quiet forum?

[rob.kellock]

Very good post John.

When I joined PCGB, with a 944, 12 years ago or so, this was the Forum place to be.

To some extent, the 996 and 986,
maybe even 987 Cayman sort of replicate the role the 944 had then - in terms of relative budget rather than vehicle practicality... still miss my 944, I loved that car.

Guess we are all getting older along with the cars too!!

 

[Eldavo]

Personally I think Photobucket played a part too - there’s no incentive to go through a big thread and make all the picture links work again!

Roger was/is a character alright, at least he was a regular poster, just a shame that his knowledge and experience didn’t match his passion.

Facebook is handy for all the groups etc but as mentioned it’s terrible for any real archiving of info or finding stuff out - some of the prolific American posters on the groups make Roger look tame too!

My 944 will still be my track weapon of choice when I get it back from its restoration (been ongoing since September, nearly finished now, realised recently that I’ve left it taxed all this time too).

The discussion of values is an interesting one too, as for years we have poo-pooed anyone trying to talk the values up or down too much but now that the values have gone up - and the ridiculous prices being asked for used spares too!!!! - the 944 occupies a strange space. I must admit that from a paper viewpoint, my Turbo S is more valuable than my 996 or 987 Boxster. But even if I had no cars and you gave me a nominal £15k to buy a Porsche then you’d have to have a very very specific reason to be looking at a 944. Unfortunately, as they’ve reached a peak in values they’ve crossed over into a price range sweet spot for weekend cars - 987 Cayman/Boxster S or a Leggy 996 are far more modern and appealing than a 944 to most. (Especially my wife, who hates the 944 shape and has never even been in this one in the 5 years I’ve had it, mind you - I should’ve realised she had poor taste when she married me).

 

[pauljmcnulty]

The Facebook groups are really beginning to wear thin, though, aren't they?

American posters in their thousands who's answer is always "buy from a US supplier", regardless of where the poster is from. No way to search effectively, so the same questions time, after time, after time. No archive of faqs or technical info for people to contribute to: witness the panic when there was a risk to Clark's website and the possible loss of that invaluable resource. Would it ever have been created in the Facebook age? Back to Americans, you think Roger is a difficult person to moderate here? Try the aggressive, illiterate, self-opinionated idiots who post advice on the Facebook groups without any knowledge.

I genuinely think that, certainly in the UK, the more moderated, intelligent forums like this one will always win out. Mike does a fantastic job promoting the forum and the Register to new 944 owners on the social media groups, and I think it'll come full-circle over time. It's all down to the "physical" Clubs continuing to push the benefits, and active members keeping the quieter forums alive.

 

[TTM]

I do not like how this forum can be accessed now without signing in.
Regarding the FB pages I do not participate much because it's mostly a lot of chit chat by apparent OCD lifeless folks going round in circles, rehashing the same old topics only sometimes punctuated by pretended new products of the same parts that most of the time do not even work as well as original parts, and also the insufferable PC verbage used by most American posters make it a real pain to read. It is ironic that FB is a pain to browse through although we can be sure that everything posted there may be easier to access and store by any obscure 3rd party administration than the content of a forum which may still feel like a relaxed corner of the web to be in... at least when signing in is necessary to access the content and when there is no occasional newcomer sounding like he will reinvent the wheel.
FB encourages passive reading because of its loose format, while a forum requires an active stance and personal involvement to provide genuine content.

 

[John Sims]

I agree with the comments regarding Farce Book entirely. I have recently started following some Freelander groups on FB and joined a Freelander Forum. The forum is far more useful with the FB groups being almost an irrelevance.

I am sure this forum will start to gain momentum again as the view of contributors starts to realign with the new position the 944 finds itself...damn I'm even considering taking out the race seat and putting the passenger seat back in Beaky.

 

[Peter_Bull]

...damn I'm even considering taking out the race seat and putting the passenger seat back in Beaky.

Steady on John - you'll be coming to a national event again if you keep this up! []

 

[graham tompkins]

...damn I'm even considering taking out the race seat and putting the passenger seat back in Beaky.

Steady on John - you'll be coming to a national event again if you keep this up! []

Stay on topic...otherwise I’ll report you to the moderator clique ????

 

[PSH]

I'm just happy to see it's not just me getting fed up with American 'bull'.......for Christ's sake don't mention guns...I've come to the conclusion that gun lovers wouldn't get invited too tea, open house to all others...

 

[edh]

Personally I think Photobucket played a part too - there’s no incentive to go through a big thread and make all the picture links work again!

