Ditto what Randy said. Balkanization kills.

regards,
Zenon
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'73 2002i Verona (Megasquirt/318i EFI conversion, daily driver)
'72 2002 Golf (bone stock, rusty but still pretty, sleeping)
'73 2002 Fjord (first '02, now parts car, almost gone)
http://www.zeebuck.com

No to specific forums!

It would take me longer to read through 4 forums instead of 1! I still gather bits of 02 wisdom from posts that I quickly judge from the subject line to be entirely besides my educational needs.

Good thing I'm curious! Or I'm a really bad judge of subject lines.

Either way, I like the board this way.

Thanks for the board and efforts! Pierre
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More power!

I think it should be seperated as then things dont end up 10 pages back after a week and forgotten. With search being a tad tedious on the site, I think it is a great idea to seperate the forum into different groups.

All the other forums I visit have it seperated and it makes finding more specific information much easier. Until you try it, it is tough to say no.

Todd
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I voted no, but maybe there should be a "Just keep it going section" and a "Proper restoration" area. Also a high performance area....
Hmm..... I think I like it as it is.

John
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"Chicken make no good house pet!"

"Less brake, more accelerator"
#1665778

I voted no but:

YES:
MUCH easier on the Mods.
easier to search and group similar info
more focused, better, answers in a given subject
many other forums use this format
Best for the forum and the moderators IMHO
Where do I post X? What if I dont know where to put my post?

NO:
Only one reason comes to mind - COMMUNITY!
I like that I know what random questions members are asking... my dumb shit, BLUNT's trim, Karl's trailing arm, Lee's brakes, 200tmaniac's side skirt ?'s.

You get to know what everyone is up to and keep in touch more. It is more of a social place rather than a tech help hotline / forum.

Just my .02
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BMW-Yachtsport
'07 Accord DD
'83 e21 - DD (work in progress)
2574356 - sleeping in need of restoration

I hate to even suggest this cos I'd probably have to figure out how it would work BUT

if when you post in the general forum there was a pull down menu at the bottom with the categories
-Body and Interior
-Electrical And Ignition
-Engine and Drivetrain
-Steering, Suspension, and Bakes
-General
that would allow us to tag a post with an ID associated with those categories. So while it would still go into the general forum, you could filter existing general posts by category.

Like at the bottom of the page you'd see
filter by <pulldown>
-Body and Interior
-Electrical And Ignition
-Engine and Drivetrain
-Steering, Suspension, and Bakes
-General

I don't know why that would be any better than separate forums, but it would give users the ability to see specific topic sets while also letting others just see them as they come up (as they are now).

The other thing about making new forums is naturally what do you do with the existing forums.. anyone want to go through them all and tag them by subject?

And what about when someone posts an ignition problem to the body and interior forum? Do we need mods on hand to move it ?

I do like the idea of posts being categorized .. it would cut the search space for users needing a solution too. Why search the whole database on an ignition issue when you can search that category kind of thing.

ok its late..

:)

Z i like your idea better. I voted hell no but id agree to that. That way we can leave it like it is - or choose to categorize it. No one loses!
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Patrick Sloan


67 1600
90 325is
04 Audi A4

I would recommend against specific forums.

this is essentially what Roadfly did several years ago. They used to be a simple little forum where people could gather and exchange comments for individual BMW makes, just like here. But then, they were commercialized and someone realized that they had the makings of an empire.

It had the effect of diluting the community and as a result, I rarely ever visit Roadfly. You've got a nice thing going here. Preserve it.
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1972 2002
Verona Red "Happy Face"
VIN 2581641

that is a great idea, Z. Think we can implement it and then enforce it?

steve k.
_________________
Pre-order you new KGB-Racing Shirt!
"Super Karate Monkey Death Car"

steve k. wrote:

that is a great idea, Z. Think we can implement it and then enforce it? steve k.

I think you guys are on to something here... I would take a look at www.msefi.com (Megasquirt) and their rules to make it easier on the mods. Rules involving cross posting (Mods delete as they please the least applicable one) Also rules like if your post does not get a response in 30 days it will be deleted.

I like the format here but I do think that if the search tool was improved than perhaps we would see less of the repeat posts? Another area to develop is the FAQs to provide better help up front without the need to search.

Keep up the good work!!!
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BMW-Yachtsport
'07 Accord DD
'83 e21 - DD (work in progress)
2574356 - sleeping in need of restoration

My precipitous decrease in posts( always trying to share info, not gossip), was due to the "development" of the FAQ Board. I find it rough to navigate and I still cannot post a picture fom my extensive picture archives in Fototime to this Board. Ya, I guess I am just one of the old farts bitching about the days when we had dollar gas and honest transactions among fellow enthusiasts,(v. Ebay sales by vultures to commited preservationsits who have to pay inflated prices. ) But, I digress.... please leave the Board the way it is, and please email me the way to post a pic of my car with my posts ,and a way to share my pics with the members. Al the time I spent writing FAQ information in the past seems to merit this small accomodation. I still have a lot of useful info for the Board that I cannot relate with my current knowledge.. Sorry for my inexperience; Please do not confuse this with a luddite attitude. I used to monitor this Board from every country I stopped in , daily, weekly: since the "transformation" , I barely visit this Forum/Board anymore. How 'bout some help?Anyone???? And please, Board Rulers: do not change the status quo- it seems to be sufficient. Mr. Jay Kehoe
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1971 Sahara, 1972 Inka tii with Alpina A4 Injection. Both cars have too many upgrades for the "signature" square. 1987 M325ic daily driver( all E30M3 except chassis).

