FEEDBACK Cmon Folks!!! Wheres all the people? Just a year ago this site..

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Then I guess we are not the site for them sadly, since after this same discussion repeatedly in public and behind the scenes, we are not getting an app nor tapa.

It sounds great but has not proven feasible. We would love to have all that everyone wants, but we can't.
 

swede

Member
Jun 22, 2014
1,576
Then I guess we are not the site for them sadly, since after this same discussion repeatedly in public and behind the scenes, we are not getting an app nor tapa.

It sounds great but has not proven feasible. We would love to have all that everyone wants, but we can't.

Ok, well at least I got to give my :twocents: in this matter.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
It is not only frustrating on your end but for the mods as well. We have our hands tied in many areas that we could definitely enjoy more freedom.

Thank you for caring and I assure you, the comments are heard.
 
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dkvasnicka

Member
Jul 24, 2015
366
Czech republic, Europe
It seems absurd to me that people are fighting over a mobile app here when there are much pressing problems with the site... like nonexistent gallery and posts missing photos, or a simple signature showing who's driving what under their profile pic. That's something I consider much more important. Show me an automotive forum that doesn't have a gallery and where tutorial threads miss photos but can be accessed with a luxurious mobile app -- and it still has traction and new people joining and creating content... see?

To be honest I have problems understanding why there even was a forum upgrade in the first place. The previous forum SW worked well, AFAIK. This seems like an epic "if it works, don't touch it" type of failure to me... For fuck's sake, there are blooming automotive communities all over the web using ancient versions of forum softwares and nobody is giving a shit.
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I can appreciate that frustration
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,224
Ottawa, ON
We can certainly understand the frustration and like HT said, we have some of our own.

It's a lot more complicated than just keep running with old software. Heck, I still have a computer running XP without any real issues. There's lack of support and compatibility issues as well as cost. I also liked the old software but there are reasons beyond that that forced the change.

We all want what's best. Just not as easy and clear cut as it looks.
 

shovenose

Member
Apr 24, 2016
318
SF Bay Area, CA
From an admin perspective, XenForo is far easier to use and less of a hassle than vBulletin or any other forum software.

From an end user perspective, it's much more modern looking than vBulletin. IP.Board is a close second if used with a good theme but I've never administered an IP.Board forum so I have no idea if it's really any good.

It seems like people keep mentioning photos and galleries as the big sticking point on this site. More than one person complained about it -why doesn't the forum administration do something about it?

The reason I don't think Tapatalk is good is because it's so, so annoying for people that don't have Tapatalk, especially on mobile. Also, like somebody mentioned, it's a very proprietary solution that takes away control from the forum owners.

In terms of the donations page and premium memberships, it's completely half assed and doesn't explain why you should. Money doesn't grow on trees and I'm not going to drop $25 to 125 with no explanation of what I'm getting.

There are many active members here that are here because they are passionate about their trucks. There's also many people that don't really care all that much and just want tech support and once they get that, they will leave. Those members are never going to donate - you need to cater to the active members who stick around, and give them a reason to upgrade to the premium memberships.

If that means introducing a great new gallery system and maybe even spending money on a XenForo plugin that does that well, do it.

As far as revenue, currently there are Google AdSense banner ads. A great first step, but there are more options. VigLink will help you make money using affiliate links when people click on links to products on Amazon and many other retailers, and it doesn't cost the end user anything or inconvenience them at all. Also, InfoLinks does in-text pop ups which are pretty annoying, so maybe only display it for unregistered members, but it does pay well. A big banner to register to get rid of those annoying ads might get more people who just need help to their questions to register. Would they stick around? I don't know.

Also, I do agree there are many extraneous categories. Less categories will make the forum appear bigger. For example, all the for sale categories could be combined, you could combine the "Games" forum into "Off topic discussion". "Site support" could be merged into "Comments or suggestions" and just call it "support and community feedback" or something. You could Otherwise, just look at all the categories that have less than a dozen threads. Big problem and easy to fix, too :smile: a big offender is the "Traverse, Acadia, Outlook, & Enclave" section. There are less than 20 threads in the whole category. Make that one subforum.

