Well - it's not regular maint - I guess it's a repair - but more importantly, people won't see it there. I know I had given up ever finding a fix for that problem - HOPEFULLY I get some satisfaction after my appt w/the dlr on Wed. But I digress.....my point is: the people who have the answers aren't necessarily surfing the subforums. Why would they? Thier problem has been fixed... The 'general' forum is a place where many live...I'm very glad I found that post there.


Brickyard Rat - thanks for the understanding - I agree with your comment: (1) if it looks like a new topic of interest, leave it here and see if (2) it picks up responses.

- John

 

It is a bit of an organised mess but at the end of the day everything related to this car, which is 6 years old has been asked and the reason there are so many different subforums is everyone asks the same question, in 100 different ways and gets 100 different questions.

What is the best CAI for a 350z?

No one knows, really, it's opinions upon opinions whereas everyone wants a real concrete answer.

 

Problem is, people don't think before they post. They don't have the mind set of an Admin/Mod in trying to create a clean, well organized site. Information is a lot easier to locate when it is correctly moved to the appropriate forum. If the OP or any other user takes 2 seconds to think about his/her thread and where it might be sub classed we wouldn't have threads like this.

The 350z forum tends to be the noob section. They have a post count of 1 and are creating threads without looking through the site. Its our job to clean things up and I for one, think Brick is doing a great job. The 350z section tends to be one of the more decision hard areas to MOD.

 

+1 on the 350z forum tends to be the noob section. I think it just takes a little while to find out where the valuable information is. At first I always usually checked this forum first. I find myself frequenting my Regional section. I feel I can get more useful help there (once established as not a noob). Even to general questions. It almost doesnt bother me that the jackasses all congregate here. As long as I know where they are.

 

The forum has turned into a chat room, but it's is not dead yet. I see many good posts and many good responses. But I see even more one liner useless garbage responses. I guess it would turn into a full time job, but I wish there was a way for moderators to just delete some of those posts. If your post is something like "Go search loser" or "How old are you" or "LOL" or "Subscribing to thread", then that is completely useless to a forum that is intended to provide and store information on any topic. So when I search for an old topic, or I properly subscribe to monitor a new one, I end up reading through pages and pages of crap in order to track down the relevant posts. I sometimes wonder if some people post irrelevant crap just to get their posts count up. It is obvious that certain users respond to everything no matter what. Their responses are often completely irrelevant to the subject of the original post. Although the forum tools probably don't provide for it, instead of a post count I wish there was something like a value ranking. A way for users to rate a post on its value. I suspect we would see that some of those with thousands of posts add little value.

I know that moderators cannot control a user community that has gone awry. We really need responsibility from the user community to provide content of some value or not reply at all.

And just to make sure this wasn't all in my head. ... I just pulled these posts below from threads on the first page of the General Forum. Some responses were just smileys with nothing else! Each line from different users on different topics. All completely useless.

+1 on that
LMAOOO good attempt
haha i like ur answers.
i totally agree

inbHRAES

Touching. j/k lol
i hate my Z

Thats cool dude
X100000
lol ur lame bro...

 

There is an assumption that someone posts a question for answers. Sounds reasonable but it’s a poor assumption. A member posts questions for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with getting answers.

 

I think I understand where you are going with the statement, but everything that is posted can be generally moved to a sub-forum, unless the post is completely useless and in that case my vote is "delete".

 

Agreed.

I always follow the moto: "Think twice, post once."

The 350 General section is where everything Z related, that can not be classified in a sub section, gets posted. It's Z related rant. Z related complaints. Z related praises...ect ect. It's the Off-Topic of Z related threads.

Like Trodis stated, this tends to be the n00b section.

1. N00b registers

2. N00b has questions.

3. N00b sees "350z General" section, and decides it's the best place to ask his/her question, without browsing the sub-sections.

As Moderators, it is our duty to maintain each sub section accordingly. The sub sections were created for individuals to search for related topics in which they desire. Sub sections also yield better results when using the search engine, by allowing the user to narrow it down to which sub section he/she would like their keywords searched in.

For the reasons I listed above, this is why there is so much jibber jabber in the 350z General section. As a Moderator, my job is to organize this section as best possible. This includes moving threads to their appropriate section. I understand sometimes members like to post their thread in a secton that has high traffic. However, I personally do not leave it there for any specified amount a time or grace period. I believe the sub sections exist for a reason, and move threads accordingly, to their rightful section. Organization must exist for this site to run smooth. This is why we(Staff) spends so much extra time in the 350z General section moving countless threads daily. This is one of the few sections that must be moderated daily by pretty much every staff member, due to it's high traffic and endless amount of misplaced trhreads...

 

I do see a lot of badly posted things in here, and rightly they are closed or moved to a relevant sub forum.

It's hard to define a "general 350z question" though - I think by creating the subforums you (the mods) have created a rod for your own backs.

I think a radical approach would be best - and I know it's a shock - why not close the general forum?

Just leave the sub forums up - and if you DO see a question from someone that doesn't fit a forum - create a new one that does?

I think that would move by default the "17 yr olds with Z's" to the O/T section, and the other stupid things. You'd probably cut your work in half.

I'm sure if you d/l the threads posted that have stayed here and look for a trend, you could easily create one or two more sub forums and move the rest to O/T.

I have to say as a "fairly" old (not THAT old but not a noob either) poster that this entire site is extremely intimidating.

Often it seems to be inhabited by an old boys club/fraternity atmosphere that is its charm but also why people are often afraid or unwilling to post.

The users know who they are - I'd say the jokers are as bad as the "internet its serious business" people who want to police it (see several posts above mine).

There have been a lot of stupid kids posting on here of late (related to the sale of the site imo) but I have also seen people with views knocked down just because of a vocal minority that back each other up - or someone with an epic post count (because THAT means something).

I believe the mods over all do a good job when it comes to moving threads but often take sides (just mho) and that's not right.

 

Even though you said you hate one liner replies I had to agree with you on this post

 

If I come across a thread that is meaningful and not dumb, I help with whatever I can.

If I come across a stupid thread such as "Hay gais! I just turned 18 and got my first Z! I paid for it all by myself and I'm such a hard worker! What is the best intake for me to buy? I want 25hp, can I get this with an intake?"...
I have fun.

 

I agree that it would be nice to cut down the chatter in some parts of the forum - particularly technical discussions.

From a business perspective I can see why it could be better to allow it in other areas (regional sections, off-topic). People coming here, posting, enjoying themselves and spending time on the board = more advertisements viewed = support to keep this site running for the majority of us. As someone else mentioned the car is 6 years old and little about the car has not been discussed here already.

 

Bump for comments from others.

I'd like to hear more viewpoints.

Only post substance.

Any bull manure will be deleted.

 

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