Adding in Two Additional Mileage Data Fields to Vehicle Profiles

mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
7,639
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Is there any chance that (2) Additional Fields addressing the below listed Mileage Measurement could be Added to the Membership Vehicle Profiles Data Section? The recording of this information into The Data Set simply involves Adding in these Two Mileage Categories:

(A) Vehicle Mileage on DOSU (Date Of Sign Up)
(B) Vehicle Mileage per Yearly Update ( Alerts could trigger of January 1st, 20XX for continuing accuracy...)


These additional pieces of Mileage Information would allow for the following Member Convenience, Data-Mining and Site Stats Analyses:

(1) Determining the Baseline Mileage upon Joining GMTN establishes a Starting Reference Point vs. Future Mileage records during Return Visits for Assistance. This information can also Help to determine which major component failures are likely to occur within certain Mileage Ranges and this data can be immediately captured as soon as New People arrive at GMTN and Sign Up to become Active Members Seeking Help.

(2) Determine the Post-DOSU Mileage at Yearly or Bi-Annual Time Intervals Mileage or.... upon the Next Member Request for Assistance. This information can help figure out the relevance of How Many Miles have been traveled between Major Component Failures and perhaps derive patterns for anticipating overall Expected Failures and Breakdowns vs. Miles Traveled.

(3) All but eliminate the need to Constantly Ask that Same Damned Question about "What is Your Vehicle Mileage...?" Over and Over during the Start of Each and Every New Threads ... and this ALSO affects other Members concerned with experiencing those very same Failure Issues getting discussed within those same Threads.

MILEAGE: Is THE one piece of information that WILL invariably get asked about in order to consider it as a legitimate co-factor involved with how the Vehicle has been getting Used, Maintained (and sometimes abused) over time of Ownership and Total Distance traveled and is axiomatic in determining some of the Q&As necessary for figuring out the actual causes of Mechanical Problems.

By automatically Calculating these Mileage Levels vs. Timeline comparisons... the answers to these and many other questions would become immediately available for consideration. The Output from these Mileage vs. Timeline Date Equations could be allowed to automatically populate into a portion of the Signature Lines of ALL Members. No Muss... No Fuss.... Just Clear, Relevant and Accurate Information based upon: DOSU Mileage, Current Mileage, Years, Months/Days Passed in Between
:

(4) Assist Vendors in determining when to populate their Advertisements Based upon the Frequency Analysis of Membership Vehicle Age... Vs. Miles Traveled... Vs. Parts Likely to be Needed around those factors.

(5) There IS an actual GMTN Thread called "How many Miles Do You... Etc...." . Now that might SEEM like just some, general casual point of conversation... but its actual Collection, Calculation and Utility here for EVERYONE is Priceless.... Especially if THAT Question Never Needs to Be Asked more than once. :>)
 
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HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
Prolly need a field for if they have changed or rebuilt engine and transmission or swapped the differentials as well so that the data can be fully optimized.
 

Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
The problem for me is the profile page is filled properly only about 60% of the time. And we don't want to become a repair support forum only. Sure, we help out but as of late, seems like we only get the "Help me!" crowd as new members that we don't ever see again until their next problem. What else should we have in there? Maintenance records? No thanks.

We are enthusiasts first, not a Fixya site.
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
There is a way to pre-empt that thou. On the Taurus forum, they are required to fill out the car info, Make Model Year Engine, and post in the introduction forum. This also keeps out the scammers and the for salers.
 
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mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
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With the Greatest Respect and Admiration due for the Admins who are "The Keepers of the Flame at GMT Nation..." As an experienced Information Management Professional in the Creation of and Modeling of Information Data Sets for Relational Databases using everything from the IBM Main Frame High Level Programming Language called "Easy-Trieve" way back in the 1980s to the now Ancient Command Line processes required using Microsoft Basic and Open Source Programs written in Plain MS-DOS and using dBase Emulation Programs like "PC-File" on the Early Model Desktop Computers along with using the early flavors of Windows 95 GUI Apps for dBase3 and Paradox, I created and employed a myriad number of Fully Relational Databases rife with the necessary 'look-up' Tables to solve all manner of problems in "Washing" Garbage Data clean out of HUGE Data Sets.

Some of these Data Sets contained Hundreds of Thousands of Records, hand-keyed in by Secretaries for over a decade and likewise poisoned by tons of improper information via Screen Entry Models that would soon become obsolete and inaccessible after Midnight on January 1st , 2000. This Information Management Crisis occurred due to the common habit of using Poorly Designed, Non-Date Field Constructs to record Months/Days/Years. So using my modest Computer Programming skill-set and those 'look up' Tables was a Godsend in my beaing able to convert nonsensical 'Numeric Date Fields' into useful, 'True Date Fields' and then properly re-populate each and every Data Set Record; some of which had as many as six or more different Date Fields strewn about on the Data Entry Screens... per Record.

