Seeking your input!

[Chris]

We are now well into our second year of existence here on the board. Other than little changes here and there mostly with graphics and adding the links page, we have for the most part left things as is. All the forums that existed on day one, exist today. Today, I made a few tweaks to the old Parts Bin and Buy and Sell forums which is one of the first changes we've actually made.

What I wanted to know, is if there are any forums that people would like to see added to the board? For example, would you be interested in having a non Checkmate general boating forum down by The Dock? When I have thought about adding another forum that is probably the one that most comes to mind when I think about it. But I was wondering what all of you think. We ultimately may leave things as is, but I thought it would be interesting to know if any of you have any interesting ideas for a forum.

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[Chris]

We are now well into our second year of existence here on the board. Other than little changes here and there mostly with graphics and adding the links page, we have for the most part left things as is. All the forums that existed on day one, exist today. Today, I made a few tweaks to the old Parts Bin and Buy and Sell forums which is one of the first changes we've actually made.

What I wanted to know, is if there are any forums that people would like to see added to the board? For example, would you be interested in having a non Checkmate general boating forum down by The Dock? When I have thought about adding another forum that is probably the one that most comes to mind when I think about it. But I was wondering what all of you think. We ultimately may leave things as is, but I thought it would be interesting to know if any of you have any interesting ideas for a forum.

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[175checkmate]

A non-boat fourm may be cool. But I think the dock is doing that now. May have to sleep on it to see what I can come up with.

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1975 Checkmate Tri-mate 2, 2.4 200+ / Sky jacker 6" plate / 25p Laser 2 prop, Currently the boat is undergoing overhaul.

[Chris]

I was thinking a forum where people could feel free to discuss their 14' Alumicraft with 15 Honda or whatever? http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Or where people could talk about their Glastron? http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

You get the idea. A place where we could post pics of our other marine toys. Or chat about waterskiing, tubing that kind of stuff.

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[Chris]

Or that Triad I secretely lust for......oops did I say that. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

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[Hot H2O]

Thats what I use the DOCK for....I look at some of the other sites and they have so many forums ...its hard to know where to look


I would like to see a " new posts" icon ...where all the new posts since youv'e been to the site are listed...so you don't have to go into each forum....also a button to mark all the new posts read......so you don't have to go into each forum to clear them.....

my 2 cents........


A middle-aged guy is out to dinner with his wife to celebrate her fortieth birthday.
He says, "So what would you like, Julie? A Jaguar? A sable coat? A diamond necklace?"

She says, "Bernie, I want a divorce."

"My goodness," he says, "I wasn't planning on spending that much."

[Z06]

I've always thought that a Car and Truck place would be cool! If you look back in the dock there was a thread where you posted images of your tow rig. Also questions concerning vehicles could be answered in here too!
My idea http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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Click to Visit Hydro Dynamic Racing! (http://www.geocities.com/HydroDynamicRacing)
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[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hot H2O:
Thats what I use the DOCK for....I look at some of the other sites and they have so many forums ...its hard to know where to look


I would like to see a " new posts" icon ...where all the new posts since you've been to the site are listed...so you don't have to go into each forum....also a button to mark all the new posts read......so you don't have to go into each forum to clear them.....

my 2 cents........


A middle-aged guy is out to dinner with his wife to celebrate her fortieth birthday.
He says, "So what would you like, Julie? A Jaguar? A sable coat? A diamond necklace?"

She says, "Bernie, I want a divorce."

"My goodness," he says, "I wasn't planning on spending that much."<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>That exists now Hot. The lightbulbs light up to alert you to a new post in a forum, which you haven't read. If you want to see what has been active since your last visit, or what are the new posts for the current day, you just have to click on the little globe breadcrumb which is just above the board. It's beside the Entrance hyperlink. Hope that helps!

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[senator-holland]

i think that new forum will bring more edited post's. (wrong forum, the issue is going to move slowly by reply's to different forum issue)
more work for chris or the Forum Moderator.

my thoughts are a movie section, a marine audio section.
maybe when there are so many topics make a under selection by related topics.
so the topics who are passed are easyer to read and by reply you can bring it up on the top of the list again.
i never read the topics who are older and on the number 3 or more page.

helmich
info@oost-west.nl

[senator-holland]

here in holland there is a forum on cars where there is an sektion where you bring up pic of your car, your house and your boat. it's designed to make the forum more personal and to know the members better.. it's very popular under the members. just a suggestion.
make it than your car your house an a pic of you working at your job.

helmich
info@oost-west.nl

[senator-holland]

just a suggestion:
make something like "the showroom" (no reply's) and tell boardmembers the actual prices from new checkmate models +extra's +trailers
maybe something scanned from factory?

that's something what i want to know, saves the factory a lot of pricing...

helmich
info@oost-west.nl

[Chris]

Thanks for the suggestions Helmich.

As far as the pricing suggestion, it's pretty hard to do as the dealers ultimately set their own prices.

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[Brian]

Hey Chris, first off love the forum as is, and if there is no changes, its still cool as hell. But what about adding a bikini or girls place to post pic's. Thats all. Just 2 cents for you.

[Brian]

Chris sorry man just read the ("Virtual boating, hot boats, and hot bodies ?")thread, but still think about it.I know others would like it.

