DTR or TDR

[mikeberry]

I began to post this in the general forum but then switched it to a members only forum.

Are we, (TDR) in trouble?

I see that the mag has been slowly shrinking in thickness each time I get one.

I just recently stumbled upon the DTR while googling a part for my truck.

First, did we look into any legal action regarding the blatant logo rip-off? Dang.

I noted that they just got done bragging about surpassing our membership #'s.

(Not to hard when it is free)

I noted that many of the advertisers have also begun to post over there. That's the way it goes. Unfortunately that one really kills us because they are now splitting their ad dollar.

Can we be de-throned? Sadly I think we can. I do not have an easy answer but one problem that stands out is website speed. The two sites use the same format but this site is easily 4 times slower. (I only have dial up available and I have to pay for a long dist. call when I am using the internet. )

I did not post this to start a fight but simply to wake us up to a possibility.

I am TDR faithful and my paid subsrciption will continue.

Steve and crew, good luck I hope TDR has many more years left.

-Mike

 

[JFaughn]

I hang out at both , if we/they get into a us or them , they will both decline , I like having multible friends , interests ect. , it would be boring to have just one of anything .
I do not want to stur anything up just maybe keep interest in all my interests .
Thanks John

 

[MRaynor]

The member numbers over there are not 100% correct. They have a really bad habit of banning people right and left. But what they do is leave the members name in there after booting, making it appear as if there are more members than there really is. I am also the member of another site and they basically have a DTR banned club over there. :-laf :-laf

TDR has nothing to worry about with that place for sure.

 

[PToombs]

I stop in there about 5 times a year. I saw that thread and was surprised. I prefer this site to that one. Their tone is so different. I'll pay my dues and stay here!

TDR rules! :-laf

 

[DavidC]

A paying membership keeps the wanna-be's to a minimum as human nature has evolved into a something for nothing evolution. I kind of like the company here anyway:-laf .



Dave

 

[Regcabguy]

Reputation police.

Larry Ellis has a "reputation" rating system in the form of a green square next to your name. I'm thrilled to be rated"one little green square"! Larry has rated himself "four little green squares"!:-laf

 

[JFaughn]

The member numbers over there are not 100% correct. They have a really bad habit of banning people right and left. But what they do is leave the members name in there after booting, making it appear as if there are more members than there really is. I am also the member of another site and they basically have a DTR banned club over there. :-laf :-laf
TDR has nothing to worry about with that place for sure.

I think I've been on the verg of being outested from DTR more once , can I go to the site in question before ? or do I have to wait till I'm kited out ?
I'm used to ranting & reading rants , I try not to hold it against myself or others .
For me its about info more than anything , & it can be about politics , religion , what have ya .
This is the point were I quit talking so much about the [ other ] stuff over there , I would prefur to talk about a political issue were I have a little idea whom I may be talking to , & usally related to something about Cummins , tech , ect.
There was a realy good thread going , maybe last summer , [ political ] and there was a lot of good informitive decustion and it was cut short , and I so not read from this one guy any more , texmex something , seemed to have a good head on his shoulders .
Now I've done it , I sucked myself in to a nother rant .

 

[ToolManTimTaylor]

The DTR has been 'round for years. Ever scince '01 I guess? They do not offer a quarterly magazine , travel companion , or recognition from Dodge (The TDR was actually in my 2001 owners manual packet). The TDR also has "Respect" out there on the www.The TDR also has a stronger presence if you will at many events and sofourth.



The Member numbers you see at the bottomof our page are ONLY members that havea website membership. Remember not all of our members choose to have internet accessability.

 

[Cooker]

A paying membership keeps the wanna-be's to a minimum

Agreed.



I will continue to remain a TDR member. DTR is not for me.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Let's not allow this to become a bash session of another site. They do what they feel is in the best interest of their membership. We do what we feel is in the best interest of ours.

One thing that we try VERY hard to do is be VERY responsive to the wants/needs of our members. For example on your dial-up speed issue - we have a forum skin that we developed specifically for dial up and PDA users that will make the site EXTREMELY fast for you. Pull down your discussion forums menu to user control panel, click on edit options, then towards the very bottom you'll see a selection for the forum skin - change that to PDA/dial-up. That will strip almost all of the graphics off the site and the TDR will instantly become the fastest site you browse on the net anywhere over your dial-up connection. We feel that as paying members of the site that you have a significant say in how things are run - your input is given VERY careful consideration even if it's only a few voices.

The TDR spends a significant amount of money to keep up with the traffic levels that we have and stays on top of it proactively. For example adding two additional servers and a load balancer 4 months ago when it wasn't going to be "needed" until April at the earliest.

