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Bring the old site back


fmari
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New layout just isn't the same. Topics aren't very interesting or polarizing. I think a lot of the good content posters left.

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Alright, so i've read what you posted and will address each one below.

1. The original forum was 14 years old. Let that sink in, 14 years...the Gallardo was just premiered. We've gone through a whole vehicle life-cycle in the time it was taken since a major update. The old format isn't coming back. 

The new update is light-years ahead of what it was. It will take time to adjust. Obviously everyone was so used to the old, any change was dramatic. But we're working forward here now, not backwards.

2. You must not have read much since the relaunch. I mean just in the past week we've had threads on gobs of horsepower from the LP640 with exhaust mods from whiteout, the Urus doing a verified 0-60 in under 3 seconds, the ongoing drama and discussion with the SVJ. So saying there isn't any interesting topics is a joke. You aren't reading enough. 

Now if you want polarizing subject matter, like drama filled and hot topics, you'll be disappointed with the direction we're taking the board. We're moving away from the high-school dramtic antics. It's unbecoming of a forum, let alone a group of adults. So if that's what you're looking for, you'll want to look elsewhere. 

3. Again, you aren't looking very hard, barely at all. Look at point number two. Guys are doing hands on work, we've got videos, posts, technical information, insights. I'm not sure what more you want considering where we are at. We had a major reset, we won't have the 2013 numbers right away, but we'll get them back.

If you don't like the content, throw your hat in the ring. We want more content from our members. You're a owner and been here since 2004, i'm sure you've seen some and had experiences we'd love to hear. So don't whine about no good content. Make it.

Just don't expect any sympathy coming here, taking a dump on what's going on when we've made plenty of announcments and insight into what the board is doing. Either you're just bitching to bitch, or you didn't bother to see what new content we had before bitching. Either way, you're welcome here, jump in with both feet and make it what you want. Just don't complain if you don't do anything about it and you don't see what you want. 

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@fmari

I don't think it's necessarily the new website. Being down for a bit definitely hurt the user base... but I think there is a slight "changing of the guard" in both online media and exotics right now that could be contributing to what you're describing (and they are intertwined).

Social Media Changing of the Guard
Social media is killing forums. Forums have become relegated to be places for deep technical information (only) and to catch up with old car buddies (for the older guys, no offense). Everyone else simply stays in touch on social media, DMing on Instagram, Facebook groups, YouTube, etc..

Exotics Changing of the Guard
In the LP prime/golden days (think, 2006, 2007, 2008 pre-crisis)... your top Exotic Marquees were LamborghiniFerrari annnndddd... Bentley? That was about it. Nowadays there are sooo many more exotic options, and brands playing "above the rim" to compete with the exotics. Biggest one being: McLaren. Followed by Porsche (which has always been there... but is REALLY stepping up. And with how the GT3RS and GT3 + GT2RS have captured young hearts and minds, is a bigger fish today in the post-social media world). Aston Martin has crept back into favor, and is making better cars in partnership with Mercedes. Mercedes is making special AMG cars en-masse (SLS, AMG GT and GTR), etc. etc.

So we went from: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley
To: Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Singer, AUDI (R8) and more

What does it all mean? There are less people coming to forums, and more forums + brands competing for their time.

We just need to spread the word to the "old guard" user-base here and get their asses back in the chair posting!!

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9 hours ago, FastAlex said:

@fmari

I don't think it's necessarily the new website. Being down for a bit definitely hurt the user base... but I think there is a slight "changing of the guard" in both online media and exotics right now that could be contributing to what you're describing (and they are intertwined).

Social Media Changing of the Guard
Social media is killing forums. Forums have become relegated to be places for deep technical information (only) and to catch up with old car buddies (for the older guys, no offense). Everyone else simply stays in touch on social media, DMing on Instagram, Facebook groups, YouTube, etc..

Exotics Changing of the Guard
In the LP prime/golden days (think, 2006, 2007, 2008 pre-crisis)... your top Exotic Marquees were LamborghiniFerrari annnndddd... Bentley? That was about it. Nowadays there are sooo many more exotic options, and brands playing "above the rim" to compete with the exotics. Biggest one being: McLaren. Followed by Porsche (which has always been there... but is REALLY stepping up. And with how the GT3RS and GT3 + GT2RS have captured young hearts and minds, is a bigger fish today in the post-social media world). Aston Martin has crept back into favor, and is making better cars in partnership with Mercedes. Mercedes is making special AMG cars en-masse (SLS, AMG GT and GTR), etc. etc.

So we went from: Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bentley
To: Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Porsche, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Singer, AUDI (R8) and more

What does it all mean? There are less people coming to forums, and more forums + brands competing for their time.

We just need to spread the word to the "old guard" user-base here and get their asses back in the chair posting!!

 

I'm not sure I fully concur with your point about Social media killing forums. 