[F150GT]

Chris
I'd like to see a nice photo album, all pictures and who owns them, I know theres a section like that but we have to open each pic.
S&F have a page with a bunch of small pics you can scan & click on it to enlarge.
Sometimes I like to go in and just look at all the diffrent boats.
F150GT

[Chris]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Brian:
Chris sorry man just read the ("Virtual boating, hot boats, and hot bodies ?")thread, but still think about it.I know others would like it.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Unfortunately, we really have no interest in adding this type of forum. I know there are members that would like it, but there are just as many that wouldn't. There are also so many existing forums out there that already have a section for bikini girls etc. I just don't think the world needs another.

We really want our main focus to be a online Checkmate resource for people of any age. And we just don't feel a bikini babes thread fits.

I appreciate the feedback though. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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[This message was edited by Chris on December 04, 2003 at 11:41 PM.]

[Chris]

Brian & F150,

With regard to the picture posting capability software. Infopop, the people who make our board software, are currently testing some new features for the board. One of the new features they will be offering is a type of picture posting software. It will be something that can be added to the board for an extra monthly fee. Currently our board uses about twice the alloted bandwidth we are allowed and we end up penalty fees each month. The excessive bandwidth is mainly due to the pictures we have uploaded for members in the showroom and picture this forum. So adding more photos will just increase that demand and cost. So the struggle for us, is how do we keep the cost of the forum manageable, so that we can avoid having to introduce some kind of membership fee or making donation requests.

I know some sites do have premium membership fees for specific areas like picture forums. Which means you can't even view pictures without paying for a membership. Some others, restrict some areas to registered users only. Greg over at Scream has a number of sponsers, as well as he makes requests for donations, and in return donating members get a small graphic which is placed in their signiture. Suffice is to say, there are a whole host of things I guess we could consider as a way to offset some of the costs of running the board.

Our approach so far, has been to try to keep the site costs manageable and use of the board free for everyone, registered or not. And also, we have kept the thrust of the site focused on Checkmates.

However, given that people have an interest in having a picture posting section where they can upload pics themselves to a personal section etc. We will most likely review the issue when Infopop offers that feature in the not too distant future.

So I guess the inevitable question will be:

How would everyone feel if we added some new features (like a picture posting section) and those features required you to pay a membership fee to use them?

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[senator-holland]

chris,
the story above is very clear for me and i agree with your points.
i think the one of the issues is, do we keep the board free of membership fee or not. i think that the succes of the board depends on if we make that choice or not.
if it's free, the board is growing with members, if it's not it's not growing as fast.
it's a difficult one....

helmich
info@oost-west.nl

[85Predictor]

Chris,
How about limiting the time any one photo is on the board?
It might help reduce the bandwidth use.

My 2-cents!! http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_rolleyes.gif

[Chris]

85, a pic only uses bandwidth when someone actually views it. The reality is, that as threads fall to the bottom, they usually get forgotten about. So most of the picture viewing bandwidth is the viewing of newer pics, and the showroom pics.

One thing we don't do, is compress most of our photos. I do that because I want the pics to be almost perfect quality. That is especially the case with respect to the showroom. And if you notice we also display large photos, not small ones. In fact, I try to display photos which are as large as possible, without causing the board to scroll left and right to view the entire width.

At the end of the day, we can add some of the features that have been suggested. There is no doubt they are excellent ideas and can be added. But the down side will be the changes that will have to be made to accomodate the new features. And I'm not convinced that in the end it will be all worth it.

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[175checkmate]

Chris as you pointed out, pictures take up bandwidth. Greg over at scream and fly has a team member status for those people that send in a donation. But Greg's stand is his board will always be free and the donation is stricly volintary. I personally would not want a board with a membership. This pushes members away that just surf in and want to check the place out. A volitary donation may be something we talk about in the future.

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1975 Checkmate Tri-mate 2, 2.4 200+ / Sky jacker 6" plate / 25p Laser 2 prop, Currently the boat is undergoing overhaul.

[Chris]

Gus, here are some options that come to mind;

I guess we could ask for voluntary donations like Greg does.

We could offer select features to members who want to purchase some kind of membership. The fee essentially paying for use of the feature. Here is one example, perhaps the membership could give a member the ability to upload photos to a personal webspace hosted on our servers.

Another idea is we could attempt to get some sponsers. That would probably be hard.

And I'm sure there are many other revenue generating ideas we could come up with.

Or, we could do as we have been doing, and more or less leave things the same.

The one thing I strongly feel though, is that it is not worth having to introduce voluntary donations, membership fees or whatever. Just to support the cost of having a "babe forum".

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[175checkmate]

I agree, I am not real keen on a "Babe Fourm" there is enough of that out there already.

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1975 Checkmate Tri-mate 2, 2.4 200+ / Sky jacker 6" plate / 25p Laser 2 prop, Currently the boat is undergoing overhaul.

[F150GT]

I honestly have no idea what goes on behind the scenes of a web site, what you have is great and I see no real need for any changes. If special picture forums are going to be more exspensive, dont worry about.
Andy

[Chris]

When I started this thread, what I really had in mind was if anyone was interested in adding an additional forum. Something like a general boating forum where you could chat about your other boats, or maybe waterskiing.

Whenever I have given thought to adding an additional forum, that is the one that first comes to mind.

But, if everyone is happy about the board the way it is that's great too. We'll just leave things as they are now. http://www.checkmate-boats.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

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