Frenchie

A couple of days ago, cthree sent me a PM as follows.............
________________________________________
Hi,

I was thinking it would be nice to have more than simply a forum to offer you. We have the capability to do a lot more but aren't using it. I'm sure I couldn't manage the content for the UK group by myself. If you and/or some others in your group want to look after the content of the UK site I could certainly make the technical details happen.

Some of the current capabilities include:

- Article/content management
- Address books/contacts
- Dealer directory with ratings and comments
- Events calendar
- Forums (obviously)
- chat
- image/video/sound galleries
- file manager

and a lot more that I can't even think of right now.

We could set these things up into an organized sub-site with it's own frontpage that s2ki.co.uk could take you to. The hardest part is getting the content and keeping it fresh. That means having some new information for the site at least once a week.

Is this something you'd be interested in having for the UK club and would you be willing to manage the content side and assist with design elements or are you happy with the forum as it is. Quite a few UK club members are s2ki members and I would like to offer more value if I can.

Please let me know.
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I replied to cthree, thanking him and expalining that I would see what the general feeling was for this, this weekend. So, what do you all think? Comments would be very welcome in addition to the poll

Incidentally, if anyone can think of an option missing from the poll, let me know right away and I'll edit the poll list to include it

Pete

Frenchie

6 votes and NO opinions??!!

Tonky

Well I've voted for 'Happy with what we have' well... because I am, but I do think the idea of a dedicated UK site is interesting. I think we should be careful though, before we go too far down that road. I note cthree wishes to provide more value, which is commendable, but I think with the photo storage alone (Which allows linking to other sites for gold members), the membership fee is very reasonable if you just compare it to the cost of limited photo hosting which some sites offer. Taken with the wealth of information and advice which is always on tap here from the database and from the members, plus the facility to organise social events from a central focal point, you really can't place a value on it for owners.

If I read the idea of a more dedicated UK site correctly, it's going to require more input from our own membership in design and general management and admin. Given the wealth of IT anoraks we have on the board ( ) it's not an unattractive idea, and I'm sure we'd have no shortage of expertise and willing volunteers. The reservations I would have, are that inevitably, as members come and go, some of those willing horses might be swapped for 'pressed men' . Picking the ball up and running with it in the long term is no light undertaking as the site grows, as I'm sure cthree, Krazik and Shelley would agree.

I still don't think we see as much interplay between the boards as I would like, and I would hate to see us adopting a more parochial outlook, but other than that, and the long-term implications I've mentioned, it's no doubt a good idea and something for the membership to kick around. It is an important issue though, and it's to be hoped that people contribute some serious thought to it rather than just voting in the poll.

Lurking Lawyer

I've voted yes.

The difficulty I see is the perennial one - is there someone, or a small team of people, who can devote enough time to keep the content current. We're all busy people, but I'd like to think that collectively we could spare the time.

I'm more than happy to stand up and be counted, and to volunteer my services in terms of some of the "spadework", so long as it doesn't require any particular coding expertise (of which I have none!). I'm not sure whether I have much to offer in terms of original content either, but I'll be happy to help maintain a site for which others contribute the bumph.

That said, I wouldn't be heartbroken if we stick with what we've got - it works for me!

eSeM

Opinion (but no vote).

New features (like Dealer directory with ratings and comments, Address books/contacts) would be nice but I am also happy with what we already have.

It looks like it would be a big commitment for someone to take on to manage/update it

Roadkill

I voted with Cedric, although a regional database of dealer info would be useful. I can't see this making a huge alteration from what we have presently and more "NOTES" at the top of the first page would probably do this.

As a relatively new user to all of this, I'm probably not as 'well equipped' to add more than my 2p, but I really enjoy the global aspect of the site, and the chance to communicate on this scale with something in common, rather than just a "chat room" where inuendo is rife, is a real bonus.

I know we'd never lose this, but with our current links to things like your Supermeet website, Pete, I really think we have the bases pretty much covered already.

Graham

I am now going out to light a blue touchpaper and stand well back...

RMJ

Pete,
Sorry I wasn't going to offer any views either until I saw your post. I voted "Happy with what we have", simply because it seems to work very well and doesn't appear to impose an obligation on any member or members to maintain it.
I would also be happy with a dedicated club site, but it sound as though that would require someone or some group of individuals to commit to maitain its content - regret that has little appeal to me as a relatively infrequent user. Perhaps this is not as big an issue as I'm assuming, but IMHO I think a dedicated site could be a very interesting development if the content is kept fresh, but a retrograde step if it isn't.
Perhaps a key question at the outset is to see what sort of enthusism exists for maintaining and managing the content.
Not sure if my thoughts are at all very helpful but I hope you see where I'm coming from in voting for the status quo.

Frenchie

All these thoughts are extremely helpful.

I'm sitting on the fence at present; but I sure cthree would take a look at all our comments when they're all in, address the issues raised and come back to us with his thoughts.

Keep the comments and opinions coming in, people!

Big Cat

It ain't broke so why does it need fixing?

Turtle

I'm kind of sat on the fence right now.

I'm really happy with S2ki - I was happy to pay for all the great information, banter, and fun I've had from the site. So I don't feel like I need more for my money.

I'm not sure we could keep things up to date though. I don't see what the need for such regular update is (unless it's seeing sponsors etc.). So I'm not sure that we'd need, or use a complex additional site.

What I would say though, is that we could benefit from a few UK FAQ's etc.

For example:
the recent "where to get tires" thread.
Euro Import Q/A's.
Meets (I think it's a pain when minor meet threads bob up and down. The little meets are great - a little side forum for meets could be handy IMHO.). Or for Supermeet info/updates. If that was in a forum, it could happily run in a lot of threads, rather than a few loooong ones.

So I don't really think the UK forum needs a massive section, but I do think we're busy enough now to benefit from a few more bits.

-Brian.