Now this might seem like a very trivial exercise in the Early 21st Century ... But very often back in the Late 90's, I entered rooms where it was, "All Hands On Deck!" to discuss these issues in places filled with ordinary Police Supervisors and Managers who were collectively 'Sweating Bullets' and looking like You couldn't Pull a Straight Pin Out of their A**es with a John Deere Tractor. Likewise... these were Men and Women Colleagues of mine whose very jobs and livelihoods depended upon my being able to correct these countless, 'natural mistakes' from their 'creations' of complex Data Sets which included waytoo many errant "Numeric Date Fields, 8 Characters in Length... including the Two / Hash Lines...". This very small issue would soon render these innumerable and otherwise very necessary and important Records... Useless. However, I was fortunate enough to know precisely what I was doing and succeeded with repairing them all well before The Clock Struck Midnight on 01/01/00... Wow...What a Boolean Date THAT Was... Huh?

So having worn "Two Good Guy White Hats"during my interesting Police Career, both as a Homicide Detective AND an Information Manager, I say all of this to confirm my having an abiding understanding of these issues. There ARE some (Very Few) Vacancies and Ambiguities with just a few of the Data Fields on the GMTN Profile Page that could be a Bit Better Defined. The "YEAR" Field for example... can contain various scraps of information here and there; with everything from having the Age or DOB of some Members keyed into what must be a Field meant to collect the "Date of Manufacture of GM Vehicles". But unfortunately, the Field Name of "YEAR" is NOT specific enough as to what is being referenced. Such ambiguous Field Definitions will invariably allow for misinterpretations and encourage Incorrect or incomplete data to be keyed in and collected... and cause the Correct Data to be lost due to this confusion.

Being more specific allows for separating the dubious Identification of the Owner from the Description of the Vehicle on the Same Page and not 'Mixing the Data Metaphors'. Right now... if you cannot 'Separate the Baby from the Bath Water' as far as Dates and Date Calculations go... perhaps taking a closer look at this problem might be worthwhile. The WORST Idea in Data Modeling is allowing Fields such as Notes: to become a Catch-All for General AND Specific Information that really deserves to be properly categorized, isolated and collected.

People thrive on these Clear Distinctions when the Guess Work is Taken Out of what is necessary to be Entered on screen. Adding in these Two Mileage Fields makes perfect sense to me; for no other reason than right now... They simply Do Not Exist... and therefore can never be used to discreetly capture any Data. Arguing about whether such Date Fields have any "Real Value' is academic if they have never been available for New Members to CHOOSE and Enter in such Information in the first place.

There is only one other modification I would suggest including as an additional data element for a "A Friendly Request For Donations..." right in Line before the New Members are Completely Finished Logging In... and Joining Up. The link would take them over to the Donations Page ...While "Their Cups of Benevolence Runneth Over" and just BEFORE they are willingly helped would work better at holding their attantion while their Problems are Fresh in Their Minds ....and well before They can 'forget' about doing so, should they receive their Free Help FIRST towards avoiding HUGE Bills at Local Dealerships and Auto Repair Shops... and then simply 'disappear' like Shadows as @Mooseman so elegantly describes.

My belief is that this will be the ONE TIME that New Members In Need WOULD be willing to make Spontaneous Donations ...Indeed.." So Why Not ... Strike While The Iron is HOT! And Besides... If these adjustments in Data Fields were to be made... (assuming it becomes helpful to do so...) the Passive Participation of the New Members in providing this Baseline Information during the ONE TIME that GMTN has their Undivided Attention... would be a very small price to pay for the value and utility of the New Information being Collected. The Good Part is... The Admins and Moderators would not even have to 'lift a Pinky Finger' to make all of this happen. :>)
 

HARDTRAILZ

Moderator
Nov 18, 2011
49,665
I am not sure I want all my vehicle info being data mined. The interwebz skins off enough of my info that i kinda hate to give them more.
 
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mrrsm

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Oct 22, 2015
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Not to put too fine a point on the topic... But... this Thread dates back to 2012 and is apparently a constant source of interest to many in the GMT Nation Membership. IIANM ...this latest posting brings the total to over 20,000 or so entries describing various aspects of Vehicle Mileage and as of yesterday, Friday, June 14th, 2019... that Last Post is particularly LOADED with very useful Information. As a 'Data Maven' ... I just hate to see so much interesting Data... present.... but laying around fallow and otherwise unavailable... that's all:


O6142019MILEAGE.jpg
 
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Mooseman

Moderator
Dec 4, 2011
25,257
Ottawa, ON
That thread is meant as a "game" or an amusing type of thread for generating post counts and general interest, nothing more.
 

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