Improving the page

[transneptunian]

Anyone have any ideas on how to improve this site and get more activity? I know the page used to get quite a bit of traffic but seems to be almost dead lately. I find myself going to the Facebook pages first because there’s just so much more interaction there, but this page really has the best information and greatest resources for the community. I know the page layout is far from ideal now, none of the old picture links still work, there’s not much customization for what your posts look like and the page is riddled with ads. I know it’s been an ordeal just to keep the page running but I feel like if we came together and had someone who knows their stuff about web design and what not, we could make this page great like it used to be and get more engagement. I’d be willing to throw in and make it happen. Any ideas?

[Kunnobrah]

Im in as well, I’m sure there’s a few coders in here just need to get the site owner on board

[pwadm]

An update is long overdue. The best way to proceed is to convert the software to XenForo or vBulletin. Both provide better support for the mobile and more friendly interface. I will look into this. Shouldn't be that difficult, just requires time...I am busy until the end of the summer but will look into this after.

[GT4times2]

Would be ideal. I'd love to see a revival. Only thing, the Alltracs are getting rarer, so it may not get as much traffic. But an update would be great regardless. I'm game. If the guys from Europe would get on board as well, that would be great.

[CMS-GT4]

All the boards are dead. Not just this one. DC, OC, etc. Facebook and all its flaws has garnered the most traffic due to convenience. It's a shame we can use a plugin that presents the board as a FB page and then archives it as an activity here.

[transneptunian]

Great suggestions all around. I know fb and the like have the lions share of activity now. Something linking This page to one of the alltrac fb pages or something would be interesting. I feel like we could just set the page up a little better. Clearer navigation, more interactive interface, better capacity for uploading and saving pictures, etc. I love the forum type dialog but it would be nice to also have all the bells and whistles of something like fb. Have something that encourages people to engage like leaderboards or build documentaries. I know it will take some work but I feel like this is the true alltrac community spot but everyone is kinda divided between the fb pages the few who frequent this page. Just want to unite all the tribes under the old banner lol.

Just wanted to get someone’s opinion on this. I know nothing about coding or anything but would be willing to chip in where I can.

[gt4tified]

Let's get Didier Auriol or Carlos Sainz to do an endorsement for the site...that would cause a shitbuzz in the community. HA!

[transneptunian]

That would be cool but it’s not like the page is unknown. People know it’s here, most just frequent the Facebook groups because they are easier to navigate, upload pics, and just have an overall better layout with no pop ups or anything. I just think a better layed out page with more support for things like posting pics would bring some traffic back. Even the fb groups are fragmented as well with most of the community on 4-5 different pages.

I need to post here more myself but there’s not much going on and it’s more troublesome than a quick fb post.

[zaluss]

Facebook has certainly made the community more accessible but is also alienated folks that choose to not use social media, lack of archiving, poor searchability, etc. There is a reason places like VWVortex still exist paralell to Facebook

This place uses some legacy stuff as far as I can tell compared to other forums. Maybe time for an update?

[FC Zach]

lack of archiving, poor searchability, etc.

These are some reasons that I don't care for FB car pages. There, it's much easier for someone to ask basic questions that can be quickly and easily searched for here. . but then again, people do that here as well.

[mickeyfinn]

I don’t really care for Facebook. I don’t find it convenient, and I don’t see it as nearly the good long time resource that a good forum is. It may be good for quick answers and a short term reference, or a “hey look at this” but not much more IMO.
I would think the alltracs that are out there, are still out there. People are keeping them, loving them, and working on them. Maybe a few get wrecked, and a few get scrapped here and there, but I tend to think there is still a good community of people out there with them.
Somehow I get the feeling whoever owns this website abandoned it long ago, and is just milking out whatever passive income they can until it dies for good. It lacks enthusiasm.
Can people list the Facebook pages they know about here, so I know where to look for some info?

[underscore]

I'm with you guys, I don't care for social media for sharing actual infornation. One thing I would be cautious of before any changes are made here is ensure nothing is done that changes the structure of the URL for threads. There are a lot of threads that link to other threads and I'd hate to see those links break.

I'd also love to find a way to have some kind of export or offline backup of the whole place in case it's ever accidentally lost but I don't know how to go about it.

[autojumbled]

Seeign as the site admin account hasn't logged in since 2011 I wouldn't hold out much hope for any changes anytime soon!

To add though, the one function we're missing is the auto-sizing of images from external sources. i.e. when posting images direct from Google photos rather than uploading to the forum in order to add into a post.

[zaluss]

Can people list the Facebook pages they know about here, so I know where to look for some info?

Communities are fragmented as you can see.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/celicaalltrac/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/686045881858674/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/62348807264/ (ST205 specific)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1378558718869514/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/nzgt4oc/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/261932274217977/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mr2oc/ MR2 group has the highest amount of activity/active members. Since they share the 3SGTE its a great resource for gen2+ questions.

[transneptunian]

The fragmented pages are kind of difficult to navigate. If you are looking for advice or want to post something for everyone to see. You have to do it on multiple groups to really reach more community members. I usually prefer the alltrac.net diaspora group but there are several more.

I definitely wouldn’t want to change it where old links are broken but a good portion already are. Links to photobucket pics that are no good anymore etc. a lot of posts here are 10-20 years old so anything not on this pages archives has a good chance of not existing anymore. Something that would more easily archive pics and videos and all the things that make Facebook useful while keeping the aspects that make the forum good would be a great start. Anything to get traffic back. Idk if anyone here even has the ability or authority to change anything but I’m just throwing it out there. I miss the forum culture but it can be cumbersome at times especially on mobile.