HAMB Improvements... I NEED HELP!

I agree with , a paypal button for donations as sometimes people may not have something they feel is worth auction to the fellas on this board but would still like to support OUR efforts / the off topic scene cannot realisticly be delt with other than to be more emphatic about the supply of bandwidth -waste of space . . blah blah blah . / maybe a program that will archive mpgs and jpgs for archive retrieval that some-one cannot post on . then we have apic and movie history of this place and perhaps you have to be a member of the board to access it.File them as downloads only , if it saves bandwidth , and how about drag and drop media. and a tech archive howto section , Also . ( yah, shit I talk alot ) ,maybe there is a way a person must fill out profile info in order to move to the next step of the process.To some it may seem trivial but I still see alot of people who are adimant about knowing something about the people they deal with. I don't think this is asking too much or maybe people just like to pic and choose their fights. anyhow , this is just what comes to mind .Perhaps a small fee for listing classified for newbies or those who haven,t been here long in order to weed out people that only join here to get paid ,( hey it's only an idea guys. Don't go gettin lug nuts in your vaginas ) Hope it helps Ryan , this place has netted me some incredible info as well as instructional tech and many thanx to all as I have benefitted from their knowledge.viva leHAMB . thanx and good luck. swaZZie

 

i think seperation between facets of what we do might be very detrimental. kinda like dividing us and leaving us open to conquer. there's already a pretty good brotherhood here, it'd be a shame to see it split. i could see the quarantining leading to different factions that might either cause some to whither and die, or allow beefs to rise up betweent he two. as it is now, there's pissing and moaning and bitching going on sometimes, but it is sort of lost in the whole board so it has the air of being an isolated event and can kinda get lost in that. if it happened in a seperated forum, it might take the appearance of ganging up on someone, which might be bad overall. kind of an increase in the severity of bullshit even if frequency of it is reduced. all other ideas are pretty cool. an art gallery might be nice, and an art forum might be ok as well. probably still should be a friday art show on the main HAMB regardless to help keep it alive.

 

my opinion is that it's pretty damned great as-is. Not a ball-kiss, just a fact.

The only improvements I can think of, would possibly be a seperate forum for art (so I can go back later and reference it instead of searching), and possibly an off topic forum. But, like said, that's part of what makes the hamb. I'm sure you'll come up with something good, I was damn impressed with this change over. And please, no regulations on language. I can respect other's desires to not read profanity, but on the other hand, that's how I speak in real life when i'm around friends, and I really don't want to have to watch my language here too like it was at work or around my mother..

 

Not that my opinion means anything, buy I don't think that having an Off topic forum would be such a good idea, at least if I was Ryan paying for space. Maybe if it didn't have picture posting, only links to pics.

What about a constant monthly Tech Week forum, Split up the classifieds into WTB and FS, cars and parts.

Of course, all parts for sale would have to be screened by me first... then I would pass on (what left) to the general HAMB population.

 

I like the idea of having a place to post neat events and give details about it. Were always looking for new stuff to go to.

Nick

 

The only "problem" here is the members. I don't often see the OT things get out of hand, I see people being babies about ON TOPIC stuff. Crying about what is traditional. It's OPINION people. You are right and so is the other guy. Get over yourselves.

This place doesn't rock and it doesn't suck. It could easily suck but it doesn't. It's just a stupid geeky message board. GET OVER IT PEOPLE! What can you really expect from a message board. Tons of them are just complete shit. The HAMB is far from that.

More babysitting is NOT the answer. Unless you start to charge for the priviledge of being here you will have people who just don't give a shit. You get what you pay for and right now we are all getting a KILLER deal, whiners or no whiners.

In summary:

For FREE, this place is a sceamin' deal. So Ryan you need to stop sniveling and either enjoy it for what it is (just a message board) or charge for it so that you can spend the time to recreate the idea of what a message board is. I say you go for the first idea.

This is not intended to sound mean, just blunt. Thanks for what you do dude! I appreciate it.

 

It's doing pretty good as is.
Only big improvement I'd like to see is being able to post multiple photos in one post.
That would make the tech articles a little easier to get down as one complete piece.

As far as dragging some of the better tech articles over to Tech O' Matic, wny not make it a point to only look at 5 star tech articles. That could save some time for you.
I don't think 5 star posts on other subjects would be too confusing or time wasting. Most times the subject tells you what it is.

