paying members? Or making it so only paying members could read it?

 

As it is, it's a massive (and free) resource of knowledge for anyone who owns or works on these older cars, and let's face it, as our cars (and ourselves) get older, first-hand info is getting harder to come by.

 

As far as the forum software is concerned, yes it's a bit clunky, but it is functional once you figure-out how it works, and one thing I absolutely love about this software, unlike every other forum I frequent, is that it emails EVERY reply to a subscribed thread, not just the first reply after your last visit.

 

If it ain't (too) broke, don't fix it! If it's a question of money, the raffles along with the odd donation would seem to be working without forcing people to pay a subscription fee. Some of us are fortunate enough to have a little something to donate, some are doing it tough and can't.

[Rockoz]

Subscription has been bandied about a few times in the past.

But there would be issues no doubt.

 

If Datto needs more money then all he needs to do is ask and that seems to be working so far.

 

If he needs a larger cash injection Im guessing that would probably be met by asking.

 

Cheers

 

Rob

[Westside Performance]

I'm not sure exactly how the subscription system would work, and I am not sure if advertisement traffic is a sustainable strategy for the future, but my main point is, I would be happy to donate if it keeps this site alive.

 

Maybe give the user 20 site visits free before redirect to Google. The Google search will just provide more links to this site and further incentivise the user to become a paid member for full access.  I think everyone can afford $25 per year

 

I'm into fishing and I have seen the fishing forums disappear due to low site traffic. FB essentially took down all the great fishing forums. Everyone migrated to Facebook and instead of information sharing, FB is more about sales and marketing, i.e. pay me to come on your boat as a guide, pay me to set up your fish finder, I caught these fish on these snapper snatcher rigs available only at XXXXXX. follow my FB fishing page for tips (turns out to be a page to market a wholesalers products with no real useful information provided), sign up to this paid group GPS spots, Wanna catch this particular fish? Sign up for my information session & $$$, etc.  These are the types of search hits which are actually findable by everyone on a public FB search.  More detailed and relevant info is hidden in FB member only access groups.

 

FB is not the future for this community so I encourage everyone to donate and keep this place alive. I just found the link and I will be donating.

 

https://www.gmh-tora...ting-donations/

[claysummers]

$50 transferred Datto

Sent from my SM-G781B using Tapatalk

[LXCHEV]

To be honest, I really don't understand why Facebook killed interest in so many forums. To me, they're very different beasts. I'm not on Facebook - but even if I was, it could easily co-exist with forums. If I'm after information or really good advice on automotive content - my first port of call would always be the gmh-torana, aussie-v8, commodore forums etc.... I regard the forum world as the true Subject Matter Experts - who are genuine knowledge sharers, and it's all so organised and easy to reference... (I love structure).

 

I guess one part of it, is simply use-ability. Posting photos at the touch of a button etc... that's probably been the single biggest game-changer.

 

But anyway, it is what it is. I'm confident these current torana forums can continue living on for a long time. We've all donated some spare coin over the years, and can continue to do so. Even if there's some buggy behaviour, the fundamentals are still there.

 

Thinking about the long term future though, I'd be very interested to understand just what kind of costs would be involved to stand up a brand new forum (using the latest and greatest software), with appropriate hosting etc.... and even employ an expert consultant to take care of monthly patches etc, so it always remains secure and up to date. There are many willing members here more than happy to fundraise.... and I'm sure plenty of companies would be willing to chip in as sponsors too. Migrating content and users would be the big hitter. I'm not quite I.T. savvy enough myself to fully understand the back-end of all this, but I truly believe there will always be a section of the population who would rather leverage information here than on modern social media. Having spent a bit of time on the aussiev8 forums - they were just like our members here - educated, passionate car folk - full of amazing info and willing to share.... numbers dwindled over time, and eventually just a handful remained.... craving content, but just making do with very little! Perhaps long term, there could be a mega forum - bringing together all the best bits of the old school forums. Who knows.

 

For now - let's keep, keeping on. Hats off to you Neil for keeping us afloat, you're a true legend!

[Westside Performance]

I think it came down to a lack of ad revenue. When forums were invented all those years ago, they were funded by good volume/traffic/views. As people migrated to FB, traffic decreased significantly and the ad revenue fell with it.  

[bat 53]

lc lj lh lx uc torana buy sell and swap 

this forum on facebook has been archived

[dattoman]

AH google ads

Tried that

No-one liked having ads here... so most used an adblocker and turned them off... myself included

 

I think the most I got out of them was $107... over about 6 months

 

Then this happened

 

 google ads.jpg   47.43K   9 downloads

 

 

They canned our ad account without right of reply 

So fuckem... lol

[hip6]

There isn't much today that exists that doesn't involve marketing,therefore $$$...the reason fb wants everyone over there.
Trying to have everyone in one place to control the data.
It's everywhere in business, the little fish get devoured by the big fish....all by design.

[yel327]

Another reason not to have a FB account. I keep waiting for one good reason, been well over 10 years now and still haven’t heard one!

[Heath]

Sounds like I'm a bit later to the party here.

Very sad to hear. I was actually surprised when you told me in the last year or two that AussieV8 was still alive. 

[Redslur]

Be interesting to know how many active members we now have on this forum. I reckon we would be lucky to have more than 100 peeps. 

 

I haven't had a Torry for over 5 years now but still come on here daily for a quick update, but not on the weekends as i am simply too busy.

[skap]

Be interesting to know how many active members we now have on this forum. I reckon we would be lucky to have more than 100 peeps. 

 

I haven't had a Torry for over 5 years now but still come on here daily for a quick update, but not on the weekends as i am simply too busy.

 

 

Too busy drinking with ya Stinger mates