members area

[Vikki]

ive been reading and occationally posting on the message board for about six months now and finally decided to join the club mostly because i was so curious about the memers site, i got my magazine yesterday and just went in the members bit, i dont know what i was expecting but its a bit crap really i thought everyone would have photos of there cars up there and projects and another message board or something, am i missing some huge part to it? i am known for missing the obvious! ow well liked the magazine though loved reading about what the old workers got up to instead of working lol!
ha ha while describing what i thought of it apparently my favourite car is a datsun cherry!!! so glad i previewed it.

[ndevans]

i dont know what i was expecting but its a bit crap really

It's not the best is it? However you've got to remember that the website is maintained by voluteers in their spare time, who have other full time occupations & committments.

Have a look at http://mog.myfreeforum.org/index.php for an alternative message board.

cheers,
Neil

[bpr81a]

The 'members area' is currently under review. I know whats there isn't very upto date, and the picture galleries don't seem to work. There is a fair bit of effort needed to revamp it and those of us who do the work have other things to do as well, like earning a living!

We're going to get the galleries fixed (hopefully) and probably have members only pages rather than a separate members site (to make maintenance easier).


Jon

[millerman]

Jon, would it not be easier to go to the MMOC Committee and get funds to pay for the re-vamp to be done as a one-off leaving you to maintain the site?

I do realise the problem you have and, I suspect, others have balancing a job with organising the IT dept of a £1/4 million turnover company for free!

[Vikki]

ok feel bad now wasnt getting at anyone didnt realise it was done by voluteer work, sorry.

[ASL642]

For members' information the "IT Dept. of the MMOC" is 2 voluntary workers part/time after work (sometimes during lunch-breaks if the system crashes during work hours). After the work involved for the National Rally has ceased we can return to the re-building and up-grading!

[jonathon]

Vikki, do not feel bad, you have expressed a perfectly valid point.
Neil and Millerman have raised the problem of trying to maintain a website by voluntary effort alone.

[ASL642]

This Club is run by a voluntary workforce and cannot be compared with a fully manned paid company. All our time is given freely and willingly for the benefit of other fellow members. I personally have put in hundreds, even thousands of man hours happily and posts like the one above I find personally insulting. The website is only one area of this Club, and is visited by a small fraction of the membership.

[millerman]

Lou, I'm hoping to make the National so let's have a discussion over a cup of tea.
Although volunteers are doing a good job I cannot see how you can manage in future as more and more members access the MMOC site.

I strongly suspect that a lot of 'silver' surfers drop in to have a look. Is there a means of counting those that look at the site but do not post?

I was trying to assist by making a valid suggestion, in no way was I insulting anyone!

[ASL642]

None taken by you Millerman, and if I get 5 mins off from selling you know what, I'll come and say hi.
Trouble is it is almost impossible for a "group" of volunteers from all over the country to format a programm for the website. It usually falls to either one person or another thus keeping a continuity of style and design. Ideas are looked into but sometimes prove difficult to implement immediately because of the way the original site was set up (no criticism of prevous webmasters) There is already a thread about the ages of the messageboard users, but completing this is not obligatory!!

[rayofleamington]

just went in the members bit, i dont know what i was expecting but its a bit ####

Hi Vikki,
I've heard very much the same comments from MMOC committee in discussion with Jon and Cam. All parties involved would like it to be an asset, and all acknowledge that more is needed.

Some people may believe the myth that the club committee is anti-website. Fortunately this is not the case (if it ever was), however the club has to balance the needs of ~14000 members, and provides a very wide portfolio of activity.

Personally I'm well impressed by the amount of website re-work that has been accomplished in the last year, and regularly check the site to see what's new.
Prior to that, the site had been left in an unmaintainable state (no disrespect to the previous efforts of Andrew and Billie!) and had not been updated for long time. The site had grown 'organically' as it grew in popularity and content, winning an award (awards?) in the process - however to continue the maintenance and growth, a lot needed to be started again from scratch.
Now that a lot of visible and invisble work has been done, the remaining areas stand out as not as good as the rest!

I am in a priviledged position to have 'ear wigged' a handful of the discussions that go on behind the scenes but for those that are not, please don't worry about asking questions!