So I've thought about doing it in the past, and I know that people have made suggestions along these lines too, but I couldn't figure out a solid, organized way of doing it. The problem is that I'd only want to allow one build thread per car.

I'm thinking we could do it like this:

Make a subforum for them, and then allow each person to post one thread. HOWEVER, that thread would be moderated, meaning that the initial thread would have to be approved by a moderator before it would be visible to the public. This way, they can manually check to see if that user already has a thread for that car.

Questions - should this be model specific? IE, a build subforum for the evo x, another for the ralliart, etc?

What do you guys think?

I like the idea... I was about to start a build thread in my CT9A on my baby. I was taking picture last week now that I have the new fascia on and had my wing re-clearcoated.

Love it, I don't know about model specific though. I think it would depend on how busy you want the sections to be, there will more than likely be a lot less Ralliart etc than X's

I like it. I don't think we need to separate the threads by model. How many ralliart builds are actually out there? ;) Although it wouldn't hurt to categorize them.

So I've thought about doing it in the past, and I know that people have made suggestions along these lines too, but I couldn't figure out a solid, organized way of doing it. The problem is that I'd only want to allow one build thread per car.

I'm thinking we could do it like this:

Make a subforum for them, and then allow each person to post one thread. HOWEVER, that thread would be moderated, meaning that the initial thread would have to be approved by a moderator before it would be visible to the public. This way, they can manually check to see if that user already has a thread for that car.

Questions - should this be model specific? IE, a build subforum for the evo x, another for the ralliart, etc?

What do you guys think?


This is a great idea !! I think this helps people understand the different build options as well as giving them an overview of the many parts on the market for their car ! Its also a good way for people to keep-up with the progress of there friends and fellow members . I'm about to start-up again on my own car and I think its a great idea .








:nerd:

Oh sweet baby jesus. I have been suggesting this forever and a day now, hahaha. I understand your issue with moderation and agree. We don't need several different builds for the same person or car. Honestly I don't know about sub forms though. I mean honestly if people label the title correctly, and then be able to update the title then that would be fine. Example: "Xbox4414's 08 GG GSR" then when I update the build on a new page: "Xbox4414's 08 GG GSR - new pics updated pg5" Maybe something like that? Becuase do we have a enough non evo members to create a subform?

I have always refereed to this site as an example of what we can do: http://www.iwsti.com/forums/gr-members-journals/

No sub-forums. Just like Xbox said........we can just have the titles read the users name and type of car. Then it would make it alot easier for us to moderate and see who has what for thread starters. It would be up to the thread starter to update his/her own thread

That's a great idea. I say don't categorize it so people can also include their other builds like the mirage build that was posted on here. I think it will be a very popular subforum.

Would that build thread be accessible to all or just the OP? So if I had a comment would I be able to post IN that thread or would there be a seperate comments thread? I'm thinking IN that thread to keep it "contained".

Would that build thread be accessible to all or just the OP? So if I had a comment would I be able to post IN that thread or would there be a seperate comments thread? I'm thinking IN that thread to keep it "contained".

I hope and believe you should be able to post in it. I add something I'd like comments, questions and concerns to be addressed in that thread. No need for a separate conversation somewhere else. Also ff it can be done, maybe the OP of the build could have the ability to lock and unlock his or her own thread?

Would user blogs be possible? We kind of already have build threads. It seems if you want to create a place for people to post their progress, and commentary to each upgrade, a user blog makes more sense. Users can comment to each blog post. People following can just see all the posts to see the progress without having to sort through pages of other people's chatter along the way.

I'm no vBulletin guru, but I'd be surprised if no such module exists. Having a forum as an index to users blogs where each blog's thread gets appended when the owner posts a new article would be pretty kick ass :)

I really like this idea. But why not do it this way, one category for X's, Ralliarts, and Lancers, then another category for Miscellaneous Cars. That way we know where the threads for the X and its brothers are, and we know where somebody's RX-7 thread is.

Would user blogs be possible? We kind of already have build threads. It seems if you want to create a place for people to post their progress, and commentary to each upgrade, a user blog makes more sense. Users can comment to each blog post. People following can just see all the posts to see the progress without having to sort through pages of other people's chatter along the way.

I'm no vBulletin guru, but I'd be surprised if no such module exists. Having a forum as an index to users blogs where each blog's thread gets appended when the owner posts a new article would be pretty kick ass :)

Where is this build thread you speak of? Bc honestly they are all over. One person talks about his wheels in the wheels section, then he talks about is new intake in performance, then he talks about tuning in another. There is no all in one... That is what I want to see, beginning, middle and end. And not just Ryan Gates own build as that is the only place where I currently see one persons progess in one area.

