Input requested. *Please read*

[vjf915]

The site has been a little slow lately, and we'd like to fix that. We'd like to know what YOU think would stimulate activity on here. Please feel free to suggest ANY idea that you think would make the site more appealing for both yourself, and other members. The staff will not be participating in the actual discussion in this thread, but we will be reading your posts and discussing any serious suggestions. We are serious, and we are ready to act on anything we can do to help make the site more appealing. Please do not hesitate to let us know ANY ideas you have.

Thanks,
The ClubCivic Staff

 

[RonJ]

My 2 cents

1) Are numbers really down? How much? I thought I noticed the average number of members logged in has been up compared to what I have seen in the past.

2) Avoid ever recruiting and keeping immature or bully moderators, whose destructive behaviors only weaken the site. This appears to be a past but not a current problem of Club Civic. Work hard to maintain this new trend.

3) JayJay (Justin), who leads/owns this site, should become more active in both the moderator forum and the public forum. His authority and vested interest in Club Civic warrant his taking a more visible leadership role in molding the philosophy of the site and its moderators.

4) Club Civic has mastered the "Club" part of its name. There's a solid core of loyal members interested in having fun and regularly interacting with other members. By contrast, the Civic (technical) part of Club Civic's name has for some time remained exceptionally weak. A sustained, creative effort should now be developed to boost the technical side of this Civic forum. This effort should include attracting new knowledgeable members to join, post, and stick around.

5) I like the new rep system that was recently instituted, but only time will tell whether it actually helps. From recent PMs I had with Jason, it seems that some modifications of the rep system may benefit the site. For example, it appears that a new member with a low post count can give rep to a helpful member, but this rep does not add rep points. Instead having a rep given to a helpful member by a new member yield equal or even more rep points than that from a high post count member may encourage more knowledgeable members to help new members more often. This in turn may attract more Civic-owning and help-seeking web surfers to join Club Civic and to stay here.

6) Recruit an equal number of active, highly technically knowledgeable moderators as you now have active, modest-to-low technically knowledgeable moderators.

 

[JohnS.]

My 2 cents

1) Are numbers really down? How much? I thought I noticed the average number of members logged in has been up compared to what I have seen in the past.

I don't think traffic is down. It just seems like it. A lot of the "OG"'s left.

2) Avoid ever recruiting and keeping immature or bully moderators, whose destructive behaviors only weaken the site. This appears to be a past but not a current problem of Club Civic. Work hard to maintain this new trend.

I like this.

3) JayJay (Justin), who leads/owns this site, should become more active in both the moderator forum and the public forum. His authority and vested interest in Club Civic warrant his taking a more visible leadership role in molding the philosophy of the site and its moderators.

I totally agree. JayJay is rarely on. Even oc is hardly on to post. Even if he does, it's only in OT. I rarely see him contribute. I think an active owner(s) would show that this site is being taken seriously. I realize real life comes first but to me, it just shows JayJay doesn't care.

4) Club Civic has mastered the "Club" part of its name. There's a solid core of loyal members interested in having fun and regularly interacting with other members. By contrast, the Civic (technical) part of Club Civic's name has for some time remained exceptionally weak. A sustained, creative effort should now be developed to boost the technical side of this Civic forum. This effort should include attracting new knowledgeable members to join, post, and stick around.

Agreed. The only problem with the tech sections is that people post the same damn threads all day long. No one searches or even looks down the damn page to other threads that are similar. I think we need stickied threads with useful links like Honda-Tech does in their 92-00 section. Their FAQ is broken down into categories and has TONS of links.

And most of the threads here seem to be "what do you think of this?", "should I buy this?".... There is no tech here it seems.

5) I like the new rep system that was recently instituted, but only time will tell whether it actually helps. From recent PMs I had with Jason, it seems that some modifications of the rep system may benefit the site. For example, it appears that a new member with a low post count can give rep to a helpful member, but this rep does not add rep points. Instead having a rep given to a helpful member by a new member yield equal or even more rep points than that from a high post count member may encourage more knowledgeable members to help new members more often. This in turn may attract more Civic-owning and help-seeking web surfers to join Club Civic and to stay here.

I don't mean to sound like a debby downer here but I don't care for the rep system (hence my title). Since it was changed to tech sections only, I feel that it will be beneficial more. But I just don't think the site has enough traffic for it to make a big enough difference.

6) Recruit an equal number of active, highly technically knowledgeable moderators as you now have active, modest-to-low technically knowledgeable moderators.

Again, going with what I said about JayJay and oc not posting, this would be beneficial as well. Seeing moderators that actively help in tech sections shows people are dedicated to the site and there are people that are trying to increase the knowledge database here.


