[ QUOTE ] I'd be real careful about purging--some of those lurkers may be kids or beginners on here to learn something, people who as yet feel they have little to contribute but want to grow. I can remember when I was young reading HRM articles I couldn't even understand, letting the information soak into my brain until pieces started to add up... [/ QUOTE ] I agree, but there should be a log of when the last time soemone logged in. If they haven't even logged-in in the past year they may nned to be purged... Posting isn't a big thing but they need to have been here.
[ QUOTE ] I'd be real careful about purging--some of those lurkers may be kids or beginners on here to learn something, people who as yet feel they have little to contribute but want to grow. I can remember when I was young reading HRM articles I couldn't even understand, letting the information soak into my brain until pieces started to add up... [/ QUOTE ] Assholes who only registered so they can post their SPAM website like this one http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/showprofile.php?Cat=&User=5178&page=1&what=showmembers should be purged. Better yet, cyber-burn their site and computer just for committing the "crime" if anyone has the hacking knowledge to do it!
I can think of more than one person wo would escape any "purge" attempt, based on the number of posts made in the past year. Too bad only 1% of that persons posts actually made a positive contribution to the HAMB. There are some serious heavy hitters out there,with a wealth of knowledge and experience, who are too busy to sit on the HAMB for a few hours every day to keep their post count up. And when they do post,it's like a beam of Sunshine breaking through the clouds. How about we get rid of all the people who's cars are too Shiney ? Or not Shiney enough ? Or too expensive,or not expensive enough, or some other narrow criteria to reinforce the Elitist Social Order ? Kind of sounds like Germany,before The War.
I consider myself still very new compared to some of the guys and gals that have been here for the duration. So I am sure my .02 is not worth that much. I skimmed most of the thread and it has some great ideas. I think you have created something far better than you ever thought when you created the HAMB. I do not post a lot because I do not feel I have a lot to add. I did sign up because I saw some things I could help with and did not want to show up as anyomous - the friendships that showed also seemed worthwhile. I also am pretty new to building early cars. There are a lot of people on here that have a chip on their shoulder about people who ask "dumb" questions. You know I have an 81 Malibu with a blown small block, Baer Brakes, Koni shocks and so on. It has been in a couple of magazines - I think I get the general concept of building cars. I hate the attitude from guys that believe they know more - they probably do. I came here to learn - and I am building the car as the budget allows. The eliteist attitude from several sucks!! too goldchainer but not traditonal enough I look and learn a lot from all of the knowledge that is shared here. My suggestions: Have a "form" to fill out that forces new users to fill in the profile - make old users put something in theirs too! Split classified to WTB and FS - When I started looking here people really thought of each other. "If no one is interested in my part I will post on Ebay next week" and the like. I do not think everyone was out to make money off one another just help a brother out with something you could not use. Kindly tell everyone not to SPAM their Ebay auctions. Several other places have banned this behavior as well. Same goes for the look at this POS on Ebay - I look there when I want to look. Do not come here to do so. The paypal - annual fee type of thing may weed out some of the jibberish also. That is a great idea. Make it more prominent that people should make a donation. There are a couple of sites that send you an email saying please make a donation when you sell your part. I am not sure I have anything more of value - or if that was. You do a great job and have created a great place. I've said it before - thanks for letting us play in your sandbox!!! We really do appreciate all that you do!
I liek the HAMB the way it is, much love goes to Ryan and everyone who lists & buys auctions benefiting our beloved home away from home. One thing I thought would be cool, much like the HAMB-O-Dex, would be a phone number listing by city/state. This way if anyone is traveling through or nearby and has any problems or needs some help or just wants to get together, they can call up the "locals". As much as I travel around Texas and have needed to call up someone to ask where a decent tire store is or something, I figured it'd be nice to be able to call up a HAMBer. Everyone knows if you're in the Waco, Texas area and you need help...I'm always willing.
One way to purge the member list but be fair about it would be to send out a mass email to all registered members. Inform them if they don't log on in the next 30 days, the member list will be purged & they will have to re-register. The owner of MoparStyle does it every so often, & the members that wanna stay members will log on. The ones who don't care will be gone. People w/ bad email addys would be inclined to update thier profiles w/ a good one. I think it really would be good to purge the list. When theres as many registered members as there are here, alot of people don't feel they need to contribute to the auctions and such. I mean, 6000 members, so what would my few bucks help to do? People might be more inclined to participate if they felt they were part of a small group. Just my thoughts.
The Jalopy Journal
