Hey guys! I don't know if it's tech week yet but I thought I'd add this handy information anyways. Hope it's helpfull! How to participate in a HAMB thread. ( general forum, other sub forums have slight variations in content, although this should all be applicable to those forums as well.) Step one. Read the title of threads currently available! Most often these give a hint of what you may find in the thread. However sometimes they are a little vauge or they may simply be a bit inflammatory to get you to click on it. Find one you feel compelled to read and click on it. Step two. This seems to be the most confusing part for most. A thread on this forum is very much like a conversation. It's kind of like like standing around at a car event having a chat where people may pop into your easy up to steal some shade and join the conversation and offer their opinions as you pursue the topic of conversation. Now this is the part many miss! Because of the nature of this conversation being held online you don't have to fear saying the same thing all the other guys said before you got there or commenting something fairly off based from the current conversation. Maybe stemming from some misheard words or any shirt someone in the group is wearing. You see this isn't an issue because all the previous conversation as well as the initial details and questions are printed clearly for you to read before adding to the conversation! Convenient right? No more offering the same comment as the last ten people or even embarrassingly making a short comment that's pretty obviously off base! Now how you do this is go to page one, post one. It's the one at the very top of the first page. Now this is the important part, you need to read it. All of it. Maybe read it twice as sometimes things are written a little odd. Now, before you comment glance down and you will see that as you move vertically down more post will appear. They are in chronological order, like some one sat in on the conversation before you got there and typed notes. Read these so you are current with the conversation. This may take a few pages in many Long threads. In my experience it is worth reading it all as many questions you may have are often asked and answered in the conversation previously. Now eventually you will reach the end of the posts! Now what?! Well here at the bottom of the page is the comment section for your reply should you choose to leave one. You can see this being an intuitive place for it as it comes after all the conversation. If your question hasn't been asked, you have no new information to add or maybe it's just not what you thought the thread was about you can choose to not comment. However if your idea, advice or good tips havn't been added by someone already you can post them! Even if they have been added already you can still offer support to the original poster, agree with a previously posted idea that's worked for you or even post a photo of how that idea works! Pretty brilliant right? No more looking akward and you get to enjoy pages and pages of great content!
ADD to that = read the frigging date of the thread and the date of the last post on the thread before you post especially if you are an FNG. On an 8 year dead thread the guys probably already sold the car you are so anxious to make a comment on because you found the thread during a Google search and joined the HAMB so you could make your comment. Your best one is read the whole thread an all the answers before throwing out an answer or comment though. Lots of time the problem is already solved. Been guilty of not reading though to see if certain folks already answered and gave the right answer a number of times and am working at checking to see if the guy (s) that I know give an honest and correct answer have posted. With that don't play the jerk the guy around and give him some off the wall wrong answer just to be a smart ass. We get guys on here who actually never had any work on the car experience asking what are simple questions that have been answered times before and and off the wall or wrong answer may cause them to damage the car, parts or worse.
No. It's not brilliant. The homemade tools thread is currently at 11,640,513. It would take me months read all that. By the time I got through, more will have been added. On a lesser scale, the same holds true for the smaller threads. Most people are simply not going to read through 5 or 10 pages of dialog before posting. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of people here. Good luck getting them all to do as you think they should, just so you won't be unconvinced.
Let me add to this, if it is your thread that you started you are still a participant. if you don't like the answer to the question that you posed don't be a prick about it. The guy answering your question may just be a little more experienced than you and you may very well have just lost a good future reference. Something to bear in mind is that there an unfollow button on everyone's profile, it cannot be disabled by the average forum user. If the guy you were showed your ass to decides that he doesn't like how it looks he can click the button and never ever see anything you post again. gawd I love that button.
All good points! Looking at dates is a valid addition. As is your comment on mega posts such as home made tools or even photo threads. However they are atypical, those aren't asking a question or really a conversation. However you would still read the first post to see what the thread is actually about. There are obviously to many posts and variations to have a one size fits all approach to using the forum but the ideas, In general, fit most applications. Also, I'm not at all inconvenienced by people posting non relevant information, being angry about something being done that actually isn't being done, or giving the same advice that five other people just offered. I do however think it makes it look like many people have very poor reading comprehension and it easily de rails threads. Maybe I should have added "chill out this is just some hokey ass message bored"
Also on pages that end up being a lot of dialog even in a short thread, you should at least glance over the posts quickly as your scroll threw. This isn't about me or really any one else being inconvenienced its just keeping you from entering a conversation by shouting "but I love squirrels?!?" And having every one look at you funny because they are talking about shock mount angles.
