• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

Hello, and a small favor to ask.

B

Bad331GT

New Member
Hi everyone...

I was a pretty long time member of VMF, and now just found this site, so hopefully my 'fix' of the classics will return. But that is not why I am posting right now. I am currently working on a new website, and would like some feedback regarding the idea and direction I am going. The site is www.themustangstop.com it is really a shell right now. I am looking for ideas to get it up off the ground. Any, and all suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
John
 
Never one to hold their tongue, I'll chime in first.

At last count there were some 40 billion mustang related websites out there. You want something that people will become a part of do a better job of defining the place. I'm not talking about being anti-advertiser or such. Pick your audience and tailor the site to them. A guy with a 05 GT may like the classics but if that is all the discussions revolve around he probably won't stick around long. I know I don't spend anytime on sites built around late models.

You say you're a long time VMF'er, than you should know why most of the guys here migrated this way. You talk about a community, VMF once was but lost its way it seems. Here at the Fix, it was community first and that community made it a mustang site. At least that's how I see it. To me that's why it "feels" right. That and I don't think I'll ever run into a 15 year old bench racer wanna be talking about how is Honda will destroy my mustang in the "twisties".

My opinion, you can't have just a mustang site. It's too broad. Pick your pleasure. Classic, Fox, etc. You can't really even have a mustang tech site as the various generations have... that's right...varying technologies. Sure you can try to contain all but if I learned anything in life it is you can't be the best at everything but you can be tops at what you do best.
 
"Horseplay" said:
You say you're a long time VMF'er, then you should know why most of the guys here migrated this way. You talk about a community, VMF once was but lost its way it seems. Here at the Fix, it was community first and that community made it a mustang site. At least that's how I see it. To me that's why it "feels" right.
Click to expand...
I can only chime in on this. You took the words right out of my finger tips. :5
 
Thanks, I'll see if I can narrow it down a little. I don't want to exclude anyone though, if you know what I mean. Yes the number of Mustang sites is staggering. To be honest, I think we are aiming in the middle of the life span. Probably Foxes up to the end of the 5.0 in '95, with some scattered talk about the years before and after. I understand the community aspect. Good tech is good, but talking with someone online who you could see youself sitting down to talk to with a beer is probably more important, and the hardest to get. We will work on it for sure.
Thanks again!
 
I must agree.

This place is more of a community type place that we all just happen to have something to do with Mustangs.

Any Mustang sites I go to have active boards for the type cars I have. Even though I have had other years, I lean towards participating in the ones that pertain to current ownership.

Another thing is tread lightly around other sites. Many feel a competition for business and will treat you as a competitor. This place has no competition....just dedicated members.

Start small. Keep navigation easy. You can add according to what you membership desires, not just what you think will sell.

Don't expect others to rush to your site. It takes time for most to want to make the change and that time will cost you so be ready for slow times.

Learn from the questions you ask. Don't brush off any suggestions until you have looked them over good.

Good luck.
 
Welcome.

I don't know if you'll get this response if you pose this question on other forums but I a little flattered that you came to us for advice. That has to mean we're doing something right.

I agree with everything that has been said so far. I also agree that you should try to include as many people as possible. The good thing about Mustang people is they usually own a couple of Mustangs from a couple of generations.

The one thing I'll throw out there is that you need to make it priority to get your "look" down. I don't know about anyone else, but to be honest with you, the default scheme and colors are a real put off for me. Having the default PHbb scheme kinda lumps you in with about 10 billion other sites out there and screams, "I really want to have a forum but don't want to put much effort into it. Don't take this as criticism, consider it advice from lessons learned.

If you don't do photoshop yourself, recruit someone who does and make sure your stuff does not look amateurish. I use a lot of transparent .pngs here. Some users using older versions of IE see a background instead of transparency, but the name of the game is to build it with the majority of users in mind.

Do you know anything about CSS or PHP?
 
I would definitely get rid of "Soon to be the best 'Stop' on the internet for the Mustang."
It reminds me of a guy on VMF who was putting together a "craigslist" type site that said it would be better than CL.
Stan
 
"Sluggo" said:
The one thing I'll throw out there is that you need to make it priority to get your "look" down. I don't know about anyone else, but to be honest with you, the default scheme and colors are a real put off for me. Having the default PHbb scheme kinda lumps you in with about 10 billion other sites out there and screams, "I really want to have a forum but don't want to put much effort into it. Don't take this as criticism, consider it advice from lessons learned.
Click to expand...

