Besides a new look?

The answer is, not much. Dave Bowers is still floating around and adding great content to the site. bill h is still doing some moderating. Everyone else is still doing their thing.

After Dave sold his coach he decided that he needed a change. He's still on the site, I think more so now then before. I just happen to be running some things "for now".

How long is "for now"? Well, that's what we are about to find out. I've made a commitment to keep this site going. If anyone wants to add content or has a better idea, speak up.

I've felt that a change of the website design would be appropriate now. I've had some ideas in the past on what I would do differently. So, I guess now's the time to see if what I think would look nice actually does.

I've been playing with some of the settings and have been grouping forums into more manageable sections. I've played with different headers but have decided that some of my designs (Black Logo and some trim) gave the site a darker feel.

Dave did a great job using these colors, I've since redid the header and am using his theme colors. Coloring is a familiar thing, it affects mood and the feeling of warmth. I love the new look and I hope you do too.

I've been listening to things on this site for years. One of them was Garry P's complaint about the use of "Topic Lead"... You'll be happy to know that there is no more topic leads.

You can read more about this in his post, titled, "this sucks!" I can relate. It has happened to me several times.

Any comments about the new look? The new Karma points? How things are being done etc.?

Hey Bill, I'm all for the new look. It took a little getting used to, but once I saw where you were going with it I saw how much sense it made. Not to knock Daves work at all, but some new ideas should brighten things up.

Bill NY,

I like the change.

Another change I have always thought would be useful is a listing of the Barth owners along side a listing of their coach with a few particulars like a picture, model, year, chassis, engine, etc. This way we could see what coaches are represented and if needed contact someone with a similar style of coach, chassis or engine.

Another change would be to add to add to all posts the specific cityand state a member is living in. Many times, when someone posts, we are not aware of where they are. Providing this info does not really keep members from remaining annomyous (if that is what they want). I does, however, let us know where a Barth owner is located.

What ever you decide to do, I am glad that you have assumed the position of webmaster. Dave will be missed, but he knows what is best for him. He left it in good hands however.

Bill G

quote:

Originally posted by Bill G:
Another change I have always thought would be useful is a listing of the Barth owners along side a listing of their coach with a few particulars like a picture, model, year, chassis, engine, etc. This way we could see what coaches are represented and if needed contact someone with a similar style of coach, chassis or engine.

Another change would be to add to add to all posts the specific city and state a member is living in.

This feature is currently available. You're using it right now.

I think one of the most under used features is the signature profile. If anyone needs help setting up a profile just ask. If you wish to remain anonymous, that's fine too. If you don't know how, and you don't care to learn, that's ok. I'll do it for you. I've setup several in the past.

When someone posts in Tech Talk and they don't give the particulars I've told them of the benefits of having a signature profile.

You can start right here. Use the "View/Edit Complete Profile" link just below the blue header on the right side under your screen name. Please try to use a small picture in your profile. If it's too large it takes away from the profile and it slows down the dialup users.

I've had another thought. When grouping things together I tried to keep the important topic on top in each group. Unfortunately this means that one forum I would like to see more active got dropped to the bottom.

Hey, if it doesn't get use, why waste valuable top space?

So, what I propose is if you want to start a Rally keep it in the General Discussion area. If it goes off I'll drop it back into the Rally Forum after it's over. If it doesn't happen then it'll drop to the bottom of the General Discussion on it's own.

I can create a topic shortcut that'll allow it to show up in both places. If you add to one forum it'll show up in the other forum too.

Check out Danny's attempt for his Barth GTG.

Any thoughts? I want anyone thinking about a rally to get as much exposure as possible. I'll do everything in my power to help you promote it, if it doesn't happen... Well, we gave it our best shot.

So, what's new today?

v1.01: I have removed the quote "Powered by Eve" in most places. It now says Barthmobile.com. The only place it can not be changed is at the bottom in the blue header. But I'll keep trying.

"Welcome" in the blue header now says "Welcome to Barthmobile.com" Most things that said "community" now says "Barthmobile.com". Branding, branding, branding.

The "New" tab to add a post now says what it means... "Post".

We are now in the Eastern Time Zone. It makes it easier on me when updating things. If anyone is signed on and notices the wrong time then you'll need to go to

"View/Edit Complete Profile"

Click on the "Preference" link to the left and check off your time zone. If anyone has a problem with this, let me know and I'll adjust it for you.

Our "Online Now" area up top reflects our thoughts about all of the visitors we have. It is now showing up in every category and in each forum too.

The words "Moderator" and "Administrator" sounds like a tattle teller that wears a hall monitor ribbon and polished shoes. I have changed the wording to "Host" instead.

Now, don't you just feel all warm and fuzzy inside? Well, it is 90-100+ in most areas, drink pleanty of adult beverages for the fuzzy part.

Bill N.Y.

I refuse to blame it on age but some of the change you have made Bill are things that I would have done if 1. I had the time 2. Had the knowledge 3. was smart enough. I think #3 trumps 1 and 2.

By the way this site would have never been possible if it were't for my 16 year old neighbor girl Rachel, who later was a full ride scholarship to Adelphi University in Long Island, NY and is now a top journalist with Erie, PA's top newspaper. So you may wonder why the counter on the opening page doesn't work, or why there are no new images when there when you load the site. There was a time a few years ago when Rachel became "inavailable" and that is where the progression of the site stopped. Now we have Bill who is doing all of those things which should have been done years ago..

