Thoughts on Exhaustive Website Thread

[Vman7]

A few years back I was discussing with another forum member about sharing all of my automotive related bookmarks with forum memembers. We both thought about uploading a file that could be downloaded and then put into your Internet browser. This other forum member offered to host the file. I was supposed to go through all the bookmarks etc., but I just never found the time to really sit down go through all of them, it's in the 1,000s.

It's probably a good thing since now I am using Firefox mostly and I am not sure exactly how sharing a file would work. So this brings me to this thread.

What would people think about having a Exhaustive Website Thread that could be a sticky in the General Discussions Area? Not sure where it would go over at FFCars.

The idea would be a Thread that would have categories with subcategories with each main category in a post with the appropriate website links.

This would take a long time to do, but could be done over a period of time. Mostly doing all the html for the links, since they would see the name of the site instead of the link.

First I would have to figure out all the categories to determine how many post to save ahead, so there are no gaps before people post a reply or add website link that may not be listed, and then can be added to the list.

This is probably too much info.....lol

Example:

Thread title: Exhaustive Website List (have it as a sticky)

Post #: Main Category: Engine Subcategories: Cooling, Crate Engines, Fuel & Induction etc.

and so on.

Like I said it would be a lot of work, so not sure if I am getting myself into something that maybe be a nightmare or not...lol

So any thoughts on this idea?

David

[David Hodgkins]

Have you seen this?
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/content.php?143-wikis

[Vman7]

Have you seen this?
http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/content.php?143-wikis

I haven't seen that before. David I gather you mean do something along those lines?

David

[Vman7]

Here are the Main Categories that I have come up with that I feel would be appropriate.

Main Categories: 16

Factory Five Related
Major Suppliers
Minor Suppliers
Body & Paint
Building Supplies
Chassis & Suspension
Drivetrain
Electrical
Engine
Exhaust
Interior
Resources
Safety Equipment
Services?
Tires & Wheels
Tools & Shop Equipment

[Jeff Kleiner]

Sounds like you need your own site.

Jeff

[billjr212]

It's an interesting idea. Problem I see with it is that it effectively turns into a listing for a bunch of non-vendors, which seems very inappropriate since there is already a listing of vendors that can cover just about all of these areas.

[Vman7]

Sounds like you need your own site.

Jeff

Yeah, that is for sure! Probably the best way to go. As of right now I really don't want to get involved with a website. In the future yes.


It's an interesting idea. Problem I see with it is that it effectively turns into a listing for a bunch of non-vendors, which seems very inappropriate since there is already a listing of vendors that can cover just about all of these areas.

That is a very good point you have there about the idea being basically a non-vendor list, which like you said would be inappropriate. Wouldn't be fair to the paying vendors or to this forum. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!........lol

I can tell I have been away for too long.

As far as the vendors already here covering just about all of those areas listed above. Not even close!

Thanks for pointing that out Bill! :) I definitely didn't have my brain cap on when starting this thread.

Sorry everybody for starting this thread.

I'll have to figure something out. That is if I really desire to go through all the hassle of maintaining a list on a website or something.

David

[billjr212]

That is a very good point you have there about the idea being basically a non-vendor list, which like you said would be inappropriate. Wouldn't be fair to the paying vendors or to this forum. WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!........lol

I can tell I have been away for too long.

As far as the vendors already here covering just about all of those areas listed above. Not even close!

Thanks for pointing that out Bill! :) I definitely didn't have my brain cap on when posting this one.

Sorry everybody for posting this!
David

I can't tell if you are being a jerk, just sarcastic, or both. Remember, tone doesn't translate on your forum posts.

Your list and whether or not there are vendors that fall under the category:
Major Suppliers - yes, several
Minor Suppliers - yes, several
Body & Paint - yes, there is at least 1 painter as a vendor
Building Supplies - yes, again
Chassis & Suspension - yes
Drivetrain - yes
Electrical - yes, multiple
Engine - yes, several
Exhaust - yes
Interior - yes, partially covered
Resources - Got me on this one unless you consider the entire forum the resource.
Safety Equipment - You might have me here too.
Services? - Lots of service providers on here
Tires & Wheels - yes, multiple
Tools & Shop Equipment - yes

Obviously there are specific tools that none of the vendors sell and services that none of the vendors provide, but my point is was not so absurd that it merits a reaction such as yours (at least not how I read it).