@Tim I actually don't have a problem if I have a thread and several people give me the same answer. If the first poster was correct and I am on the fence it just drives the thought home for me. Unless of course someone is just parroting the first guy then I figure that the second guy is a total moron and blow him off. I probably should say this and I guess that this is as close to an apology as anyone is going to get. I am the worse one in the world to take a thread down the rabbit hole. Something reminds me of something else and I'm off and running. If you have ever spent ten minutes with me you will understand or at least be familiar with this concept. Its Lenny Bruce syndrome, Dylan said it this way, "I rode with him in a taxi once, only for a mile and a half Seemed like it took a couple of months. . ."
Is there a thread on how to fix the computer on my hacked up, rusted out Model A sitting on a s10 frame? That would be great. Sent from my SM-G920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
About a 1/4 million members here, granted some some are no longer with us and many others have moved on, but there are aprox. 30 members that seem to keep the HAMB moving. When you, (members) do work on your cars take the time to document and share, your project beit the whole thing or any small tasks. Even if you think it's no big deal, it will help others or get them heading in the right direction. We need more tech. build threads. Here are some things that kind of get me, there are thousands of threads here with 5 or less posts, a question is asked and answered, thread done. This may be fine for some of the questions, but asking or adding to a thread of the same topic will help others as more info is centrally located, less reading of the 5 posts threads. Clever thread titles may be fun for the OP or a few that click on, but are useless to others doing a search for info that the thread contains. If you have a question on say a specific transmission, one would search thread titles to come up with better chances of finding the info they seek. If you must make a clever thread title, fine, just add some words that will help with others when they are searching And then there is this one, members that post pics of their project on a HAMBer's build thread. Some times the OP is alright with it or asks for them, but most times it clutters the thread and I have seen where people reading the thread get confused and think they are shots of the car or parts. There are thousands of threads here to share pics of your car on, if you want to share post them on the threads where they fit.....there I feel better now.
" Maybe I should have added "chill out this is just some hokey ass message bored" " This would make a good signature line....
I agree more than 100%. No matter how skilled a person is, the ideas and useful donor stuff is priceless when building a car. Can I say something about build threads or lack of..? I have never been comfortable with showing off by driving a car or adding to my own build thread...I guess I'm shy or feel strange adding to my thread like I'm looking for "likes" or admiration. I only continue it, because many hobby forums are dying it seems, or people going to "instant" "short attention span" site like IG or FB? I used two old tech related threads to solve very important/difficult design issues/donor parts ideas on my current car. I'm sure there were dozens more that I did use on lesser important details. POST YOUR STUFF even if you are a former lurker .
No mention of at least an attempt at including basic grammar or punctuation yet? Well there might have been, but I've not read the whole thread, doh!! Chris
X2. Good grammar makes questions easier to understand and get answered. Also, correct spelling makes the "search" function far more effective.
I wasn't going to bring this up but I know a guy who builds fabulous traditional hot rods and he supports him and his wife by doing it. When I visit I don't mention the HAMB because he read some build threads a few years ago and some people tore them up bitching about the guys welding or bodywork or you name it . He says , and I agree ,I wouldn't let anyone treat a hot rodder that way in my garage and I damn sure won't do it on my computer either.He does not read or discuss the Hamb . If you don't like the way someone is doing something ,just move on.
The subject of bringing up really old threads came up in a previous post. While I agree that it's superfluous and vain to add to a post only for the sake of showing off what you know. Even on a dead thread, there's a lot of information that is just as relevant now as it was when it was created from a informative perspective. I don't have too many folks in my close circle of friends or family that are knowledgeable about hot rods so I spend a ton of time searching the HAMB and get great info from threads that are 10+ years old. Just something to consider before jumping down someone's throat when they respond to an old thread.
There are useful ways to respond to an old thread...but reading the first post, and posting a reply to answer a question that was already answered ten years ago, isn't very helpful.
Me too benno, me too! My ignore list is starting to rival my follow list in length. Heres a hint, if you post moronic half-witted shit, and I'm not calling you a half-witted moron, its not because I'm polite, because, well, Im not...
Spot on. Information isn't like yogurt, it doesnt have an expiry date, and the op isnt the only one who benefits. I really dont get most of the "old thread" bitching that goes on here, just because the op has since moved on and bought a Yaris doesnt mean any info posted isnt of value to the next guy who does a search.
