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Welcome to ZCAR.COM redesigned!

6K views 156 replies 66 participants last post by  Guest 
#1 ·
I acquired the zcar.com domain in 1998. By 2000, I enlisted the help of my wife Heidi and brother-in-law Vince to keep things running. Over the last couple years we've brought in several long standing members as moderators. I'd like to thank our site sponsors, moderators, and members for their help in making ZCAR.COM such a success. We've been able to stay on top of hardware and storage upgrades to retain nearly 1,800,000 posts of our members online. It's been a great 9 years, I'm looking forward to the next 9.

I'd like to thank everyone for sticking with us when our forum software was lacking many of the features that newer forum software provides. With this site update you'll find that we stay true to our goal of providing a quick efficient forum experience while integrating some nice features that everyone has been clamoring for these past few years.

New Features
[hr]
Images
- we now accept image uploads directly to our site. You no longer need to find a place to remotely host your images, and learn bbcode to include them on the page.
- You can include up to 4 uploaded images per post. (no limit for externally linked images)
- images will be automatically resized if they would cause horizontal scroll bars to appear.

Videos
- including links to YouTube and Google Video will embed the video into your post so people can view them without leaving the site.

Classifieds
- the classifieds system is now using the same software as our discussion forums. Many people found the old software difficult to use and some encountered login problems.

Events
- We've created an events & community forum. Everyone can post their event & car show announcement directly to this forum.

Z Car of the Month
- You'll find a "Members Rides" forum. Post a detailed message about your car, include images, and one lucky member will have their car promoted to "Z Car of the Month" each and every month.

Report This Message
- At long last, an easy way to report an offensive post to our moderators.

If you have any problems using the new site feel free to post in the "Help using ZCAR.COM" forum or if you're unable to post, please email webmaster@zcar.com. Thank you!
 
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#52 ·
OK, question.

With the last format, if I posted in a topic that was halfway down the list of threads, after my post it would take me back to the forum index with that thread at the top of the list. This made it easy to identify which thread I just posted in.

However now after posting, when it goes back to the forum index it goes back to the topmost thread, and there's no icon or anything identifying which thread you were just posting in. Could an icon, be made to point to the last thread you posted in, or the title of it changed to red text, or something of that nature?

I can deal with it if not, just a question.
 
#54 ·
phxZ31 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, ran into another issue. Some of my posts,
> like the one I made lastnight in the Members Rides
> section, I can no longer edit.
> I can edit some of the posts I've made today.
>
> Is there a way to fix the members rides thread I
> made so I can modify the post. I wanted to
> re-arrange some stuff...

The time limit to edit is now set to 14 days.
 
#56 ·
Suggest allowing people to post parts in the car classifieds that are segregated by year ranges. Since there are usually more parts for sale and since car parts usually pertain to those same years it just makes sense. That would potentially eliminate one classifieds forum. Just a suggestion.
 
#57 ·
Please gawd no!

I dont want to see every freakin picture someone decides to put in their sig, if you want to show your car off, I think it should be in your profile.

Its annoying when every single picture in everyones sig needs to load for you to view the page, even more so for dailup people, we can put a 56k warning on for many pictures. but not for all the sigs pics, I say leave it alone.
 
#60 ·
Ok, now that I have my threade views back Im alot happyer.....

But still have some comments.

I would really like to see an index of all the forums up on the top right, it seems like we have the space above the "car talk" forum ot post the old index like we used to, just a real simple index of the links like we used ot have before so I can quickly jump back and forth would be nice.

I dont know about you guys, but I only live between the z32 forum and the Car Talk forum. Having a link to quickly take me back and forth between them is nice. This way I dont have to back out to the index page to get to another forum.

Also, it would be very nice to have hyperlinks that you have already viewed be in a different color or less bold font. This is nicer when using threaded views because it helps the user quickly see where the last viewed post was....yes I know we have the little "new" icon. But your eye is much better attuned to see the difference in color.


How about this, and its borrowed from a Jeep forum setup which I think is good for this type of setup(even though the Jeep forum has the bump, which I am not sure I would like here), in lets say the z32 section(or any) New threads, or threads with new posts, show up as slightly bold text, While at the same time threads that have been previously viewed have the different color hyperlink.

I like that setup because Threads that I have viewed or am following are easy to see because of a different color, and threads with new posts are also bolded so its easy to see when there is something new for me to checkout.

I know we have the "new" flag and all, but like I said, its way easyer for me to navagate on color setups than the little "new" gif.



