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Newbie questions

Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2003 12:31 pm
by Silverblade
ok let me first state that i really do not know what i'm doing, or if this is even the right place to ask :oops: but i figured i'd start somewhere

I want my site http://www.automotivesports.net to be the ONLY place ppl go to talk about their cars. The reason they aren't coming to my site is that it is not specific enough. For example, i have 1 mini-forum dedicated to ALL posts about X car and other sites have an entire site/big forum with 20 or so little forums dedicated to the specifics of the X car. The users would rather go to a site that has a lot of specifics that can help them, rather than trying to fit everything into my little forum

so i decided that in order to compete i must make a site like that for every car that i have listed on my site

also some of my members want to be members of two forums so i thought shared memberlists throughout the entire site might be a possibility

(if someone wants to make a random post about another car i don't want them to have to re register every time )

100+ forums seems very stupid and a waste to me... is there a better way i can do this? sorry if this is just too stupid to have posted about, but i had nowhere else to go.

thanks.

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 2:39 am
by soundbwoy
I want my site http://www.automotivesports.net to be the ONLY place ppl go to talk about their cars.
Why do you think everyone should talk about cars on your site. Asi if there is nowhere else on the net to talk about cars? I can't even read the froum buttons when I roll over them. Your site is not user friendly. And I don't think you will be able to attract people to talk on your forums with that content and desing of your site.

What type of people are you targeting?

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 1:53 pm
by Silverblade
there is a simple answer to that. my personal settings that i view the site from are using Internet Explorer and resolution of 768x1024. the site is relatively new, and I would rather get one version working for one setup rather than having several versions 'halfway done'. The reason you did not see the rollover is most likely because you are using Netscape Navigator. Netscape users account for less than 5% of my user base. So as for being user friendly, for the most part it is.
However that is a problem that i want remedied, I am currently editing a browser detect script that will send users to different compatible pages based on their browsers and settings. I am sorry you weren't able to view the page without error.

I guess I stated what i wanted a little self-centeredly... if that's even a word :) . I want my site to be the only car site out there, however far-fetched and impossible that is. I respect other car sites out there, and even support many of them.

I guess what i was saying is i want to make my site as professional and competitive as possible, and the way to do that is to provide at least adequate usefullness. The way i have it now is just not working, i'm looking to change it, but i'm kind of lost on how i should start.

I would like each car to have its own individual page/s and forum, but the idea of having 100's of forums for the 100's of cars i plan on having sounds like a bad idea. is there anyway i can have one big forums with little forums branching off of it? like... i want one big memberlist with separate forums for each car.

I guess i am attempting the impossible, but this is the only way i see that i can even begin to compete. i'm a little confused myself, but if you didn't understand anything, please ask!

any input is welcome, thanks,
Silverblade

a tree structure

Posted: Sun Jun 08, 2003 2:55 pm
by phpScott
might it not be easier to have a tress structure where cars is the top then maybe it is broken down by manufacture then by model type.
There would be less links in each step so that it wouldn't be one huge list.
As far as phorum products go I wouldn't know but that is a structure that I would think would be reasonable

phpScott