I'll give it a shot. I would like to see any question answered. The only time I think there is a problem is when there are 5 hreads on the first page about "cold start problems". I can understand not wanting to go back 20 pages to find an answer, or hoping for some new advice, but a thread about Budget Y Pipes, a thread about Cattman Y Pipes and a thread about Ebay Y Pipes all on the first page is a little much.

 

Thread posting is for exchange of information mostly. I did this...I ran into these problems...(and hopefully) the eventual solution was this....
OR
I'm having this problem...I think it's this...is there a possibiltiy I'm wrong....any tricks to diagnosing/fixing the problem I think it is.
OR
I did this last year....I'm running into these problems...etc..etc..
OR
I just auto-xed/drag/road raced here is the link to appropriate forum....
OR
even opinions...I did/saw this I think it looks good/like crap

If they read the how-to stickies/faq stickies, whatever question they pose is way more likely to be new and relevant. Essentially, the people that have been here a little while, want to see something different, not the same old thing. Only recently have I even been coming back in here, and if things are changed I'll keep coming back. The 4th gen forum has some great info and great people that will help you mod/fix things, but it needs to stay fresh(er).

 

For the 4th gen section pretty much everything has been covered. The whole 4th gen section could get sticked. Main things that would get posted are say, the R34 headlights, thats new and could get a post with people talking about it, pics etc. When someone has a problem with their car that isn't normal, or the normal diagnosis or treatment isn't working.

Be sides that, the rest of the information could get sticked, where to get certain parts, what parts work best, etc.

 

Maybe i missed it, but i think i have a good idea for a sub forum, i know i could of used it quite a few times.


If its not too much trouble, i'm sure it woudl be really useful to make a subforum that deals with immediate car problems, like cars not starting, running extremely rough, not drivable, etc. No aftermarket discussion, purely threads where people need ASAP help.

Doesn't matter if this stuff is in the stickies or on SOME maxima site SOMEWHERE, people may need help ASAP and may not have time to search. I know i was in this situation a few times for sure, and i'm probably not alone.

I think this would be GREAT for the org.

 

the reason for a post is to share opinions and get feedback from other people, just like in any club or gathering. i wouldnt join a car club to have someone in it tell me, go to autozone, theyll tell you how to diagnose xyz problem. if you dont have the answer, or dont feel like answering for the 10th time, then DONT. it cuts done on waste, webspace, electricity..............

when i post a new topic it's about something i did or am planning on doing to get feedback, or to get feedback on a problen i am having and may want someone to diagnose with me. as smart as i may(or may not) be, 2 heads are better than one, and if someone has had a similar situation with xyz problem, and they want to post in my thread about it, great. i really dont think the repeat threads are as much of a problem as you think they are. new people that dont know any better answer other new people and they get along. they make friends, maybe pm each other next time instead of posting etc.
but then you throw a "veteran" in there. he/she/it posts" do a search and it turns into a pissin contest, goes off onto 10 page tangents that no one sees until it gets out of hand. unfortunately theres people that HAVE TO STICK THEIR NOSES IN EVERY POST. an i capped it because its true. whether it has to do with their likes or not, they have an answer.
listen, i dont have a huge liking for performance mods. that's my perogative. i enjoy reading through the threads on them, once i am done with "looks" mods, i'll start modding for performance, but i never once went out of my way to insult someone who is into the performance end of the game. when it comes to looks, though. everyone and their mother has something to say. which is fine, the guy asked for opinions, but the same common courtesy should be extended and IF YOU DONT HAVE SOMETHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY IT AT ALL. do you know how much less BS you would have to search through if this was the case? make that a part of the rules.
i go onto truck and custom car forums other than here. if what someone has done to their ride doesnt float my boat, i dont waste my time posting. not my cup of tea, and i dont have time to waste being negative. the best part is that the other communities(and i call them that because they actually support each other) accept what that person does wether it's the norm or not. they dont treat him like an outcast.


case in pointhttp://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=510794
leather heated seat swap. how many times has that been discussed? 100? but everyone(except me and alsousa)in there was a noob. the question was answered, it'll drop off the face of the earth. no need to moderate it, no need to lock it because they guy didnt search.

 

and i still feel 100% that if someone says that they want a stickie on.......tints, exhaust, light mods, whatever. THEY SHOULD DO THE RESEARCH FOR IT, create a thread with all the info, then present it to you to become a sticky. they get some fame and they got the answer to their question.

