About Graduation Threads!

[David Hodgkins]

It's time to discuss Graduation Threads!

I've put together a Graduation form for the Roadster as a first step in creating this new funtionality. I included a lot of questions, but haven't broken them down into sub categories yet. You can take a look at my work-in-progress here:

Roadster Graduation Form (http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/misc.php?do=form&fid=6)

I'm looking for feedback on what additional fields to add (results of these forms will be searchable and sortable by question, among other things).

What categories should I break the questions into?

Please realize that this is a first attempt, and your input is more than welcome! Some fields are missing, and some choices are incomplete.

I'll be making changes as you suggest them, so you may see stuff on the form that appear below as suggestions, it just means that the form is in active development.

So, What's missing, and how can we make the form better? Let me know!

:)

PS Please don't submit the form, I'll just have to delete the created thread.

[DARKPT]

Great addition! Those of us still building love to see the recent grads as it motivates us.

Do you want to put a definition of graduation up? I know that definition could be controversial (e.g. painted vs unpainted), but it might be helpful to folks who aren't sure whether they've really graduated. Similarly, will this be a self-proclaimed graduation, or does a moderator decide whether graduation has actually occured? If there is to be a review, some mention of that at the top of the form might be in order.

A common question is "How long did it take to build yours"? Maybe ask for when the kit was received and when it was completed (this date might default to the date the form is being filled out).

Those of us with a build blog or photo site could use a place to list them. Admittedly, many of us have them listed in our signature block already.

[Someday I Suppose]

David, I like it, very cool. I think a completion date if there is such a thing is an idea along the lines of Dark's thoughts, you could have a delivery date and completion date and calc the build time.

There certainly should not be a field for what you spent on the build, or how far over budget you went... :-) Just sayin

-Scott

[David Hodgkins]

I'm working on a definition of completion, and I've added the Frame Number, Start and finish dates.

Good catches so far. What questions should we have for the interior? Should I list a bunch of stuff like radio, heater AC, etc with check boxes? What guages should be in a drop down?

:)

[skullandbones]

David,
I think there are many mods that are done as part of the build. Some of them are well known and repeated over and over (have their own names). However, some are unique and could be included as well. So you could have common "named mods" and a "other mods" section with a comment field for brief explanation or maybe pics.

This sounds like a great project! Thanks, WEK.

[skullandbones]

It might be helpful to use general headers and titles (sort of Information Mapping formate).

HISTORY: (major category) e.g. date delivery, etc

DISCRIPTION: (major categroy)

MARK: ENGINE: TRANS: (subcategories)

MODIFICATIONS: (major category)

DRIVER FOOTBOX MOD: TRUNK MOD: (subcategories)

[David Hodgkins]

Are you guys in favor of a memo field for mods and another for a general detailed description of the build or do you think one memo field can cover all non standard fields? I'll implement categories with the above guidance and we'll go from there...

:)

[Someday I Suppose]

David, I sort of like the check box approach for the common mods, sort of like when going onto Kelly Blue Book, Power Steering, Power Brakes, SAI Modification, Radio, Heater, AC, Foot Box Vents, Drop Butt Mod, VW Turn Signal Switch, etc.

Very fun stuff btw!

[DARKPT]

Will the form instruct the graduate to put links to pics in the final narrative field? Or do you want to see the photos managed as attachments?

[David Hodgkins]

Will the form instruct the graduate to put links to pics in the final narrative field? Or do you want to see the photos managed as attachments?

I added some narrative text and am allowing both IMG tags in the memo box and attachments at the bottom so folks can choose. I PREFER that attachments are used so that the images are uploaded to our server instead of reling on links to another location which could "break" over time. I also added a bunch of check boxes for basic options. let me know if I missed any.

Still working on a "Done" definition...

:)

[Cobradavid]

David,

Great idea to have a graduation form! You might consider making the engine drop-down menu more inclusive for the modular motor crowd. Yes, they can select "other" and type in their specifics, but it might be nice to have the options in the drop down menu. For example, maybe the list can include 4.6 SOHC (or 281 for those who like cubic inches), 4.6 DOHC, 5.0 Coyote, etc.

David

[David Hodgkins]

David, I'm not tied to CI at all. Adding the suggestions above. Good catch. Any more omissions on the rest of the form?