Worried about the future of this forum...

[rm617]

I visit here daily, EVERYDAY,
I don't post , unless I have something worthwhile to add, or comment on.
I'm sure there are other like me, that visit and just read.

x2

[res0o7eb]

Not worried at all.
Facebook is a fad. Probably not.
Although there are lots of cool Vega pictures last time I looked about 2 years ago.

This forum is different as others have said - more tech stuff, less social junk.

[spencerforhire]

I'm happy to see all the positive comments about this forum; I'm pretty confident it will survive the facebook "fad". It definitely IS an important source of technical information.
And it never was my intent to try and shame those who lurk but don't post; I'm not sure who said it first, but I do believe in the old saying "if you don't have anything good to say, it's best to say nothing at all".

[kgroombr]

Not so much the forum, but the FAQ is grossly outdated and inaccurate. It should managed like a wiki page but only allow those that have proven themselves worthy to update it to ensure accurate information. A lot of the advice and information from the forum should be in the FAQ as questions are constantly asked/answered over and over again.

Ken

[spencerforhire]

I'm not even sure who's running this forum lately; it hasn't required much moderator intervention. I guess that's a good thing.

[Carlmirage77]

Ok I am an admitted lurker. I haven't had an H body in years and have the itch for one. I regularly check FB and this forum but the posts are limited. It was stated in one of the previous posts that there may be a shrinking interest in the cars. I believe that the pool of cars continues to shrink so interest is going to shrink. I have been searching for several months now for a nice 2+2 in Florida with little luck. Help me find a nice 2+2 Monza project and I promise I will keep the posts coming and help to keep this site alive.

[greg72]

I don't post as much as I used to - but I am working on my cars more now so there's that. LOL

I am on FB but mainly for updates etc. And whenever I see someone asking about H-bodies on FB I direct them here. Too often I see newcomers (I suspect younger folks)- posting things on FB like " Hi I have a Vega, how do I put a V8 in it?" Rather than jump down that rabbit hole I suggest to them that they spend some time on here first. Otherwise I am afraid they will get a bunch of quick - and not altogether accurate- responses, then start hacking up a perfectly good Vega only to junk it in 6 months when they become disinterested due to the level of work required. but I digress.

I feel there will always be a place for automotive forums - if for nothing else than hardcore enthusiasts to engage in discussions.

I wish there was a forum like this for Bricklins - I have a 74 that I am working on and the lack on info out there is depressing at times.

[hammerdown7]

Ok I am an admitted lurker. I haven't had an H body in years and have the itch for one. I regularly check FB and this forum but the posts are limited. It was stated in one of the previous posts that there may be a shrinking interest in the cars. I believe that the pool of cars continues to shrink so interest is going to shrink. I have been searching for several months now for a nice 2+2 in Florida with little luck. Help me find a nice 2+2 Monza project and I promise I will keep the posts coming and help to keep this site alive.

Make some contact with either John or Richard, see this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=44413&p=264326#p264326

[Monza Harry]

Carlmirage, as Dick said [Hammerdown7]! Richard has many nice H-Bodies to choose from, I drool all over the few pic's that have been posted. Greg Your Welcome! The Bricklins cost the Canadian Government a "Whack Of Dough" for each one made. There seems to be a few that show up intermittently around here at the shows, I'll try and get you some contact info if I can, Maybe it is time for someone to start one, [message board/forum] but I had an on again off again thing for the "Coyote" [Manta Montage: http://www.mantacars.com/index.html ] and the number of sites moves up and down with time/interest, so this just be something we have to deal with for now [And you too Greg if you try and start a Bricklin site]. It is still active here, but I am noticing even big traffic forums are way down on posts, some have a couple of A hole's that make many not post, including me on Home Shop Machinist Forum and Very Limited postings on SpeedTalk, I hope no one feels that way on here, this is a unique group we have here and should try and protect and nurture it! Harry

[vegastre]

The good old days...
I remember when I found this place back in the yahoo days. I believe there were 46 members and I was astounded that there were 46 people who actually liked the H-Body Platform. The difficulty of course is trying to rationalize Facebook when there really isn't any real reason. That is anyone who has been into these cars for any length of time will always come here. Don't shoot me but this website as good as it is not in competition with Facebook for members because in this age of sanitized, information gathering, snooping machines it's a "Who Cares" attitude I take. Moreover, the H-Body and related sites were never in all that much demand. The lesson I learned here real quick is this is the only place to come to get a comprehensive and thorough understanding of a mostly forgotten platform.

[mrj52]

I hope this doesn't go away. I am already weird for owning something other than a Camaro LOL. Need to hang out with people you enjoy the other than standard fare.

[bugdewde]

I, too, am on FB...... but only occasionally, for other purposes.
Unless there is a mass exodus of the "core" knowledgeable members here, I don't think the FB groups will kill this site. However.........
We may lose some members due to attrition (we aren't getting any younger) over the years, but hopefully, the new members will learn, or at least find, the awesome info that is on this site.

Barring a technical reason, like server issues, prohibitive costs, or complete mis-management of the site, I foresee this site staying active for quite some time..... although at a reduced rate.

It's truly the best H-body website in the world......

[monzamess]

I'm not even sure who's running this forum lately; it hasn't required much moderator intervention. I guess that's a good thing.

Hi,

Who's running the forum: I'm still running the forum. I keep it up behind the scenes and help people get logged in. I don't participate much because my car has basically been in hibernation for the last 10+ years and I don't have time or money to spend on it with four young kids.

Facebook: The only real problem I have with Facebook for hobby groups is that posts just scroll on down to the bottom of the page and I don't think they are searchable. At least, that's what I've experienced with the couple of groups I've tried. It's good for in-the-moment discussions but it's a horrible way to archive data because those posts are essentially lost. (no, of course they're not really lost, FB will hold them until the end of time--but I don't think they care if YOU have access to them in the future)

FAQ: I remember setting up the FAQ in the late 90s. It's OOOOLLLLDDDD. Several years ago I tried to convert it to a Wiki but it just didn't catch on, and now that software is out of date and can't be hosted on my web host. If someone has the time and skills to do it right, i.e. determine the best wiki software and convert all the old static FAQ files to it, then I would host it here.

Email notifications etc: This domain has been around for a long time and, a long time ago, the host's email server was used by spammers. That was out of my control and is well in the past. However, "h-body.org" is still on some SPAM lists. So, likely, some or all of your h-body.org notifications are blocked as SPAM. Other than starting a full-time campaign to TRY to convince several hundred or thousand email providers to whitelist h-body.org, I don't know what to do about that.

The Future: I will keep the site up as long as there is demand. Sometimes it's a pain when the board breaks or SPAMMERS hit, but mostly, this is a remarkably civil community running on stable software. However, changes are coming. Anyone who works in software knows that it hits end-of-life and can become a liability even if nothing about the software itself changed, and that's because everything else changed. So, I will need to upgrade the forum software and I've been slow-rolling that because I think we'll permanently lose the Garage and the themes. I don't want to believe that the end is coming for Internet bulletin boards, but I've seen decline on other boards as well. Maybe it seems too formal and archaic to newer internet users--I don't know.

That's all I have for now. I'll monitor the discussion.

--Dennis

[bbcowboy]

Thank you Dennis for keeping this site going...

[tinsfci]