If you want me to be more direct and critical, it sounds like you are trying to replace Google with a giant list in the forum. I know I don't want to sift through 100 lines of links to find a company that sells suspension parts based solely on your personal recommendation that the website is worthwhile to be linked. I can just google something like "trailing arm 818 site:thefactoryfiveforum.com" and find exactly what I need plus personal experiences/recommendations from several forum members. Lists are great - for the person making the list. But they have a tendency of being useless to others.

Just my 2 cents. And yes, I was annoyed when I initially typed this up, so I left it, came back to it and toned it down, and then posted.

[Vman7]

I can't tell if you are being a jerk, just sarcastic, or both. Remember, tone doesn't translate on your forum posts.

Your list and whether or not there are vendors that fall under the category:
Major Suppliers - yes, several
Minor Suppliers - yes, several
Body & Paint - yes, there is at least 1 painter as a vendor
Building Supplies - yes, again
Chassis & Suspension - yes
Drivetrain - yes
Electrical - yes, multiple
Engine - yes, several
Exhaust - yes
Interior - yes, partially covered
Resources - Got me on this one unless you consider the entire forum the resource.
Safety Equipment - You might have me here too.
Services? - Lots of service providers on here
Tires & Wheels - yes, multiple
Tools & Shop Equipment - yes

Obviously there are specific tools that none of the vendors sell and services that none of the vendors provide, but my point is was not so absurd that it merits a reaction such as yours (at least not how I read it).

If you want me to be more direct and critical, it sounds like you are trying to replace Google with a giant list in the forum. I know I don't want to sift through 100 lines of links to find a company that sells suspension parts based solely on your personal recommendation that the website is worthwhile to be linked. I can just google something like "trailing arm 818 site:thefactoryfiveforum.com" and find exactly what I need plus personal experiences/recommendations from several forum members. Lists are great - for the person making the list. But they have a tendency of being useless to others.

Just my 2 cents. And yes, I was annoyed when I initially typed this up, so I left it, came back to it and toned it down, and then posted.

First off I am not going to get into a flaming war over this. Bill you look to be looking for trouble, and get rattled easily.

Not everybody knows how to do a good search when looking for something and or has the time to look for something.

First off it's a fact that the vendors that are here don't even come close to covering everything in those categories I listed. Example: how many tire and wheels mfr.s are there? answer, roughly around 20 major tire ones, wheels roughly around 50. How about gauge mfr.s and custom gauges? Roughly 12.

So how many people here do you think know that, probably not as many as you think. Most people don't have the time or know exactly where to look. When it come to doing research, and yes I am going to say it, I am very good at it! It has taken me years to accumulate an exhaustive list of not only suppliers, but mfr.s and resources on not only how to stuff, but reviews to opinions on building hot rods. The more info people have to help them build there car the better, in the hopes that people's build can be more of a smooth process, and not a nightmare.

David

[myjones]

I can't tell if you are being a jerk, just sarcastic, or both. Remember, tone doesn't translate on your forum posts.
but my point is was not so absurd that it merits a reaction such as yours (at least not how I read it).
If you want me to be more direct and critical, it sounds like you are trying to replace Google with a giant list in the forum. But they have a tendency of being useless to others.
Just my 2 cents. And yes, I was annoyed when I initially typed this up, so I left it, came back to it and toned it down, and then posted.

bill
I can assure you that V-man was only making fun of himself and meant nothing more than to be helpful so I'm also glad you toned it down a bit. I have done the same thing
and have never regretted letting things settle a bit before responding to something that annoyed me. I poke at David/V-man from time to time but it's all in fun and he's
in my opinion really a hella nice guy that has helped a lot of forum members and seems to respect the vendors on both boards.
Dale

[Vman7]

btw Bill, Not sure if you noticed or not. I said there are subcategories. I can find something in a heartbeat. Some of the website links cross over into other categories, making it easier to find things. Like under electrical, there are some sites that sell certain kind of switches for example. Well that certain page would also be bookmarked in the Interior section under the switches subcategory.