We - the HAMB'rs - do need to be better about the titles we use. It's obvious that some are designed just to suck you in so we - not you - could be doing better there.
It doesn't take long to tell who does this as a regular thing. Do it enough times and not many will be checking your posts out.

I vote to keep it all one board. Like everybody else, there are posters that I always check in on.

I mean who could resist a post by Germ?

Like someone said a while back, it's not always about the cars. This place really is like kicking back in your garage, a few folks over - guys in my garage most times and if we get lucky, the girls join us sometimes - coffee pot on or fridge full of cooling libations and let the subjects fall where they may.

I do note that posts to a particular subject stay on-post pretty well and if they do wander a bit, the folks who are knowledgeable on that particular subject don't wander too far astray.

As far as the HAMB goes, let me say it like this . . . Mr. Ryan, you're doing a better job than you think you are.
Much appreciated....

 

I think your doing a great job, and the proposed improvements sound good, but I think that having separate hot rod and custom sections would lessen the feeling of comraderie amongst hambers.

 

P.S. A calendar of events would be an obvious good idea. If you go the money route and feel guilt for some dumb reason, think about being an SP. I bet alot of these guys would like to have [email protected] or [email protected] or [email protected]

You get the idea.

 

FIRST - Nothing NEEDS to be changed, but since you asked...

I'm generally NOT in favor of separate forums for different types of cars/trucks/bikes/hot rods/customs/whatever. Don't do that. Also, don't have a separate forum for O/T posts - delete them as you & your fellow moderators see fit.

Having said that, however, I would like to see carefully tailored specialty forums like you've done with the HAMB-O-DEX & TECH-O-MATIC - very specific, very well employed, & very useful. I would like to second the motion that one of these be created for Shows/events/runs/etc. One stop shopping - I think it would be a good thing if these had some fields to fill out before they could be posted like location (city & state) and date to make searching easier. Maybe they could automaticaly update your HAMB calendar (or not).

Photo-hosting sounds like a lot of bandwidth to me. There are too many "free" photo hosting sites to bother diluting your/our valuable bandwidth.

Speaking of bandwidth, consider archiving older posts to speed up the main board somehow. I'm not web savvy, but there's got to be a way to save space, bandwidth, and time while not losing valuable info.

I think you may need to acknowledge the size of this thing & consider giving more control to moderators you trust. I'm thinking of your time, energy, & effort. I'm not saying you should just be the boss/manager & let your underlings do the work, but it is obviously a shitload of work. I know how much time I spend on here & I'm just a user. How you are able to effectively sort through all the posts I ignore, moderate, & perform the upkeep all while holding down a real job with a real family & your own projects is beyond me. Delegation is a form of leadership, not weakness.

Like it or not, I think you should have a merchandise section. This will require volunteers on our part. Perhaps another one of the specialty forums. Calendars, stickers, shirts, patches, whatever - one stop shopping if you will.

We need to educate newbies a bit rather than just chew them up (although that is fun! ) - I liked that film from that other board ( Posting & You ) - something along those lines, mandatory viewing, etc. This may be a lost cause because you can't legislate common sense, but might be worth a try - although all in all, I think we're pretty good as self-regulating.

I'm sure I'll think of more - much of which is probably not technically feasible or realistic, but...

Most importantly - THANKS!

 

a separate forum for bashers, and trash talkers is not needed...ya let in a bad seed and pretty soon all ya got is a field full o' weedz. Nah...bad idea. keep things car related instead of porn suggestions, etc. (wait...what am i saying!!!) When I first discovered this joint, I liked it cuz it was like walkin' into my buddy's garage, grabbin' a beer, and layin down on a creeper, slidin' under the car, twisting a wrench and gettin' dirt in my eye, and lovin'every minute of it. And with the present format (outside of the picture improvement idea)it still conjures up that feeling. It aint broke very much, so dont fix it very much, ok? Thats my story and ahm-a stickin' to it! Again, you're doing a Great job and many, many ku-do's to you and your helpers.

