Hi all,

Just wanted to put some feelers out there for ideas and concerns about the club. I'm looking to take our website to a new level and have been floating around some ideas in my brain. Here's what I've got so far.

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• Add more model years (300ZX, 350z, 370z)
  
• Increased discussions about hybrid modifications to the Z
  
• Separating home pages according to Z model (a separate home page for early Z, ZX, etc)
  
• Increasing download content
  
• Increasing local club content
  
• Updating photo gallery and moving to new database
  
• Virtualizing the server
  
• Increasing sponsorship levels
  
• Adding staff to help moderate and manage more parts of the site
  
• Restructuring front page design
  
• Finalizing the logo rework design
  
• Replacing our sister site (datsunclassifieds.com) with better software
  
• Add more technical articles
  

This is just a laundry list, but, it would be nice to have some feedback from our members. Are there concerns with the list I've shown above, or do you have other ideas? Go ahead and reply directly to this post and we can get the discussion going. Thanks!

Mike

I like the idea of separate home page ( early Z ,ZX, ETC ) I think that members sponsorship to the site is important.

Edited February 26, 201213 yr by 72 OJ

- Keep it 100% classic Zcars. (240/260/280) (S30/130)

- Make it a giant repository for files (set up a file management system):

----manuals

----data

----photos

----ads

----part number cross reference

----tech tips

----links

- Better classifieds on the site (not a separate site)

And don't sell out like Zcar did or you will have problems of content ownership.

I am now at: » You own 0.39% of the forum's posts.

If the server is virtualized will all of the website still all be in the same physical place or be in different locations?

Sometimes threads or parts of them seem like such good technical information they should be somehow converted into a technical article or marked as a technical article or made available as a download. Could the entire website be made available on a DVD or Blue, is that what Z car did?

I like the forum section a lot. Plus, it is very easy to use on a smart phone. Please keep it useable on smart phones.

Other parts of the website are ok. The photo gallery is still clunky, though I can't put my finger on why. I have a hard time creating a gallery in the right section, and adding pictures.

One idea is to start selling certain parts. Some of our members have made custom parts and had to turn to MSA to get them marketed. I'm glad MSA exists, and have no complaints with them, but it would be nice to see more competition in custom parts for the early cars. Seems like this site has enough traffic to bring buyers to parts, plus it give something MSA doesn't, which is a support forum for those parts. I'm thinking of things like the R/T rear diff mount, Dave's electrical products, braided hoses, replated hardware, and the increasing numbers of reproduction plastic parts coming from those 3D printers. I'm curious to know if the creators of these parts would also like an alternative online retail outlet.

Finally, I don't know how this stie has managed to keep the online terrorists at bay, but I appreciate the general friendliness of the site. I assume this is due to active moderators, something lacking at another zcar site. There's been some rude camels putting their noses under the tent, though.

I agree with Blue. Not sure about the separate home page for each type of car. I think if they are all one, you would be more likely to visit one of the others should something spark your interest. Otherwise, I would never look there.

All of your other ideas sound good.

Like all of your ideas, Mike, but agree with Blue; keep the site for the early Zs

I agree with Blue as well.

That’s quite a list of changes, additions, and improvements. While I’m content with the early Z coverage, I don’t feel that expanding the site’s scope to cover all Zs through the current 370Z would in any way decrease my enjoyment of the site. Sometimes, it’s OK to try to be all things to all people – although it requires significantly more time and effort. The “Classic Zcar Club” name might no longer be appropriate, however. As an alternative, you may want to consider a distinct second site that covers the current/more recent Zs.

More tech articles would be welcomed along with “how to” video files or links to YouTube videos of maintenance procedures. Good luck with the process! Let me know what I can do to help.

Dennis

I work with virtualized servers daily at work. That is a back-end change that would have no effect on the content or its delivery to the users. It simply allows better use of hardware resources, as well as adding some useful maintenance and testing options. Not something that non-geeks need to worry about.

I agree with blue as well. I even own a 370, but honestly I like the content of this site the way it is. It's a real attraction to me to be able to come to a site that is focused and dedicated to the classic z's and preserving them. There are other sites that do the hybrid mods, and the newer z's and they attract a different type of crowd. I think the culture of the site would change over time and a lot of the classic enthusiast would move on.

I also think the classifieds should be integrated into the forum. I rarely go over to the classifieds site unless I'm looking for something, but if you integrated it, new classifieds would show up under new posts which would get more eyes on the ads. Sometimes I pick up something used of the Internet when I stumble upon it, not necessarily looking for it. This would happen a lot if the classifieds were integrated.

I also think you should use site sponsors. I've run an Internet business before and I know how much work is involved and think you should be compensated for it. You can limit it and make it tasteful which will be a benefit for potential site sponsors. A sponsor will get more value if they are only competing with a few others vs. a bunch.

Another vote with blue, keep it classic. I'm one of those folks that dosen't like change, if it ain't broke.......................