G
Guest
Guest
Hi All,
Thanks for all the feedback, let me try to provide some responses.
Firstly Steve, sorry about the lack of 40s traffic, unfortunately I
don't see the situation improving, but hope that we can juggle things
around a bit to improve things for you. In the meantime, there is a US
based list at http://www.birfield.com/mailman/listinfo/landcruisers
that predominantly covers 40s and other early models that you might
like to join. It is also good for general technical talk since many of
the list members do their own restoration.
I am currently in the middle of a major development project creating a
new version of my website software that I plan to use for the LC site
which will include new mailing list software - I am planning on being
able to roll this out around mid to the end of February as long as I
don't get too many delays (I have a client paying for it and they do
insist on meeting about meetings!).
I am still finalising the spec of the list/forum side of things, but
currently it is planned to provide the following:
- All messages will be available as either emails, or viewable on the
website or both, it will be up to you how you view them.
- You will also be able to post messages either via email or the web.
- It will contain build in filters to strip out things like unwanted
signatures to clear up the company ones like Dennis' that he can't
remove.
- There will also be other filters to clear up other formatting
anomalies as well as convert all messages to text format (rather than
html) to minimise bandwidth and storage requirements.
- Each member will have an online profile where they can provide
details of their vehicle and mods - these would only be viewable by
other members. There will be an option to automatically add a
signature to all your messages and also an option to provide a link
back to your profile within your signature.
- There will be a full searchable archive of all messages going back to
the beginning of the list.
- There will also be code to sort out proper threading of messages -
too many of you start new threads by replying to a message and just
changing the subject - ideally you should create a new message to start
a new thread.
- File attachments will be supported, but the files will be added to an
archive on the site rather than sent out to everyone via email - any
attached files will be automatically added to a central file archive
and a link will be provided within outgoing messages.
- I also want to try to do something to prevent all the quoting of
complete messages that many of you seem to do!
Now, with regards splitting up the list into different sections or
prefixing messages according to target audience.
I have no problems with either of these, apart from a few reservations.
I monitor around 100 different lists covering a variety of subjects
and have been on email now for about 12 years so have seen most things
tried at one stage or another.
Firstly with the prefixes - these only work if everyone does it,
particularly for the initial message in a thread, but people forget or
don't enter them in correctly which can get messy.
Splitting the list up to be more vehicle specific can also cause
problems, primarily because the likes of Steve with his 40 or Alan with
his 70 might end up getting pretty lonely! Also whilst the list
traffic is biased towards the 80s due to the high number of owners, we
do cover a lot of general stuff that I hope is useful to all.
Finally, with so few members at this stage (around 35) I personally
wouldn't want to loose the energy we have on the group by splitting it
up at this stage.
OK, so what is the best solution? I think for the time being we could
try to use prefixes for posting messages - I will draw up a list and
post them in a separate message.
When I bring the new site on line, I will setup a filtering system to
filter the messages into different sections (based on the list of
prefixes) on the website and arrange for any messages posted via the
web to be automatically receive the appropriate prefix.
I will also setup some rules so that if you receive messages via email
you would only receive messages with specific prefixes so you wouldn't
have to do any deleting at your end.
For simplicity's sake I am going to stick to the single email address,
but replace the [ELCO] tag with the appropriate prefix.
Depending on the traffic, any messages posted without prefixes would
either get bounced with an explanatory message about the prefixes or
wait for me to allocate them.
I think that is the best solution for the time being, but would
appreciate any feedback on the subject.
Once we have the new forums/lists in place, then I will try to turn my
mind to more content on the site, but that is when you guys and gals
will have to pull your fingers out to help
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
Thanks for all the feedback, let me try to provide some responses.
Firstly Steve, sorry about the lack of 40s traffic, unfortunately I
don't see the situation improving, but hope that we can juggle things
around a bit to improve things for you. In the meantime, there is a US
based list at http://www.birfield.com/mailman/listinfo/landcruisers
that predominantly covers 40s and other early models that you might
like to join. It is also good for general technical talk since many of
the list members do their own restoration.
I am currently in the middle of a major development project creating a
new version of my website software that I plan to use for the LC site
which will include new mailing list software - I am planning on being
able to roll this out around mid to the end of February as long as I
don't get too many delays (I have a client paying for it and they do
insist on meeting about meetings!).
I am still finalising the spec of the list/forum side of things, but
currently it is planned to provide the following:
- All messages will be available as either emails, or viewable on the
website or both, it will be up to you how you view them.
- You will also be able to post messages either via email or the web.
- It will contain build in filters to strip out things like unwanted
signatures to clear up the company ones like Dennis' that he can't
remove.
- There will also be other filters to clear up other formatting
anomalies as well as convert all messages to text format (rather than
html) to minimise bandwidth and storage requirements.
- Each member will have an online profile where they can provide
details of their vehicle and mods - these would only be viewable by
other members. There will be an option to automatically add a
signature to all your messages and also an option to provide a link
back to your profile within your signature.
- There will be a full searchable archive of all messages going back to
the beginning of the list.
- There will also be code to sort out proper threading of messages -
too many of you start new threads by replying to a message and just
changing the subject - ideally you should create a new message to start
a new thread.
- File attachments will be supported, but the files will be added to an
archive on the site rather than sent out to everyone via email - any
attached files will be automatically added to a central file archive
and a link will be provided within outgoing messages.
- I also want to try to do something to prevent all the quoting of
complete messages that many of you seem to do!
Now, with regards splitting up the list into different sections or
prefixing messages according to target audience.
I have no problems with either of these, apart from a few reservations.
I monitor around 100 different lists covering a variety of subjects
and have been on email now for about 12 years so have seen most things
tried at one stage or another.
Firstly with the prefixes - these only work if everyone does it,
particularly for the initial message in a thread, but people forget or
don't enter them in correctly which can get messy.
Splitting the list up to be more vehicle specific can also cause
problems, primarily because the likes of Steve with his 40 or Alan with
his 70 might end up getting pretty lonely! Also whilst the list
traffic is biased towards the 80s due to the high number of owners, we
do cover a lot of general stuff that I hope is useful to all.
Finally, with so few members at this stage (around 35) I personally
wouldn't want to loose the energy we have on the group by splitting it
up at this stage.
OK, so what is the best solution? I think for the time being we could
try to use prefixes for posting messages - I will draw up a list and
post them in a separate message.
When I bring the new site on line, I will setup a filtering system to
filter the messages into different sections (based on the list of
prefixes) on the website and arrange for any messages posted via the
web to be automatically receive the appropriate prefix.
I will also setup some rules so that if you receive messages via email
you would only receive messages with specific prefixes so you wouldn't
have to do any deleting at your end.
For simplicity's sake I am going to stick to the single email address,
but replace the [ELCO] tag with the appropriate prefix.
Depending on the traffic, any messages posted without prefixes would
either get bounced with an explanatory message about the prefixes or
wait for me to allocate them.
I think that is the best solution for the time being, but would
appreciate any feedback on the subject.
Once we have the new forums/lists in place, then I will try to turn my
mind to more content on the site, but that is when you guys and gals
will have to pull your fingers out to help
--
Regards,
Julian Voelcker
Mobile: 07971 540362
Cirencester, United Kingdom
1994 HDJ80, 2.5" OME Lift, ARB