Forums were around before SM, and they had a different purpose. FB, Twitter, Instagram all have their purposes but none of which IMHO are ideal to replace what forums have been for those who follow passions (i.e. cars, motorcycles, sports teams, audio, etc.). 

The email lists of old (Ferrari List, Lamborghini List) were largely killed off but still remain (the F one does, not sure about L). A forum is a more efficient way of managing discussions than email, although I do miss that the lists were not anonymous and thus kept people in check a lot better.

I just can't see FB replacing forums. But if it does, oh well so be it. Haha. 

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5 minutes ago, GT Venom said:

My suggestion would be to put a "New" or "All Activity" button on the top of the page.

Was done a long time ago, Top Right, click "unread content".

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Forums ebb and flow with times of low participation to times of rampant enthusiasm and multitudinous posting. Its the nature of the beast. So I'm not concerned if things get quiet, usually a issue come to light and it peeks a lot of interaction. Just look a the SVJ thread. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience here and it will be tapped at one point or another...and yes even the squabbling is interesting too!

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Just one suggestion, not sure if everyone will agree but I think the post box should be the same colour as the background. The border and different colour makes it look like the post is a quote. See attachment as reference.

sug.png

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3 hours ago, sl55 said:

Just one suggestion, not sure if everyone will agree but I think the post box should be the same colour as the background. The border and different colour makes it look like the post is a quote. See attachment as reference.

sug.png

 

 

This 100%. This has been bugging me like no other

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12 hours ago, MrDoctor said:

 

 

This 100%. This has been bugging me like no other

Same here.  The new software seems much better overall, but the "every post looks like a quote" thing is really annoying.  Perhaps there is a way to fix that.

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16 hours ago, sl55 said:

Just one suggestion, not sure if everyone will agree but I think the post box should be the same colour as the background. The border and different colour makes it look like the post is a quote. See attachment as reference.

sug.png

Totally agree with SL55

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I do agree the site is harder to read. Everything is too closely sized and spaced. New topics don't really standout. Everything is just too homogeneous. The post-looks-like-a-quote thing is odd too.

That's not why it's less active though. It's pretty simple to explain: It was down for too long, people stopped checking after a few weeks and no updates, and now they don't really care anymore. It's a very common occurrence with websites. Significant downtime can destroy a community. Ferrari Chat and other forums seem just as active as usual. McLaren Life and Rennlist seem normal too. It didn't help that the site was essentially 404 for weeks either, with no messages or updates. It was weeks before the site even said it was upgrading and coming back. One day it was up, the next it was gone. Then it said to visit the Facebook page, which didn't exist as far as I could tell. The old forum should not have been taken down until the new one was ready. I'm not sure why that happened. It's very easy to duplicate a database and build the new version without disabling the old one.

Unless there is a really compelling reason for people to come back, I wouldn't count on it happening. This is just my opinion though.

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3 minutes ago, FikseSTS said:

what software is this site running on?

 

it's a bit annoying when people respond and quote a message, the quote is displayed first, the response should be first, otherwise we are reading the quote over and over again through the thread.... and searching for the response....

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3 hours ago, FikseSTS said:

 

it's a bit annoying when people respond and quote a message, the quote is displayed first, the response should be first, otherwise we are reading the quote over and over again through the thread.... and searching for the response....

I have a call scheduled. i'll add that to the list.

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Cheers for the constructive feedback.  Always welcome. 

As for bringing the old site back.  We obvs cannot go back a version and there were so many issues that it got to the point where we just had to start again. 

Rome was not built in a day and the feedback helps. 

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Change is tough but I’m slowly getting used to the new site.

I agree with comments about quote format.

Still would like to see numbered posts, and an indication of the “thread starter” (like on Rennlist) so it’s apparent who started the thread (rather than having to go back to the beginning of the thread.

I don’t see a problem with LP getting back to former glory.  It’s an “addiction” and I missed it when it was down.  I don’t check as much as I used to but as improvements are made, and as I get used to the new format - it feels more and more like the “Old LP” - only new and improved.

Great work on the improvements and thanks for all the effort and hours to keep this place “alive”..

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8 hours ago, cake said:

Change is tough but I’m slowly getting used to the new site.

I agree with comments about quote format.

Still would like to see numbered posts, and an indication of the “thread starter” (like on Rennlist) so it’s apparent who started the thread (rather than having to go back to the beginning of the thread.

I don’t see a problem with LP getting back to former glory.  It’s an “addiction” and I missed it when it was down.  I don’t check as much as I used to but as improvements are made, and as I get used to the new format - it feels more and more like the “Old LP” - only new and improved.

Great work on the improvements and thanks for all the effort and hours to keep this place “alive”..

 

All mentioned items have either been addressed or are in process of adjusting. It's just taking us some time. Everyone woking on this has other responsibilites, so we're getting there. Slow and steady wins the race thats for sure! 

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