We also do a significant amount of work to make the site as user friendly and seamless between different packages as possible. The entire site with the exception of the classified ads section uses the same username and password for example and they are all cookied, so you only have to login to the site once and your on everywhere. The classifieds have a seperate login because we allow anyone to post a classified so that you the members get the maximum benefit - all the while denoting which ads come from members so that you can only deal with them if you wish.

The TDR is the only company that has a professional writing staff and the credentials to get information that you won't get elsewhere. The information we publish any time there is a new product introduction (including videos of the press intro as a member exclusive benefit) cannot be found anywhere else. We are the only magazine there that asks the questions you guys are interested in because we are enthusiasts as well.

The travel companion is a TDR exclusive and I don't see how it could ever be offered at the level we offer it. Our travel companion database is continuously updated and checked against our subscription database. Records are continuously deleted or updated due to changes that we would otherwise be unable to know about if we were not a magazine subscription based company - if people aren't receiving their magazines they let us know and we then know that their address changed and hence update the travel companion.

We also spend a significant effort on customizing the software used on the site to give you maximum benefit. The default search forums is an example. That is code that I wrote that allows you to restrict the forums that come up when you do searches (view new posts included) so that if you have a 1st gen for example and aren't interested in 2nd or 3rd gen information you don't have to wade through it. It's those kinds of things that we do because we have the resources to be able to do so.

In addition to all of that on the website there is also the quarterly magazine filled with 130+ pages of information. A professional writing staff with the credentials to get you that information, etc.

These are just some of the benefits we feel that we offer to attract members to the site.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Dtr...

They have a really bad habit of banning people right and left.

Also, if you say anything remotely negative about a DTR advertiser, your post or thread will be deleted.



Ask about your Catalatic Converter in a post and this will appear:



Please do not discuss removing federally mandated emmissons controls.



I have had pictures deleted also. The TDR is a much better board IMO.

 

[TDRadmin]

Thanks, Guys!

Thanks for the vote of support, guys and gals!



Everything Steve typed is true. And as Tim shared, we have had other competing websites for several years now.



As one of the owners of the TDR, I believe the internet is a very big place, and there is room for all of us to thrive.



Our goal is to provide a great magazine, supplemented by a great website. We're not perfect, but we are a small group of folks working as hard as possible to provide you with handful of things that make owning your Dodge as fun and easy-to-maintain as possible.



Let us know when you see things we need to address. And thank you for your continued and more than enthusiastic support!



Robin

TDR Admin

 

[Turbo Tim 1]

Robin and Steve, I've been to the other sites and I still come back here most of the time, this is the best one with the least amount of BS, but I have to agree with mikeberry on the magazine, the last issue was kind of lame, having all the website questions answered by Joe D was kind of insulting. I think there is alot of great information put out here that could be shared with the magazine only people. I spend alot of time here helping people but haven't seen any of my threads in the magazine in a while. I mean no offense to Joe but I think you could spread the wealth a little to make things more interesting.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Agreed.



I will continue to remain a TDR member. DTR is not for me.

I agree 100% Ryan. Even though it's free.

 

[Hendricks]

IF any of you care to read a few of my posts on the travel companion you will quickly see that I will probaly be a member as long as long as were still burnin good ol #2. Nobody else has anything like this and the members here are the best. Ps when i was at edge the other day i had to laugh when i saw about 10 copys of the tdr on the table by the door. At least there lookin to see what the customer wants:-laf

 

[mikeberry]

Thanks Steve!

Never knew this existed. (dial up format) I'll have to try it on my other sites too.

Sounds like all is confident at TDR which makes me happy. Like I said I never planned on straying from the flock just wondered if all was O. K.

(I still think they ripped our logo though!)

 

[jmorse]

TDR is #1. I have visited the other site in question and didn't stay long. I read every issue of the Mag. cover to cover. I like the positive, helping,caring attitude on TDR. To each their own. Long live TDR.



Jim

 

[HOBrian]

I look at both sites and IMHO I think the people on the TDR are smarter and more dedicated to the Cummins than any other site. I value the information I get here on the TDR. Other sites I take info with a grain of salt.

 

[RobertP]

i have to agree with everyone on this subject. i will continue to pay my dues here. i visit many sites during the day but i stay on tdr the most. like stated above all the other sites are very "ban happy" im my opinion. also the amount of deleted post is rediculous. thanks to all who keep tdr the best site on the internet.

 

[SafeHarbor]

I'm a member of both, but I spend a lot more time at DTR than I do at TDR. Why? I have yet to find the "new posts" link here. I've looked, and it's not obvious. At DTR, I just click "new posts" and browse through the topics to see if I'm interested in them. Here I feel like I'm wading through a vast expanse and all I have to go on are the little activity indicators at the left. Somebody tell me where it's hiding, and I'll spend more time here, too.