 

i can remeber a time when i would have to wait to look on the hamb until i got to my little brothers house.
it was like a mag id get on there and look at all the pics and try to plan out my projects.
the difference is that on here we can talk with one another.learn from our mistakes and try to save someone else from making the same ones.
as time went on i met and became friends with alot of hambers. i had no internet acsess so i would use my inlaws computer to sign on i spent more and more time on here while i was building my car sometimes id just take a break look on the hamb for some motivation then log off and go back to work.
it took about 8 months to get it on the road and without this place and alot of good friends it may have never happened. for that i have to say thank you ryan
i think that the board is fine it has been for a long time
its the people that need work
as soon as some thing is moving into the mainstream
it struggles to remain cool
any changes you make will improve the hamb im sure
but i wouldnt say that we need to chop it up
the idea of a separte fourm for a show calender and swapmeets sounds like a good idea
keep your head up your doing a fine job


kenny

 

For my part..
This place rocks.

You're not going to eliminate some of the jerky things some people say, or some people getting their feelings hurt.

I hope you DON'T set up seperate boards. The cross posting is part of what makes the HAMB what it is.

Jim
quoting Buzzard

 

I think the questions forum needs to go away. No one really uses it like they should..........it confuses the simple minded.

 

you should just DO it and leave the whining from people that don't like what you did for later.

more forums would be good, so things like picture posts stay around longer, not so many "let's see your bellflower style rat rod" type posts from newbies.

as far as OT posts, have a lounge, entry is based upon the agreement to NOT PM you with complaints about what is contained in it. if you don't like the lounge, stay the fuck out.

 

I would vote against a separate board for OT...I think it would get totally out of control. The people who don't "get" what the HAMB is about would just set up shop there & it would become a neverending discussion of vw's...the origins of the iron cross & the best pomade to use in your pomp. I like the way the HAMB is now...but maybe put a strict limit on how many times a week a new member could post? The paypal button idea is great.

 

Ryan, I am a newb here still and I think what you have created is great.

some suggestions;

1, A separate forum for newbie introductions

2, a FAQ covering as much of the repeat questions regarding defenitions (ex; what is a traditional rod, why the term "rat-rod" isn't edeared, etc...) it certainly should include the flick "Posting and you"

3, Maybe make the O/T forums only readable when you are logged on thus preventing spies or the great unwashed from seeing some of the more contriversial posts. Possibly make it an invitation only to view the O/T forum.

4,anybody that wants to sell something should donate via a paypal button.

regardless the HAMB is stil a great place.

 

Ryan, First off. Thank you for your awesome commitment. I will never fully understand why you would want to take on a task such as this thing. Be that as it may, I commend you. I have been looking at this thing for a number of years now and I must say I get a lot out of it. I don't like useless pyscho babble that means nothing to most and little to a few.(usally in caps with some dumb trademark symbol). That stuff doesn't belong here and I wish some here would not encourage it.I have a few people that I know that are lurkers that will not post and add their great wealth of knowledge because they think there is so much petty b.s. on here. Overall I can live with most of it. I would suggest(for my own self interest as an event promoter here in the northwest) that there be an event page with fields provided like suggested earlier. I like the suggestion for multiple attachments on a post so you could add pics. I would do some more tech stuff if it was easier. Thank you again and appreciate the chance to weigh in. Hope to meet you someday and shake your hand. Good job!

 

The question I have about the photo album is, wouldn’t it effect photos in all the old posts. By that I mean, I have moved photos in my own personal albums and it makes them disappear from posts on here I have them in. Wouldn’t the photos in all the old posts be gone if people move there photos and closed there personnel albums?

On the OT thing its kinda like TV, don’t like? Don’t watch / read. That’s what I do anyway. The bad part is cool stuff gets pushed down real fast.
I think people are going to go OT wherever the most traffic if no mater what. My opinion is if you want to bs with your friends that’s what the PMs for. If your doing it out in the open you are just a show off and deserve to get your post deleted.

I could go for some fresh art work at the top of the page ( around the hamb logo ) every now and then.

 

I gotta go with the majority,Ryan. This place is great just the way it is.I don't read every post,hell I don't look at most of them but I'm on here just about every day and I like the freedom to select what I look at on one board.

I think you need help from other computer geeks who can take some of the load off AND..... definitly,Paypal. I feel guilty all of the time that I don't $upport the HAMB better.

 

Thanks Ryan I am very happy to see this post!! first off I think the B.S forum is a must. The intro police need to be abolished. A art forum and store is a must this is what sets the HAMB apart fom any other board. It has the best art around. a rule that any HAMB logo related items only have a 10% mark up to support the HAMB this makes it fair and afordable for all. Thanks for the opertunity for letting me be apart in improving the HAMB >>>John

 

Ryan, take a BOW!

