Nailed topcs on this forum, Should we change the format? Options

[Pat Garvey]

Last night, as every other Friday for the last 12 years, I spoke for 2+ hours with my very best bud (35 years!), 1970 Neun vierzehn. We chitchat like old ladies every 2nd Friday about 914's, model railroad stuff, and ties to Cincinnati.

This time, a large part of the conversation was dedicated to the nailed threads of this forum. They are helpful (I hope), but disjointed (our opinion), and aren't a "ready reference". Oh, you can dig through them and maybe find the info you want, but you may need to dig through 2, 3 or more of them.

Here's our thought - and it means quite a bit of work, but may be worth it.

Instead or categorized 914 areas, which cover all years of 914's, what about re-sorting all the posts in those nailed threads to be model year specific? Instead of all engine compartments/interiors, etc being in one location, what about ALL items associated with a model & year 914 in one nailed thread?

Say you have a newly acquired, or in-resto 1970 914/6. Instead of searching through interior/engine/etc threads for info - we put everything in one nailed thread. You want info on '73 front bumper tits - go to the '73 models thread. Need to know what correct wheels are for a '72 four or six - go to the '72 thread.

With that in mind, what are your felings about the change? I would like to think of the nailed posts as a history binder for CW's of all vintages.

How would you structure it? All comments are welcomed and appreciated.
Pat

[davep]

They could go into a subforum like the Parts Vault.

[smontanaro]

What about tagging them in a site like del.icio.us so that people can find what they are looking for more easily?

Skip

[Pat Garvey]

They could go into a subforum like the Parts Vault.

Hmmm, sounds like a pretty good idea! But I'd like more opinions first.
Pat

[Bleyseng]

I second that!

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

[quote name='Pat Garvey' date='May 3 2008, 03:25 PM' post='1027796']
....... I would like to think of the nailed posts as a history binder .........for all (MY 914) vintages.

[quote]

I think having original information on each model year together (front trunk, rear trunk, interior, engine compartment, and front, back, and side views for the MY would allow this information to be accessed easier.
What made me think of this was Marks' request last week for some interior pics of an early 914/6. Running through all the interior photos didn't turn up anything, and of course there were shots of 914s from all model years shown.
Recently I read a request for a good photo of vacumn line hoses/colors/routing which ought to be able to be retrieved by model year. Once again, the Forum member should be able to open, for instance, 1973 914 and find the photo information for just 1973 914 models.

Paul

[davep]

I don't disagree with a a thread for each model year. In fact that could be done, and the way I would do it would be to assign someone the task, and have it a locked thread; that is, only the thread starter and an admin would have access to modify the thread. Most threads tend to fall apart as everyone adds their 2 cents worth. Much better to have one concise thread on a subject. I would also place that thread in a subforum. We could move all the current 'sticky' threads in to the subforum, and have the concise model year specific threads as the new "stickies" in that forum. Much like our 'classic' threads but more concise. Any errors and omissions can be forwarded to the thread owner with proof for addition to the thread.

[smontanaro]

Guys, guys, guys... By setting up a static structure you're presuming how people are going to want to search the content. Also, by keeping all this within the 914world site you effectively require people to know about this site before searching. If you do something which exposes the site/forum to outside folk you stand a chance of snagging new people, make searches more flexible and provide the opportunity for this scheme to be easily used outside this one forum (garage, sandbox, etc).

Skip

[Pat Garvey]

Guys, guys, guys... By setting up a static structure you're presuming how people are going to want to search the content. Also, by keeping all this within the 914world site you effectively require people to know about this site before searching. If you do something which exposes the site/forum to outside folk you stand a chance of snagging new people, make searches more flexible and provide the opportunity for this scheme to be easily used outside this one forum (garage, sandbox, etc).

Skip

Skip, I'm a little unclear here.

Are talking about something similar to a wiki?

I can see the basic purpose, but Roadglue has done this & I doubt that it has increased the mebership there of any sigificance.

Please explain in detail to an idiot (that would be me) how this would work. Also, please help me understand how the World would have it's intellectual property preserved. I'm not challenging you, just need some help understanding your proposal.
Pat

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

Pat,
Do a trial thread on your own 914. It's an original, unmolested, no-mods example of a 1972 914/4 1.7. You've got excellent photos of just about everything on that car. Without going overboard with this concept, send up a trial balloon as a regular thread on this Forum, see how it's received and critiqued, look to see how it can be tweaked and improved, and reference this "sample" in the Garage Forum to see if the general rank and file would find merit in it.

Paullie

[Pat Garvey]

I don't disagree with a a thread for each model year. In fact that could be done, and the way I would do it would be to assign someone the task, and have it a locked thread; that is, only the thread starter and an admin would have access to modify the thread. Most threads tend to fall apart as everyone adds their 2 cents worth. Much better to have one concise thread on a subject. I would also place that thread in a subforum. We could move all the current 'sticky' threads in to the subforum, and have the concise model year specific threads as the new "stickies" in that forum. Much like our 'classic' threads but more concise. Any errors and omissions can be forwarded to the thread owner with proof for addition to the thread.

I think I like this concept. We have "experts" on every model year, as well as those who know all about everything 914.

But here is where I show my ignorance - how do we do it?

Moreover, is it necessary to do it? Is what we currently have acceptible?