Final thought for now (I have to go somewhere) do we have a truck of the month? I think most other truck forums have this... where people can submit a picture of their truck and members can vote each month for "truck of the month" and then display that somewhere. That way the best looking, coolest modded, or even cleanest stock examples of the vehicles we discuss will be displayed.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
we have a photo contest, but not an of the month thing.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,224
Ottawa, ON
All good suggestions. We are overdue for an overhaul.
 
Mar 30, 2016
1,465
KSA
In my opinion Less traffic is a Leo due yo less awareness of the existence of this forum. If you search for trailblazer, envoy DIY most search engines display TV as the first results. That's why I and others suggested a name addition to increase the site " showing up " in search results. I also believe a gallery is long overdue. just my :twocents:
 
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djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
In my opinion Less traffic is a Leo due yo less awareness of the existence of this forum. If you search for trailblazer, envoy DIY most search engines display TV as the first results. That's why I and others suggested a name addition to increase the site " showing up " in search results. I also believe a gallery is long overdue. just my :twocents:
TV shows up first because of how it is established been up on the list for so many years because it was the site that covered nothing but the GMT platform. Myself and several others came from that site. The original staff for this site were staff members on that site. If you have read what the staff is saying then you are not paying attention to the staff. You have only been here a month and are only reading and seeing a few things.

All of you think the staff are not listening and don't care what you are saying. You are wrong. There are a lot of things that we cannot change our self. I would love to get the gallery back up and running. That is probably the biggest thing I would like to get back at this point and time. There was an issue with it connecting to the storage that we received. You guys want these huge photos so it takes up some drive space.
 
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dkvasnicka

Member
Jul 24, 2015
366
Czech republic, Europe
It's a lot more complicated than just keep running with old software. Heck, I still have a computer running XP without any real issues. There's lack of support and compatibility issues as well as cost. I also liked the old software but there are reasons beyond that that forced the change.

Is there any forum post detailing the reasons for change? If not, would it be possible to write one? I'm a software engineer so I know sometimes you just need to bump up a version to get vulnerability fixes or change vendor because some open source tool just died and stuff like that...
I think it would help some people (including me) blow off some steam if they knew more details and good arguments for the change. And admins/team could then feel more support from the community in return...
 

djthumper

Administrator
Nov 20, 2011
14,950
North Las Vegas
You are a software engineer and we did not just upgrade we changed from one vendor to another vendor because of the old one did not offer some updates that they said were coming out along with plugin updates. Some of their updates broke things that they never fixed. As a software engineer you know there are always things in the back that do not show in the front. All of this has been posted prior to the upgrade.

Why do you make changes to the software that not everyone asks for? You do not tell all of your customers what changes you made in the background that they only see the GUI.

If all of you continue to use this thread as a dumping ground for complaining and think you can run every thing better and give the staff a hard time the thread will be locked because it has become so useless.
 

shovenose

Member
Apr 24, 2016
318
SF Bay Area, CA
You are a software engineer and we did not just upgrade we changed from one vendor to another vendor because of the old one did not offer some updates that they said were coming out along with plugin updates. Some of their updates broke things that they never fixed. As a software engineer you know there are always things in the back that do not show in the front. All of this has been posted prior to the upgrade.

Why do you make changes to the software that not everyone asks for? You do not tell all of your customers what changes you made in the background that they only see the GUI.

If all of you continue to use this thread as a dumping ground for complaining and think you can run every thing better and give the staff a hard time the thread will be locked because it has become so useless.

lol what? i'm not bitching or complaining or saying i could do it better. just trying to provide good helpful suggestions. i think we are all grateful for the time, energy, and money the admin team and moderators put in, but even though i've only had an account here for what like a week, just joining in to help out or at least try too.
 
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swede

Member
Jun 22, 2014
1,576
It is not only frustrating on your end but for the mods as well. We have our hands tied in many areas that we could definitely enjoy more freedom.

