Morris Minor Owners Club

Over the coming months, the club will be looking at revamping the current MMOC website, and quite likely the messageboard itself will be part of that revamp. Don't go holding any breath, because you won't see any changes for quite a while yet, but good ideas that are raised now are more likely to find their way in than great ideas that only make it to the committee's ears at the last minute. So, in that far-off utopia, what features would you want from a new MMOC site and/or a new MMOC board?

How about an Ebay type page
For cars and parts for sale
With the poster deleting it after his or her car or part has been sold
This would reduce the clutter and the time old question (is your car still for sale or have you sold it etc) etc
And all to include the ever asked for , do you have a photo, picture beside it
And of course not forgetting the free parts section
Any takers on this idea

How about some sort of logical index feature so that one can browse it to find out about any articles that may be relevant to a particular job you may be doing?
And some sort of personal "bookmarking" so that when an item/thread particularly catches the eye ( perhaps because of some inspiring or detailed photos or some piece of technical information), we can bookmark it and it appears under our personal control panel so that it is always there until we delete it? A bit like the "Items I'm watching" on eBay.
These are both wee features that I would find useful.
What say others?

Coalmossian wrote:How about some sort of logical index feature so that one can browse it to find out about any articles that may be relevant to a particular job you may be doing?
And some sort of personal "bookmarking" so that when an item/thread particularly catches the eye ( perhaps because of some inspiring or detailed photos or some piece of technical information), we can bookmark it and it appears under our personal control panel so that it is always there until we delete it? A bit like the "Items I'm watching" on eBay.
These are both wee features that I would find useful.
What say others?

Yes brilliant

I like to see the gist of a new post without having to open it all ,plus for new posts a heavy type for the ones I have not read,plus can we go straight to the latest post rather that the start ?

All the above posts seem very reasonable,good luck

Re the Index feature a properly implemented taxonomy to tag posts with the subject matter would make searching for content much easier; e.g.
Mechanical > Engine > ignition > Condenser
Mechanical > Suspension > Front > Torsion bar
Electrical > Lights > Indicators
Bodywork > Boot > Gasket
I think it's probably best if the taxonomy is set by the MMOC admins so that posts have a better chance of being tagged consistently.

Could we also have some more illustrated (videos?) set of technical articles addressing common jobs?

And finally, could there be a consolidated section of the knowledge scattered about the internet that would answer common questions, e.g. What does this Engine Number mean, Colour codes & schemes, How much is it worth in condition A, B, C etc.

Thank you

PS more emotion ikons please

What about a dedicated welcome section for new members so they can receive a warm welcome and introduce themselves ??? and also a members gallery for pictures of there cars so people could see the different cars customised etc

irmscher wrote:What about a dedicated welcome section for new members so they can receive a warm welcome and introduce themselves ???

and be informed what size tyres are safe for minor rims, the main points of the disc v drums debate etc. etc.

irmscher wrote:
What about a dedicated welcome section for new members so they can receive a warm welcome and introduce themselves ???


and be informed what size tyres are safe for minor rims, the main points of the disc v drums debate etc. etc.
M25VAN
Minor Fan

Give new members a chance to draw breath first surely, before you throw them headlong into the cut and thrust of the minor debates on this site.............

All good stuff so far, by the way, it gets my vote.....
Best wishes,
Mike.

1) Search for posts by date and time. A start and end date for the search would work nicely, possibly with default times of 00:00 and 24:00 that could be amended if required. I have suggested this before, as a result of logging out by accident before reading anything, and then not being able to find "new" posts

2) A feature whereby new members could have a trial period free, but thereafter posts could be made only by paid-up members of the MMOC.

These are all great ideas, so many thanks and keep them coming. Do remember though that I'm talking about the whole website, not just the messageboard - most suggestions so far seem to focus on the board alone.

Please also remember that these are just ideas at this stage and of course there aren't any guarantees! Just as an example, a 'trial period' for non-members is inherently tricky, in that what is to stop non-members from running down one trial and then just creating a new email address to start a fresh trial? Perhaps a dedicated 'newbies' forum for non-members might work for this, though

There are ways, used by many other sites. If you're techie, then you can circumvent them; but it's the old 80-20 rule, and you would get most people.

I suppose that we should also comply with the silly EU rules on cookies, although I need to check the legislation to see if it applies to a club - and is the site run by the MMOC or the MMOC Limited and does it make a difference?

simmitc wrote:1) Search for posts by date and time. A start and end date for the search would work nicely, possibly with default times of 00:00 and 24:00 that could be amended if required. I have suggested this before, as a result of logging out by accident before reading anything, and then not being able to find "new" posts

2) A feature whereby new members could have a trial period free, but thereafter posts could be made only by paid-up members of the MMOC.

Perhaps I'm a bit dim ( advancing years and all that!) but I'm not quite sure what this means. As far as I can see the only trouble with this is that you have to have prior knowledge that the post exists in the first place!? My memory is not too good ( and that's putting it mildly!) so I may remember that there was something I wanted to follow up on, but God only knows when it was posted!
Also, how about introducing some sort of system relating to products and suppliers that involves some sort of rating or feedback system. A bit like the feedback system we have on eBay? Would that be feasible without breaching the T&C's? It seems crazy to me that, for a club that is predominantly set up for the members' benefit, there is no way of informing the membership of poor service or shoddy goods not fit for purpose. Surely it can be done somehow as eBay don't find themselves being sued right, left and centre for posting members' feedback!
Another thought, though this may be a bit more difficult to keep up to date.........a somewhat more detailed list of club spares, perhaps with photos for some of the more desirable items AND PRICES!

Posters location to be required. Spellchecker

'Highly recommended supplier' list thread, as I've just been grumbling about on the suppliers thread'.

More smilies.
Very important part of getting a point across in this expressionless faceless world to save misinterpretation and misunderstandings

I think there should be a way to stop dealers coming on the site sending a pm and buying a car just to put on ebay .I wondered cant there be a minimum post count before a person can gain pm status ? it works on other forums and quite well

The only trouble with this last suggestion ^^^ is that we would loose the people who come on this site offering us the chance to buy "Grandad's beloved Morris" etc. It's difficult weeding out who is a trader and who is a genuine purchaser, as many traders just post giving a name not a company and it takes time and a bit of detective work to whittle them out!

I do review the messageboard on a regular basis, but can we have some form of help/guide to explain the icons etc i.e what do the different colour of the globes mean and why do some flash?
I know you can view all new Posts from Home > Messageboard > View new posts and that the icon at start of Topic Title will take you to the newest post you have not read in a topic, but what other short cuts are there?
Any form of search that makes it easier to use would be a benefit

I agree Lou, I was prevented from offering some Mini parts on a forum because I had fewer than 50 posts, maybe someone was looking for just that part.