Thanks again Bill.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bowers:
So you may wonder why the counter on the opening page doesn't work...

If I was to get a stat counter... what number would I start at? 500,000? 750,000? 25?

How does the one up there look now?

I am glad you approve of what's been done so far...

The pictures on the front page can be deleted, changed, added too, or adjusted in any fashion. I figured out the website and I can change almost anything at will.

I've just got to figure out the backing up part...

Bill N Y is definitely doing a great job (I wonder if part of it's that GeekLevel 1 PC he was planning to buy?) I've certainly been impressed by how fast he picked up things about hardware and software in discussions that we've had in emails and fonecons off the forum...

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
I've certainly been impressed by how fast he picked up things about hardware and software in discussions that we've had in emails and fonecons off the forum...

Rusty? Did you notice that you got drafted? Read below the header.

Star Gazing and other non automotive hobbies

You're now a "Host" of the Star Gazing forum... Enjoy!

I dodn't notice that! Jeez, now I guess I'll have to get a book on astronomy so I can actually get to know something about it!...

Bill the counter looks great. When the counter stopped I think it was at 200,000. Half a mil has to be just about right.

I'm still getting used to the changes but they make great sense.

Some more new stuff on Barthmobile.com. v2

I've set the display view for 35-30 posts on the busiest forums - 25 post on medium use forums and 20 post for the lighter used forums.

Why? 50 post per forum page views were 15-30 posts too many. It also inflated our site stats from xxxx amount of pages to double the amount. With that one move I can say that I have double the pages of what Dave had. Anyway...

Nothing is lost, all of your posts are still on the site. What was on page 2 might now be on page 4. You'll still be able to search for older posts. With 50 posts per page the screens were loading stuff that was seldom looked at and was eating up bandwidth. Dialup users will notice faster page loads and bandwidth cost$ money, by lowering the "page post count" I can $ave while still giving more value to the Ludites dialup users.

If 30-35 post per busiest forum pages is too little let me know. I am willing to crank it back up to 50 if the majority really want it. Why use a 125w bulb when an 80w bulb is all you need?

I have also unchecked the box for "Last Edited By". It was pointed out to me by Bill H. that...

quote:

"It could encourage more editing, which could mean more corrected posts and greater accuracy".

I hope it does. Anyone want to volunteer to correct all of my old posts that uses "your" in place of "you're"?

I've set up a testing area in "The Basement" that'll be out of view to "most members" I am posting this here because of 2 Emails wanting to know why the member could not see "The Basement" area? Here is where I'll be trying out new features before posting or trashing stuff that just doesn't work. Look for some new and exciting features in the future...

Rant to follow:
We have lost 6 members in the last 2 weeks. Where did they go? 5 were duplicated screen names, emails or IP addresses. 2 people were responding to their own posts with the other screen name and 1 listed a commercial venture with gas tank pills. 4 of the 6 were permanently banned and their IP addresses are locked out from joining up again 2 others had a believable excuse and their other screen names have been locked down. If you are using multiple screen names and responding to your own posts like you're someone else you'll be tossed off the boards. This is very easy to find out by looking at a poster's IP address.

If you have 2 or 3 screen names let me know and I'll merge them together. Tell me now before I find out. People playing head games on this site while posting will not be tolerated. Dave recently (before I took the helm) had an issue and he had to delete 1 or 2 members and about 5+ posts.

If you want another screen name you can change it. I was know as "Bill" for the longest time, when Dave signed up to Groupee/Eve I noticed a feature that'll allow you to change your name again and keep your karma & post counts. If you can not figure out how to do it let me know and I'll change your name for you.

Some more new stuff on Barthmobile.com. v2.01

I have changed the date format on forums and features from 29-8-2007 to 8-29-2007. For some reason, that one really bothered me. Does anyone even use the other format? Is it a Canadian thing?

Below each posts I have changed some wording: "Location" has changed to "Stompin' Grounds" & "Registered" now says "Member Since"

On the top Tab area: "New" was first changed (V1.01) to "Post" and now it says "New Post" -- "Find" is changed to "Search" -- "Go" now says "Go To" -- "New PM" tab is now much larger, "You Have A New PM!" now that should wake you up.

We have 16 members who have posted over 250 times. Anyone who contributes that amount of time to a website is known as a "Forum Junkie". These members now have an added perk. If you see a "custom title" under someone's screen name it's because they have chosen to add one. The "Karma Point System" determines this.

I am trying out new controls and features everyday. I am also trying to add some "Buzz" and a "Comfort Zone" appeal to the site. No, I'm not in marketing, though I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.

Question: Did you know that we have 2 active forums front boards? It has the exact same content.

http://barthmobile.com/eve

http://barthmobile.com/eve/forums

This can, and will, be changed to have a different front forum page that will allow a Content Island, a Community Bulletin Board, extra links as well as some other, yet to be discovered things.

If you only want to show up on the forums like it is now then use
http://barthmobile.com/eve/forums
in your favorites or home page links

If you would like to see something else (not sure what yet) then use
http://barthmobile.com/eve
in your favorites or home page links

If you know what a favicon is, then you'll be seeing one of those soon.

Enjoy!