But like you said Bill this would not be appropriate to have a listing of website here. So I said that and apologized. What more do want?

David

[Vman7]

Thanks Dale :) I am just your local knucklehead who can't make fun of himself enough!.....rofl

[Vman7]

Well need to get back to doing what's important.......Designing stuff......lol

Might do some research on website hosting though. It's been a very long time since I have looked into website hosts.

David

[billjr212]

So I said that and apologized. What more do want?

David

I took the apology to be insincere. Not interested in a flame war as you put it. My favorite part about this site is that sort of thing doesn't go on here. It's the reason I stopped reading threads on nasioc because they had such a tendency to turn nasty.

I offered up my 2 bits of feedback. Feel free to implement (which it sounds like you already had planned to partially do) or ignore.

[NBinSD]

You could probably rough it out in a Google spreadsheet doc pretty easily. Use tabs for top level categories and columns for subcategories. This would take away the need for HTML, wouldn't be affiliated with the site, and could be shared with anyone from any forum. You could even allow certain others to update it if you wanted to.

I skipped over most of the thread above once it went off track but I would like an exhaustive list of vendors or manufacturers. I saw a list of gauge vendors in an earlier thread and thought it was great. Or how cool would it be to have a list of all seat manufacturers and which seat models fit which ffr cars?

[Vman7]

You could probably rough it out in a Google spreadsheet doc pretty easily. Use tabs for top level categories and columns for subcategories. This would take away the need for HTML, wouldn't be affiliated with the site, and could be shared with anyone from any forum. You could even allow certain others to update it if you wanted to.

I skipped over most of the thread above once it went off track but I would like an exhaustive list of vendors or manufacturers. I saw a list of gauge vendors in an earlier thread and thought it was great. Or how cool would it be to have a list of all seat manufacturers and which seat models fit which ffr cars?

I'll have to look into that google spreadsheet idea. I gather you mean the spreadsheet could then be shared via email? Would the spreadsheet be on a website for people to update etc.? or just something I or maybe someone else would share through say email?

That gauge list was probably one I posted lately for someone. Speaking of seats, yeppers, I have a bunch of those, mfr.s and suppliers.

David

[NBinSD]

Yeah the google spreadsheet would live online, you'd just share the link to it and users would view it in a browser. You'd update it and anyone viewing would see the updated version immediately. I could PM you a sample tomorrow when I'm back on my laptop.

[Vman7]

Yeah the google spreadsheet would live online, you'd just share the link to it and users would view it in a browser. You'd update it and anyone viewing would see the updated version immediately. I could PM you a sample tomorrow when I'm back on my laptop.

This is interesting, kind of like cloud in a sense. A sample would be cool, then I can get an idea. Thanks :)

David

[NBinSD]

Here's a good example, posted earlier today in the 818 forum

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VZ2_pZ0pvTwYnfNPnw1T8N8P6mkkdXQPPydrjph0deI/edit#gid=0

[Vman7]

Here's a good example, posted earlier today in the 818 forum

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VZ2_pZ0pvTwYnfNPnw1T8N8P6mkkdXQPPydrjph0deI/edit#gid=0

Ah your basic spreadsheet. Wonder if I could do something up in excel and import it into Google doc.

[billjr212]

Ah your basic spreadsheet. Wonder if I could do something up in excel and import it into Google doc.

Yup. There is an import function that works fairly well. Be careful not to get too fancy with excel though. Google docs is an effective tool, but it doesn't have as detailed of functionality as excel, so you may lose some formatting in the import.

[Vman7]

Yup. There is an import function that works fairly well. Be careful not to get too fancy with excel though. Google docs is an effective tool, but it doesn't have as detailed of functionality as excel, so you may lose some formatting in the import.

Thanks Bill :) Been looking into the Google docs and sheets as well as some free website hosts for a few hours tonight.

Getting kind of bug-eyed about now........lol Not sure which direction to go just yet. Doing a small website might work, since I know how to do basic web design. What's nice these days are the wysiwyg's are getting really easy to use without having to do any modified html or javascript at least very little like years ago.

Well now that I am about bug-eyed out.......lol time to go watch some movie and hit the ole sack.

David