I really like this idea. But why not do it this way, one category for X's, Ralliarts, and Lancers, then another category for Miscellaneous Cars. That way we know where the threads for the X and its brothers are, and we know where somebody's RX-7 thread is.

But is there even enough non evo member to build a specific thread? I think it would be lonely. Again if titled correctly I think we would know what build we want to follow. And less mess for the mods to look over. Also look at the forum data in the Evo X Wheels, Suspension & Brakes section you have 1,426 threads, in the '08+ Lancer Wheels, Suspension, & Brakes you have 10. Again is there enough to warrant separate model sub forums?

But is there even enough non evo member to build a specific thread? I think it would be lonely. Again if titled correctly I think we would know what build we want to follow. And less mess for the mods to look over. Also look at the forum data in the Evo X Wheels, Suspension & Brakes section you have 1,426 threads, in the '08+ Lancer Wheels, Suspension, & Brakes you have 10. Again is there enough to warrant separate model sub forums?

What about some people who have two cars? For example, after this winter I'm probably going to sell my truck and get a GTi or a Fit or similar hatch. Both of those cars are mod-able. Also, one of the Mods has a rally-x RX-7 they're building. I agree that the sub-forum may be small, but you never know. Either way, a build journal forum would be sweet and I'll definitely take part.

Ok, so if we just did one of them, we can put it in the LANCER COMMON forums.

Yes, people would be able to reply.

The only issue with editing the first post is the fact that after X number of days, users cannot edit their own posts, so eventually that luxury will expire.

If we're not going to categorize things, then we should define a format, kind of like what xbox was saying.

Maybe something like:

Username - Model Year - Color - Model (additional comment)

So it would look like:

Kooldino - 2008 - Phantom Black - Evo X GSR (responsive street car)

Do it and here soon I'll put my 2.3L FP Unicorn build in there

Would user blogs be possible? We kind of already have build threads. It seems if you want to create a place for people to post their progress, and commentary to each upgrade, a user blog makes more sense. Users can comment to each blog post. People following can just see all the posts to see the progress without having to sort through pages of other people's chatter along the way.

I'm no vBulletin guru, but I'd be surprised if no such module exists. Having a forum as an index to users blogs where each blog's thread gets appended when the owner posts a new article would be pretty kick ass :)

See if you can find such a plugin for vbulletin.

What about some people who have two cars?

Oh baby Jesus I'm I'm going to go crazy today. Again with one froum and proper titles I think it can be done.

Build 1: "Xbox's 2008 GG Evo X - updated turbo page 12"

Then your second car...

Build 2: "Xbox's 2010 Nissan GT-R drag build"

One forum, one moderator/admin and call it a day.

Do it and here soon I'll put my 2.3L FP Unicorn build in there

cereal?

Agreed but I want to be able to put both cars in there... Just in case the wife decides to go for more mods. Right now she can just use the VB Garage.

cereal?
no, his love for men

Oh baby Jesus I'm I'm going to go crazy today. Again with one froum and proper titles I think it can be done.

Build 1: "Xbox's 2008 GG Evo X - updated turbo page 12"

Then your second car...

Build 2: "Xbox's 2010 Nissan GT-R drag build"

One forum, one moderator/admin and call it a day.

Sorry that I'm driving you so crazy with impatience. Next time I'll make sure to disagree with you much less. But if you notice, titles get shortened, threads can be difficult to find, etc. That's why I thought two sub-forums would be better. I don't care one way or the other, I was voicing my opinion. You also spoke about how not many non-evo owning members were here, which also made me think of a sub-forum. Obviously we follow two different schools of logic, I apologize for the confusion.

Either way, Dino, I think this is a great idea and a long time coming, cheers!

IWSTI had user blogs for awhile but nobody really put the time into them since it takes a lot more effort to setup than a forum post.

The member journals are something that just make sense for boards like these. It really isn't a hard concept to implement or handle. Post up a topic per car owned...track progress inside of that thread with people able to have a conversation in there about your plans, etc.

Have a handful of moderators like any other forum and you're done. No need to separate by model, etc. The titles are descriptive enough.

cereal?

Dead cereal :freak:

IWSTI had user blogs for awhile but nobody really put the time into them since it takes a lot more effort to setup than a forum post.


Oh I 1000% agree. I would much rather doa forum post than spend the time and effort into building a car blog. Thus why I gave up on cardomain.com. Something simple and easy to read and post pictures.

See if you can find such a plugin for vbulletin.

