Hey all, just wanted to get some feedback on a few new features of the club. Feel free to vote but also reply with your opinions. There are two new features:

1. Forum main page - This is a 'feed' view showing only the latest topics as a summary. In order to enter a subforum you need to click on the text below the main image (left side). See Screenshot.

2. Forum Category - This is another 'feed' view but it has checkboxes on the right side showing filters. This view treats main categories as if they were a single forum with subcategories.

Here's the main forum page:

And here's the view showing a forum with subcategories (note the checkboxes on the right)

N

I like to view the last 24 hours looking for something I might can help with. Now it just shows the title and nothing else as far as questions or brief parts of the question. I miss that.

Well, well, well now...Just figured it out. You need to have an instructions page for using the forum. LOL!

If you click the box to the right in the smaller red circle it goes back to what I like. Who posted and a few sentences about what they said. Below is a screen grab after I figured it out. A few minutes ago it just said "Lily build" Zed Head posted a post (which is kind of silly sounding, maybe redundant)? "Zed Head posted in a topic". It's my nutty brain that sees these odd to me small things. Time to eat dinner was my first one when I was a kid. "time to eat dinner" what the hell else you supposed to do with it?

It used to look like this and I didn't like it.

Edited April 4Apr 4 by siteunseen

Are the changes to bring in new members or for the use of existing members?

A poll to find out which page most members start from might be informative. If the analytics don't show it already.

I start from the Topics Last 30 Days page.

Edited April 4Apr 4 by Zed Head

20 hours ago, Zed Head said:

Are the changes to bring in new members or for the use of existing members?

A poll to find out which page most members start from might be informative. If the analytics don't show it already.

I start from the Topics Last 30 Days page.

The new changes are mostly to try and bring the forum together into a central place to encourage interaction. Much like a social media site. I am on the fence. As you mentioned the topics list has been the best addition so far.

As I look at the overall state of forums like ours in general, their biggest benefit is their ability to keep historical data. While social media is taking over the 'live' activity, they just don't have the capability to keep information archived for future generations.

FYI, I left the forum main page alone but I changed the subforums so they no longer have the checkboxes. While the checkboxes were useful I think it was too confusing. Subforums will now use the traditional forum layout.

7 hours ago, Mike said:

The new changes are mostly to try and bring the forum together into a central place to encourage interaction.

I could be totally wrong, but it seems that there is less interaction and message posting since the format change. I'm still trying to master the new look and features, but not very well.

I'm in the same category as

Siteunseen says - I like to view the last 24 hours
Zed Head says - I start from the Topics Last 30 Days page

I myself start the same way Site does... View the last 24 hours.

So as a data point for you Mike... That's confirmation from three of the top four* contributors to ClassicZ... We don't care about any of that stuff. Just give us a easy to get to list of the recent stuff that has occurred. No fluff, no sidebars on the right side of the screen that shows the "Most Popular Posts", or the "Top posters in this topic". Simple.

@Zed Head , do you care that (as of this instant in time) Mike has made two posts in this topic, psdenno has made one, and so have you and siteunseen. About a third of the screen is taken up by all that stuff and I would rather have all that area used by the topic at hand instead. I just don't see the point of knowing who has made how many posts in any certain topic. Does that really matter to the kids these days? It certainly isn't important enough to me to take up that much screen area ON EVERY TOPIC EVERYWHERE. How about a "thread statistics" screen that someone can dive into if they really feel compelled to know stuff like that?

So about fancy feeds and views? Don't care. I just want to see what's changed recently. I use last 24 hours like site does, and Zed Head uses 30 days, but it's the same concept. I don't care which sub-forum the change was made in... I want to see reverse chronological order recent regardless of the sub-forum. If it's in a sub-forum I don't care about, I just won't click on it to open it. I can make that decision for myself.

Oh, and fix the bug when you click on the "four hours ago" it takes you to the end of the thread where the last addition was made. It works on the "All Activity" screen, but not on the "last 24 hour" view.

