[Jay]

Alright kids, I'm about to reorganize the forums to make room for more makes/models of quads.

This is the general format I have in mind. These are NOT the exact categories. This is just intended to show the way I intend to group things.

Please comment on what you like/dislike and let me know if you have any suggestions.

Note that it will not break down the technical information into subcategories the way we do today - engine, suspension, body, etc. This is more along the lines of the way KR is organized.

General
--Pit Stop
--Pics/Vids
--Suggestions
Kawasaki
--KFX700
--Prairie/Brute
--KFX450/400
--Mojave, Lakota, Bayou, et al
Honda
--Sport
--Utility
Suzuki
--Sport
--Utility
Yamaha
--Sport
--Utility
--Side by Side
Polaris
--Sport
--Utility
--Side by Side
Riding & Racing
--Recreation
--MX & XC
--Dragging
Classifieds
--For Sale
--Wanted
--Feedback

 

[CMOELL]

Great idea Jay! Looks good!

 

[fullthrottle]

Cool,I like the way your thinkin...One stop fantasy forum...Keep Up the great work!!!

 

[764]

Hope you are open to a little feedback.

I think that's too many forums...

Lot's of forums tends to confuse members and split them among all the forums.

One suggestion since we started with Kawasaki's is to go ahead and get rid of the sport/utility sub forums under Honda, Suzuki, Polaris, Yamaha.

atv connection is a good example of just brand forums:

http://forums.atvconnection.com/

doesn't seem too bad.

Oh and General: pit stop/picsvideos/suggestions type forums should always be at the bottom.

Otherwise you end up with *everyone* posting in pit stop and not in the tech forums. Like this:

http://sandlakeduners.com/forum/

 

[Jay]

I'm open to just having one area per brand.. but the Prairie guys who came over here complained there weren't Prairie-specific areas.

How important is it to have brand-specific areas?

Would it be useful to have a single Sport quad tech area and a single Utility tech area, but not break down by brands?

Could we stick with our present format, but just re-name the site to welcome all brands?

I tend to think it's better to give each brand an area so that the subject matter experts (i.e. tuners and builders) don't have to wade through all the posts to find the stuff they can help with.

I'm going to continue to disagree with you about putting the general stuff at the bottom. If we moderate well, people will catch on. It is important to me that the areas where announcements will be made are at the top of the list.

Do I need to buy you a mouse with a little wheel thingie on it, David? :wink:

I have also considered offering dedicated areas to some of the shops and engine builders, such as Flyin V, VFORCEJOHN, Chapman Performance, Dynoray and even (gasp!) Mickey Dunlap (he just might not be allowed to post anywhere else :wink: ). The idea being, if you want to ask one of them a question, you go to their area. My hope (probably in vain) is to head off a little of the flaming that goes on when two guys disagree over the right way to do something.

 

[764]

Originally posted by Jay
I'm open to just having one area per brand.. but the Prairie guys who came over here complained there weren't Prairie-specific areas.

How important is it to have brand-specific areas?

Would it be useful to have a single Sport quad tech area and a single Utility tech area, but not break down by brands?

Could we stick with our present format, but just re-name the site to welcome all brands?

I tend to think it's better to give each brand an area so that the subject matter experts (i.e. tuners and builders) don't have to wade through all the posts to find the stuff they can help with.

I'm going to continue to disagree with you about putting the general stuff at the bottom. If we moderate well, people will catch on. It is important to me that the areas where announcements will be made are at the top of the list.

Do I need to buy you a mouse with a little wheel thingie on it, David? :wink:

I have also considered offering dedicated areas to some of the shops and engine builders, such as Flyin V, VFORCEJOHN, Chapman Performance, Dynoray and even (gasp!) Mickey Dunlap (he just might not be allowed to post anywhere else :wink: ). The idea being, if you want to ask one of them a question, you go to their area. My hope (probably in vain) is to head off a little of the flaming that goes on when two guys disagree over the right way to do something.

we could have seperate areas in the Kawasaki brand forum just because that's what our core members own. give each brand a forum, that's cool, I was just commenting on the subforum. makes it too much.

As to the general stuff, how about suggestions at the top and pit stop/pics videos at the bottom? That will stay with the spirit of your having announcements, etc. at the top but keep the pit stop from being the "uber forum".

And I like your forum sponsors ( :wink: ) idea of having their own forum. makes sense.

good thinking out loud Jay.

 

[Jay]

Haha.. sponsors.. that's a good one...


Actually, unless we start running so much traffic that my hosting provider complains, I have no reason whatsoever to have sponsors OR charge for "premium" membership.

Hosting is cheap if you know where to shop.

 

[764]

Originally posted by Jay
Haha.. sponsors.. that's a good one...


Actually, unless we start running so much traffic that my hosting provider complains, I have no reason whatsoever to have sponsors OR charge for "premium" membership.

Hosting is cheap if you know where to shop.

:lol: :lol: that was more of a tease at all the people that do business online but don't contribute $$$ to a site.

of course contributing their expertise is valuable also.

So it's a grey area.

 

[764]

Originally posted by RPM
The only thing that scares me about using the ATV Connection model is if this site ends up BEING like ATV Connection.

When you bring all of the brand makes together, you end up with 10,000,000 "Will (Blank) quad beat (Blank) quad?" posts. It was all of the childish "My quad is faster than your quad" threads that made me stop going on to ATV Connection in the first place and the lack of that mentality that I liked about KawieRiders.

nope, wait, hold on, timeout...

I never said let's set things up to look like ATV connection...

*only* talking about how they have brand forums and no sub forums for Sport
Utility

I can't stand the atv connection forum layout in general and agree with you completely.

 

[Flyin V]

QZ has one forum dedicated to utility quads in a general....that might help. One for each MFG, and one utility section

Personally, I think an engine and drivetrain section, and maybe a chassis section would be nice too.

As for particular forums, I don't really need one, and I don't think I cause too much trouble. Most guys egos get in the way of teamwork, and better products. I am opinionated, but will listen if it makes sense.....


As for sponsorship......Jay, I will port your heads for free...You pay the machine cost, at most $150 dollars, and I will do all the hand labor for free. Depending on what you want, it's a $200-250 dollar payment for me being here, and hopefully finding a little business. I'm dead serious. PM me if you want my addy. Best I can do for now....I haven't sold one thing on the net yet, so I need a little advertising help......

Glenn

 

[Jay]

Glenn, that's really generous of you. But it's not necessary. (Tempting as hell, though.. I'm watching a set of heads on eBay as we speak.) Let's wait and see if you get any referrals that were generated here.

As Dave said, I was kind of thinking out loud. I was looking for ways to help a guy like you post without some jerk (not to mention competitor) barging into your thread to pick a fight.

That idea just came out of seeing too many threads where someone asks, let's say VFORCEJOHN a question, then somebody else who does that type of work jacks the thread and starts trash talking. I wouldn't want anybody doing that to him, or to you, or to anybody else.

Another thought on the sponsorship thing... No more business than I expect this site to generate, I would be plenty satisfied if the vendors would simply make themselves available to answer questions and help support the community. It takes quite a bit of time, and that has value, too.

Yes, I'll probably die penniless since I'm not greedy enough to scheme on how to make money off the site. But all I want out of this is a reliable place to get answers to my dumb questions. :lol:

 

[Flyin V]

As far as I am concerned Jay, the offer will always stand.

 

[Wileycoyote]

I always like sleek and simple boards. This one has a nice setup and color atm. I think if you put to many sections, the question is will they ever get used or will it add to clutter?