TheAlmightySam
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Portland, OR
Given the number of highly talented and knowledgeable members on the board, it seems to me like it might be helpful to those members of the board (like me) who are still learning about their XJs and MJs to perhaps have a section of the site where one could simply browse through instructions on how to perform various maintainence and modifications - an "XJopedia," if you like.
I realize, of course, that many of these instructionals are available via search if one looks hard enough, but for some of the newer members who don't know the proper terminology, the search can be daunting and frustrating. Secondarily, while some excellent writeups exist on this board, they can be inconsistent and require a reasonable understanding of some fairly advanced concepts and XJ-specific terminology. Futhermore, although these writeups might be illustrated with excellent photos when they are originally posted, peoples' websites change and it's very frustrating to find nothing but a red x when the instructions say "See Photo." Not very helpful a few years down the line. Also, members such as Go-Jeep have excellent websites with incredible volumes of information, but you have to know about these websites to even find them. I would love to see a central repository of technical information and writeups to help everyone.
One of the boards I used to me a member of (back in my Subaru days) had a seperate section of the forums that was divided into subforums where writeups could be posted. The posts were highly moderated, in that they were edited for clarity, consistency, formatting, and grammar before being added to the forum, and immediately locked to prevent them from getting mucked up. All images are hosted on the board's server to prevent them from disappearing.
We found that this setup provided an excellent resource for new members (and even oldtimers) to learn about their Jeeps from the collected knowledge of the members without having to ask questions. They can read, browse, get ideas, and learn without asking the usual "what tire size fits my Jeep" and "where can I get a lift kit" questions. Also, we found it provided a little bit more friendly of an environment for the new members when they DID ask questions, because rather than people jumping on them for not searching, they can simply be pointed in the direction of the writeups.
Perhaps, even, as the writeups section becomes more fleshed-out, it can become members-only (if the BOD so chooses) as yet another draw to new official members.
We have an amazing wealth of knowledgeable members here, and I would love to see this place become even better. While I am unable to offer much in the way of technical knowledge, being so new to Jeeps, if
decides this is a good direction to head, I would be happy to offer my editing skills to help get this off the ground. I would be happy to go through writeups and put them into a consistent format and check the spelling, grammar, etc. of the posts before they're added to the site, as well as run through the images and make sure they're of excellent quality and properly illustrate the concepts at hand.
Let me know what you all think. If the members and BOD are interested, I would be honored to help get this off the ground. We have so much knowledge and information here - let's get it in one easy-to-access place.
Thoughts?
I realize, of course, that many of these instructionals are available via search if one looks hard enough, but for some of the newer members who don't know the proper terminology, the search can be daunting and frustrating. Secondarily, while some excellent writeups exist on this board, they can be inconsistent and require a reasonable understanding of some fairly advanced concepts and XJ-specific terminology. Futhermore, although these writeups might be illustrated with excellent photos when they are originally posted, peoples' websites change and it's very frustrating to find nothing but a red x when the instructions say "See Photo." Not very helpful a few years down the line. Also, members such as Go-Jeep have excellent websites with incredible volumes of information, but you have to know about these websites to even find them. I would love to see a central repository of technical information and writeups to help everyone.
One of the boards I used to me a member of (back in my Subaru days) had a seperate section of the forums that was divided into subforums where writeups could be posted. The posts were highly moderated, in that they were edited for clarity, consistency, formatting, and grammar before being added to the forum, and immediately locked to prevent them from getting mucked up. All images are hosted on the board's server to prevent them from disappearing.
We found that this setup provided an excellent resource for new members (and even oldtimers) to learn about their Jeeps from the collected knowledge of the members without having to ask questions. They can read, browse, get ideas, and learn without asking the usual "what tire size fits my Jeep" and "where can I get a lift kit" questions. Also, we found it provided a little bit more friendly of an environment for the new members when they DID ask questions, because rather than people jumping on them for not searching, they can simply be pointed in the direction of the writeups.
Perhaps, even, as the writeups section becomes more fleshed-out, it can become members-only (if the BOD so chooses) as yet another draw to new official members.
We have an amazing wealth of knowledgeable members here, and I would love to see this place become even better. While I am unable to offer much in the way of technical knowledge, being so new to Jeeps, if
decides this is a good direction to head, I would be happy to offer my editing skills to help get this off the ground. I would be happy to go through writeups and put them into a consistent format and check the spelling, grammar, etc. of the posts before they're added to the site, as well as run through the images and make sure they're of excellent quality and properly illustrate the concepts at hand.Let me know what you all think. If the members and BOD are interested, I would be honored to help get this off the ground. We have so much knowledge and information here - let's get it in one easy-to-access place.
Thoughts?