to post a picture, get its url - like for instance, this shot:

http://joyoftech.com/joyoftech/joyimages/910.gif

then add what they call image tags to it... quite simply [IMG]*insert your url*[/IMG]

And you get:



Sorry bout the random image, but I just copied the link to show it to a friend :-P
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steve k. wrote:

that is a great idea, Z. Think we can implement it and then enforce it? steve k.

anything is possible. I'm digging out of the snow at the moment .. phone lines are variable.

When i get some time i'll try it on the beta

steve k. wrote:

The question for the poll is: Should the site have separate forums for specific topics? The new forums would be: -Body and Interior -Electrical And Ignition -Engine and Drivetrain -Steering, Suspension, and Bakes steve k

instead of doing it by topic, how about by level of user? Specifically, a newbie forum for newbie questions, and an advanced forum for advanced topics? remember the old DIY list? anyone? ;)

The Newbie forum could be a place for new forum members (even if long-time 02 owners), as well as for people new to the 02, or new to mechanics in general. All kinds of NEW.

Then maybe a general forum, then an advanced forum, or those two combined. Perhaps an advanced forum is the wrong way to look at it. Split out the newb. questions from everything else and thats about it. This focuses the issue on the USER, and not the QUESTION/post... just an idear.. ;)
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-Rob S.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!! www.jennaishealed.org !!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

_z_ wrote:

steve k. wrote: that is a great idea, Z. Think we can implement it and then enforce it? steve k. anything is possible. I'm digging out of the snow at the moment .. phone lines are variable. When i get some time i'll try it on the beta

Ahhh yes.. time for me again to tell you that I am the lead engineer at my company and I can build anything.
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johnhup wrote:

Ahhh yes.. time for me again to tell you that I am the lead engineer at my company and I can build anything.

John, this is probably the time we will need your help. There are a couple other things that need some repairs.

steve k.
_________________
Pre-order you new KGB-Racing Shirt!
"Super Karate Monkey Death Car"

steve k. wrote:

johnhup wrote: Ahhh yes.. time for me again to tell you that I am the lead engineer at my company and I can build anything. John, this is probably the time we will need your help. There are a couple other things that need some repairs. steve k.

ya go for it!

I've got almost zero free time at the moment

I would do it. It will be much more orginized and you can have an option to view all new posts.

You can also have a moderator assigned to each forum.


Cris
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The rides!


www.cardomain.com/ride/792851

www.cardomain.com/ride/792793

Yes, split the forum but only if you do it Z's way.
Skip the division based on user experience considerations - keep the newbies and veterans together. I have learned an incredible amount from the vets on this site, just by reading; segregation would kill the learning process. A good navigation system saves time, energy and allows experienced users to drill down rapidly to their area of interest.
Max

_z_ wrote:

steve k. wrote: johnhup wrote: Ahhh yes.. time for me again to tell you that I am the lead engineer at my company and I can build anything. John, this is probably the time we will need your help. There are a couple other things that need some repairs. steve k. ya go for it! I've got almost zero free time at the moment

I've got plenty of free time before my Burning Man camp starts up again. I have at least a month or two.

All I need is the code (I can host myself and develop), or a dev port. Keep me posted.
_________________

(nt)
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1971 Sahara, 1972 Inka tii with Alpina A4 Injection. Both cars have too many upgrades for the "signature" square. 1987 M325ic daily driver( all E30M3 except chassis).

the general category is great- but also the threads go like gangbusters sometimes-- and its hard to keep track of the ones you are watching--

some sort of categorization would help I think- make z work! make z work!
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'70 project

im still in hell. for one thing my damn ISP or modem or phone line kicks me off about every 15 mins .. so shelling into anywhere is a serious pain. Falling behind in work because of it.. You in the middle of editing a file and KABLAM.. lost. saving every 2 secs to get anything done and not lose it

something with the damn snow and freezing has fubared my line or something is going on funky.

no work production on this end till that gets figured out :(

bandwidth ghetto bro

I like the idea. It would make it easier to search a topic. But then I kind of enjoy crusing the combined forum.

What I like about this forum is that its very easy to just scroll through the posts and pick what I want to read. If I need specific info then I use search and drill down.

Thanks for a great site,
Ozzy
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1975 2002A
www.bmw2002registry.com - Register your car!

www.cardomain.com/ride/2583684

I vote no....I just wish the Forum Search was more effective.
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'70 2002 (Just starting out)