why does this forum cost to post?

[andyj007]

Being a member and owner of a few cars, im amazed that this is the ONLY  forum that requires you to pay money to post. ive joined a couple of times, but its currently lasped..  i get it that membership should have some additional privileges, im a gold member of the lotus forum, happily pay the £100 (basic is £30) but its a thriving community,    but having been on here for about a year, its not the most active in the world. there are far more active social media outlets which are more active and cost zero..  i get it that there is costs associated with running a site blah blah blah, and im not taking anything away form those that run the site,  but surely making the forum part  free would attract more people to contribute making it more likely that  members would cough up a few pounds to join .. so its  a win win..  i dont understand the logic, of locking the threads to paying members..  obviously if its just me the threads are locked to then ignore all the above

[tolf]

Sorry I have to disagree with you. This is an active forum with many new posts every day. 
 

The technical knowledge is very good and extensive. Given that you are paying £100 to another car club for using their forum, then £30 for WSCC is hardly expensive. 
 

May I ask, did you join in your local area meetings and events? These are often a good source of knowledge and social banter. I would suggest you do. 
 

The fact that only members are allowed to post helps cut down on the rubbish that could be posted and helps our forum volunteer moderators keep on top of stuff- otherwise we would end up with all sorts of junk on the threads.

 

Yes there are many more free social media forums you could post and join,  at the end of the day only you can make that decision

[andyj007]

how many posts does this get a day.. it seems to me to be very few...  

perhaps i did not set it up correctly..  yes i pay the £100 upgraded from the standard, on the lotus forum  but the forum is thriving, is linked with the manufactures and has other benifits, and lost of freebies on joining the gold.. but at the end of the day it comes down to content.. 

some posts on here  go un answered  for days on here , i imagine like me there are a number of browsers that could  offer some great advice, but to pay £30 to help someone is odd.. and theres the rub, the more people that contribute , the better the content, the more people involved and likely to pay.. 

"otherwise we would end up with all sorts of junk on the threads"  i doubt it very much owners  a westfield is not like a chavtastic clio forum full of kids, which has some hillarious posts i can assure you..  BTW i have a track race clio too and so are a member on their, and guess what its free to post     not  problem , thought id ask the reason  

Thanks 

Andy

 

[BigSkyBrad]

Defo an active forum - has anyone on your Lotus forum posted 32,600 times?! ( @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary )

[andyj007]

no idea, but i just looked very quickly first one i came to was 52,845..   it doesnt matter will get payment done..  was just trying to understand the logic  behind it which i still dont..  

 

thanks

 

 

 

[BigSkyBrad]

Geez @Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary, you need to up your game!!

[TAFKARM]

You should sign up to the "forum only" membership that foregoes the magazine and club events, its much cheaper!

[Rob Hunter - Club Secretary]

I'd also respectfully disagree...

 

I've only been a WSCC member since August and have found the forum invaluable. 

 

Given that no two Westfields are the same (rather than a production Lotus or whatever) I think it's a great idea to only have paying members have access to post. We may have to wait an hour two for advice sometimes, but it is definitely always worth the wait!

 

I also drive a track prepped BMW Mini that I've built over a couple of years and I'm a member of lots of free forums for the R53, track days, modified cars, etc... The level (or rather, the lack of) knowledge on most of these is frankly astounding! I've seen some rather scary advice given to some people.. Also, as they are open to all and sundry you get uninformed opinions on almost everything you ask (opinions are like a***holes, everyone has one 😂😂).

 

With the WSCC forum on the other hand, I've not seen anything other than informed advice, offers of help and support, plus great humour and a community spirit 👍

 

I'd also say the annual fee is tiny, I'd happily forgo a Chinese takeaway once a year to be a part of such a great club (plus missing a meal helps my power to weight ratio 😂).

 

Finally, I should add how friendly, welcoming and helpful the members have been to a newbie like me. It's been a hugely enjoyable part of Westfield ownership as far as I'm concerned. 

 

Here endeth my sermon 🤣🤣

[andyj007]

if i could just work out how to pay again, id be in and this thread can be ended..

 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Sorry only time for a "first half" of an answer right now, but for starters, the club is NOT the forum, you are not joining a forum per se, you're (hopefully) joining a club, that happens to have a forum. 

 

The Club comes with many benefits, some social, some technical and yes, some fiscal. If money is your sole measure of things, then you could recoup your nominal membership fee within minutes with a bit of online purchasing via our sponsors. You'd even have something shines to see, (unless of course you saved your £'s through the cheap insurance deals). 

 

Or perhaps you could join join us at the Silverstone Classic, where, with the early bird club discount, you effectively get a second adult ticket free, oh and possibly take part in a display lap of the course, between races.

 

The club is run and supported entirely by volunteers, so the admin staff take no money. Some of your membership fee does go to things like insurance for the club and it's members at club events, some goes to the purchase of Club display equipment for shows and events, even including a BBQ and medium size gazebo, in addition to flags and banners - all of which are available for any Area to borrow - subject to availability of course, for local events all round the country.

