Ffr forum?

[Combat Pete]

I was wondering why FFR thought we needed another forum. I guess it can only be a good thing, another place to spend time on the computer and get more info, but I am having enough trouble keeping up with the other forum. No such thing as too much horsepower........or information.

[Larry N. Johnson]

Not speaking for FFR but maybe the old forum has new owners and their direction is not in harmony with FFR's direction? Just a thought.

[Joe]

And maybe no relationship exists between FFR and the new owners?

[AC Bill]

I was wondering why FFR thought we needed another forum.

I'm actually very surprised they didn't have one of their own years ago..?

[David]

The goal of this forum is a good clean place to have fun. Nothing you see here should offend your wife, daugther or grandma and I think Dave and the team here have some ideals about how a community should look and feel. Having a forum tied directly to FFR allows us to foster his vision.

David

[csx2000]

Perhaps FFR held off starting their own forum while Bill ran the forum. Now thats its owned by someone else they decided to go with one they could own and control. The Forum is in their best interest.

[dorfus bubblehump]

The new forum was a surprise. I think it will be good but don't see it totally replacing the old one any time soon. I wonder if there will be supprting members advertising. How will it affect the vendors I wonder.
since Bill left the forum started to get a different feel, hard to nail down all the reasons...I guess in my head it turned from being an enthusiast owned site to just a business.

[dorfus bubblehump]

I heard a rumor that 2 fast 4 u is already upto 1000 posts !!!

[oldguy668]

FFR needed an in-house forum because eventually the build manuals will be here and 90% of the tech support will be via forum posts.

[Cobravii]

Not speaking for FFR but maybe the old forum has new owners and their direction is not in harmony with FFR's direction? Just a thought.

And if everyone moves here then maybe, just maybe the new owners aren't in harmony with the susbscribers either???

[CapeCoralCobra]

An FFR forum makes sense to me, glad to be here. Only 999 behind 2FAST4U

[Xybram]

Dave, are we going to have a Wayne's Pub? That has got to be at the top of the list of things to do, right after vendors!

Chris

[mrmustang]

I believe this move to a stand alone, company owned and operated forum can be both a positive and a negative for the members. It will all depend on how active FFR is in censoring complaints of problems that may come up. As an active member of all of the previous cobra related forums, I can say that starting another forum and targeting an audience is not a bad thing,just look at what happened with the cobraforum when "he who shall not be named" ran rampart all over it annoying members, new and old alike. Bill P. then started ffC****, it was a breath of fresh air that the members were looking for. Now with the sale of ffcars, the new corporate owners have a different way of doing things, will it run off the membership as a whole as has happened on other cobra related forums,not likely, but will the membership and the knowledge base be split, absolutely, if only for a little while until the members decide where they personally want to spend the most time..


Just my two cents worth as an unbiased third party in these proceedings.


Bill S.

[Ngoforth]

The more information out there the better. Will just have to see how each forum progresses.

[CraigS]

I sure hope this one takes off cause i don't really need another forum that needs to be checked regularly.I loved the other one until Bill sold it and then the plethora of video ads and an ad for the second post in every thread got to be really annoying. I just hope this one flys and the other dies so we only have one place to go.

[AZPete]

Bill, I agree this forum could be good or bad depending on how it is run. But, based on my experience with Factory Five's products, service and objectives, I trust them with as much of my life as possible: this Forum, my next build, and hopefully we will soon see a home kit w/ swimming pool, self-doctor kit w/ brain surgery option, and the always-needed Understanding Women Kit. Get to work, Dave!
Pete

[mrmustang]

Understanding Women Kit. Get to work, Dave!
Pete

I can write this one, being happily (yes, I can actually say that) married for over 25 years.


Bill S.

[Someday I Suppose]

I think Bill has a pretty good point on it being interesting to see how negative feedback on FFR products will be handled on the board, my hope would be as long as there is a dialog they are allowed, though bashing I would expect to see killed.

As for a Pub, personally I don't expect or see a need for it here. To David's post, nothing here should offend you're wife, daughter, or grandma, but as a forum owned and operated by Factory Five, I don't know that a no holds barred area keeps with the corporate vision. At the very least it would need to have the obligatory 'The opinions and statements made by members of the pub are not shared by the owners and mangement of Factory Five and are meant for entertainment purposes only'.

[canuck1]

Many of us gave money to support Bill P. in his legal battles with CS on the other forum and were happy to do so if it helped preserve the forum and the knowledge base that had been built there.

Now it's been sold and if we have a mass movement to this site, eventually the new corporate heads of the other forum will not see much reason to continue with it. In the end, much of the solid information and data archived in the old forum will be lost. I regret that part.

I hope the old/new members here will work hard to rebuild the searchable knowledge inventory. I guess we can't exactly cut and paste it!?

Sean

[Rob J]

I'm stoked about it, and I think the timing is spot on!!!

[Steven K]

I think it was a good move. Rather than spending money on advertising on the other site they can put their time and money into this one and have full control and unlimited advertising. I think it will be a more direct connection with old, new, and potential customers.

[efnfast]

Many of us gave money to support Bill P. in his legal battles with CS on the other forum and were happy to do so if it helped preserve the forum and the knowledge base that had been built there.

Now it's been sold and if we have a mass movement to this site, eventually the new corporate heads of the other forum will not see much reason to continue with it. In the end, much of the solid information and data archived in the old forum will be lost. I regret that part.

I hope the old/new members here will work hard to rebuild the searchable knowledge inventory. I guess we can't exactly cut and paste it!?

Sean

I'm sure there's a way to do what equates to a massive copy/paste via php/sql, but it's way beyond my abilities.