I'm not sure what the plugin is called, but evom uses it. Here's an example:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/thomas-featsent/

A list of all blog activity here:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/recent-entries/

I made a test blog to play around. the config options are pretty good :)
http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/blk-majik/

It wasn't any more trouble to use than a forum post. I think the issue is that few forums actually present blog activity as well as forum activity. I use the side bar to track new stuff. If that had blog activity, I'd check them out :) Or if blogs were listed elsewhere ,but an in equally easy to find place.

But aht blog entry just doesn't seem as easy to post comments, finds specific users. IDK, just doesn't LOOK or seem as user friendly as a creating a forum and individuals making a post.

How hard is it to find users?
evoxfourms.com/blogs/username/ :) lol

Comments are easy. After the post, it 'add comment'. done. The benefit is you can follow the BUILD without having to sift through all the comments. Thats a huge plus imo.

How hard is it to find users?
evoxfourms.com/blogs/username/ :) lol

Comments are easy. After the post, it 'add comment'. done. The benefit is you can follow the BUILD without having to sift through all the comments. Thats a huge plus imo.

And a huge draw back IMO. I love readying thru past pages of conversations. Hell the first post, if the user wanted to could add links to important pages.

Ok, how about this - one thread per car, but the first say...10 posts in a given thread can be "reserved" by the OP. They'd have to manually do this though, but we could note that in a sticky along with the format.

I keep such a thread on a local forum--I think it's up to 65 pages now. It could actually prevent some off-topic prattle in unrelated threads because right now there isn't an appropriate location for it.

I have a thread on a local forum too. The link is in my sig. I really like it and a lot of people watch it for updates.

It also has an excellent index for find stuff. :D

p.s. I really like the idea of having a section like this on this site. I've dug through similar threads on a subaru site before, and it was amazing to see all the stuff being done to them.

I have a thread on a local forum too. The link is in my sig. I really like it and a lot of people watch it for updates.

It also has an excellent index for find stuff. :D

p.s. I really like the idea of having a section like this on this site. I've dug through similar threads on a subaru site before, and it was amazing to see all the stuff being done to them.

Exactly I just wish this idea took root fast, ugh. I suggested this a year ago. August 6th 2009. LMAO.

http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17689

Ok, how about this - one thread per car, but the first say...10 posts in a given thread can be "reserved" by the OP. They'd have to manually do this though, but we could note that in a sticky along with the format.

Why make it harder than it has to be? Just let members have their own journal threads.

local forum:
http://www.tristatetuners.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=113

it's easy.

Why make it harder than it has to be? Just let members have their own journal threads.

it's easy.

What's hard about reserving the first ten posts so everyone else doesn't have to wade through 50 pages to see what's currently going on?

Exactly I just wish this idea took root fast, ugh. I suggested this a year ago. August 6th 2009. LMAO.

http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17689

And I both pointed that out and listed my issues with that earlier. Hate to take the wind out of your sails, but I thought of it long before you even posted that. I just didn't want to execute it poorly.

Anyway, now that we've upgraded vbulletin to 3.8, Maybe someone can find a plugin for this sort of thing as another option?

I'm not sure what the plugin is called, but evom uses it. Here's an example:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/thomas-featsent/

A list of all blog activity here:

http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/recent-entries/

I made a test blog to play around. the config options are pretty good :)
http://forums.evolutionm.net/blogs/blk-majik/

It wasn't any more trouble to use than a forum post. I think the issue is that few forums actually present blog activity as well as forum activity. I use the side bar to track new stuff. If that had blog activity, I'd check them out :) Or if blogs were listed elsewhere ,but an in equally easy to find place.

EvoM doesn't pull it off well, in that it ins't integrated with the main 'post activity' feed. If there's a front page module to show blog activity, then problem solved

What's hard about reserving the first ten posts so everyone else doesn't have to wade through 50 pages to see what's currently going on?

it's completely unnecessary and causes people to flip through thread pages more often since you'd have to go back to the first page to see whats going on while the conversation is pages in.

not to mention, there's going to be a lot more than 10 posts of updates in these journals...are you going to want people to have to continually edit older posts after awhile?

journals are chronological by nature...there's no need to overthink this or complicate it.

Here's my thinking on this:
http://www.randomwok.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Swingset-Analogy.jpg

one forum/sub-forum for all mod journals. I see the point of reserving first several posts, and the point of letting it go chronologically. The problem with letting it go chronologically is if an update is made, people might still be stuck talking about the original build and things can get confusing (update was the last post on the previous page). At least if you see the progress of the build in the beginning, you know exactly where the car is at its latest point (in the first set of posts). At the same time, if you don't review the first set of posts every time/the OP doesn't mention there were updates, then people could be talking about the wrong part of the build again.. it is just a matter of preference to how a thread flows... I think either way would work, but one way should be set up for consistency..

