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 Post subject: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:58 am 
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All,

Just observing many threads about the closure of the Edition 38 forum. Ed38 is not the first to go nor will it be the last but it obviously was a prominent one that would draw attention.

This post serves as just a gentle reminder that while we can’t stop change or evolution of platforms Autostadt will retain our own forum along side our other channels. We self fund the forum so while that can have its limitations we are not dependent on someone else to make a decision in its future unlike some others.

Some people just don’t like or maybe even feel uncomfortable using social media platforms so they still need to be served too and also the historical knowledge gathered on the forum is also a useful resource.

Clearly while many social media platforms are easier and quicker to interact with they are far from perfect with poor support for key motoring aspects like build threads and at times search functionality.

And yes we know that the likes of changes at Photobucket had huge impacts also on forums but you know what just get over it. Like other challenges, it’s in the past. Move on.

So the Autostadt team will do our bit but we are asking you to also help and do your bit so when deciding to post/share something please keep in mind all the channels and the fact that your friends and buddies may not all be on FB! So even if it may mean posting on FB and Forum then do it as the friend on the forum may be very grateful for the info.
Similarly, if you are a forum user then please post! Lead the way! It may help and encourage people to also contribute.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
check out our various channels.

Get involved! :-bd

http://www.autostadt.ie
http://www.facebook.com/Autostadt.ie
http://www.facebook.com/groups/Autostadtclassifieds
#autostadtie #autostadtassemble

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Mike

My Daily: Porsche 997 S | BMW 420d Gran Coupe M-Sport

My Projects: VW MK1 GTi | VW MK2 GTi 16v | VW Corrado G60 | VW Golf Rallye

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making - John Milton (1608 - 1674)


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:27 am 
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I agree Mike, but things have moved on and forums havnt followed suit. Social media has made it so easy for us to share pictures/videos etc. Tapatalk is a pita to use imo so I don’t use it. Photobucket killed a lot of forums with their messing but it wasn’t a very solid business model to rely on another company providing a costly service for free. Could Autostadt host media and block it being used on other sites to save your bandwidth?

There are other factors that killed forums. People are afraid to post build threads because of insurance companies and undeclared mods etc.

Look at other forums that are still doing well. Boards is doing very well. Whenever I post on boards, I am automatically subscribed to the thread and get a weekly email of thread updates. This gets me to check in. Caddy2K has a members area that contains build threads and classifieds. You need something like 20 useful posts to get in. This would defo help the community feel imo.

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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:29 am 
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Having read my post above, it comes across as being anti-forums which isnt my view. I way prefer forums. Technical how-tos get buried on fb pages. Unless you save a post, you’ll struggle to find it.

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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:41 am 
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I think you speak the truth Kevin.

I’m wondering though that even if forums caught up a bit people are now so entrained in social media and FB. Although I know my own kids have long since dumped FB as it’s regsrded as old school to younger generations!!

Builds have changed a lot too I think in that 10 years ago it was predominantly old school motors whereas today the “old school” cars are like Mk4 Golf (as an example) era from late 90s. More bolt on mods or chips.

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Mike

My Daily: Porsche 997 S | BMW 420d Gran Coupe M-Sport

My Projects: VW MK1 GTi | VW MK2 GTi 16v | VW Corrado G60 | VW Golf Rallye

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making - John Milton (1608 - 1674)


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:50 am 
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The Stig

Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2012 9:38 am
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Mike,
Not sure if you're aware, but this particular forum, and only this forum afaik, always logs me out. The only reason I can login again to view/post is because this Mac I am typing from now "remembers" my password and auto-fills it. On other machines I use, the password isn't remembered or I just haven't bothered to sync it up and I don't remember what the password actually is, so I can't login anywhere apart from this one specific machine. I reckon those less tech savvy than myself just wouldn't bother going past the login screen at all if they hit this problem and I assume most people do hit it.

I'd echo Kevin's post too... Those of a younger generation used to the social media platforms and the ease of interaction on mobile apps probably don't see much to entice them in here. I do realise it takes time/effort/money to keep it up to date and flashy though.

I find FB an absolute ballache in a lot of ways... its hard to find stuff that's only been posted 5 minutes previously and due to its size and ease of access, it draws too many misinformed idiots.
That said, its my go-to platform these days, as my current hobby horse is self-building and I was really struggling to find information or suitable forums for it (The Construction forum on Boards.ie is completely pointless due to heavy moderation) until Kevin pointed me at a really great FB group for it.


