car club website question...

[Scapegoat]

I've had an idea sitting in my head for some time now... and I'm wondering if its something the car community would find useful...

a car club repository. a website where people can add car clubs, it would allow people to place a url for the club, contact information for the club. be able to tag the club for specific areas so people can search the database by area, make/model, etc... and i wouldn't be allowing comments, as we know how car people get...

eventually i'd love to have a knowledge base as well... but there is already a ton of that out there, but i haven't seen a central repository of car clubs both nation and world wide. The hardest part will be setting up permissions and validation of clubs, club presidents, etc

[Erik]

that would make things easier for each club. The only way someone finds a car club is word of mouth/post, advertisement, or google. i think this would be a sweet idea. It actually following through, that would be even better.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by Erik

that would make things easier for each club. The only way someone finds a car club is word of mouth/post, advertisement, or google. i think this would be a sweet idea. It actually following through, that would be even better.

i'll follow through if people actually think there is an audience for this. I just remember some of the issues i had finding a club, or even a forum (this one for instance) when i got more into cars.

[Erik]

yea, i went through the same thing when i got my first car. I checked this site out after seeing a sticker. I only know of a few other car forums, and i found those out from people telling me to go here and there. I think a simplistic database would be a resourceful thing.

[Scapegoat]

well, like i said... i've had this idea for the past couple years... i've got the ability to make it happen, and i already own a domain name that i intended to use for this little... project...

[BustedUjoint]

don't be scared. . . do it up

[Scapegoat]

i'm not scared... i just don't want to waste my time...

i'll probably end up doing it anyway as a project to learn python on. I was just wondering if we, as a car community, feel that there could be a use for this

[coleycole]

I think there is definately a market for it. Do you plan on using it for anything other than a database?

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by coleycole

I think there is definately a market for it. Do you plan on using it for anything other than a database?

yes definitely... but the premise will remain as a place for people to find forums and club contacts...

but i would also like it to include articles, with potentially "hiring" (and by that i mean finding volunteers) writers... additionally i'd like to see an advertising service built on the site to bring in revenue to help pay for the hosting if the site gets large enough.

obviously, the site would be pretty useless if it didn't bring people back for more than one look around for car clubs... perhaps the easiest way would be to get the car clubs to write articles about the local car scene, shows, etc... a calendar of events would be nice...

the domain i own is named carclubhub.com... so its use is pretty obvious... i'd like it to be the center of information for car clubs

[DC2.2GSR]

i think this is a really good idea. i've thought of creating something like this for a long time as well. this is a little different than i was thinking about, but still a great idea.

what i was thinking about doing was writing quality articles and creating a definitive resource for swaps, comon (and unique) mods and installs, etc etc. it would be a HUGE undertaking, but it could really be worth it after a while. i thought about it after doing research for my H22A swap and finding nothing but contradicting and incomplete information on every site i visited. it got real annoying.

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by DC2.2GSR

i think this is a really good idea. i've thought of creating something like this for a long time as well. this is a little different than i was thinking about, but still a great idea.

what i was thinking about doing was writing quality articles and creating a definitive resource for swaps, comon (and unique) mods and installs, etc etc. it would be a HUGE undertaking, but it could really be worth it after a while. i thought about it after doing research for my H22A swap and finding nothing but contradicting and incomplete information on every site i visited. it got real annoying.

i would love to have that kind of information available... a mere database of car clubs isn't going to keep people coming back... and the future of any website is based around bringing new people in, and keeping those people coming back...

the problem is, finding the right people to write articles for the site.

I'm going to get started on the back end for the club listing and then user access to post clubs and edit their own club's info if need be. I figure i should, at the very least, get the intention of the site finished... and then work on the icing.

what type of stuff would you (you being everyone) like to see in a site like this? I don't want to run a forum, as there are forums out there, and the point of the site is to help people find a forum/club to get in with.

but so far I'm thinking:
basic club contact info

• name
• url
• description
• location
• email contact

club events schedule

[evogsrviii]

great idea. I have been looking into car clubs since you need to be a member of one to use the track in Millville. how do you plan on bringing car clubs to you? thats the only hard part, unless you plan on researching a lot. I know njtuners has their own section for car clubs.

[Elliott18t]

are you also going to have a way to either have people email you about new clubs or a way that people could post the information themselves?

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by evogsrviii

great idea. I have been looking into car clubs since you need to be a member of one to use the track in Millville. how do you plan on bringing car clubs to you? thats the only hard part, unless you plan on researching a lot. I know njtuners has their own section for car clubs.

word of mouth... I'm hoping that since a number of the members on here are members of other car forums they could help spread the word... its not like i'm trying to take away members to build a forum... hell, i probably won't even include any ability for people to actually interact with each other on the site...

I know once i get it up and running the link will be in my sig... and I'm hoping a few of our tuners on here will do the same in other forums and pimp that out for me... or at the very least contact their site's admin and let them know of this site, as it would only help in bringing in more activity to their site.

And obviously, if anyone is interested in writing for the site... or hell, i'll take photo shoots too... i can build a gallery section... I think it would be more than easy for me to spread the love back by not only having a credits section, but also a "thanks to" on the home page to help drive business to you...

consider this a networking site for car enthusiasts and clubs... i don't want a piece of the pie... i just want to hand out the slices not to mention it would be pretty ****ing awesome to have a site that is a center point for a lot of people in our community nationwide

[Scapegoat]

Originally Posted by Elliott18t

are you also going to have a way to either have people email you about new clubs or a way that people could post the information themselves?

people will be able to register and post their clubs info. I don't want to handle a potential thousand plus clubs. The biggest issue will be dealing with the morons that register to post useless ****... so i may require validation by myself before something is set live... at least until it gets too large to handle.

As i said, i'm also not allowing comments or ratings... a clubs "rating" should be apparent by what is posted and if they've decided to use the events system.

there is enough childishness in the car community that I don't think i want to open that can of worms... this isn't a playground... this is a place for people to get info and find a like minded group

[Scapegoat]

And naturally... Troll, you'll be the first to know when the system is up and running

but right now i just need some input as to what people would like to see come out of this... after all, i'm doing this for the car community, all of us

[Elliott18t]

Originally Posted by Scapegoat

people will be able to register and post their clubs info. I don't want to handle a potential thousand plus clubs. The biggest issue will be dealing with the morons that register to post useless ****... so i may require validation by myself before something is set live... at least until it gets too large to handle.

As i said, i'm also not allowing comments or ratings... a clubs "rating" should be apparent by what is posted and if they've decided to use the events system.

there is enough childishness in the car community that I don't think i want to open that can of worms... this isn't a playground... this is a place for people to get info and find a like minded group

yeah, i thought about that. Just thought of it for new up-coming clubs. like you said, there are an unfortunate amount of childish people that would post something like ; "Honda sux lol" or some lame **** like that and just transfers the burden to you to sift through it :/

[jjm4life]

http://www.big-boards.com/

a database of forums. just saw this today. still a good idea though

[jdm free]

i would think it would be hard to keep people coming back to the site, especially if its just a listing of clubs. they would find the club, and then never be back on it again, unless they were lookin for another one

[crazyukrainian]

go for it.... if you need/want/dont mind help hit me up