I don't want to re-invent the wheel, just seems to me that it could be made more concise.

I won't attempt to do anything if the general opinion is to leave it alone. It was just a thought between two old timers with over 70 years combined 914 poop in thier heads!
Pat

[smontanaro]

Skip, I'm a little unclear here.

Are talking about something similar to a wiki?

Nope, just tagging posts/threads with meaningful keywords (meaningful to us, probably to other Porschephiles as well). I don't use del.icio.us much, but I do have a page with my bookmarks:

http://del.icio.us/smontanaro

Click on some of the tags in the right hand margin. I have two items in my toolbar related to del.icio.us. One allows me to tag the current page I'm viewing. For example, I visited this thread on front trunks just now:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=55355

I then selected the "post to del.icio.us" link in my Firefox toolbar. It prompted me with a form to enter notes and tags. I skipped the notes. In the tags field I entered:

porsche 914 1970 front trunk originality

It then returned me to the thread. I revisited my smontanaro page and refreshed. It shows me in the right hand margin that I have now used several new keywords (e.g., "1970", "originality", etc).

Now, once again on the smontanaro page I enter

porsche trunk

It lists the page I tagged as well as other pages tagged with those two keywords, none of which seem to have anything to do with 914s. Now search for

porsche 914 trunk

Voila! Only the page I tagged shows up.

Now, how might this work in practice? The easiest way would be to convince one of our friendly neighborhood admins to add a del.icio.us link to the page template for the thread display. That way anybody who wanted to could easily associate keywords with any and all pages that interested them.

Skip

[dw914er]

is it really neccessary though?

We dont have too many pages for each topic yet that needs to be covered.

It could be a good move, but at this point, does it seem necessary to subdivide each category if all you have to search through is a few pages?


It could be good, and i do like wiki's, though i could never figure out roadglue's, but i think that is becasue it might not be really complete.

My opinion is I think either way works. If we got really detailed, and had alot of photos, and really showed each in and out of each year, it would probably be better for the long run.

[davep]

Pat,
Basically I propose a subforum, it could be called Model Info.
There would be a series of sticky locked threads, one for each model and each year: 70 914/6, 70 914/4, 71 914/6, 71 914/4, 73 2.0, 74 1.8, etc. Specific variations like the LE cars, and the Silver Series could also be documented that way. A general template for each thread would be useful so that they have the same appearance. Guidelines for picture size and color depth would be useful , but perhaps overkill. Generous use of keywords would make searches easier. We could include links to other specific resources. We could also add literature for that model in the thread.
Those threads that are currently stickies, would be moved to the subforum, but remove the sticky status.

[McMark]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif) with Dave
It's nice to have the area-specific threads (trunks, interior, etc), but we should have model specific threads which are built in the fashion of the 914/6 differences thread.

[Pat Garvey]

Pat,
Basically I propose a subforum, it could be called Model Info.
There would be a series of sticky locked threads, one for each model and each year: 70 914/6, 70 914/4, 71 914/6, 71 914/4, 73 2.0, 74 1.8, etc. Specific variations like the LE cars, and the Silver Series could also be documented that way. A general template for each thread would be useful so that they have the same appearance. Guidelines for picture size and color depth would be useful , but perhaps overkill. Generous use of keywords would make searches easier. We could include links to other specific resources. We could also add literature for that model in the thread.
Those threads that are currently stickies, would be moved to the subforum, but remove the sticky status.

Dave,

I like it! Not certain how to pull it off, but it makes sense. Need some help here to make it work - suggestions? Do I need to remove the "nails" to get it started? If so, I'll do it tonight.
Pat

[orthobiz]

I love this site and don't contribute as much as I could

BUT

we could use some nailed threads that do not get modified. Actually, threads that do not get "answered."

So if a thread showed an original trunk, we could skip some of the "way to go" comments and just have stuff that is offered as FYI only. The author of the thread (or moderator in Pat's case) could receive PM about a specific question or issue and then modify that nailed thread.

It would make things so much easier for reference.

Paul

[davep]

Paul, exactly correct. That is why I suggest the threads are locked.
Pat, first to do is to create the subforum, and move the stickies there.
Then create a thread format for the way you think the thread should be laid out. We can talk that over and settle on a plan before actually starting a thread. I think we will get a more pleasing result with some advance planning.

[McMark]

I'll have to create the subforums. And, to be honest, subforums will really 'hide' the information for new people. It's great for organization, but really poor for ease of use. What I can do is make a text box at the top of the page that would house links to the model threads. That way the threads would still be easy to navigate, without being moved into a separate area or being nailed. See the top of the parts vault section to see the type of text box I'm talking about.

[1970 Neun vierzehn]

I'll have to create the subforums. And, to be honest, subforums will really 'hide' the information for new people. It's great for organization, but really poor for ease of use. What I can do is make a text box at the top of the page that would house links to the model threads. That way the threads would still be easy to navigate, without being moved into a separate area or being nailed. See the top of the parts vault section to see the type of text box I'm talking about.

Do I understand that a heading, under the, say, Parts Vault, would read, for instance 914 specific model information, and then when you click on that thread, you'd get the various model catagories, i.e. 1970/6, 1970/4, 1971/6, 1971/4, 1972/6, 1972/4, etc. etc. If that's what you mean, I would think that could be a useful source for original, model specific information.

Paul