Redirecting new members to other boards, time to react.

[Theo]

.....as for redirecting people to oiher sites if its for something other then the engine this should be fine all sites may have sum use ........

I absolutely second that

[EndlessProject]

I'm not opposed to this rule if it is temporary in nature. It would be interesting to see if there is a positive effect on membership and traffic.

Ultimately something like this will no longer be needed if ford-mel-engine develops into the best repository of knowledge out there.

If members end up fleeing to other boards, restrictive rules ultimately do little to plug the holes in the dike. We would have to look hard at his board and what it offers to its members.

JMO.

[Theo]

In a small niche community such as the MEL enthusiasts are, every single participant and his post weighs a lot. It will probably have an istant effect even if it was only one participant who stays away.
But again, it can't really get worse on the long run. Maybe some would abandon this forum for political reasons but others who would not be redirected would possibly stick here in return. Not to mention all those who stay and who like the forum anyway. What's the deal with the new rule? It's just a temporary arrangement for the sake of this community. It's not a senseless dictatorship going wild on rules and it's not gonna hinder the work on what this board has been created for in the first hand. That's writing and exchanging MEL Knowledge. Let's go on with that Ladies and Gentlemen.

[Theo]

From viewtopic.php?f=16&t=239&p=794#p794

Very cool. Thanks for posting. I'm posting it on thelincolnforum.net

Here's a video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOF_zKeEwls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlP27YEPH7I&hl=nl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK69OO8J1G8

Reijer, to me your post above is very cynical and hostile in regard to the latest discussion we had just recently.
It*s a perfect example of selfishness and ignorance to this boards rules an to its` problems in general. We have di9scussed it extensively and you have been actively participating in this discussion. It*s hard to believe that you didn*t get it.
It*s all about bleeding the board which occures in many disguise.
You redirected participants to an other board in the past without any need to do so and now you*re playing stupid and trieing to make a fool out of me by pirating topics and transfer it into the same other forum where you don*t seem to care mentioning its' original source.
Stealing a topic without refering to where you picked it up from is not only the top of ignorance in regard to the latest discussion and rule but also very hostile to this board. It*s simply bad netikette and it*s also a perfect example why I have imposed the latest new rule.
Is this the dutch middle way you were proudly talking about? Transfering a topic into a 40 000 Member forum from a 100 member forum without mentioning the source is definitely not O.K.
What have you done to promote this forum? Wouldn't it be fair or simply nice to invite people outside to chime in where this topic has been started? No, you*re simply not interested.
You don*t have to love this forum, but you don*t have to bleed it that way or think that you're the only smart guy in here. Don*t play stupid and please stop playing these games. I have a real life and I run this forum with growth in mind. I'm not gonna serve guys that don*t care a sh## if this board is gonna go on or simply run dead.
When are you gonna start respecting other people's work and this forum?

[reijerlincoln]

Reijer, to me your post above is very cynical and hostile in regard to the latest discussion we had just recently.

Theo, it is certainly not intended that way and I'm sorry you perceive it that way. You're putting a lot of time and effort in setting up this forum. I appreciate that. Your remarks about me, my character and intentions seem to be written in anger. I will take them as such and will not comment on everything you've written in the post above. There are two things I will respond to.

First, I thought your rule about 'redirecting new members' to other boards pertains to redirecting people with a specific question to other forums where this specific question has already been asked and answered. I understand that and will honour it. However I did not understand members of this forum aren't allowed to share interesting titbits posted here of info on other forums and vice-versa (this doesn't make sense to me but I'd like to hear your reasoning behind it).

Second, about what I've done to promote this forum; I've mentioned this forum on several others as a source of information about MEL motors. I've also started four informative threads; three were about my '64 Continental and the work I've done on it. The fourth is about the MEL combustion chamber & piston design.

Cheers,
Reijer

[Theo]

Reijer, to me your post above is very cynical and hostile in regard to the latest discussion we had just recently.

Theo, it is certainly not intended that way and I'm sorry you perceive it that way. ..........

Your comment is well taken and accepted. Glad I was wrong in this point.

Your remarks about me, my character and intentions seem to be written in anger. I will take them as such and will not comment on everything you've written in the post above.

Thanx, it helps cool things down.

.......However I did not understand members of this forum aren't allowed to share interesting titbits posted here of info on other forums and vice-versa (this doesn't make sense to me but I'd like to hear your reasoning behind it).

That's not the case Reijer. Off course you can share info. You can go anywhere you like and spread whatever you want. I'm not in the position to control it and I don't want to control it anyway. That would be rediculous.
The issiue is about how it is done and it is about how it relates to the latest developement of the forum and the latest discussions about referal, bleeding this forum and so on.
Nobody has asked you where you go with a topic. If you feel to export a topic to a competing forum rather than discussing it here then sad enough go for it. But there's no need to promote this competing forum at the same time. It's simply not nice and it's against the new rule (emergency act), especially when you don't promote this ford-mel-engine.com forum in return. That's a one way street that thanklessly only favours the other place.
Again, this forum needs to be advertised. It is not created to function as a connecting station nor to be a place where a competing forum is being permanently mentioned and promoted in all sorts of posts.
You don't call out to get item x cheaper at the next mega store in front of the small-shop manager and the few gathered customers, don't ya? You don't even have to pay here at the FME-forum.
This issiue is very demanding and I have consulted the Forum Moderators to reflect about the steps that I decided to take and about what possibly will have to be taken in the next future.
I hope that I made things clear. If you have more questions on this issiue feel free to ask.

