• Please be sure to read the rules and adhere to them. Some banned members have complained that they are not spammers. But they spammed us. Some even tried to redirect our members to other forums. Duh. Be smart. Read the rules and adhere to them and we will all get along just fine. Cheers. :beer: Link to the rules: https://www.forumsforums.com/threads/forum-rules-info.2974/

Snowcat Forums Help Wanted, members please respond

How can we upgrade the snowcat forums? (check as many as apply)

  • Add a Classified area for WTS and WTB snowcats & parts

    Votes: 18 75.0%
  • Add some brand specific areas

    Votes: 12 50.0%
  • Add some snowcat wilderness/lifestyle area for backcountry users

    Votes: 16 66.7%
  • Other thoughts. . . please specify in posting below

    Votes: 2 8.3%

  • Total voters
    24

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Hey folks, we are running right into snowcat season for most of us and we are curious what we can do to make life better at the FORUMS to meet your snowcat needs.

What areas of the Snowcat Forums would you like to see us expand? We are open to any and all suggestions. . .

EDIT ......
OK the POLL is restored, we lost the prior votes, but you can now vote again, and vote for more than 1 option!
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I like the idea of the classified section you had listed in your poll. I think it would make things easier for those looking for a snowcat to buy. Allot of times, new members will post their classified ad in the general classified section of the forum and it gets missed. If there were to be a snowcat classified section relating only to snowcats and snowcat related items, it would make things allot easier.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
my cat is a mostly a personal use rig with some comercial use when requested wich is why i'm driving around in a snow trac but there always seems to be some one wanting to rent a rig like it to use for exploration work is got me looking at sone of the more bullet proof units out there like the bombadiars or thiokal type righ the way you have things layed out now makes getting the info i need to make a decision helpful and the other members have been helpful when i have asked a question hank you all also i love any ino that pops up about the vintage cats nice to get a history lesson.only change i could think of could us snowtrac get a registration site like th thiokol and krusty owners.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
I think we already have the best Snowcat website on the Entire internet for all brands of snowcats . Please understand ,I am not trying to take anything away from some of the other dedicated sites that deal with only one brand of cat .Our site deals with all of them . I think we all get a little lost at times when we need help in a particular area . I am not sure how to fix that . I have seen some outstanding "How to" Posts from the past that are basically lost now unless a member knows how to search for them . JMO
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Al, I tend to agree we have build a nice little home for Snowcats here on the internet, but it strikes me that there is still room to improve it. As you noted, some of the restoration threads are sort of lost in our history, there is a lot of stuff that gets lost/forgotten over time and ends up buried inside the main topic headers.

We currently have 4 main areas, with 1 sub-area. What I am wondering is if there is a need for another 1, 2 or 3 main topic areas? Or perhaps adding a couple more sub-topic areas?

I originally had a POLL up on this thread but when I tried to edit it so people could choose more than 1 option we lost the poll.:doh: Still trying to restore that! But there were votes in the poll for brand specific areas, for a snowcat lifestyle area and for a classified/trade area. And that was all within a few minutes of posting the poll. Clearly I am not the only one who sees a need. The question is what can we do to service the need without getting too fragmented that it makes it easy to get lost in the forums?
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Al, I tend to agree we have build a nice little home for Snowcats here on the internet, but it strikes me that there is still room to improve it. As you noted, some of the restoration threads are sort of lost in our history, there is a lot of stuff that gets lost/forgotten over time and ends up buried inside the main topic headers.

We currently have 4 main areas, with 1 sub-area. What I am wondering is if there is a need for another 1, 2 or 3 main topic areas? Or perhaps adding a couple more sub-topic areas?

I originally had a POLL up on this thread but when I tried to edit it so people could choose more than 1 option we lost the poll.:doh: Still trying to restore that! But there were votes in the poll for brand specific areas, for a snowcat lifestyle area and for a classified/trade area. And that was all within a few minutes of posting the poll. Clearly I am not the only one who sees a need. The question is what can we do to service the need without getting too fragmented that it makes it easy to get lost in the forums?
I think you are correct Bob . The real challenge will be to develope a snow cat section that members can navigate through without giving up .
 

