New MX5 Website

Talk about stuff not related directly to MX5s. Feel free to discuss what you like, as long as you keep within the forum rules.

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Growler
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New MX5 Website

Post by Growler » Sun Sep 07, 2008 3:35 pm

Just looked at the new website. http://www.mx5club.org.nz/index.php?opt ... e&Itemid=1

Why isn't there a link to this forum???

jif
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New MX5 Website

Post by jif » Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:16 pm

This would be the part where we get reminded that the mx5forum is not part of the club proper... surely there could be a link with disclaimer though ..?

Now that you mention it... there's no links section at all... is that going to make an appearance (paging Zorruno) ..?


cheers,
Jeff

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zorruno
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Post by zorruno » Sun Sep 07, 2008 9:46 pm

wot? Huh? oh - sorry I was asleep...

I don't really have anything to do with the committee, or the website any more. Frans Drissen is the website guy. I've been providing help where I had time (and recommended they use a decent CMS like Joomla), but he was the only guy to step up and do something. The original website I created became a bit unmanageable...

It has just been bought online, and I had previews etc, but I don't manage any of it - including content. I understand there were lots of committee meetings to decide the outcome of that site!

Surely you know how it all works by now Growler? ;)

A new sig maybe? "mx5forum.co.nz .... committee free since 2008" :lol:
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poison
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New MX5 Website

Post by poison » Sun Sep 07, 2008 11:42 pm

More importantly.... Did they put a link to our forum? It would be nice if we do co-exist and not duplicate functions or both web sites will suffer because of it.

Sorry but I like their old web site, the new one looks way too corporate to me. The old web site had lots of useful info, maybe it will merge across in time.
:twisted: Gazda in the white HOT Mazda :twisted:

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Post by madandy » Mon Sep 08, 2008 12:12 pm

Does the m
old email 'list' still circulate or has this forum completely taken its place?
I've had a bit of fun reading back through the list archives hosted here to see my old posts. It seems odd that the archives are here if the two sites are not to be tied together, at least with some simple links.

Growler
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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by Growler » Mon Sep 08, 2008 1:16 pm

zorruno wrote:Surely you know how it all works by now Growler? ;)
Yeah I know... In the early days I did manage to get Mazda to add a link to our website but I se that has gone by the wayside as well!!
poison wrote:Sorry but I like their old web site, the new one looks way too corporate to me. The old web site had lots of useful info, maybe it will merge across in time.
Agreed. Not very fun at all...

joanie
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New MX5 Website

Post by joanie » Mon Sep 08, 2008 3:11 pm

I'm not too fussed on the new site either...and where's the "stuff for sale"???
Joan H

poison
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New MX5 Website

Post by poison » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:14 pm

> I preferred the email at first but this is just as good and you
> can chose to be emailed new postings in your personal settings/options.

I'm not sure you realist Gaz, but it can work exactly the same as the old email list. When you subscribe to be emailed the list info, you can just as easily respond by email, and it will go back to the email.

http://www.mx5forum.co.nz/viewtopic.php?t=86

You don't actually ever have to visit this website after that if you don't wish to - you can do everything via email ;)
:twisted: Gazda in the white HOT Mazda :twisted:

biff
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New MX5 Website

Post by biff » Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:38 pm

Yea, any project conducted via “consensus” usually ends up totally different from the original concept, lacking all the really useful stuff, late, and over budget
Red MX NA
ZOOM1N

zorruno
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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by zorruno » Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:33 pm

poison wrote:More importantly.... Did they put a link to our forum?
I think that's what Growler was asking...
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poison
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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by poison » Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:11 am

zorruno wrote:I think that's what Growler was asking...
The joy of forums via email, not always in order.... Mr picky pants :P
:twisted: Gazda in the white HOT Mazda :twisted:

MX FVE
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New MX5 Website

Post by MX FVE » Wed Sep 17, 2008 11:09 am

Hello everyone - Paul Bryant here MX5 Club National President.
I have read with interest the comments made about the new club website and think I should clear a couple of points made.

