Should we start over from scratch?

[philsans5]

bump

[tdc]

Umm, the thread is stuck so there's no need to bump it.

[NSM]

Tom, can you answer some of the questions we have asked?

[big_sur]

the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

how exactly is starting over going to help things? it's not like rebooting the site is going to make 10,000 people just up and decide to start visiting for shits and giggles. as for the newbie thing, a newbie is going to be a newbie whether the site is old or new. if somebody on the board starts asking whether they should supercharge or turbo, can they get pics of dados car, is a bmw a good first car, what's an e36, etc... it's going to be fairly obvious they have a limited experience with bmws. when people get told to use the search function it's because it's been posted a million times and is readily available, if they don't get "search" on their thread it's just going to lie empty because nobody feels like retyping a discussion that's happened 5 times. as for getting rid of clutter: a. anybody can see which forums get used(it's that post count thing on the right) b. inactive members aren't hurting anything(hence "inactive") c. i don't see "shaping the site" happening expeditiously or efficiently by the masses, we'll probably end up with a subforum to discuss cell phones.

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by NSM

Here's what I don't get.. People keep saying that starting over will get rid of those who don't post.. Well what difference does it make if we get rid of them or not, they don't post anyways. The only thing that would change about that is we won't have an inflated number of members. So whats the big deal about getting rid of those who don't post?

Hmm. Thats a very good point. I guess it doesnt really matter, fuck it.

[DakarDave]

I think we should reset the site, and upgrade it with some new features:

1) New UI for the forums
2) Blogging capabilities, so we can follow key developments in special projects without poluting the forums
3) Extensive media rework.

We should make dtm more myspace/tagworld-ish.

[onE]

I dont know what to think about this. I would lie to see more of the old times on DTM, but I dont think its going to help if we just up and start over. A new UI woudl be grate. More stuff from Dido and whats going on it the Mods department would be cool. I hate to say it but. for a long time I didnt want to go to BF. I was so happy on DTM. But now... I think they Trump us in content.

[SneakyMike]

Originally Posted by tdc

If that is the path we take, there will be provisions for such issues. And will someone please tell me what the whole obsession with post count is???? I would think your join date would be more important then some stupid post count.

You could have joined 5 years ago and only posted 400 times, you have no point in being here.

But if you have only been here for 6 months and have 1000 post and are an active member you are doing much much more then someone who is sitting in the shadows.

Join date is less, in my opinion.

[w3fl3x]

I only post in the pacific northwest section here.

The site is fine the way it is really. Reseting the site will only reduce the member number and make new member wary of joining.

There have been a few new forums posted up similar to this and the traffic count is no where near what it is here. That's why i enjoy the NW section cause there's always someone there and the traffic is much higher then that of bf.c's northwest section. It's nice to have an active regional forum.

[NakedM3]

If the member base shrinks, good! Most of you guys have no idea what it's like to be apart of a small and passionate community. Nothing but the best start this machine over and we build it all over again. Anyone remember the server crash a while back? We made it happen.

[downsbs]

From what I understand after the server crash is when the site went downhill, I may be incorrect on this, but if it is true then reseting will probably have the same effect. Also, no, we don't want this to be like myspace, we have myspace for that, most people on here hate myspace anyway.

[tdc]

All threads will simply be archived if we restart the forum. Meaning you can still view them but cannot reply to them. It will act like a research library of DTMPower history.

[downsbs]

Originally Posted by tdc

All threads will simply be archived if we restart the forum. Meaning you can still view them but cannot reply to them. It will act like a research library of DTMPower history.

I still am not sure what the benefit of doing this would be, tdc, can you please explain this to me? Thanks.

[Dan-needabimma]

I voted "yes," though it was a no at first.

I think post count and join date are important to keep; at least listed in the user profile as "original" information even if a new counter is used alongside posts.

Archiving old threads is a must.

Some changes would be good but please don't change the overall format of the threads/posts. I also post on audiworld.com and I HATE their format. Format is the reason I still use Hotmail...

Another thing is donations. People are going to want their $10 to count for the same amount of time they originally gave it for; although that would certainly offset the costs of all the changes

The moderator list should be examined when this is done. Look at how effective AND how active the moderators are and hold elections for new ones if needed; probably long overdue in several forums.

The front page hasn't changed since the last re-working. New pictures, current events in the BMW world. How about a write up with pictures on the E92 and the new turbo motor? A new feature car or featured video would be nice on a monthly basis... discontinue (with notice) some of the old ones that are taking up resources if needed.

That's all I can think of right now. I know this community is literally unlimited in knowledge and creativity so I know you guys will make it great!

[Dr. Ew]

Originally Posted by downsbs

I still am not sure what the benefit of doing this would be, tdc, can you please explain this to me? Thanks.

i agree, i dont see what resetting the forum will do besides deleting old accounts that never get used, and if they never get used, who cares if they are deleted?