Second, about what I've done to promote this forum; I've mentioned this forum on several others as a source of information about MEL motors. I've also started four informative threads; three were about my '64 Continental and the work I've done on it. The fourth is about the MEL combustion chamber & piston design.

Your contibution is not forgotten and much appreciated Reijer. Let's go ahead with business.

[reijerlincoln]

Let's go ahead with business.

All right then.

[Beep]

To the management of this site:

Theo, this is really getting stupid and may run people off. Why the heck would you have an issue with people directing people to another site? It is not like this is a commercial interprise or the other sites are commercial interprises. Noone is losing a profit here that I know of. Besides, the reverse happens all the time. People on other sites refer people to this site. Seems to me all the sites give something. This one gives a lot. So, wtf,,,,,?

It is sad that Gary left this site. He is a stand up guy with a tremendous amount of knowledge concerning the MEL series engines. He was a stalwart on the original site.

I have been racing MEL engines off and on since 1958 and have a lot to share. I am the builder and owner of the MEL powered AA/Fuel Coupe known as the GizzleHopper. I have run unblown as well as blown MELs on gas and nitro. I have raced them on the street (way back when) and now have tresurected he coupe to take around and show people how we did it back in the 60's with a MEL.

Please don't run me off too.

Thanks for listening
Beep

[Theo]

Dear Brian,
I'm sorry to see you in such an anger. Please read the complete threads and all previous threads regarding this issiue closely for the reasons why.

To the management of this site:

.......It is not like this is a commercial interprise or the other sites are commercial interprises. Noone is losing a profit here that I know of.....

It's not about money Brian. It's about the existance of this forum and about loosing participants, topics and traffic through redirection, reference or the advertisement of a specific competing forum. Linking to an other source is common and absolutely O.K. if by no means one can't help expressing himself or giving the required info in an other way. But the way it is often done can't be tolerated as often enough there hasn't even been a single sign why the he## a question that has been posted here can't be answered here too. The question is here and the knowledge to answer it is here too. So why not giving the info here instead of redirecting and weaken the forum?
Linking and redirecting to ones favourite forum, where one might prefer posting, as it obviously shows in their other forum's 4 digit post counter, or possibly for the reason of being too lazy to type a few sentences in order to answer a question in this forum, doesn't do this forum justice and has been adding to desert it.

Look, I've been working and investing my time on this side for quite a while now. I'm not going to go into details and I'm not gonna whine about it. My sight on things might be different from what some registered participants might have on this particular case and there are others that have similar opinions that have expressed their solidarity. As I have clearly stated previously, my aim is to strenghten and help populate this forum. I've been playing with codes and other techniques to make this site climb up top notch. We're now at #2 with Google and I'm constantly struggleing with keeping the spam bots out. Sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less work.

All I'm asking in return is to use this forum for what I have created it in the first hand. That is to fill it up with info and to have fun discussing things while making useage of it's great potential rather than bleeding it w. a disproportional amount posts that contain redirections. Is it so much I'm asking for? Is it so much, that one has to abandon this forum?
If this weighs more to some than what this forum is ready to give and what it is worth for to be supported, then shall it be so. Then this is not the place to be for those who think it is more important to fiddle with redirections than talking business in this forum.

It is sad that Gary left this site. He is a stand up guy with a tremendous amount of knowledge concerning the MEL series engines. He was a stalwart on the original site.............Please don't run me off too.

Brian, I did not run off anyone. It was Gary's decision to run away and it will be YOUR descision wether or not you decide to hang on at the http://www.ford-mel-engine.com.
When Gary called me up to tell me that the old forum was messed up and down I had no idea because on my desk top it all looks fine until today.
I decided to react fast and within a few days I had a rough skelleton of this new forum up and running. To express my respect I made him stand out of the crowd and decorated him as a 5 Star General. He never asked for it and neither ever asked to be a moderator. I thought it would be appropriate and that it didn't hurt either since he was not obliged to work on any of the usual moderator issiues. Besides that I wanted to provide him with extra powerful and convenient board tools that only moderators may use. However he didn't seem very comfortable with that so after he had asked me to change his status numerous times, I have decided to change his rank as required. Good bye General and hello MEL Certified Technician.
That's the story behind it just in case you might think that I have run him off AND also degraded his status. Nor did I address the new rule to him personally. It is a general rule.

Unfortunately Gary left with a hash comment and without a single attempt to discuss things or showing up with thoughts about alternatives or work arounds. Neither did he make usage of PM or posting in the hidden moderator section in the fore field. He knows that he is one of the main forces in putting up MEL info and that his strike would hit the forum and all those who liked him inkl. me. I don't think this was very cooperative and a good move at all.
I did not remove his membership as he required because I believe that sometimes things are less problematic than it seems in the first moment. So the door remains open.

As admin and owner of this forum every single participant is important to me. I can not and will not extra pamper single participants, no matter how respected they are. I refuse to be blackmailed by any individual who thinks that things should work just the way he wants. However and as previously announced I'm opened to discuss about ideas to a certain extend as long as they are presented in a nicely and cooperative manner.

Brian, I hope I could answer your question a bit. English language gets pretty time consuming for me when I try to express complex thoughts.

BTW, as the PM function is not working at the moment, I would like to ask you if I can use a few photos of the hopper in the forum's rotating header (banner) and also link to your videos?