The one thing I'm curious about, since you bring up the legal battle, is if anybody knows exactly how much money was collected? Forum maintenance costs arn't overly high, and Bill was making pretty good advertising dollars at some point in time (e.g., 2k/mth from FFR when they were advertising).....we all know the generous and good-willed nature of the members here, so I'm certain plenty was sent in, but does anybody but Bill know how much was collected? Was it more than the lawsuit? Less? The same? (not trying to imply anything by this question, just curious)

[Nemo]

I can't keep up with one forum, let alone two.

[Steven K]

Will just have to see how each forum progresses.

If the sponsors on the other forum feel that this is a better investment that is when the other forum will fail.

Based on the loyalty that most have for anything Factory Five, I am glad I didn't buy the other forum.

[Gloveman]

For this to work, and I hope it does, the information will have to free flow as it always has on the other site. That will mean FFR will cringe occasionally, but it will be good for them and for us.

A company has to have a lot of confidence in its product and service to host a forum like this with very outspoken members.

Congratulations Dave and everyone on the FFR team!

[cobrathegreat]

I do believe this to be good move.
Administrators are the same as moderators I assume....how were they picked or volunteered?

Are vendors welcomed here?
if yes at a cost?

Just curious...

[Finallygotit]

Well if this isn't a surprise!! Hello gents. BTW, we need more smileys.

[FFinisher]

Yes there are moderators, I know of three, I don't know if there are others. I am not sure If I have the liberty to name them so I won't, (I don;t want to be in trouble on my fifth post) but there certainly are moderators.

Vendors, and paying advertisers will certainly be welcome, Dave said he will keep the cost of advertising at covering the costs to run the site. He did not mention pricing, but publicly stated he wants to keep the advertising costs low for all advertisers.

[Dave Smith]

I will cringe periodically for sure... but I'm smart enough to know that FFR is only one part of the community. Confidence in our products? Absolutely. It took exactly 2 hours before something was written that I didn't like. I'm a big boy and the guys at FFR can handle the truth. This forum will make the company better, the products better, and it will help me remind our crew on a daily basis who we work for.

Based on set-up costs and memory req's I cant see monthly rates being more than $10-25. Also one of the benefits of having FFR involved is that we can attract bigger sponsors to take up the slack. Advertisers need to spend their time on taking care of customers.

There are a good number of guys helping out this site, but I think we should go slow and make sure all is well with FFCARS. We support them and don't want the site to suffer.


Dave Smith
FFR001

[Robert Duncan]

This started as an email group in 1996. Became a forum about 1998. Became a new forum (Bill's) in 2002. Now another new forum in 2011. For heavens sake, when will things stabilize

I for one am glad to see factory backing of this site.

[1HotSC]

it's nice to have someplace I can go that I already know how to spell.

[LuckyWinner]

Im very happy about the site. Im in Afghanistan and my internet speed sucks. The FFCars site took forever to pull up and this one moves at the speed of light!!!! Nice job Dave, now take a break and go get wet......surfs up!! (if you have booties, hoodie, a 5mil suit, and a set of........)

[Rscocca]

Hello guys, Nice to see some old faces from another place.

[Barrhavencobra]

I think it is very neat to have another forum, congrats Dave.

[ChopperJustin]

I heard a rumor that 2 fast 4 u is already upto 1000 posts !!!

HAHAHA!!! I actually got to quote his very first post with my very first post. I felt "honored" lol!!!

[jiffy53]

Two forums to visit! When will I get some actual work done??

I understand and respect the family atmosphere here, but I'm gonna miss some of the slightly "off-center" and hilarious posts and comments. I won't miss the ones marked "not political but...", "just venting", etc.

It took me over 4 years to get 400 posts, now I have to start all over! Oh well, post count doesn't really matter, does it?

[slaga]

FFCobra / FFCars was not the first "Cobra" forum. I don't see why this one and FFCars cannot coexist. Now I have 3 places to checkout everyday.

[John F]

I hope the old/new members here will work hard to rebuild the searchable knowledge inventory. I guess we can't exactly cut and paste it!?

Sean

When we had the mass migration from the former "great forum" to Bill's forum, a few of us saved a ton of posts that contained a lot of fixes and technical info. Don't count on anyone to do it for you. If you see stuff that you want to save for future reference, by all means save it. Disc space is cheap! You can buy a 1 terebyte USB drive for $80.

[Dave Smith]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Luckywinner is Dave P. who won the give-away Mk4 last fall and who is in Afghanistan now. Welcome Dave.

Both Forums (more than 2 actually) can coexist just fine in my opinion!

DAve Smith
FFR001

[canuck1]

When we had the mass migration from the former "great forum" to Bill's forum, a few of us saved a ton of posts that contained a lot of fixes and technical info. Don't count on anyone to do it for you. If you see stuff that you want to save for future reference, by all means save it. Disc space is cheap! You can buy a 1 terebyte USB drive for $80.

Good advice indeed. I wasn't as much concerned about myself (I have years and years of information saved on my computers) but simply the potential loss of a (single) searchable knowledge base for new and continuing builders. I know the information will move with the experienced builders that have joined here, but it will take a number of years before it can be rebuilt to the same standard. That is a loss in my opinion.

Dave I understand your sentiment that there is room for more than one forum, but I think members will choose where they would rather spend there time at the expense of other sites. Once the traffic drops to a certain level, the other site will not be maintained at a useful level and will eventually go the way of others that have come before.

Just my opinion, of course. I'm not bemoaning the creation of this factory supported resource, I just wish there was a way we could move over much of the current and archived data we have all created.



Sean