Also, one thing I find a small problem is that most of us on here seem to think "clean" and "JDM" is the way to go. Anything else gets flamed. While I think an active Ride of the Month would encourage people to be more active here, I also think that we would see the same cars every month. Everyone has their own opinion on rice and all but everyone seems so closed-minded on here. I know I'm guilty of it.

I think if mods spent any time reading through tech threads (not saying you guys don't), you will notice how many threads are filled with random bs talk and non-tech related posts. There are posts like, "did you check your blinker fluid?". It's funny but it takes away from the tech aspect and discourages people from coming here more.

I've actually been trying to become more active on here in the tech sections to help since I use a computer at work. I'll even go out of my way to search something if I don't know it to help. I don't know a lot of the questions being asked so I help on what I can but it just seems like no one helps these days. But some days I'm terribly busy at work so I can't always be at the computer.

 

[civic209]

Slow? It says the highest users online ever was last week i think the sites doing great...
Not really sure how else to attract more? On a side note; im sure youve seen it, but 7thgenhonda.com has a chat box which could reduce 1 question threads.

 

[JohnS.]

There's a difference between highest users online and actual active users.

 

[Jeegz]

Is there any sort of advertising that can by done to help boost traffic?

 

[R3dline]

all the older people are leaving and or not posting like we use to cause, f**king new kids rolling in thinking they know everything. yet still ask the same questions like "what lug nuts fit my car", "which wheels should i get" "what lowering springs should i get" it just gets old after years of being on here. i myself dont even post as much as i use to. cause of that kinda s**t. i say we burn the site down and rebuild it from scratch lol

 

[soon2bsick]

all the older people are leaving and or not posting like we use to cause, f**king new kids rolling in thinking they know everything. yet still ask the same questions like "what lug nuts fit my car", "which wheels should i get" "what lowering springs should i get" it just gets old after years of being on here. i myself dont even post as much as i use to. cause of that kinda s**t. i say we burn the site down and rebuild it from scratch lol

a lot of that has to do with the lack of "stickies" in my opinion, also the DIY forums are not quite so obvious as most people who have posted asking questions and then are referred to a DIY say "oh I didn't even see that section" because of their placement in the line up of forums. I think DIY should be its own section on the line up and then broken into separates from there.

I happen to find this forum much more user friendly than honda-tech,

I think things also need to be more exciting, this site has the most eye friendly appeal but most other honda forums have a photo of the month contest, and various other contests where people win stupid crap like a sticker but it boosts the morale and keeps people tuned in. The last featured ride was in sept, its good simple ideas like that, that if were kept up on they would really get people locked in. Right now it's just a post here, ask here type of forum and no one really has a chance to be "involved"

that's just my 2 cents, either way I think this is a well put together forum and has a lot more to offer than most

 

[253eg]

I don't think there is much anyone can do anymore.

 

[Puma]

Vic....I told you what I thought via text earlier, Love.

all the older people are leaving and or not posting like we use to cause, f**king new kids rolling in thinking they know everything. yet still ask the same questions like "what lug nuts fit my car", "which wheels should i get" "what lowering springs should i get" it just gets old after years of being on here. i myself dont even post as much as i use to. cause of that kinda s**t. i say we burn the site down and rebuild it from scratch lol

Agreed. I was just thinking that I'm SICK of seeing the camber kit threads, what should I lower with, and how do I do this threads. Newer users have become INCREASINGLY lazy w/ the search button, and I too am starting to find the site less interesting b/c of the repetitiveness.

I used to be on a forum that had 'undergrounds'. These were for users per JOIN DATE, not post count. It's nice bc we tend to stay more of a family but we can still post anywhere else on the forum, the 'newbs' just couldn't post/see those subforums.

Clearly I'm not an OG, but I've noticed the OG's that I followed builds about are no longer around. I realize making more subforums is a LOT of work and you guys are busy enough as it is. Thank you anyhow for what you already do.

 

[oc_civic]

I do not post as much as I used to... the reason is unfortunately simple... It is hard to continue to give the same useful advice over and over again only to have it completely ignored...

poster: "H0W L0W ShOuLD I GO Wit da nEw EK"
me: "an inch and a half 2inches would likely make the car a little more responsive and not require a ton of modification"
poster: "will ma wheels be tucked dat low?"
me "probably not but if you go really low you will need to completely replace the suspension to all after market higher quality components.. and make huge adjustments"
poster: "I think ima juz get dis FulL SuSPEnSion KiT link www.ebay.com/jdm/dropzoneslamjdmcoilovers
me: *bangs head into wall"

I am certainly not the end all in Honda knowledge... but when you time and time again tell someone exactly how to accomplish what they are trying to do... and they just completely ignore you.. it gets really really really old.. ask people here.. I would go out of my way and explain things with PAGES of detail.. having all that effort ignored? it is just frustrating... so I stay on (because I care about the site.. a lot) but am here mostly in an administrative capacity.. I ban people, appoint and remove staff, make admin changes, move threads, etc.. not so much actual posting.. doesn't mean I don't care..

