Chevy & GMC Vans

Hi,

The new board is GREAT !
I have a couple of suggestions, however,I do not know if they are realistic or not.
Anyway, please take them with a grain (or maybe a block) of salt...

1) There were way to many stickys on any given page. Sometimes I would see a new post in a forum section, and scroll down the entire page and onto the next to find the actual post.
-Could they not be archived into one "header" or "FAQ" at the top of the page on any given forum ?

2) Can we make a separate "How to" section at the top of each forum section where members can post "Topic Specific" tips/pics/videos to show our friends how to repair things ?

-The reasoning is this: I have tons of pics of how to install a 350 TBI, but where do I post the pics of the VSS swap for the trans?-Or the dual exhaust? Or the wiring? Or the custom built 3.73 Posi diff?

-I had a custom Rad built
-I had a custom exhaust built
-Different electric fan
-95 front bumper cover
-Sunroof

You see? It is all stuff I have done to my van, but someone may only want pics of just how to rebuild the diff, nothing else.


Jay

Jay, I think when astrozam and justice set the board up initially, the specific topic forums where basically to be for archived info. I said the same thing and the reply was post in the general topic and things would get moved around. Guess Zam and justice will have to answer ya on this one.

To go along with this, is there a way to make a heading in each topic called "Stickys" and then you open up "Stickys" and all the different topics and threads are there? I think this would clean each forum and topic section up very nicely. May just be too much to do though.

Since this has come up again, I am going to suggest this,
Make one sticky in each section called the FAQ sticky.
For example, unsticky all the stickies except one called the FAQ sticky. Within that sticky, hyperlinks to the previously sticked articles (with a brief description) would be added by the admins/moderator(s) to it as need be.
You would then have a clean forum, as suggested & more than one way to find the 'sticked' information as you could access it via the FAQ stickey & search.
Lets have some feedback here.

That is a good suggestion James.

O.k, it would be simple enough to unsticky the sticky's , then make one FAQ
sticky, which when clicked on would open up like any other thread and within that thread you could list all links to "HOW to's" for that particular forum.

A couple questions though, and I'm not tryin to be a smartass or anything I just want to understand why so many members feel the sticky's are unsightly
or slow down finding new posts.

We have 3 buttons: View posts since last visit, View your posts, & View unanswered posts, at the top right hand of the Forum Index page, are members aware of these buttons for finding posts? I guess the way I envisioned it, members would use these buttons to find new and active threads, they would only go into the specific forums when they wanted specific information eg: in the AWD/4X4 forum Sticky: Transfer case swap to a 2 speed - manual shift

The info is right there for them or maybe on the next pg, the only information that should be in the forums is either active threads ( where members are looking for immediate answers to current problems ) or info that is important ( write ups, how to's , that sort of thing ) once the threads are no longer active the mod needs to either archive them ( make them a sticky ) or delete them, remember I'm only talking about our van maintenance forums here ( not our discussion forums )

Its better to have a few pg's of quality info, that is easily scrolled thru, than it is to have 20pg's and only 4 or 5 (archive worthy posts )

Like I said, this is how I envisioned it, thats not to say it can't be different from that, I want the membership to have a say in things as well.

Why don't we have James try it out in the Tech Info Forum, and see what it looks like, and what the feedback is, then we'll take it from there. zam

Ok, I will try that out & see how it works & then we will need some feedback on how it is liked.
Zam, I agree with you on what you are saying on using the 'new posts' button. That is mostly what I used at A/S & very seldom went into the individual forums. But I am open to try what is wanted.

If this does not fit here or I misread...slap me.

I know that as a problem is worked thru that a lot of chatter is included. As I look in a thread that someone was talking about dropping the fuel tank that a lot of non-tech goes on. That is just the nature of this type of activity. I'd like to see a summary of the tech info in the "How-to Tech" section titled "How to drop the fuel tank" which would have a similar look of a shop manual.

Hey, I have a 40+ years with a technical mind so thus goes my thoughts sometimes.

Well folks, James took the time and made the changes to the tech info forum that you all inquired about, so have a look and give him some feedback.

15 days?? anyone have any feedback for James?

only problem with one sticky linking the old stickies as normal threads is the pruning feature that phpbb has. depending on what it's set to .. one day we could log on and the link be dead and the post vanished .. (nice pun.. get it.. VANished).. ugh.. tough room.. LOL

anyhooo.. i think the idea of another section with techincal how to's be created .. then the stickies can be moved in there. it just takes a bit of moderation from the mods to ensure whatever is in there should really be a sticky or not.

oh my other site only the mods or admins can create stickies or announcements. users can make a post and pm a mod to make it into a sticky. just a thought.

astrozam wrote:15 days?? anyone have any feedback for James?

Yeah, he's useless and needs to be ex-communicated from the board. Get rid of him!!! hehehehe, just kidding! Love ya James!

I like it, but if Crash is true and the board can delete it with no warnng, then mayb we should leave them. I do like the idea of maybe a technical area or just a "Sticky" forum for them all to go in.

crash wrote:only problem with one sticky linking the old stickies as normal threads is the pruning feature that phpbb has. depending on what it's set to .. one day we could log on and the link be dead and the post vanished .. (nice pun.. get it.. VANished).. ugh.. tough room..

I have the pruning feature turned off to prevent threads from dissapearing.

I also have been considering adding a Wiki to the site where astro/safari info could be stored and searchable.

justice wrote:

crash wrote:only problem with one sticky linking the old stickies as normal threads is the pruning feature that phpbb has. depending on what it's set to .. one day we could log on and the link be dead and the post vanished .. (nice pun.. get it.. VANished).. ugh.. tough room..

I have the pruning feature turned off to prevent threads from dissapearing.

I also have been considering adding a Wiki to the site where astro/safari info could be stored and searchable.

Well, maybe the wiki thing is the way to go justice, I know you did mention it before, If you think it will work , then I think it will too, lol.

Prepare to meet thy WIKI Let me know if there's anything my computer illiterate mind can do to help


p.s I think your pun crashed ( get it, I slay me ) your right it is a tough room #-o