Thank you for caring and I assure you, the comments are heard.

Thanks HT

like nonexistent gallery and posts missing photos, or a simple signature showing who's driving what under their profile pic. That's something I consider much more important. Show me an automotive forum that doesn't have a gallery and where tutorial threads miss photos but can be accessed with a luxurious mobile app -- and it still has traction and new people joining and creating content... see?

To be honest I have problems understanding why there even was a forum upgrade in the first place. The previous forum SW worked well, AFAIK. This seems like an epic "if it works, don't touch it" type of failure to me... For fuck's sake, there are blooming automotive communities all over the web using ancient versions of forum softwares and nobody is giving a shit.

Totally agree, and what's wrong with phpbb that's free if we are lacking funds?

From an end user perspective, it's much more modern looking than vBulletin. IP.Board is a close second if used with a good theme but I've never administered an IP.Board forum so I have no idea if it's really any good.

It seems like people keep mentioning photos and galleries as the big sticking point on this site. More than one person complained about it -why doesn't the forum administration do something about it?

In terms of the donations page and premium memberships, it's completely half assed and doesn't explain why you should. Money doesn't grow on trees and I'm not going to drop $25 to 125 with no explanation of what I'm getting.

There are many active members here that are here because they are passionate about their trucks. There's also many people that don't really care all that much and just want tech support and once they get that, they will leave. Those members are never going to donate - you need to cater to the active members who stick around, and give them a reason to upgrade to the premium memberships.

If that means introducing a great new gallery system and maybe even spending money on a XenForo plugin that does that well, do it.

Also, I do agree there are many extraneous categories. Less categories will make the forum appear bigger. For example, all the for sale categories could be combined, you could combine the "Games" forum into "Off topic discussion". "Site support" could be merged into "Comments or suggestions" and just call it "support and community feedback" or something. You could Otherwise, just look at all the categories that have less than a dozen threads. Big problem and easy to fix, too :smile: a big offender is the "Traverse, Acadia, Outlook, & Enclave" section. There are less than 20 threads in the whole category. Make that one subforum.

Agree again

Is there any forum post detailing the reasons for change? If not, would it be possible to write one?
I think it would help some people (including me) blow off some steam if they knew more details and good arguments for the change. And admins/team could then feel more support from the community in return...

Wondering the same thing?

If all of you continue to use this thread as a dumping ground for complaining and think you can run every thing better and give the staff a hard time the thread will be locked because it has become so useless.

WOW!!! What can I say about that response?

Well if you don't want the supporting members opinion, lock this shit down then and you can kiss my hard earned cash good bye next time. Wish I could ask for a refund on my last donation.
 
Mar 30, 2016
1,465
KSA
TV shows up first because of how it is established been up on the list for so many years because it was the site that covered nothing but the GMT platform. Myself and several others came from that site. The original staff for this site were staff members on that site. If you have read what the staff is saying then you are not paying attention to the staff. You have only been here a month and are only reading and seeing a few things.

All of you think the staff are not listening and don't care what you are saying. You are wrong. There are a lot of things that we cannot change our self. I would love to get the gallery back up and running. That is probably the biggest thing I would like to get back at this point and time. There was an issue with it connecting to the storage that we received. You guys want these huge photos so it takes up some drive space.

Does my being here only a month mean that my suggestion is useless and not as good as the others. Another member pointed out the benefits of my suggestions in a quite lengthy post. But this is not the kind of response I thought I would get for trying to help the site I so dearly love.

I never for once in all my posting say that the staff isn't doing enough. For what its worth I have GREAT respect for all members, moderators and admin alike. However I won't let one bad post ruin my time here, if you all think my suggestions are not up to par with other members than I think I will go back to being "A Newbie".

Anyways I enjoy my time here with the community so no hard feeling everyone have a nice day @djthumper
 

dkvasnicka

Member
Jul 24, 2015
366
Czech republic, Europe
All of this has been posted prior to the upgrade.
Sorry, did not know that. Thanks for clearing that up. I understand the motivation.