 

[JohnS.]

And I completely agree with you. Which goes back to what I was saying about stickied threads with FAQ's and such. If you guys think it would be beneficial, I will make a sample thread in the suspension section and it can be edited to your desires. It'd be a start. I'll just put FAQ's and what I think are the best answers. Not necessarily parts wise but as far as helping them get to their answer without anyone telling them to buy such-and-such part...to let them figure it out on their own.

 

[LowNotSlow]

all the older people are leaving and or not posting like we use to cause, f**king new kids rolling in thinking they know everything. yet still ask the same questions like "what lug nuts fit my car", "which wheels should i get" "what lowering springs should i get" it just gets old after years of being on here. i myself dont even post as much as i use to. cause of that kinda s**t. i say we burn the site down and rebuild it from scratch lol

This. And if we get irritated at the new people asking the same s**t all the time we get warnings from the Moderators. Simple solution, don't post anymore. Ignore the new people entirely. Get bored and move on.

 

[JohnS.]

This. And if we get irritated at the new people asking the same s**t all the time we get warnings from the Moderators. Simple solution, don't post anymore. Ignore the new people entirely. Get bored and move on.

Well that's the problem... The people here that know what they're talking about are sick and tired of spoon feeding the same information to the same people that don't care to search. We can't just ignore them... That defeats the purpose of a tech site.

Best thing, IMO, would be to make a stickied FAQ, post the link to it in a thread where the question gets asked 20 times a day, and close the thread. If they have any problems, they can open a new thread after they've read it and understand what they want to accomplish.

 

[JiuJitsu_greg]

I think the biggest problem is that the site is not too interactive. It is more informative. The problem with an informative site is that other sights like hondatech are better and have better experts when it comes to technical information. I think the good thing about club civic is the club feel. I think the site needs to stimulate that portion of the sight more. You need to garnish more intrest in the photo contests. Get people involved in regular threads like the sexiest loation thread. We need more threads like that if you want more active users. That kind of stuff can be stimulated by normal users or by moderators.

 

[buzzbombtom]

give more s**t away. its as simple as that. you want more people here, you got to give away more s**t.

you need to showcase newer civics, i.e. you need more tech and more how to's on 7-8 gen civics. when this site started there was not a ton of tech on 5 and 6 gen civics, given the amount of enthusists for both gens almost every single thing from engine swaps to oil changes has been "DIY'ed"

if i need to find out how to do something on my car i use google to search, it yields a far better search result. i dont know if you can fix the search feature but it needs refining. threads that dont end up in an answer need to be addressed by staff, i.e. maybe a mod who links a dead end question to a helpful thread?

 

[buzzbombtom]

also host more big time meets, i.e. get sponsorships to show up, i.e. the eibach meet that h.t. does. a 300z lovers forum meets at the Nissan North America headquarters in so cal. and people from around the country show up. the site does best when you have a lot of people from one area who can meet up often. oc and jayjay may be some of the only ones that remember noth meets south, or the big discovery park meets we used to have. some how you got to start that up again.

 

[emerican]

I do agree somewhat one the search feature here. Although i almost alwyas find what im searching for it always give me tons of threads that have no help in them at all or dont even pertain to the subject im searching for.

 

[Mr. Jollypants]

also host more big time meets, i.e. get sponsorships to show up, i.e. the eibach meet that h.t. does. a 300z lovers forum meets at the Nissan North America headquarters in so cal. and people from around the country show up. the site does best when you have a lot of people from one area who can meet up often. oc and jayjay may be some of the only ones that remember noth meets south, or the big discovery park meets we used to have. some how you got to start that up again.

Excellent point. I think it's something that could definitely be discussed, and be successful.

I do agree somewhat one the search feature here. Although i almost alwyas find what im searching for it always give me tons of threads that have no help in them at all or dont even pertain to the subject im searching for.

We brought in the "Tags" feature, but it seems, no one uses them, this was meant to help with search, you could search for just 7th gen tags, or could search for just wheel tags, ect.

 

[Gunner]

I am new to the site, and while in the short time i have been on here i have seen the repeated questions and all i do is search the same question for ideas on how to answer, the problem is you will never get rid of that, you will always have the people who don't want to use the search section and or just don't use it, its like that on almost every forum i have been on. One thing i would suggest and maybe it was done before i dont know but the tech questions are all under one section for all Gens, I think it would be easier to navigate if you had it broken down like your members ride section, So if i own an 8th gen i can look at other peoples 8th gen issues instead of searching through everyones issues..this may make it easier to avoid the repeat questions as lazy people wouldnt have to look as far for their problem.


*edit* Above post was written while i was typing i guess, the tags feature would in a way work for that, but that is a feature i did not notice till just now...