Firstly jif your quite correct in the fact that this site is not part of the National Club.This (as far as I'm aware) has always been the case and the old e-list was run and controlled via Zorruno and space allocated by him on the club page seeing as he looked after the website. It was stopped a couple of years ago due to both club members and non-club members abusing the service and each other and it has never been operated by the club committee even though people wanted us to take disciplinary actions towards some users!.

Also please bear in mind that the website is not completed. Classified ads,links, galleries etc are still be organised and made available.
Frans has been working on this project during his spare time. He was the ONLY person to volunteer to revamp the club page, and if you feel it could be done better then get in touch with Frans and offer some assistance.

Biff - Your statement about "consensus" is usually quite true, however not in this case. We are not over budget and have actually tightened the spending on the site as much as possible, and there was never an original concept that got changed.

So where does the money come from to pay for a new website? Members pay just $45 per annum for use of a website/6 high quality magazines/club card and sticker. What about the monthly hosting fees - postage costs - bank fees and everything associated with the running of the club?? On page 13 of the latest magazine there is an ad for this forum website -wonder who pays for that?? Is there a reciprocal link from this site to our club page or any other?
Parts of the old website such as technical info and bits and pieces will be brought accross in due course and reloaded. These things take time so please before everyone gets on the "don't like the website" bandwagon either give it a chance or offer some help and suggestions. If you feel the need then please contact me directly and I will gladly discuss this further with you.
Thanks Paul

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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by Growler » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:18 pm

I know the forum isn't "part of the club"...but why not.
I suggested having a forum about 10 years ago but no one was keen on it (Re: Zorruno) because of the maintenance involved - which was fair enough.
Now that the club is larger we have a bigger pool of members to help out.
I think what Zorruno has done with this forum is absolutly brilliant.
Why can't this forum be incorporated into the club. This would be an essential tool for new members wanting to find out more about their car etc.
Why not expand it further and use it to advertise events...or cancellations.
Think of the money saved in not using paper and prepaid envelopes!
You could expand on the for sale section with main Mazda dealers selling cars...but they have to pay for it. This would then help fund the website.
Then the club can spend the money I have saved them on motorsport events!!!

zorruno
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New MX5 Website

Post by zorruno » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:03 pm

Warning... this is long sorry - feel free to ignore me ;)

on 17/09/2008 11:10 a.m. MX FVE wrote:
Hello everyone - Paul Bryant here MX5 Club National President.
I have read with interest the comments made about the new club website
and think I should clear a couple of points made.
Firstly Paul, I wouldn't read much into the whole thing all - people
always have their opinions, which is why the 'open discussions' were
distanced from the club in the first place.
Firstly jif your quite correct in the fact that this site is not part of
the National Club. This (as far as I'm aware) has always been the case
and the old e-list was run and controlled via Zorruno and space allocated
by him on the club page seeing as he looked after the website.
Yep - the reason the mx5forum was created was that the committee asked
for the list to be shut down. No one suggested anything better, and
no-one else was prepared to help fix it. After a bit of thought at the
time, I tended to agree that was the best & easiest thing and decided to
set up discussions at a non-associated site.

I didn't really 'control' the old list much, in so far as there wasn't
any 'moderation' available. The $5 per month cost of the email list
server was paid for by the club.
has never been operated by the club committee even though
people wanted us to take disciplinary actions towards some users!.
Yes it was. That was one of my jobs as a committee member
(e-administrator) for 7 years. That was one of the problems as the list
was directly associated with club activities.

Certain people tried (on the old list) to blame the committee for
various stuff that the club & committee had no control over. i.e.
remove people from the list, censor particular comments or we'll quit
the club... sack some club members or we'll ask for our membership fees
back etc etc
Also please bear in mind that the website is not completed. Classified
ads,links, galleries etc are still be organised and made available.
Frans has been working on this project during his spare time. He was the
ONLY person to volunteer to revamp the club page, and if you feel it
could be done better then get in touch with Frans and offer some assistance.
I agree with Paul, and from first hand experience I know that one should
be careful approaching people about things they have done by
volunteering. Frans has done well to get it this far and in the
timeframe he has, with little knowledge of the tools when he started out.