Why do you make changes to the software that not everyone asks for? You do not tell all of your customers what changes you made in the background that they only see the GUI.
Well, if nothing changes with the GUI and people can use the product as they always have then no, I don't need to tell them :smile:
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,224
Ottawa, ON
We do take note of the suggestions but our hands are just as tied.
 

Bow_Tied

Member
Dec 21, 2014
453
London, ON
I know from personal experience in different clubs the admin team are often unpaid volunteers with kids and jobs and lives and can't be on-line all the time to put in 100s of hours on site improvement. I am first hand aware of this challenge and extend my respect and gratitude to all the volunteers at GMTN.

We do take note of the suggestions but our hands are just as tied.

May I inquire as to the nature of the restrictions placed upon you and the admin team? Perhaps this is something everyone knows and I am too new to understand. Is this a lack of funds, volunteer time, a site owner that is restricting change, something else? If I have asked an inappropriate question or one that has been previously hashed and I missed it I am ok with the question being ignored or deleted.
 
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Sparky

Member
Dec 4, 2011
12,927
Some of it are funds (you'd be surprised how expensive it is to do some stuff, I know I was)

Some of it is just software limitations (one package can do X but not Y, one can do Y but not Z, etc)

Some of it is back end stuff that only someone with back end ownership can do and he's been extremely busy as of late.

As you touched on, all of us do this on our own time, we aren't a paid staff or anything. Upside to that is you typically get people who care more perhaps than the guy who just does it as his daily grind, but downside is you do run into instances when the volunteers are just swamped. And of course the occasional issue where we're not always exactly sure what button to push :laugh: :redface:
 

Bow_Tied

Member
Dec 21, 2014
453
London, ON
Thanks Sparky for the detailed reply.

Some of it are funds (you'd be surprised how expensive it is to do some stuff, I know I was)

Well this is understandable. It takes money to do things to attract people for a greater revenue. Viscious circle problem there.


Some of it is just software limitations (one package can do X but not Y, one can do Y but not Z, etc)

Perhaps this is something that could be explained more to answer the "good, but incompatible" suggestions?


Some of it is back end stuff that only someone with back end ownership can do and he's been extremely busy as of late.

This is clearly beyond the control of the site moderators, and hopefully we all understand that. Perhaps the owner would be willing to grant sysop privileges to one or two senior mods (if they are willing) even if temporarily in order to ease his/her (sorry, i'm not sure who the owner is) burden?


As you touched on, all of us do this on our own time, we aren't a paid staff or anything.

I totally get that!! On a site where I am a moderator we decided to draft a few senior members that we already demonstrating at least daily site visits into the mod team. We also made a couple of minor mod positions to administer the Truck of the Month feature only as it was a bit more labour intensive setting up nomination/voting/winner threads and such. Maybe a consideration for GMTN.
 
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littleblazer

Member
Jul 6, 2014
9,265
Something I just noticed... The site looks cleaner on internet explorer... Don't ask why I'm using it on a windows 10 pc...
 

Realism

Member
Nov 25, 2015
177
Idaho
I would love it if there were other options for donations aside from paypal. Found them to be rather shifty in the past and wont use an account with them again.
Comparatively, I like the setup of this site's forums rather than the old site and others out there.
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Never had issues with paypal in 10 years, but everyone has their own things. I will not use RockAuto cause they screwed me over but many love them.

i will check on options. Thanks
 

Blckshdw

Moderator
Nov 20, 2011
10,660
Tampa Bay Area, FL
A lot of times, all it takes is one bad experience. Getting away from auto stuff, I refuse to buy hard drives from OCZ.I had one go bad under warranty, and they kept sending me bad drives as replacements. After the 3rd bad one came in, I cut my losses. Never again. :hissyfit:
 
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Realism

Member
Nov 25, 2015
177
Idaho
Amen. If it wasnt OCZ it was Gigabyte or MSI. Lets not forget for those of us whose had that one lemon off the factory line that ruined an entire product line for us. Maserati Chrystler TC :biggrin:
 

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