Yes - a big issue for all forums. Anyone got a good alternative? Thumbsnap is free but limited.

My 944 has been out of action for quite a while over the last 12 months - as have I, but I'm hoping to get out more this year & get the car onto some trackdays. Maybe we just all need to post a bit more & it will drive engagement & traffic?

I've got a GTS headlight project to get cracking with soon...must start a thread

 

[John Sims]

Personally I think Photobucket played a part too - there’s no incentive to go through a big thread and make all the picture links work again!

Yes - a big issue for all forums. Anyone got a good alternative? Thumbsnap is free but limited.

My 944 has been out of action for quite a while over the last 12 months - as have I, but I'm hoping to get out more this year & get the car onto some trackdays. Maybe we just all need to post a bit more & it will drive engagement & traffic?

I've got a GTS headlight project to get cracking with soon...must start a thread

Having decried FB I have found the easiest method of getting an image into any forum is first upload it to FB and then copy the image address.

 

[John Sims]

...damn I'm even considering taking out the race seat and putting the passenger seat back in Beaky.

Steady on John - you'll be coming to a national event again if you keep this up! []

I'm still a good way short of that.

 

[jackois]

With respect to the Photobucket issue, if you use chrome as a browser there are various plugins that you can use to re-awaken those. I use the Photobucket Embedded Image Fix plug in, which allows me to see the pictures within the threads.

As to the 'quiet' forum, I'd rather a quiet forum where people tend to comment when the have something useful to say, like this one, rather than others that the members post, but add little to the information asked for,, just to see theirselves posting. I, for one, will read 95% of the posts, but rarely post unless I have something worthwhile to add.

I also agree with the comments about Facebook groups, where the same queries are made ad nauseum, without any recourse to the search feature.

 

[PSH]

As to the 'quiet' forum, I'd rather a quiet forum where people tend to comment when the have something useful to say, like this one, rather than others that the members post, but add little to the information asked for,, just to see theirselves posting. I, for one, will read 95% of the posts, but rarely post unless I have something worthwhile to add.

sounds like 'Pistonheads' to me?... btw i also use the chrome PB fix to view old posts, all new posts are via 'Imgur' these days

Pete

 

[blade7]

I'm just happy to see it's not just me getting fed up with American 'bull'.......

I'm sure everything I want to know is buried somewhere on the Yank forums, but Google seems to find it a lot faster.

 

[Diver944]

I rarely use the forum since the software changed a few years ago. 'Go to new post' does not work and scrolling through lots of old posts looking for the latest date just doesn't do it for me.

Still love the car though, this year is the 20th year I've owned her and am approaching 230,000 miles. The engine was fully rebuilt by EMC back in October and it's awesome to get all those lost horses back without topping up the oil every 500 miles.

 

[944Turbo]

I subscribe to the 944 section so get all the messages in email = usually read them as emails and click on the link if I want to reply / look at the pictures. I do use an email account I dont use for much else, that way it doesn't clog up my phone/work mail when the traffic is higher.

 

[Waylander]

I think the change in the forum software upset quite a few as well, very difficult to use now and the white out screen makes it hard to read, the smileys go nuts on your mobile, all in all not a great success

 

[John Sims]

I think the change in the forum software upset quite a few as well, very difficult to use now and the white out screen makes it hard to read, the smileys go nuts on your mobile, all in all not a great success

I can't help but agree (and may have made a similar point earlier ). Having to log in before going to latest posts may only be a few key clicks but, in the good old days, your browser short cut would go straight to it. On my mobile devices I am never quite sure if I am logged in or not and still have "New" or "Hot" flags obliterating half of the title so I don't know what is "New" or "Hot" or whatever without clicking it. Of the several fora I frequent this is by far the least satisfying experience.

 

[Frenchy]

Still here, re build on my brakes (total) and some body tidy up, you will probably here less from me once the weather warms up as I am out and about climbing trees and kicking footballs.
Along with fly fishing, car fettling, house and garden stuff, I think social media has a lot to do with the decline.......I can live without my android / smart phone.

 

[944Scott]

Ahhh a fellow freelander forum user. My old freelander is great, I bought because I wanted something completely different to the 944 to drive, it's a easy vehicle to maintain too []

I agree with the comments regarding Farce Book entirely. I have recently started following some Freelander groups on FB and joined a Freelander Forum. The forum is far more useful with the FB groups being almost an irrelevance.

I am sure this forum will start to gain momentum again as the view of contributors starts to realign with the new position the 944 finds itself...damn I'm even considering taking out the race seat and putting the passenger seat back in Beaky.