 

^^^ I agree with this. phenryiv1 is doing a LOT, we can all make this the forum we want it to be.

 

I think this is a great idea. Maybe this would be a good home for the "I am a newbie but need an answer" thread too?

 

Feedback!

I think everyone should go and leave transaction feedback for everyone they have delt with in the past good or bad. since the 4th gen section is the largest the classifieds has the most potential buyers and sellers. if everyone pats each other on the back with the honor system we can cut down on our rate of scammers and frauds, because a main portion of my day is spent here "shopping" for the car. I tend to miss out on some good deals because i dont know the seller's history on the org. , or i look for people with high feedback before i make a purchase. I think that would really help the MODS in the classifieds as well.

360* teamwork.

 

I agree with 4X4 and i30krabs that subforums would be helpful. I myself like to browse the 4th gen forum to help with more technical questions involving diagnosing a particular problem and to give my advice about the next thing that person needs to tell us or check so we can help them through it, cluttering of threads about y-pipes and 'what do you think about this' etc just gets in my way of finding these threads. A seperate section for 'all show no go' as i30krabs would be AWESOME

Also, I really wish other .org members would sorta help to get people in the habit of posting certain basic information when asking a technical question, I hate it when people post a question like 'car won't shift' or 'oil leak' or 'car hesitates' etc, and they NEVER mention the basics needed to help in the diagnosis: Mileage, trannsmission, recent service/tune-up.

Also, phenriyv, I just want you to know you're a horrible moderator and we really don't appreciate all the time and effort you're not dedicating to this forum, Having a wife, job, and sentra is NOT a reasonable excuse! :sarcasm:

 

I made a great picture thread

 

Get rid of the stickies and place them in a stickies thread. Stickies take over and there isn't room for real issues. Most people don't click other pages, so the more new things you see on a page the more likely you are going to have a look.

 

let noobs make posts right away. ;-)

 

The problem isnt with the 4th gen section, its with the entire site and the way new members gain access to the site. The 15 post thing is useless, getting to 15 posts quickly is not difficult, and once they get there they go and post their questions thats been posted a hundred times.

New members need to be able to see all of the forum, but only able to post in only one sub-forum; a new members forum, where they can post what ever they want as many times as they want without getting flamed. This would lets the noobs see all the stickies and info and if they still have to ask their iterating questions, they can be confined to a single forum.


It doesnt matter how you setup the stickies, you still wont get people to read them on their own because people are lazy and want there answer now all while doing as little work as possible. Having a bunch of more specific stickies is a good idea in theory but like someone already said; it just clutters up the front page leaving less room for threads.

The other idea for the sticky thread that has everything in one sticky wont change anything. Right now we have a few dense stickies, if you combine them into one, you have one really dense sticky and that isnt going to make sticky reading rate go up.


Now that we have someone who is going to moderate this forum on a more regular basis, hopefully the noob threads will start to go down, but they are still going to pop up and people need to be more lenient about it. If a thread comes up asking a question thats been asked before, let them know that its been asked before, then either;
-answer the question
-tell them to look at the stickies
-link them to the stickies

but stop flaming them because its been asked before, because, what the **** does it matter? and stop with the off topic chatting in threads. It bugs the hell out of me when other people have OT chats in someones thread because they think that persons thread sucks.

 

Ban noobs for bumping old threads with useless answers?

 

We covered this 2 or 3 pages ago. It's not changing.

 

Great post. I agree with almost everything that you said, and in reference to the last paragraph, I am 100% with you. I hate it when I search for something in a forum and a thread title looks promising, but then when I read it it is crap and full of useless OT drivel.

 

This is a great site. Ithas helped me do work on my car I did not think i could have done. Maybe try something for each state that pople can find a HONEST mechanic if they cannot do a job themselves. There are a lot of bad mechanics out there.....Also the youtube.com idea is interesting. Peace.....

 

It's nothing major, but I think if people want to search the forum and they go to "Free Search" toolbar the option to search forums.maxima.org should already be selected.

When I joined this forum couple of years ago I couldn't not understand why a searche on maxima.org would not pull up any results. By having the "forums.maxima.org" already preselected the new members are more likely to find what they are looking for and the existing members would not have to make the selection everytime they want to do a forum search.