Here's my thinking on this:
http://www.randomwok.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Swingset-Analogy.jpg

hahaha, so true

Someone get this done yet?

Is this a go, no go operation?

it's completely unnecessary and causes people to flip through thread pages more often since you'd have to go back to the first page to see whats going on while the conversation is pages in.

not to mention, there's going to be a lot more than 10 posts of updates in these journals...are you going to want people to have to continually edit older posts after awhile?

journals are chronological by nature...there's no need to overthink this or complicate it.

Here's my thinking on this:
http://www.randomwok.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Swingset-Analogy.jpg

Valid point. I guess my issue is that I know these threads are going to end up being super long, and tons of info will be lost and scattered about. The neat freak in me wants to try to keep it tidy.

Looks like the latest version of vbulletin offers an integrated blog that will show the most recent blog posts and such.

Example:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/forum.php

Wonder if this will integrate to our v3.8.6 forum without upgrading to v4?

I think this is the feature I was talking about. I guess its not a module then....

Better view here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blog.php

Hopefully I get some answers:

http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?p=2086528#post2086528

I think this is the feature I was talking about. I guess its not a module then....

Better view here: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blog.php

Right, that's how the blog looks, but I was just trying to show how it integrates into the site.

8thcivic.com has a sub forum devoted to member's builds, and so does TST. The OP can manually update their build page. You can link post #'s withing your thread to show updates on the first page, like "FMIC 8/17/2010 (link to post)".

The first post can just have a few pictures, mod list, and links to other posts to show pics of parts or whatever.

Not digging blog idea. I don't think users would post as many comments, questions and ideas that a thread would get.

That's up to the users. I do like the format of it though.

Yes it's up to the users, yes it looks nice. But why do nice if it isn't gonna be used as much as a simpler ways of making a "build thread"? I mean honestly it's easier to just read threw pages of a thread than click all the links of individual blogs. That is my take on it.

Valid point. I guess my issue is that I know these threads are going to end up being super long, and tons of info will be lost and scattered about. The neat freak in me wants to try to keep it tidy.

True. They do get cluttered with info. Not sure how to fix that without making it restrictive.

Anyone there? I have a feeling by the time something gets done some of our builds will be done. HA!

Anyone there? I have a feeling by the time something gets done some of our builds will be done. HA!

I would love to have a journal page. No doubt it will be used.

Still waiting on answers from the thread I posted on vbulletin.org.

BTW, is it me, or is that the slowest site on the planet?

Still waiting on answers from the thread I posted on vbulletin.org.

BTW, is it me, or is that the slowest site on the planet?

You are correct.

You are correct.

You figure being a site aimed in the direction of computer users.... I mean, it's not like people shopping at LLBean.

Argh, still no reply from vbulletin on this.

Say move on and just make a forum section. lol. :p

Have at it:

http://www.evoxforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=143

Please only use this section for big builds. Frankly, no one cares if you're installing an intake and exhaust. However, if you're building a motor, a trans, or doing major modifica

So we aren't meant to make a forum unless we are doing major mods? How about just the evolution of our Evos?

I think you mean "thread" not "forum".

The idea here is to make a thread for a project or a build of some sort. If you want to show off your sweet new wheels, then that's not really worthy of a journal. There's no real journey in that.

^^ How spiritual! :)

Yeah, there are forums for showing off individual components. I think, though, that if you have an end goal in mind and you want to document every step of the way, provided it's a little more than basic bolt ons, then you can start a thread to document and detail everything that's done from whatever point to the end result. So even if it takes 18 months and you start with boltons and it progresses to the cams and crankshaft and race-inspired blinker fluid and twin turbo RWD conversion, then yeah that's something that should be in its own thread.

But as xbox4414 mentioned, how should one go about documenting their build even if it's not a big or unique build? For example, let's say I just bought an Evo and over the next 6 months I have a plan for where I want it to be but it's not as fantastic as some guys' builds like Hollywood? Everyone takes pride in their car and wants to show it off. Maybe start a general discussion thread about the progress of their car and just reserve a few posts to edit later with more details? I know we don't want the Build Journals to get cluttered with, say, my adventures in second-hand carbon fiber purchases (who really cares but me? let's be honest lol), but there should be a good suggested alternative for the rest of us, I think. Maybe not this subforum but under Evo X General or Performance or Vanity or wherever it may belong? Then if it turns into a big build then it can always get moved into this subforum..

A build journal doesn't require you to be doing the most epic build in history. It simply requires you to actually be doing some sort of project or build, with some end goal in mind, as you mentioned.