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:13 pm 
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Joe, we can certainly tweak aspects like that. I know, albeit a long time ago, we looked into that particular issue so no problem going in again.
Just an FYI though, phone, multiple laptops, desktops and iPad that I use I have no issue with password.
As said though noted for review.

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Mike

My Daily: Porsche 997 S | BMW 420d Gran Coupe M-Sport

My Projects: VW MK1 GTi | VW MK2 GTi 16v | VW Corrado G60 | VW Golf Rallye

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making - John Milton (1608 - 1674)


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:01 pm 
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I do regularly get logged out too but my laptop/desktop and phone have saved the login details and, failing that, I have changed the password to one I can remember.

This issue has been mentioned to me by a few members who registered and then encountered the difficulty and then didn't bother trying to log in again.

I see Flickr is now going down the same route as Photobucket and my Google account is nearly full between Drive, Photos and Gmail so I will have to do a serious clean out, which will remove photos from old threads, or look into other options so that using forums remains viable.

Things have changed massively over the past few years. You can now shop for parts for your car on FB and with minimal interaction, i.e. hitting like, you can receive posts from anything of remote interest and be reminded of that mod you planned to do but forgot.

That said, forums have helped me to do many mods with detailed guides and I try and keep my own thread going to give back something to forums but it's often in vain as lads often ask me how I fitted the FL rear lights, for example, and when I tell them I have a guide on the forum they rarely make the effort to register. Many don't use laptops much anymore unless they use them as part of their work. Zooming in and out on the phone is a bit of a nuisance too when on forums but if you're into your forums you will persevere.

The younger generation seem to prefer consuming massive amounts of media where glossy and heavily filtered photos and catchy videos are mainly what stops them scrolling through the feed for a moment. If a person stops scrolling for a few seconds at a post it's considered a 'reach' these days!

If photos could be uploaded, as mentioned above, directly from your phone, it would help massively in the revival of the forum but I know this would require a lot of storage etc.

There's also the issue of non-sensical and misinformed replies that we all see in the media. Forums tend to give proper and informed info and their members usually comment and contribute positively to posts. I think this makes forums attractive to a more limited number of people with a genuine interest and is the reason why they are surviving but not thriving like they used to be.

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2011 GTI - http://www.autostadt.ie/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=17770
2009 GTD - http://www.autostadt.ie/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=4939
2004 Cupra Tdi - http://www.autostadt.ie/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=769


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:29 pm 
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It’s funny. Even on this thread, the quality of replies are top notch and thought out.
An example of the value of forum threads plus so easy to find the thread when you come back in!

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Mike

My Daily: Porsche 997 S | BMW 420d Gran Coupe M-Sport

My Projects: VW MK1 GTi | VW MK2 GTi 16v | VW Corrado G60 | VW Golf Rallye

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making - John Milton (1608 - 1674)


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 2:34 pm 
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Facebook is about quantity over quality! TBH, there's a lot of posts on fb asking stupid questions or questions that have been asked before. I just couldn't be bothered to answer them anymore. And then the quality of answers is a lot lower on fb too.

I have the same issue as Joe across windows, Mac and iOS. This is the only forum it happens on so is unique to Autostadt. It's been an issue for years! I gave up complaining about it.

I think defaulting the forum to auto subscribe you to any thread you post in is a good start with a weekly/daily email for updates. Make the subscribe/unsub button prominent at the top of the page. Boards do this better than anyone else imo.

Some forums have a thank you or rep counter where people can thank you for helpful replies. This would also help newbies identify who is actually knowledgeable or spoofing. The post count on forums is good for this also.

I think the basic layout of the forum is nice and easy to read. It is light on data too and always loads quickly.

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Mk7 GTI DSG Performance Pack - Gone

Golf GTI Edition 30 DSG No 728 - Gone


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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 8:39 pm 
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As a relative newbie on here I have to say I really rate this forum. Some serious gurus on here!
I went cold turkey on FB about 5 years ago.
A trail blazer [emoji16]
Always room for tweaks and improvement as stated in above posts.
Keep up the good work Mike & crew [emoji106]

Sent from my EML-L09 using Tapatalk

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 Post subject: Re: Autostadt Forum
PostPosted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 11:14 pm 
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Kevin,
Is this an answer to one of the items you were looking for?

Image


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Mike

My Daily: Porsche 997 S | BMW 420d Gran Coupe M-Sport

My Projects: VW MK1 GTi | VW MK2 GTi 16v | VW Corrado G60 | VW Golf Rallye

Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much arguing, much writing, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making - John Milton (1608 - 1674)


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