mtnguyco1981

New member
i have to second groomerguy's proposal of a classifieds section. i'm in the market for a snow trac and am sure the area would work well for those in need of (or those looking to sell) parts as well.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
OK the POLL is restored, we lost the prior votes, but you can now vote again, and vote for more than 1 option!
 

weatherby

Member
I would really like to see some kind of a section that you could post your how-to "AND" find past posts of how-to's. Because I for one, have tried to find past posts of something's and end up giving up. I also voted for a section that people can post pics. of there outings, work, or play with there cats "Wilderness/Lifestyles". A Classified section would also be great.
 

kgracey

New member
Bob, I'm interested in a for-sale section in these forums. Ever since I sold my Skidozer to the boys up north I've been looking for another one. - Ken
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Thanks Bob for kicking this off. The classified snowcat section is very doable and you all can count on one being created very soon.

As for restores, I could create a web page and post links to all the restores that you all say are noteworthy. This would be a simple web page and it would have the link to Al's restore and all other restores that you guys would like easy access to.

Keep the ideas coming and with Bob and Al's help we'll make FF's snowcat forums better and easier to use for all. :thumb: :D
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Couldn't the Mods make those ones "stickies" so they are always at the top of the board?

yes, we could, but the problem is there is still no real way to index those stickies. All the stickies would sit at the top of the screen, but they would only be indexed by the date they were created, not by any sort of topic.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
And as the stickies grow you end up with 3 or more pages of stickies before you get to the newest post in a forum.
We can make a sticky and or an announcement for all the snowcat forums and in the announcement or sticky we would have a link to the web page with all the info.
 

Mainer

Boggie likes our museum
SUPER Site Supporter
This is an unbelievably remarkable site... we all luv it... so in the attempt to further improve, I'd like to see:

1. Improved Search. What we have simply misses out on so much of the meat and really only gives the bare taters.
2. Chat/Instant Messaging functionality. Users can elect to turn on/off but default is on. I think we could have some relatively eerily entertaining interactions on all topics of cat. I think a real-time public room concept would be best rather than 1-1 as it would further the group aspect of the site. This would not be a recorded conversation stream. Yes, I know, I know..."What if someone espouses on some cat-wisdom and we lose it without it being a post !?!?" Come on ... if it's that wise, someone will extract it and drop it in a post... this is for fun and also learning/sharing. There are so many posts in the site with questions that have been asked again and again...hence the need for improved search...but let's not drop out on some kewl functions in an attempt to capture every topic/point of note... if it's worthy it'll go into a post.
3. Re-order the overall site such that Snowcats are at the top of the list. People come here for a variety of reasons but cats are primary so why not have it at the top of the list?
4. In the account section, an area that states the last time a financial contribution was made. This would be private to user/admin of course but I just realized I probably haven't done my appropriate thing so will do today...but just hadn't thought about it. Many enjoy this site but not all contribute so it should be a field for all as a reminder...that's not a nag for anyone...costs money to maintain and add functionality.
5. Offer premium services: For those that wish to pay (per #4), add a chat room functionality for those that contribute. Don't mean to be too right wing or anything but hey... get what you pay for and shouldn't hold back functionality ... eat what you kill, etc.
6. Start a directory section that covers providers of services & parts. Obvious benefits for all instead of noting things down manually and people having to ask the question all over again: "Does anyone know who covers sprockets?"
7. Start a parts # directory. Covers obvious of: "Anyone know what NAPA part for a master cylinder? slave?"
8. Monitoring capability... the photo library section is still dead (or appears to be to me), and has been so for quite a few weeks. Sort of like calling the fire department...everyone else thinks someone else has done it (including me), so some form of automated testing would be a nice to have but this is last on the list.
9. Start a section that we can track Boggie's activities. This is wise and best for all concerned parties. It helps maintain an inventory of 'horse-trading' and also ensures shared knowledge between all on GPS-Boggie trackers given he is able to thwart certain technologies with counter-technologies but not all at the same time...so best to unite on the G2. ;)

That's my wish list...or at least at the moment.
Oh, and an auto-filter to simply remove all/any Krusty posts...that would certainly save us all much undo effort on seeing the continual: "How do I get it started..." "Best way to unstick a Krusty?" "I saw a Thiokol towing a six-pack of Krusties with one tow rope... is that DOT-approved?"
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
This is an unbelievably remarkable site... we all luv it... so in the attempt to further improve, I'd like to see:
. . .
Oh, and an auto-filter to simply remove all/any Krusty posts...that would certainly save us all much undo effort on seeing the continual: "How do I get it started..." "Best way to unstick a Krusty?" "I saw a Thiokol towing a six-pack of Krusties with one tow rope... is that DOT-approved?"

