Membership of Forum

[cass3958]

Since the 1st of January 2019 we have had nearly 200 new members join the forum and yet none of them have made comment or asked a question.

Are these people really joining because they have an interest in the S Type Jaguar or are they just spammers?

Is there anyway we can either get these people to engage in the forum if they have an interest or remove them from the list if for instance they do not make a comment or become engaged in the forum in the first month of their membership.

Should we also, and we have discussed this before, make it compulsory that new and existing members add their location to their details. I would love to know if their are any members living closer to me so I could perhaps meet up at a local car show. Also should think that each member should add some details of their S Type to their signature block if they own one or not.

Over the last six months this forum has become very sociable and helpful online which I think is great an long may it last as long us old folk don't all die off too soon.

[Glyn Ruck]

I spoke to Tom about the sudden increase from 77 or so members. He said he had some cleaning out to do but hopefully some are genuine & genuinely interested. I would love to find us a forum sponsor but it's not going to happen at <10 posts a day. The good folk here are most helpful & it's much appreciated by this member.

[cass3958]

I have suggested that the forum be opened up to the 420 Jaguar as it is basically the same car just a bigger engine and an ugly front end. It has all the same problems and mechanics as the S Type. I do not know of an independant Jaguar 420 forum or register. I appreciate the S Type register is run by David and it is his decision at the end of the day but more members with a similar car cannot be bad.
Anyone with an opinion on this?

[Jose]

Cass and Glyn:
I know S type owners who simply are not interested in joining any forum. They are not "car people".

There is already a 420 forum and it is part of another S type Register but in the UK. Here is the link:
http://www.jaguardriver.co.uk/html/thec ... typer.html

Spammers are a problem in any forum.

I do agree that some information fields should be compulsory when joining this forum but that is a software issue and that is up to Tom.

I check everyday and remove spam postings. Spammers are banned permanently and a few other things are done which I am not going to reveal.

there are many Jaguar forums in the USA and UK which deal with all Jaguar models. I agree with David in keeping this forum strictly S type. It was born The Jaguar S type Register.

As to sponsorship, I don't understand the purpose of that.

The bottom line is this: S type owners will find this forum if they are looking for information about their S type. There is no other site with so much information about the S type. Search engines find it.

So, don't despair if you see a spam message, they get removed.

[jonesdl]

As a relatively new member I am just so glad I found this register the wealth of knowledge and the historical information is invaluable to the S type owner or potential owner. I do agree however that a register member should put their country and location once joining the register as it would be beneficial to know of a fellow S type owner living within ones locality.
I also believe keeping the register for the S type only keeps the threads more focused on this model rather than diversifying into possible 420 problems which could dilute interest on the unique website.
My opinion for what is worth.
Dave J.

[Glyn Ruck]

A sponsor could make the newsletter free to all members, pay for hosting & better software, allow David to pay for some help & the list goes on. Sponsorship is what makes Internet Brands forums so strong.

[Jose]

I see, but I am not sure David wants to give away the Newsletter or pay for help

[Glyn Ruck]

That's up to David. This is his show. But it makes for a better community. Those are just some suggestions.

[Jose]

that is exactly what I mean.

[cass3958]

Jose and David, a lot of forums take advertising in to raise revenue to do things but mainly to make money for the person who is organising it. What I would like to see is that we contact firms like SNG Barrett, David Manners, WatJag and all the service providers we have just listed on a sticky and say to them that they can advertise on the site or have there products recommended by us in exchange for a discount. 10 to 20 % discount for members of the registry would seem fair.
Up until recently I was a member of the FJ1200 club in the UK but I was having to pay for membership. Last year I phoned up as I had a technical question. Before they answered the question they asked me for my membership number and found it had lapsed the week before. They refused to speak to me until I had renewed my membership. It was at this point I realised that the only person gaining out of this was the organizer of the club. Not what we want but we would like to use the power of the S Type forum and registry to get something back from the suppliers.
Just my thoughts.