Thanks Tim for this thread. The info I've found here on the HAMB is very valuable. I love it! The few things I don't like are: titles that are totally irrelevant to the subject content, the self appointed KIA's that don't know jack... and just want to argue 'til the last word, and the way a few people jump on newbies like stink on wet dog. It gives the feeling that some people don't have anything else to do but waste bandwidth. OK, rant over. Again, thanks Tim. I love the HAMB.
Good subject for a thread. Replies that are not even close to being relevant bug the hell out of me. Example: Somebody posts a question about adapting a xxx automatic to a xxx engine and gets 14 replies about how gay automatics are and 3 helpful replies. Whats the point? Junior Moderators also bother me.If you see something you feel is inappropriate, let the Mods know. Comments from Junior Moderators bear no weight, but a PM from a Moderator does put a poster on notice.
Are we talking about participating in the "Tech Week" contest where there are prizes et, the "technical" section of the board, or the general topics HAMB? I was going to chime in but I'm sort of confused.
Tech week: something that happens occasionally where people post tech threads in an effort to improve the content of the board and possibly win something Tech archive: part of the board that doesn't seem to exist any more where good tech posts were catalogued and centrally located I'm talking about the board as a whole as this applies to the general board as well as any other.
Got it. Haven't seen a tech week in awhile, or the tech archive. I think these are all great suggestions, better titles help with searches, reading threads before posting is good. But I like HAMBers just the way they are, flaws and all. I get beat down and corrected all the time, but I don't mind. Even when a post starts as a question or something technical it's often augmented with personal stuff or just people connecting on a human level, and I think that's good. Other threads start that way. There are other car/bike sights that would be really great if more people participated, but they don't have the #'s to generate enough threads to be worth staying. The beauty of the HAMB is that there are different kinds of people here, and lots of them. It's alive and interesting. Without all of the KIA's, the angry old curmudgeons, newbies, a-holes, kind folks, helpful folks, regular folks, wise asses, youngsters, bad spellers, etc. the HAMB would be as dull as some of the other sights that are sort of "dead in the water". I also think it's important for everyone to be in the alliance, this site costs $ to run, and the folks who maintain it have to eat too, notice a lot of ads here? Nope.
Tim, I appreciate your thread and I totally understand where you are coming from. Your writing was pretty clever and really funny. However, the folks that are the biggest offenders won't probably read this thread and even if they did they most likely wouldn't get it. People are messy...it's really just that simple. If we are honest with ourselves all of us do or say some pretty stupid crap from time to time. I generally don't let most of that sort of stuff get to me any more and I try to extend grace and forgiveness to everyone and I hope that they will do the same for me. Again, being honest, I do have a " bad day" on occasion. When people are disrespectful or cruel to others I can get wound up pretty tight, but here on the HAMB that doesn't seem to happen too often. If someone is totally out of line they get stomped on pretty quickly and then they get back into line. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming...
This is a nice thread, but I didn't understand the OP, either the irony was too implied or too subtle. But after reading the other posts, I think it's about do better when posting. Correct? But this thread is food for thoughts (sp?) Something that makes a thread good too me is when someone has and issue, gets all the help the HAMB has to offer, fixes the issue. And then brings feedback and give props where they are do. That's nice. And I also like funny story, the updates even the small ones, the photo-diaries from roadtrips/shows and I like this spirit of the HAMB, it feels like shop night with you mates. That a feeling a don't get often, because most of my friend don't get it (the hot rod thing). So stuff like that makes this a good place, and that can be lost so easily, so it's important to have some discipline and some self-discipline.
Volvo my original post, in short, was saying listen to the person asking the question before you give an answer. Kind of like how I read your post and am now giving you a reply that makes sense. As opposed to reading you user name only and then replying to your post with "volvos?!?! What in the Sam hell do volvos have to do with traaaaaa ditional hot rods?!?!"
It's funny, after I read this full thread and the other posts made more sense. Because your was just so "simple" like if a guy with NO web-forum-experience joined and had to learn it from scratch. And I went and opened a different thread, that might have spawned this thread. (Will A model A sedan fit a 70s t bird frame) a shocker title to get attention, and it worked And you post made so much more sense! Again, thank you for posting this! I apologize for not getting your point right away!!! EDIT: Will a Model A sedan fit on a '70s T bird chassis? http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...sedan-fit-on--a-'70s-T-bird-chassis?.1028542/ This is exactly why @Tim s post is so important, and again apologies all around for missing the point
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