:yum: :yum: :yum:

B.T.W. we now have started a Classified section for trading and selling. I moved some of the more recent threads involving things WANTED and FOR SALE into the area but that was just to get it started.
 

couchloafer

Member
SUPER Site Supporter
Thanks for the classified section!!! Mainer has some great ideas as well.
One item I am very interested in is an updateable log to try to list ownership or location of all known Snow Tracs by manufacturer's number. It would be nice if we could list past ownership of known rigs to see how they have moved around. I know a lot of Snow Tracs are lost but I am constantly amazed at how many are found!
Thanks again for all your hard work to keep this going Bob!
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
As per the poll results above, we will be adding another category to the forums soon.

Some of the other requests will take some intensive research but I'll do some digging to see if there is some way we can add more functionality for the members.
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Keep the ideas coming and with Bob and Al's help we'll make FF's snowcat forums better and easier to use for all. :thumb: :D

This is Bob's Baby . I just hopped on the band wagon as it went by .

Bob deserves all the credit .....and or blame for setting it up .:whistling::wink:
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Agreed, the snowcat area is Bob's baby. He's the guy who got it off the ground and keeps ideas coming to help it run smoothly. But don't let Al fool ya, he is a key player in our snowcat forums. Al created the biggest and best (to date) snowcat restore thread that brought in a lot of new members for our snowcat forums. Many joined just so they could see Al's pics. Both Bob and Al have been key in making FF's snowcats forums a success. Hats off to both of you guys for all you do to help around here. :tiphat: :clap: :clap:
Honestly, before you guys came along, I thought a snowcat was an animal. :bonk:
 

garygaboury

New member
I would like to see a section for the "Must read Posts" In there I can see The major restoration posts, the how -to posts (ie adjust a variator) etc etc etc.


Also as stated before I have to agree the search function on this site isn`t great. I have no idea what it would take to fix it but it is pretty hard to find anything using it.


that being said, even if nothing changes I am happy coming here and reading as much as possible about all the old cats...

Thanks guys!

Gary
 

Briarpatch

Member
How about an area to find various part numbers for different cats. This could be kept simple for the items that are used alot like oil filter numbers, carb rebuild kit numbers, wiper blades, etc.

Briapatch
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Understood the search engine within VB needs some umph. VB 4 is out now and I'll be loading it here in the next few months. That 'might' help with searches. I'm hoping so.

A reference area would also be good. Good thought Briapatch.

I'll have to think on the must reads idea. I'm not sure how to incorperate that plus would everyone agree on what is must read? I'll whittle on that one a while.
 

Snowtrac Nome

member formerly known as dds
GOLD Site Supporter
Bob, I'm interested in a for-sale section in these forums. Ever since I sold my Skidozer to the boys up north I've been looking for another one. - Ken
you want a ski dozer there is one here in nome for sale neeeds some tlc but it runs good 300 six and auto trans
 

XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq

Master of Distraction
Staff member
SUPER Site Supporter
Understood the search engine within VB needs some umph. VB 4 is out now and I'll be loading it here in the next few months. That 'might' help with searches. I'm hoping so.

A reference area would also be good. Good thought Briapatch.

I'll have to think on the must reads idea. I'm not sure how to incorperate that plus would everyone agree on what is must read? I'll whittle on that one a while.

Doc, you might want to consider setting up a Content Management System like Joomla! or Drupal and then using one of the bridges to link to the forums. Then you could give special members the ability to manage specific areas (Kristi, SnowTrac, etc . . .). In a nutshell, certain power users can manage their areas in the CMS system but discussions get bounced/bridged back to the vBulletin system.

Let me know if you have questions with Joomla! - I have worked on it a fair bit.

Although it looks like Drupal has better vBulletin support:

http://groups.drupal.org/vbulletin
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
I'll have to think on the must reads idea. I'm not sure how to incorperate that plus would everyone agree on what is must read? I'll whittle on that one a while.

Well, for starters, any of my posts would fit that criteria:whistling:
 
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