One last thing, and this sounds like there may be nothing that can be done, there is about twice(2x) as much space between thread titles as there needs to be, this makes the whole forum page pretty long, I understand that the mod options are there, and there may not be anything that can be done, but it would be nice if the spacing was at least half of what it is now......


Oh, and one more thing, so the edit is going to be stuck at 14 days? There are some older posts in the z32 FAQ stuff that I periodically update for errors, omissions, moved external pictures(reordered my website image directory), and new information, would there be any way to edit those when the need arises?


With just a little bit of tweaking I think this place has alot of potential with this new update. Thanks for the work guys I know you have put some effort into the place!
 
#61 ·
I agree with zluster on the pics in the sigs. I'm cheap a$$ diasl up and have a very slow time loading pics. In the prfile is fine. You can put that in your signiture to check out the pic in your profile.
 
#62 ·
Well heres another thought.....

What if we combined the wanted to buy, and the for sale classifieds for each generation, into one forum?

that way if we did add parts forums for each generation you could see both in the same place and have fewer links to pick through to get to the forum.

TT.net uses a prefix to each thread in the classifieds with the word "wanted" or "selling" before the thread title.

Maybe put "Wanted:" in red, and "Selling:" in green, easy to pick out which is which, and maybe when you goto post something you can also see someone else wants it there.

For that matter maybe you go looking for something, and see someone else need something that you have.

Ya you can just check the other forum out, for the wanted or selling, but there are alot fo people like me that just go to post something they have or something they need, without thinking about checking the other.

I personally like the idea of combined each generation classifieds for wanted and selling into the same forum and then just using a nice bold color to tell em apart.

at the very least if it turned out to be a disaster we could switch it back to like it is now......
 
#63 ·
About the images thing...
Lets face it, dial up is dead. The only people who still use it are those stuck in the stone age, or those who live on farms in the middle of no-where. Either get with the program, or move to a place that is with the program.
Its stupid to base decisions on how to "update" the forum to suit those who refuse to update their own technology.
There is NO EXCUSE for dial up, this is 2007!!!
 
#65 ·
Z1 ZONLY Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This forum's simple format was successful for its
> short load time, and the reason many of our
> integral members remain after many years. No sig
> pics. Bring back the profile pic if you must have
> your car associated with your screen name.

Agreed - or just link to your member ride thread.
 
#66 ·
Yes I agree dailup is dead and dying, but alot of people still use it, they either have it cheap or free, or have no other option, Keep in mind there are many members who have been driving Z cars longer than I have been alive.

I pay $30 a month for highspeed internet access, if I could stand getting by on a $10 a month dailup plan I would, and I dont blame others for saving that money either.

Ive visited some forums where every single person has to have the picture of their favorite car, "one day dream to own 1997 supra twinturbo red with GHE-to x5 rims, inpenatrode bumper yadda yadda" with a picture of their "dream" ride. And every friggin person had that, and they wanted to show that car off that they didnt even have, so they made a big picture.


In any case, even with highspeed I dont want to have a bunch of extra crap cluttering up the disscussion, a profile is a perfectly good place to put a list of mods and your cars picture.

Otherwise its just that much more crap to scroll through to get to the next post. And after Ive seen your car 1000 times I dont care to see it again.
 
#67 ·
So about the images, how is it determined when to resize? is it just a universal setting? because I know many of the pictures posted NEVER cause me to scroll horizontally, maybe for some they do, but not with my moniter setup, so Im just wondering what size the resize is calibrated to.


Also, whats the logic behind only 4 images per post? I always hated forums that had a restriction like that, and what does that mean for older imported threads in the FAQ that need more than 4 pictures?
 
#68 ·
Zluster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Also, whats the logic behind only 4 images per
> post? I always hated forums that had a restriction
> like that, and what does that mean for older
> imported threads in the FAQ that need more than 4
> pictures?

Only 4 UPLOADED pictures to the Zcar server. You can still post as many off-site linked pictures as you wish.
 
#69 ·
It is not likely that we will be adding support for signature pics. No matter the connection speed, it does make pages load slower and spreads out the replies so there is a lot of additional scrolling. And while I do enjoy seeing each persons vehicle, I don't need to see the same pic over and over again.

My ideal solution is for everyone to create their own thread in the Members Rides forum and then include that URL in their signature. This is far better than a single pic in their profile (which is not yet supported in this version of our forum software).
 
#73 ·
One thing that I don't see which almost every other has is a VIEW FIRST UNREAD POST button. Is there a way to add this feature? It makes negotiating a thread much easier.
 
#76 ·
Well I found something that needs to be added to the new site. Spell check needs to be added to this section so that those of us that can't spell don't look like a fool<G>
 
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