Nothing wrong with making some constructive suggestions though. I'm
sure Frans would be happy to receive them.
Biff - Your statement about "consensus" is usually quite true, however
not in this case. We are not over budget and have actually tightened the
spending on the site as much as possible, and there was never an
original concept that got changed.
That's not quite true. Committee's always need to have consensus to
resolve things. I've been there... and still belong to about 6
committees! Even getting the club committee to agree on the top banner
of the new site was a challenge for Frans. That is however the nature
of committees, and one that will always hold true of a volunteer
organisation especially.

re the concept Paul is quite correct though - the original concept
(using Joomla, with event plugins, that multiple users could edit and
update etc) didn't change, and I think the committee did get a pretty
damn good start to their new site vs the money & time that was spent.

If I had the time to keep up with club committee meetings and work on
the club site revamp, I'd still likely volunteer to be the club website
guy and that is pretty close to what I would have produced.
On page 13 of the latest magazine there is an ad for this forum website
-wonder who pays for that??
Hang on, that's a bit harsh - I offered to pay for a small ad in the Top
Down mag to let members know that this site exists and as a donation to
the club. My payment offer was declined. I don't get any funding for
this site, don't ask for payment to join, and make no profit. I don't
need an ad in top down, but it was really just to show NZ Club Members
where another web resource was that they could use (at no cost, NZ
focussed). Feel free to remove it if you think it shouldn't be there -
or send me an invoice for the issues that it has appeared in.

I also helped Frans with the new club site setup in the beginning, and
continue to give him support where needed. I don't expect to get paid
for any of this & help Frans because I enjoy it and want to see a good
outcome for the club.
Is there a reciprocal link from this site to
our club page or any other?
Actually, there are literally hundreds of links to the MX5 Club site
here (well, the old site anyway). And many other MX5 online resources.
That's the whole point of open discussions - the users create the
content, not the owner.

There isn't any one page that I can see includes a link to other useful
sites, but there is nothing stopping anyone creating one (maybe in the
FAQ section or something?)

In fact this very thread links to the MX5 Club site on the first post!

By the way, I have no opinion whatsoever on whether there should some
sort of 'link' on the MX5 Club site or not - I didn't start this
thread. I also tried to keep out of the decisions with regard to what
content was on the New Club site, as I knew comments like this would occur.

It is an open discussion though (well, to a point - within the site
rules), so people are always likely to state their opinions, and I
welcome that freedom of expression here.

So I suppose my point is... don't read too much into these opinions Paul
- people say what they like here and sometimes they forget that most of
the work done by the club is voluntary.

Let's get back to talking about the car, the best colour (black,
obviously), and when will I get around to deciding what ECU to buy... :)

cheers
Last edited by zorruno on Sun Jul 22, 2012 10:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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zorruno
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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by zorruno » Thu Sep 18, 2008 4:14 pm

Growler wrote:I suggested having a forum about 10 years ago but no one was keen on it (Re: Zorruno) because of the maintenance involved - which was fair enough.
Actually, I didn't know much about forums at the time - email discussion was easy to set up and use.

I think there was a few people on the committee at the time that said there wasn't enough interest, and if you wanted a forum, just use miataforum.com

Once setup though, this is a lot easier to maintain as we have a few moderators who help out (thanks guys!). It was a pretty steep learning curve setting it up though (with some help) - glad I did though as I learned a lot.

Incidentally, I'm going to move this thread to the off topic forum, as it is more about the NZ club than MX5s.
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WRW
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Re: New MX5 Website

Post by WRW » Sat Sep 20, 2008 2:56 pm

MX FVE wrote:Frans has been working on this project during his spare time. He was the ONLY person to volunteer to revamp the club page, and if you feel it could be done better then get in touch with Frans and offer some assistance.
Actually Paul, that's not entirely true. Frans contacted me in regards to the new site way back when, and I came up with at least 2 different looks for the new website, plus the current banner. All done in my company's time to support the club.
Nina
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Greenracer5
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Post by Greenracer5 » Wed Sep 24, 2008 10:00 pm

All I'd like to say is...
I'm pleased that people are taking an interest in the new website, in this very forum and in the club in general. It's all very healthy and shows that we MX5 owners in NZ are passionate about what we like and how we like it to be.
It's great...long may it continue!

GR5
Take it out and play with it.

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