Im sure we have all noticed the last twelve months have been exceptionally quite on here. Even more so than the twelve beforehand…
Seems to me like a lot of the original forum members that have a login either no longer visit or simply dont post up as they dont own the cars anymore, and what with it being so difficult to get a login on here we are not seeing any new blood sprouting up, just the odd recomendation from existing users for one off membership who then dont post much when they do eventually get a login.
I must be blind to the reasoning behind not opening it up so more can join by some sort of autotmated registration process. Whatever the reason its killing/killed the site imho.
We are not a local based club that requires memebership fees to join, we are fans of a particular model of car that is widely followed all over the world. The car is now in its third development over the last 13 years yet the only dedicated exige website is stuck back in 2002/2003.
Surely we can do something to revive the site and give it a bit more life with a much easier registration process. I know exiges.com has always been David’s pup but i for one think it is now time to get up to date with the site and get it going again as it is dead in its current format with no more than a couple of posts per day.
David, i dont know if you even bother reading the site anymore but what can we do to give the site a lift? If you have no time to put into it would you consider selling the site or allow someone else to develop it so it can be given a new lease of life? Not than im any good with computers but thats not what is needed right now, it needs someone with some enthusiasm at the helm and time to do it which seems to be the biggest single problem when you only have one admin that may check in once a month at best.
Yep I agree with you Gav, it is getting very quiet on here these days which is a great shame. As you say would be good to get people registered quicker before they get fed up and can’t be bothered any more.
Would also help if we could let owners of the new V6 Exige know about the forum through the dealers etc.
This forum has so much to offer with such a great bunch of folks always willing to help each other out if they can.With great banter and knowledge.
What I like about the forum is you never get people slagging each other off, some great meets and a fantastic Easter trackday. That reminds me roll on Hethel trackday and tour.
Your right, it Is a great forum in that respect. There have been a couple of threads over the years which have drifted off to a place where they should have been nipped in the bud well before they escalated any further, but on the whole it is self moderated well. Probably why people are keen to be on here in the first place tbh.
Its not just existing owners we need to open it up to though, its all those who are considering their first ever Exige be it a series 1, 2 or 3. They are the ones that the forum has the most to offer to.
Something needs to change to bring it back to life thats for sure.
Of the 35 current online users only 2 are registered…
When someone as key as Frank gets censored what do you f###kin expect ??
I had my issues with him to be sure , but when he was kicked off here the forum died. No need for any post mortem in my view. … from that moment on this forum died.
CENSORSHIP has no place on this forum
I have to concur that the time it takes for new members to get accepted really doesn’t allow the forum to gather, yet alone maintain any momentum, so we are left with the same dozen or so posters - which doesn’t result in much conversation. And even some of the regulars have sold up or are selling up / moving on
Whilst I don’t want to see this forum turn into another seloc - which has far too many non-lotus owning contributing members, the activity level there is fantastic.
I know ‘Stu’ has offered his assistance from an admin and registrations point of view, but to no avail.
What I’d like to see here is a strict but quick registration process open to those that own Exiges (don’t Ferrari forums insist on declaration of chassis number or something similar?), or allows full access to those that can prove ownership, and partial (say read only) access to those that don’t.
Sadly I’m not gifted to know how to implement such a system.
I say although quiet on here, it’s working fine as far as I can see, barring registrations taking a while. But don’t know if that’s a deliberate plan to keep things slightly more ‘exclusive’?
Seloc has over 21,000 members, so traffic is going to be high. However do we really need/want another Seloc clone? Half the fun of looking on here is that there is very little non Lotus related stuff besides some entertaining banter that goes on. Do you really want threads on what coffee machines/flavour dog/pushbike/camera should I buy? Maybe add an extra section titled ‘All the other rubbish we want to discuss’ and see if that starts some interest?
As for Frank, I really do think that he has a lot to give to any forum, he has the knowledge and ability to get things done, and his car is pretty cool, in a weird and wide way. But boy he does know how to wind people up, and is seen as an easy target to see his reactions, same as Scuffers, King_K, etc. Let him come back if he wants to, but be open about what is and isn’t acceptable.
If only open to Exige owners, well I’m out in that case, and possibly some other people that post regularly, what about Exige-alike owners?
One thing that is slightly frustrating is that the new format doesn’t seem to work with the newer Blackberry smart phones???
Hmmm the mood and tone of the board is always going to be in flux as people drift in and out of the interest/enthusiasm of Exige ownership. A few of our most vocal members have fallen by the wayside but they’ll be back I reckon.
Looking at it analytically, in my tenure the busy times have been driven by :
1 Exige Product News - eg S2 launch
2 Going Racing - members competing in various series
3 Builds - Sean’s, Gav’s and latterly JF
4 Events - Anglesey etc
5 Personalities and politics
So to try and get some movement back whilst staying true to exiges heritage why don’t we
1 Exige Product News - let’s get some S3 owners amongst us and some chat about them as ownership propositions.
2 Going Racing - Jamie’s done a great job but anyone at all racing let’s have some reports going on,
3 Builds - We all love a good build thread even a non-Lotus one (SimonE) or a very long-running one (Sean)
4 Events - There’s two coming up, let’s hope we all have cars and maintain space in diaries and post write-ups, pics, vids afterwards.
5 Personalities & Politics - Let bring back the banned people who were opinionated but not terminal NPD sufferers.
I’m with JDS, let’s fix registration but try to keep that relaxed self-moderating tone that keeps exiges.com a nice relaxed and Lotus focussed place to be.
Oh and Blackberry is dead dude,…get an Android or iPhone
Works on my Z10 John … took a couple of try’s to get it to make sense but works ok now …
As far as the forum is concerned I think its reflecting the current phase of the original “cast” of ownership …
Anyhow David swallows the costs right now and so its up to him how it works and if it lives or dies … personally I would hate to see it die and unfortunately right now it seems to be in a slow death.
I guess the only way to change would be to have a team of moderators/subscribers that effectively run and pay for the site, as I agree with everything said so far … that is we need to open up more easy to new and potential owners while maintaining the forum “look and feel” which I think generally typifies the type of owners and their interests.
Like everyone else, I think getting the registration process sorted would be a great help. I offered to do it 18 months + ago, but Dave didn’t want to let it go.
On the banned people front, I think Randy and Frank should be let back in.
Guys this is not a thread I started for this reason, we should be looking to go forward, not back!
Id happily help out but other than monitoring content, i’m probably little or no use tbh, what with me being a complete computer numpty.
I certainly don’t want it to go like seloc, but it needs to be a more active forum than its has been the last couple of years but maintain the overall quality as Andy says.
