Y2K5SRT
Enthusiast
Greetings!
We wanted to let everyone know that this very website is going to be changing soon. Your VCA National, Zone, and Regional Officers (led by Mr. Bob Carroll, National President), along with the VCA Web Committee, met extensively in Detroit last week. The results of which are as follows:
1. This site will be upgraded to the latest vBulletin software no later than March 31st. The current software is no longer supported and simply can't do what we (you) want it to do.
2. With that upgrade, the look and feel of the site will be changing as well. There will be more user options, seamless passwords (instead of one for the Classifieds, one for the Gallery, etc.), and revised forums. As many folks look through these forums based on the mechanicals of their model year, we are considering having forums for each generation of car rather that the two "catch all" forums we have for Vipers now (plus the "General Viper Discussions" forum).
3. We are going to be adding moderators for each of the forums. Right now Lee is working what seems like 24/7.
4. Last week we adopted the new website policies (which themselves were revised in November) and incorporated them into our bylaws. These policies provide a more defined approach to both using and moderating this website. These policies will be linked by a hotlink/button on every forum page so that you can always access them immediately. In the meantime you can read them here:
http://www4.forum.viperclub.org/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=246224
5. Additionally, the website committee was reinforced and a National Officer appointed to serve on the committee, as well as the liaison for the rest of the National officers. More importantly, decisions regarding thread deletions, suspensions, and other "high impact" issues will be reviewed and voted upon by the committee. There will be no more decisions made by individuals outside of those "emergency" situations where a moderator clearly determines there is flagrant violation(s) of the website policies. That decision will then be reviewed by the committee and any further action determined at that time. Banning, suspensions, and other considerations will be made by committee.
6. The website administration and programming is being put out to bid effective immediately. Like the Viper itself, we want the very best "bang for the buck" for this site. We are determined to do so in all facets of the VCA, starting here. Jay Herbert is preparing the parameters of the duties here, as well as the programming needed. This will then be sent to interested parties so that they can submit a proposal, including Jay. The proposals will then be reviewed by the web committee and national officers. Consideration will be based both on experience and pricing. (Hint: If you don't have experience working with discussion forum software then you should sit this one out.) We hope to award an agreement on or before February 1st. As per the national bylaws, this will be a short-term contract, extending no longer than December 31, 2008. In the future we will be looking for competitive bids for merchandise, newsletter printing, etc.
As noted previously, we are seeking qualified individuals (or company) to make a proposal for the administration/programming for this site. This position will be addressing only the technical aspects of getting the site up to date (conversion), keeping it running smoothly, as well as possible future development projects within the timeframe of the agreement. Forum experience is a must, with vBulletin experience a plus. This position will NOT be involved in any of the "politics" moving forward. We will also be looking for individuals to assist with some of the different facets of the site, including the Gallery, Classified, etc. With the right programming in place those people will simply "moderate" those pages.
Whew! The bottom line is that we want your forum experience to be the best it can possibly be. This means not only the visual and functional upgrades to the site itself, but also "distributing the load" when it comes to moderating and running the site as a whole. The Viper Club of America is committed to improving your experience here and throughout all facets of the VCA membership experience. We hope you will enjoy and support our efforts.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Marshall
VCA Web Committee Member
National Treasurer
PS. While we welcome your comments (this will be an unlocked thread for now), we ask that you help us focus on the future. As such, any negative comments regarding personnel or previous iterations of this site <u>will</u> be removed.
We wanted to let everyone know that this very website is going to be changing soon. Your VCA National, Zone, and Regional Officers (led by Mr. Bob Carroll, National President), along with the VCA Web Committee, met extensively in Detroit last week. The results of which are as follows:
1. This site will be upgraded to the latest vBulletin software no later than March 31st. The current software is no longer supported and simply can't do what we (you) want it to do.
2. With that upgrade, the look and feel of the site will be changing as well. There will be more user options, seamless passwords (instead of one for the Classifieds, one for the Gallery, etc.), and revised forums. As many folks look through these forums based on the mechanicals of their model year, we are considering having forums for each generation of car rather that the two "catch all" forums we have for Vipers now (plus the "General Viper Discussions" forum).
3. We are going to be adding moderators for each of the forums. Right now Lee is working what seems like 24/7.
4. Last week we adopted the new website policies (which themselves were revised in November) and incorporated them into our bylaws. These policies provide a more defined approach to both using and moderating this website. These policies will be linked by a hotlink/button on every forum page so that you can always access them immediately. In the meantime you can read them here:
http://www4.forum.viperclub.org/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=246224
5. Additionally, the website committee was reinforced and a National Officer appointed to serve on the committee, as well as the liaison for the rest of the National officers. More importantly, decisions regarding thread deletions, suspensions, and other "high impact" issues will be reviewed and voted upon by the committee. There will be no more decisions made by individuals outside of those "emergency" situations where a moderator clearly determines there is flagrant violation(s) of the website policies. That decision will then be reviewed by the committee and any further action determined at that time. Banning, suspensions, and other considerations will be made by committee.
6. The website administration and programming is being put out to bid effective immediately. Like the Viper itself, we want the very best "bang for the buck" for this site. We are determined to do so in all facets of the VCA, starting here. Jay Herbert is preparing the parameters of the duties here, as well as the programming needed. This will then be sent to interested parties so that they can submit a proposal, including Jay. The proposals will then be reviewed by the web committee and national officers. Consideration will be based both on experience and pricing. (Hint: If you don't have experience working with discussion forum software then you should sit this one out.) We hope to award an agreement on or before February 1st. As per the national bylaws, this will be a short-term contract, extending no longer than December 31, 2008. In the future we will be looking for competitive bids for merchandise, newsletter printing, etc.
As noted previously, we are seeking qualified individuals (or company) to make a proposal for the administration/programming for this site. This position will be addressing only the technical aspects of getting the site up to date (conversion), keeping it running smoothly, as well as possible future development projects within the timeframe of the agreement. Forum experience is a must, with vBulletin experience a plus. This position will NOT be involved in any of the "politics" moving forward. We will also be looking for individuals to assist with some of the different facets of the site, including the Gallery, Classified, etc. With the right programming in place those people will simply "moderate" those pages.
Whew! The bottom line is that we want your forum experience to be the best it can possibly be. This means not only the visual and functional upgrades to the site itself, but also "distributing the load" when it comes to moderating and running the site as a whole. The Viper Club of America is committed to improving your experience here and throughout all facets of the VCA membership experience. We hope you will enjoy and support our efforts.
Respectfully submitted,
Chris Marshall
VCA Web Committee Member
National Treasurer
PS. While we welcome your comments (this will be an unlocked thread for now), we ask that you help us focus on the future. As such, any negative comments regarding personnel or previous iterations of this site <u>will</u> be removed.