 

The forum you mention, is hosted on our own servers, on our own disc space, enabling us to offer easy, social media like, hosting and display of pictures - and when every so often, our more prolific photographers, like @Ian Kinder (Bagpuss) - Joint Peak District AO Run out of room to store their fantastic pictures, we usually nudge the available storage space up, because we can, and we have control.

 

We couldn't do half of this for free. Is it good value, for very many, yes it is, for some no, I'm sure. It depends what you want out of the Club and what you want to put in. I can guarantee you the more you do put in, the more you'll get back in spades.

 

Do we get everything right, no of course not, and we are always listening and trying to come up with ideas of how to do things better.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

1 minute ago, andyj007 said:

if i could just work out how to pay again, id be in and this thread can be ended..

 

 

@Mark Redpath - WSCC Membership Secretary Is your man to help, bear in mind though, it is Christmas time, and many do have family commitments at this time of year to contend with as welll as Club business. Mark can just reisssue a membership invoice, which will let you respond and do everything online!

[Captain Colonial]

When the forums were free to post:

 

It had good information but you often had to wade through a sea of rubbish, sniping, sarcasm, abuse and idiots to find it.

Fine people were put off by the boorish, childish behaviour of a few keyboard warriors who thought they had the right to say anything because they were “entertaining “.

Genuine requests for assistance were met with unhelpful replies like “do a search”, putting them off from every asking or contributing anything again.

It was less about Westfields and more like a boys locker room.

There was a lot of posting - and at least 50% of it was unrelated tripe.
The club was losing money hand over fist paying to run a forum full of people and non-members with little or no interest in anything but being irresponsible children in a sandbox.

Forum moderators were kept busy every day.
The forums were littered with spam and scam.
 

After the forum was for paid club members:

 

Not only was the good information there, the rubbish stopped contaminating it, making it easier to get answers.

Many more people felt able to post questions and give answers without fear of being abused.

The idjit factor dropped continuously until we had the finest, nicest, friendliest bunch of petrolheads I’ve ever had the pleasure to know.

Nobody brushes your question off with “do a search” - quite the opposite, they’re eager to help.

It’s a forum first and foremost about Westfields with a bit of fun.

Gentlemen, ladies and children can safely use the forums.

Club membership doubled within 18 months and it’s finances improved drastically.

Forum moderators rarely need to intervene.

Scam and spam has been wiped out.

 

I’m the first to accept pay to post isn’t for everyone.  I was sceptical when it was first proposed.  I’m happy to say I was wrong and my scepticism was misplaced.  It was absolutely the right thing to do,

 

Clubs aren’t for everyone.  There aren’t one size fits all solutions.  But the WSCC comes pretty damn close.  Yes, membership costs £27.50 to renew every year, but I’ve saved that a dozen times over with insurance discounts, special offers, discounted parts, fixing the car myself instead of paying for garages and many other things.  Membership is pretty much like putting money back in your pocket if you use it as intended.

 

I’d also point out that the forums (apart from Members Only section) are searchable and viewable via Google or other search engines.  The club didn’t have to do that... but it did.

 

There will always be those who think everything on the Internet should be free.  I’ve found that things that are free usually come at a cost, one way or another, or are free because they’re worthless.

 

It is said that a sceptic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.  I always try to do my best to prove sceptics of the WSCC wrong, and the actions of my fellow members do that loud and clear every day and in millions of ways.

[Captain Colonial]

11 minutes ago, andyj007 said:

if i could just work out how to pay again, id be in and this thread can be ended..

 

You were on 60 day memberships, which isn’t the least expensive way to be a member - don’t renew that at £60 a year!  Go to the Store tab and choose individual Membership which is £30 for the first year and £27.50 per year after that.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Thanks Scott, far more eloquently than I could, you've provided the second half of my previous answer!

 

I was, I don't mind admitting, one of the biggest opponents of pay to post, at first, and solidly voted against at committee meetings at the time.

 

I was wrong, and fortunately those with better crystal balls than mine voted in the majority. That move, and the associated changes to the forums and membership processes at the time have been perhaps one of the singularly most effective and improving moves the Club has ever done, in my time with it.

 

It was a brave path, but one that has been proven best, for us, again and again. 

 

And as Scott said, it has been a conscious decision to keep the entire technical archive, with one exception, fully open to public searching and browsing.

 

We do keep security related topics out of Tech Talk and in members only, but that's more for every owners peace of mind.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

20 minutes ago, andyj007 said:

if i could just work out how to pay again, id be in and this thread can be ended..

 

 

Its a useful thread to raise - it brings up some questions that get asked individually at meets and events, but hasn't been on the Forum for a while, so thank you for giving us an opportunity to explore it for the benefit of all, again.