What do you guys think of.....

[BushWakr - RIP]

Guys, I've had a couple suggestions that we need an FAQ for 1st Gens.

Now, rather than try to have a new FAQ incorporated into the main web page I thought we could do one of the following:



1) alter the title of "Best tips for new 1st Gen owner... " and make it say. . "Best tips and FAQ for 1st Gen owners... "



OR:



2) A entirely new 'sticky' titled : "1st Gen Truck FAQ"



Which would work the best???



Bob.



**NOTE TO JBOLT***



This is heading in the direction we discussed just recently. I will fill everyone in as we go, I just don't want to start/raise expectations and have it fall flat. .

Bob.

 

[formula]

New sticky Oo.



Sean

 

[jbolt]

Here's my 2 cents worth-



I think the "main site" FAQ should have been set up by generation and not lumped together as it is. That being said I have no idea if the powers that be would be willing to make those kind of changes or not but in the mean time we can do with what we have.



The "discontinued parts" section does not seem to be getting much traffic other than a good door pin discussion. A sticky may be better suited for the discontinued parts and turn that forum into the FAQ where specific topics could be added to as a thread.



Pssst "NOTE TO BUSHWAKR" (This would also provide a forum for what we have been discussing and not telling anyone about. ) Shhhhh :-laf



I think trying to lump all the FAQ info into a single sticky thread would be self defeating and difficult to sift through.



The FAQs should also be moderated/ edited for content and kept to the subject.



Jay

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

On the down side the "discontinued parts" thread is a bit slow,

On the up side it means that so far we have not encoutered to many parts that are truly "no longer available". It also was not meant to be a discussion type forum either... remember. . it was for listing part numbers, suppliers, etc. ONLY. Having said that, until it gets a bit busyier in there I'll leave it as it is. . for now.



I'm not sure if that is a 'glass half full or half empty' scenario. .

Personally, I think it will, regrettable, grow all too big as the months/years go by. I may be wrong, it won't be the first or last time... .

This next issue will address the other issue above, the one were there is a detailed discussion around one single topic/problem.

As for the FAQ, I thought that since the senior admin and webmaster(s) have the entire site to deal with, maybe we could handle the 1st Gen specific FAQ fairly well.

What jbolt and I had kicked around is a detailed " How to" regarding specific topics. It would include the heading, and all related aspects of the heading, parts, tools, time needed, pitfalls,

personaly tricks that worked, sources for help near by, someone to contact... and of course some tight quality control since we want to make sure the info and all is correct.



As I have actually gotten more than one or two suggestions regarding an FAQ ... and... . jbolt had raised his (yup, jbolt get the nod on this) idea, maybe we could combine it. Now, it may be that it will work better as seperate topics/items.



Going back to the 'discontiued parts' forum situation, we would need to make sure that the new topics got used and added to... kept up to date, by the originators especially, and kept well on track without the normal "... . did I ever tell ya what happened on my way to buy parts... . " kind of thing...



So, that's what I had in mind, and originally started with jbolts idea of an item by item "How To. . " as well.

Remember, we don't want a half dozen new Forums/Topics that need to be run by the senior admin to be added to the main Forum page. They have more than enough on their plate, and truthfully, I don't think they would want to create more Forums with minimal usage stats.

What do you guys think... . ???? yes, no, alternatives??



bob.

 

[Case500D]

Bob,



I think jbolt's "How To" idea is great. It will really save some 1st gen owners some hearache when it comes time to turn a wrench. Thanks for the constant improvement you are providing.



Jeremy

 

[Bob Beauchaine]

I vote for a new thread for First Gen FAQ's. I'm sure that the current FAQ section has some facts and answers that could also be incorporated into the First Gen thread just to get it started then more info could be added.



Bob thanks for keeping us First Gen guys in the thick of things. PDR and you guys in Canada are in the performance forefront. I bought my '93 new 10 years ago this month and not seen as much performance progress as in the past few years. It's nice to see the envelope pushed farther out on a regular basis. Keep up the good workOo. Oo.



Bob

 

[PPeters]

Bob:



Sounds like a great idea. Ideally, a button at the top of the first gen forum would be the best.



Pat

 

[JFitzgerald]

Originally posted by jbolt

Here's my 2 cents worth-



I think the "main site" FAQ should have been set up by generation and not lumped together as it is. That being said I have no idea if the powers that be would be willing to make those kind of changes or not but in the mean time we can do with what we have.

Jay

BushWakr - I like Jay's idea. Why not edit & add to the current FAQ? Now that there's a 3rd gen, this makes even more sense. We could pass suggestions for it to you, maybe through a sticky post.



The FAQ could be split up like this (just a suggestion):



General (items that apply to all CTD models)

1st Gen

2nd Gen

3rd Gen



Does this make sense to anyone else, or not?

 

[jbolt]

Fitz- I don't think Bob has the authority to make those kinds of changes to the main site. This would have to be suggested to the site owners. I believe Bob would like to work with what we currently have, 1st gen & discontinued parts for 1st gen. At least for now.



Right Bob?



Jay

 

[JLEONARD]

I kind of like the idea of keeping it within the 1st gen section.

General diesel info is easily available... . it's the 1st gen specific stuff we want to capture unless I'm missing the point.

Besides, just like the discontinued parts section, if Bob keeps it here, then it can be easily modified again somewhere down the line untill we get it where we want it. Maybe??

 

[BushWakr - RIP]

Keep going guys, I'm just gonna hang back and let you all decide how you want YOUR FAQ handled.

It true, that for now we may need to go with an interim FAQ as a sticky or something but either way, I would encourage some debate.

One thing pointed out to me was the actual 'format' of an FAQ... that being an individual topic which points to a file, text or otherwise, as opposed to a giant long thread with no particular sequence. That could get a bit unwieldy to say the least.

Do we want to have a seperate (or incorporate) a "HOW TO" in the FAQ??? Seperate?? Topics for "HOW TO" ????



Have at it guys/gal, I'll try to work with what YOU all want. Keep in mind anything that we may consider submitting to Robin and Steve MUST be not only do-able but, used and, complimentary to TDR goals and guidelines.



jbolt is correct, I have some room to manuever within our Forum(s) but I cannot add or edit the main pages and or contents, besides I wouldn't want to, and you wouldn't want me to either



Bob, Jeremy, and all, thanks for the compliments... . To be honest it's a hoot to see all the "Goings on" with our Generation of truck. I was lucky enough to have run into some pretty good guys when I started out, who worked with me... got me over the shudders when someone talked about timing changes, or pump tweaks, or heaven help us, bigger nozzles That enthusiasm caught on, and we're seeing the results of it here... . Bomb on Dudes !!



bob.

 

[jbolt]

Hey Bob, I don't want you to think you have to manage this all by yourself. I'm more than willing to jump in and do whatever to make things happen. After all I'm partly to blame



FAQ & How To topics should be seperate.



I believe this is totaly in line with the TDR goals, in fact we might be able to raise the bar a bit.



Jay