I've mentioned before that I really like it here, but I also have to agree with @psdenno . Traffic seems to be down, and I know that for me personally, I'm not here as much.

Just went back are read all that... Nice rant! Haha!! ☺️

• And I'm pretty sure that Patcon does the same, which would make it four out of four.

What he said (thanks Captain) I go to the activity tab at the top of the screen and go to the "unread button"

Please tell me I am not missing something.

I also feel like traffic is down.

Oh and now I remember what I'am missing @conedodger

I have a bookmark set to show me unread content with my preferences. I also agree, traffic seems down. I know there is an S30 forum on Facebook and I have seen members posting there. Maybe that is slowing traffic on CZC? I would rather be here than Facebook!

On 4/4/2025 at 3:07 PM, siteunseen said:

Below is a screen grab after I figured it out.

I admire that you're spending so much time with Tres Hombres. ❤️

I think that part of the disconnect here might be that Mike is a social media focused guy who happens to like Z cars, while many of the more active members here are car guys who just use the internet to learn about and talk about cars. In the end it's a compromise between the two mindsets.

As for the drop in activity it might be that what several of us have mentioned plays a part. In social media world you're supposed to stay "logged in" at all times, permanently engaged. In internet privacy world you stay logged out until you feel the need to engage. With the current state of CZCC.com if you click on a link to see what the latest posts say while you're logged out you get taken to the first post in a thread no matter how long it is. You have to log in or go through the hassle of scrolling and clicking to get to the new stuff. So, many of us just bail out and click on some other internet site. In short, the site is just harder to use now, less enjoyable. Instant gratification has been diminished.

Overal though the site is still one of the better car-based sites on the inernet. I visited zcars.com a while ago and it is chaotic. Even after you find a sub-forum that you might be interested in viewing it has about 20 pinnned threads that you have to scroll through to find the new stuff. The "Topics Last ..." format at least avoids that, although I did see some pinned threads here that confused me. It wasn't obviuos that they were pinned.

Also, while I'm here, and I've already mentioned this, potential new members have to pay $10 to join. If you're searching around the internet to talk about your new Z car, you can join Hybridz or zcar.com for free. Pretty obvious that people will do that first. So, fewer new names popping up, just us old-timers here resisting change.

Edited April 6Apr 6 by Zed Head
Full album. Second try.

Hey guys, yes the biggest challenge is competing with the social media sites. As I've been thinking about our approach I want this place to continue and promote our strength. Our strength is our knowledge and large database of ideas and experience. This comes in the form of information and users who are pro's at what we do. I am far from a social media guy but it doesn't hurt to try new ideas. The best ideas will stick.

In an effort to remain relevant in our purpose, we need to keep up with our code. Some of the new ideas that I've tried over the past several months is a result of new software features. Today I implemented a new idea putting the menu on the left side (desktop users only). Let me know what you think.

I've also gone back to the traditional forum views since it seems nobody really likes the hybrid 'feed' views on the main page. I agree the subforum navigation (with checkboxes) was pretty confusing so I also reverted back to the traditional format. If it works better, then I think we should stick with what we are good at. Our content was based on a forum view, so that's what I'll stick to.

This place will always remain free to browse. New members are no longer required to pay money to join. I originally did that about a year ago to protect our members from fraudulent accounts and scams. As you can tell, we have been seeing an uptick in spam bot accounts so I need you to continue helping me identify those. We do have an anti-spam account check but some bots have gotten through. However, if we can make this place easier for legit new members, it's a risk I'm willing to take.

Lastly, guys remember this place costs me money every month. I've been doing my best to keep ads at a bare minimum but it will be impossible to exist without them. I've also got a good relationship with MSA but I have a feeling they will be focusing on the forums that bring in real sales this year. So we have to prove we are worthy of their support. Our interests are very similar, we are the go-to online resource for the Classsic Z, and they are the go-to resource for parts.

I appreciate all of your feedback and have made adjustments as result. Let's keep up the healthy feedback and we can continue forward. As I learn new programming techniques, I'm sure there will be more. ;)

Mike