this

 

I don't know how many times I've done that. Probably every other time I post becuase I know someone will mis-interpret it and it would derail the thread off a bridge.

While I think the search engine is ok, the problem is now that NAM has been around for so long and has so many posts that trying to search for something turns into a nightmare. Especially when some members go around spamming the same thing over and over and over again. I tried to search for a post in detailing 101 for a nero/303 comparison and all I got was 5 pages of the same 3 posters chanting "NERO NERO NERO PRIMA PRIMA EPIC I LOVE HEATHER DETAILERS PARADISE NERO NERO DID I MENTION HYDRO HYDRO HYDRO". I gave up after the second page.

Also, if you try looking for technical information you will end up with mixed responses that do not help lead to a answer or cannot answer your specific questions for your specific mini. Then when someone posts a thread to try and get that answer it's "hmmm, i don't know, did you try a search?????" I swear people wait like vultures to get the first post in a thread just to say that. This also makes searching a waste of time.

That said better filtering would be helpful, or just urging people to check the first 3 - 5 pages of a forum to see if their answer is there, and members to at least help them find it with links rather than use a search. I think wheels/tires/brakes has 3 threads of the ultraleggeras on the first freaking page.

 

This is really good advice for those large numbers of posters who came to NAM for the shared MINI experience but are not necessarily blog-savvy. For these folks, it is often a trial-and-error experience because they need to learn just how public their comments are and the ease at which inferences can be taken differently by different people, leading to misinterpretation and offense. Some already have this skill by virtue of their experience in online forums and blogs; others need to acquire it.

In my early days of MINI ownership, I was excited about joining the NAM fraternity and anxious to get involved in the banter and be "part of the group." There was a tendency for my posts to be a little provocative to stimulate responses. As a result, I posted frequently and often without much empathy, and stuck my foot in my virtual mouth on more than one occasion. I've sent more than one apologetic PM trying to undo misinterpretations of posts that were not well conceived.

Except in my club forum, I now limit my replies to about 10% of my noob-era volume. I will often type out a reply, then delete the whole thing. I'm trying to be much more attentive to content and how it will be perceived by the NAM masses.

 

I can't believe this thread is still slogging on!

Doktors can perscribe drugs for this sort of thing, and life can be better.

Search Function: Okay. If your goal is information. But then, human interaction is not just about information. I'm sure I could enter a city after a nuclear war and find, say in an abandoned library, or a home filled with bones, a Bentley Manual telling me how to fix my parking brake. Still, I'd rather gather up the information from live people, now.

Call me a freak!

 

We're just trying to help the owner and admins of this site so that they can make it all that it can be....I don't think anyone is that upset by any of this.

 

I know that. But I do feel the need to speak up for those who are here as a pastime and not a profession . . . or for problem solving . . . or to be effective. Don't be surprised by the pie!

That said, I've gotten great help here with the upper strut, installing XM radio, rear seat delete, detailing. I've had just as much fun in Walter Pidgeon's pants . . . and helped a lot more animials in those pants!

Humor funny or not does not negate seriousness. It enhances and balances seriousness. It evens gives permission to some to listen to seriousness. That's why, when God asks you to speak for Him, he usually wants you to tell a joke.

 

That means that people who have taken the time to provide the exact same information that you are seaking NOW either have to do it again, or blow you off. Really, don't take this the wrong way, but your desire for immediat action from others is very inconsiderate to those that provide thier knowledge for free to people who ask. So you can't be bothered to look it up. So someone has to post it AGAIN, and AGAIN, and AGAIN.

I can't tell you how many times I've described the operation of a modified by-pass valve vs changing the location of the vacuum tap that operates the very same valve. Or the current one of the day, why speed density systems don't need reprogramming do deal with most upstream modifications.

I won't call you a freak, but I wish you'd think of it from guys like my perspective. Sure, it's nice to get a fast answer, but you don't really need it, so why not be considerate to those that post lots of information and do a little work for you knowledge?

Matt

 

Do you think Dostoyevsky is blowing me off because he doesn't keep posting the delima bean of God's cruelty to children? Post it once and let it go! The live people who chose to be engaged in the conversation because they want interaction in the thread will cite your post. You don't have to post again. If you've provided the information, there it is.

If you want to engage each person, say, as a teacher does with his classes each year, do so. If you don't want to, don't do so.

By the way, you are going to have to say something about my mother if you want to offend me. I certainly don't think you are blowing me off if you don't give me a custom post. And also by the way, if I really want to just get the information, I'll google it. It might come up on NAM and it might come up on some Ukranian blog . . . wouldn't matter to me. But when I go to NAM it is for community as well as information.

And PS by the way, your posts are information rich and I have mined them, when searching for information. Kudos for that.

 

By the way, I'm trying to decide between a 15%, 17% or 19% reduction pulley. I want more power, but I'm concerned about reliability -- any thoughts?

 

I dont know....will that void your warranty?

 

Have you considered NOS?

 

A perfect example of 'What is wrong here on NAM'. Complete disregard for the thread topic...

 

Chill dude.....he was making a JOKE about the THREAD TOPIC.

 

Pssst - it was a joke!

(oops - Rally beat me to it)

 

Not a good one on a thread with 500 posts, or one that spawns half a dozen responding attempts at humor.

This topic is taken quite seriously by the moderators and founders of NAM. There's plenty of room for sarcasm elsewhere.

 

I thought it quite humorous.....and knowing many of the admins pretty well, i bet a few of them have a little chuckle when they read it too. Nothing wrong with joking every now and then.

 

Believe it or not I got the joke as well (and that was with only 5 hours of sleep) Now back to my coding for the site

Mark

 

Although my comment is arguably a very serious commentary regarding the topic at hand, in the future I will refrain from being sarcastic on threads with more than 100 posts . . . ooops, there I go again.

 

Yeah. My therapist tells me I need to let the small stuff slide, part of having OCD. It's a tough path though for a 55 year old cynical, sarcastic misanthrope (think Jack Nicholson in 'As Good as it Gets')

My apologies...

 

It's just like any other forum. Same issues.

 

So does that mean you liked my **** joke back on page 862

 

Okay. I get it! You guys don't know when you're on the stage, and when you're back stage. The forums are on stage. Back stage would be a place where you're in your underware and the audience isn't allowed. Wait, I'll be back in a minute, I've just been presured into letting de Mistro hypmotize me.

 

nope. in the spirit of joking around a bit, I suggest we post this every time someone asks a question without searching

 

Can you do a graphic for having sex? The Lord knows you wouldn't want to have sex again if someone in the forum has already had it. I, for one, would rather just use the search button!

In the spirit of joking around

 

Well, a solution (maybe) for the multiple "how do I...?" threads. Just thinking out loud here. Maybe devote a section to How To's. As follows:

Threads in Forum - How To...That way the How to parts are just that, info only. A sub thread to that could be a discussion thread about the how to. Different people could post different ways they did things to the How to part (hopefully detailed and with pictures) and then people could flame/argue/discuss/throw pies in the "Discussion" sub-thread.
I don't know that this is 'technically' possible, given the current site outline, just my 2 cents, FWIW. It may (it very well may not) help people find what they are looking for more quickly (for how to's anyways).