Offroadsubarus.com asleep ?

I'm lurking on a daily basis.
Haven't been doing much at all as scraping up the dosh to do the heads & a few other bits on pieces on the Foz.
As a result, haven't played with the SVX for too long either. :(

On the plus side, the subaru guy the other side of town (about 50kms away) that I've found seems pretty genuine, although some of his parts seem a little bit more than others have been quoting.
 
Checking everyday. Still waiting for the news about rear lock..
 
I'm here regularly - except when I'm stuck in the middle of nowhere! :lol:
 
I visit the site everyday. If I am looking for more technical stuff, there is a 78% chance that it has already been covered so the search feature has been my friend lately. Cheers.
 
couple other forums that covers outbacks or subarus more active this is like nothing now for long time. i mean forums its not just for questions are they ?
 
I visit most days but it's becoming less frequent as there isn't much here that interests me. I've found that this forum caters mainly to owners of older model Subarus. As far as Foresters go there's not a whole lot going on for anything newer than SG. I've found several groups on Facebook that have dozens of posts every day that are relevant to what I drive and where I like to drive it.

I would have thought that the admin of a site should be the ones that drive the traffic so when things get a bit quiet, they put something up that will generate some interest. On one of the facebook groups this week, the admin put up a request for members to post photos of their rigs and within 48 hours there were 50 or more responses from all over the world.

One thing I have noticed here is that it is unreasonably complicated to post photos and videos compared with the Facebook groups. This discourages people from sharing in a way that could add to the level of interest.

Going.....going.....?
 
Sometimes it gets quiet and often depends on model releases etc.

[MENTION=15642]Beachworm[/MENTION] I'm not sure why anyone would find it complicated to post pics here. You just have to go to User CP / Pictures & Albums / Add album / then load your pics - easy peasy! Clicking on a pic in an album will show both URL and BB Code links for inclusion in posts. An example of a recent Album of mine is here: https://offroadsubarus.com/album.php?albumid=243

If there is "something" not working in the Album process then I would be very pleased to hear about it.


BTW I did call for fresh pics for the rotating banner a year ago - and got one response :-(
https://offroadsubarus.com/showpost.php?p=101578
 
Hi Kevin,

I've only used the pic posting system once or twice and whether you realise it or not, it is complicated compared with Facebook which is undeniably a competitor to this forum. Why is it necessary to create an album before photos can be posted? Why can't I post directly from the photo albums on my phone or computer? On Facebook (and you have said before you don't use Facebook and never will) it is a simple matter of clicking on the photo icon, select the shot you want from your own album and Bob's your uncle. Then there's videos and that's even worse. I actually have to have posted my video somewhere on line (such as You tube) before I can get it into my post here. Anywhere except Facebook it seems because when I did it that way some people complained that they couldn't see the video because they aren't on Facebook!

The fact that you ask for exactly the same posts as the group on Facebook did, you get one response and Facebook gets more than you can poke a stick at should set alarm bells ringing for you as a site administrator. Why do you think there is such a dramatic difference? Because you don't use Facebook, and therefore don't understand your competition, I'll give you my opinion.

This forum comes across as being primarily for people with old cars looking for solutions to problems they have with their cars. Facebook, in comparison does that as well as offering a social connection. If I want to know how to fix something on my car, I just ask and I get a dozen responses, within hours, often with photos and detailed instructions from others who have already done it. I'm talking here about my SH Forester. I don't have to go trawling through old posts like looking for information in the reference section of the library. If I want to go out for a day in the bush I post my intention and so far, there has always been someone else who turns up.

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed reading some of the posts on this forum (and I congratulate Scalman for almost single-handedly keeping things going at times) though I do find it tiresome reading more about non-Subaru vehicles than I would like and I'm not suggesting everyone should abandon ship and move to Facebook. Some people are happy here and good on them. Whatever floats your boat. I do think, however, that you shouldn't ignore the fact that the site is quiet. That's a symptom of an underlying problem. Don't put the onus on the members for not posting. There's a reason why they're not. Find the reason and fix it.
 
Different technology has different interfaces and as this is a VBulletin "forum" site it functions the same as every other VB site around the world. I have also noticed that some other motoring "forum" sites are quieter than usual. Social media is certainly a rapidly growing trend and does take traffic away from traditional sites like this one for sure.

BTW just because I choose to not use FaceBook does not mean that I do not know how it works. ;-)
 
Well if you have some interest it doesnt matter what others do, for me at least, im reading just what interest me not world news. Well google pics my news to what i like. And like now im searching for abs error codes problems and nooene seems to responding via couple forums.
 
I remember a few months ago when newer members with newer Subarus get the theme, "Good luck with your CVT or your newer Subaru" but that seemed to have died down lately. If you are a new member, seeing that can generally be shocking and that can make that new member turn away immediately. Even for me, seeing those posts would make me want to just keep quiet.

On Reddit, 2 weeks ago, I encountered somebody who lurks around ORS all the time and he/she actually likes the technicality of the content here.

Facebook is a social media platform whereas something with a VBulletin is a discussion platform. The two are very different, for me. One will be centred on the person and the other, on the topic, generally. I prefer being ABFoz instead of revealing my true name (Arnold Sylvester Schwarzestallone :ebiggrin:). This forum is much like Reddit, which is a social discussion platform. It is very close to being a Sub-reddit without being on Reddit.

Uploading photos is drag-and-drop on Facebook as with most sharing sites with the cloud platform. It is convenient but security and privacy are sacrificed. For me, I still value my online footprint and that's why I retreated to Reddit and ORS. It's always a funcion of security vs convenience when it comes to one's digital footprint. Cheers.
 
^ agree; and on ORS you know exactly where your private registration data is shared - absolutely nowhere!
 
Beachworm said:
Why is it necessary to create an album before photos can be posted? Why can't I post directly from the photo albums on my phone or computer?
Click to expand...

I forgot to mention "Attach". By using "Manage Attachments" you can easily attach files of various types from your own file system. There are some size limitations of course as there is a cost associated with storage.

For some time I have been considering different levels of membership with some cost involved where additional features are provided like increased amounts of storage, attachments, messaging, file sizes etc but have not thought it through completely as yet.
 
Never occured to me to use the site's hosting for images as I already use an image hosting site. I find it easier to have my photos all in one place. :)

Plus it reduces load on the forum by hosting them elsewhere, which I consider a huge advantage.

Does the forum need to increase its traffic?
It's not really a conversation site like the book of faces, more technical in my opinion. It's also a great place to document your travels & trials, far better than twitbook for that sort of thing.
 
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