I have been around for a couple of years; and to be honest, I don't think the HAMB needs ANY improvements!

Thanks for making it possible! I have met new people, found needed parts and LEARNED a hell of a lot!

THANKS AGAIN!

 

I must echo everybody that has mentioned a Paypal button. This would mean that it is easier for interntional users to contribute. If at any point you are uncomfortable with the amount of money that is coming in (ie. too much) it could always be disabled for a time.

I'd be wary of splitting the forum up too much. I also frequent a tiki-orientated message board http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/ that has been divided up into eight seperate forums. The beauty of a board such as the HAMB is that you can view the title to everybody's post at the same time and chose what you want to read, not have the decision taken away from you until you view a different area of the board. It becomes a drag.

You've created a monster here. You should be very proud.

 

3 pages already.

ok, I'le bite.
1) if you dont own, have built, or are building a hotrod, delete yourself from the members list and never post here again.
2) if you dont own, have built, or are building a custom, delete yourself from the members list and never post here again.

5,000 of the nearly 6,000 posters here need to be axed and return to lurker status. I'm glad you all like hotrods but go away.

take your bugs, falcons, brand X, and B list crap and blow them out of your ass. I work real hard all day and I dont want to read about broke teenagers re-inventing the definition of hotrods because they have no money. Tough shit, too bad, sorry you were born late but quit posting it here.

On topic posts replied to by people that have never built a hotrod is.... well, a bunch of people guessing at shit they heard about once.

This place is like the Great White concert right before it caught on fire.

This post will get quoted and re-quoted and torn apart..... so in advance, let me say fuck you too. that 6 page gang rape of JimA was all class. thumbs up, way to go!

 

Separate posting boards tend to get ignored. I know I don't check the classifieds 1/10 as much as I'd like. Maybe offer up a few pinstripes or photos for avatars so everyone will cease with the animated ones. I know speed is an issue for me with dial up. One thing I would like to see is a garage scene where one project would get its own subject line. Not a separate board, but maybe a sticky with ties to the subject so you could recall them without searching for a project when you've forgotten the builder. I know I would like to review Jeem's dream truck/sedan but couldn't find the post. These photos could also be saved a little loingeer this way? When someone wants photos of something, everyone posts and I ignore, again, too slow with dial up.

 

First Ryan Thanks for this board I have been posting here for a short time. As far as suggestions goes I like it as it is as far as the multiple pictures in the posts keep in mind that some of us are still using dial up and that can make a string take a while to download for us. The paypal button idea is a good one..

 

Ryan, these are just ideas, I feel that the HAMB is great just the way it is right now. I am just thankful that a place like the HAMB exists.

I think the papal button, is a great idea. I also feel a board upgrade might be a good thing. An O/T area could help separate the junk, but could suck a massive amount of bandwidth, so maybe have it moderated. I think a Tech area for Tech related posts, an Events area for car show, swap meets, etc would help. This goes with the Calendar. Maybe have an Introduction Area just for New members, to post introductions, and have a FAQ sticky post, a Rules sticky post, etc. Just some posts that give new members an idea of what expect. The Photo Area would be really cool, but could take huge bandwidth away from other areas of the site. Maybe have a limit on the amount each person can post to it. I also think maybe a "merchandise" forum would be good.

Tony

 

Like Clark and others I'd leave the format open. If someone abuses the O/T stuff you can deal with that person individually as in the past.

The calendar idea is good. So, too, is the photo album. Combining the two... as in maybe linking photos to what was listed on the calendar. Losing the question/suggestion forum is a good idea.

The rest seems to take care of itself, Ryan. There is much energy from the varied topics as long as the main focus is on what you prescribe. In other words, the art stuff works just as well the tech stuff does.

My old hot rod truck makes me feel somewhat free of some of the "rules" and conventions of the rest of the world at large. Breaking up topics, giving everyone a "slot" would probably suck the energy out of this place.

Thanks for asking. himmelberg

 

I dont like the split suggestion.
but i would like to have the possiblity to put a tag on my Message. I.e Tech, Kustom, Rods, etc.

Then it should be possible to search /select the tag i prefer.

For instance during tech week by the end of the week a lot of good tech stuff is lost on page seven or eight.

And i usually only go back three or four pages..