What he said. Having the right look, can help greatly as well as knowing who you want to visit the forum. There are tons of free themes for phpbb forums (as well as joombla, phpnuke, etc) out there. I have my own website [nb]www.NianyasDesigns.com I like to dabble with 3D.[/nb] for my artwork but no forum and I get a lot of traffic. I think it's mainly due to customers and word of mouth. Anyway, I have photoshop and a few 3D programs, so if you, or anyone else needs help, just ask. :)
 
"Sluggo" said:
I don't know if you'll get this response if you pose this question on other forums but I a little flattered that you came to us for advice. That has to mean we're doing something right.
Click to expand...
Sluggo, for what my opinion is worth, you are doing everything right!
 
This operation is the result of a collaborative effort of the membership. There's a piece here suggested a member, a piece there suggested by another member, etc. It is a reflection of everyone here.
 
"Sluggo" said:
This operation is the result of a collaborative effort of the membership. There's a piece here suggested a member, a piece there suggested by another member, etc. It is a reflection of everyone here.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a Windoze 7 commercial. :2guns
 
"Flysure1" said:
And if you need someone to chime in with some really good jokes let me know----I'll look for someone!
Click to expand...

No reason to look any further :lol
 
"Sluggo" said:
Welcome.

I don't know if you'll get this response if you pose this question on other forums but I a little flattered that you came to us for advice. That has to mean we're doing something right.

I agree with everything that has been said so far. I also agree that you should try to include as many people as possible. The good thing about Mustang people is they usually own a couple of Mustangs from a couple of generations.

The one thing I'll throw out there is that you need to make it priority to get your "look" down. I don't know about anyone else, but to be honest with you, the default scheme and colors are a real put off for me. Having the default PHbb scheme kinda lumps you in with about 10 billion other sites out there and screams, "I really want to have a forum but don't want to put much effort into it. Don't take this as criticism, consider it advice from lessons learned.

If you don't do photoshop yourself, recruit someone who does and make sure your stuff does not look amateurish. I use a lot of transparent .pngs here. Some users using older versions of IE see a background instead of transparency, but the name of the game is to build it with the majority of users in mind.

Do you know anything about CSS or PHP?
Click to expand...
"Sluggo" said:
This operation is the result of a collaborative effort of the membership. There's a piece here suggested a member, a piece there suggested by another member, etc. It is a reflection of everyone here.
Click to expand...
I came here, cause I knew you guys are level headed, and would not think I was attempting a coup. I am starting to work on a 'Look' but my creativity side is craptastic at best. I don't want it to look too much like a cookie cutter vBulletin site, as a lot of them are starting to look. I know enough php and css to make edits and minior changes, other then that I am a fast learner. I chose phpBB, because of the support community, and rthe number of skins available, free or paid. I will probably have to hire a little help for the final design.

"aslan" said:
I would definitely get rid of "Soon to be the best 'Stop' on the internet for the Mustang."
It reminds me of a guy on VMF who was putting together a "craigslist" type site that said it would be better than CL.
Stan
Click to expand...

Ok, Should have more confidence in the site :)

"Kats66Pny" said:
What he said. Having the right look, can help greatly as well as knowing who you want to visit the forum. There are tons of free themes for phpbb forums (as well as joombla, phpnuke, etc) out there. I have my own website [nb]www.NianyasDesigns.com I like to dabble with 3D.[/nb] for my artwork but no forum and I get a lot of traffic. I think it's mainly due to customers and word of mouth. Anyway, I have photoshop and a few 3D programs, so if you, or anyone else needs help, just ask. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the offer, I may take you up on it. I am sorting throught the free themes, and might adjust one of those for now, and see how it evolves. I do agree, the stock phpBB theme is very basic.

"Sluggo" said:
This operation is the result of a collaborative effort of the membership. There's a piece here suggested a member, a piece there suggested by another member, etc. It is a reflection of everyone here.
Click to expand...

I plan on keeping the community involved. :)



Thanks everyone for the suggestions!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top