Check out https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/ as an example of this. Very mobile friendly, unobtrusive sidebar ads on a desktop which are pushed to the bottom on a mobile screen.
yes, that's a pretty good representation of what a mobile design should look like. there's a few things that they show on mobile that do not work well, but overall, it's way better than where this forum stands now.
I just haven't had the time to do much lately - it's deer season, and I'm typing this at the cottage on internet that is barely above dialup speed but less reliable. I will say this about the suggestion to update the forum to a more phone-friendly version: Have any of you ever seen what makes a website "phone friendly"? Because any time I visit a forum on my phone it is ab-so-lutely POLLUTED with advertising. Mobile-friendly seems to do nothing except take a perfectly cromulent website and turn it into clickbait. One thing we admins have been pretty adamant about with this forum, right from day one, is that it would never become one of those annoying places full of ads, and I have that same belief still.
a mobile-friendly site is a MUST in 2018. the sites with a million ads are like that because of the way the admins have set it up. you don't need to make your site obtrusive to make it work well on mobile screens.
Quote from: EricCoolCats;467292
Agreed. We don't really need advertising on this site, and even if we wanted it...there aren't too many businesses that would make us their target audience.
So Carm, are you in for the upgrade? If so, who's handling it?
what's wrong with getting people to pay a small fee to list a small banner ad for their site? it helps cover site costs and it directs people looking for parts suppliers for these cars..
Hopefully this doesn't come off as harsh, but being someone who does IT professionally, and runs multiple successful forums, I can see why this forum (and other tbird/cougar/2.3 forums are dead): they're all boring, dated and not feature rich.
for this forum in particular, here's a few things that could use some doing:
1- stop using the default vbulletin theme, or one that's very close to default. that's boring and doesn't set the site apart, and I'm not sure if it works well on mobile devices. this site NEEDS to work well on mobile devices. most people in 2018 visit sites/forums/facebook/twitter on their phones, NOT on a desktop/laptop device.
2- create a section/database/wiki for common DIY stuff for our cars. most forum searches suck bad...ask me how I know.
3- integrate social media style plugins/features on the site: allow people to be tagged using the @ symbol, set up alerts, allow people to create accounts/sign in with facebook and twitter, etc.
4- stop hiding forum sections until after you're logged in. that discourages viewers and people from signing up.
5- why is the default setting to ONLY show threads from the last few days/weeks? that's annoying as hell and forces people to use the search tool to find old threads. did I mention that most forum search engines suck bad? you're exacerbating the problem here.
6- add https to the site. google increases their search engine rankings for sites that uses https. it also loads the pages faster with https rather than http.
there's more that can be done, but that's a start..
Torque Box Reinforcement plates with the inside plates and the required hardware for mounting!
These torque box reinforcements were custom designed by Heath and test fitted on an 86 & 87 Cougar and an 87 Tbird. The passenger side box that goes under the car is marked as "PS". The interior plates are not side specific. We recommend welding and bolting these in. These should prevent your torque boxes from tearing. Both the inside and outside boxes have been primered to prevent flash rust.
I'm working with a friend up north to make us a trans mount with soft polyurethane bushings. the mount is also powder coated. we're pretty sure these will fit 85-86 Cougar XR7 and 86-88 TC.
$55 shipped via paypal friends & family or add a few bucks to cover fees. If anyone is going to Carlisle in June, I'll have some of these with me on June 2nd.
I'm due for a front end alignment after replacing the L & R inner & outer tie rods & struts on my 87 TC...what are some good alignment specs I should be shooting for when I take my car to the alignment shop?
My car has the following in terms of setup/suspension (don't know if all of this info is really necessary but I'll list it anyways):
18in front wheels (I believe 235/40/18 tires up front) MOOG inner & outer tie rods 96-98 SN95 spindles Steeda X2 ball joints Koni STR.T struts Maximum Motorsports Caster/Camber plates The car is lowered slightly. I don't know what springs were used and by how much the car was lowered as all of that was done by a previous owner
I would buy a set but my subframes are round tube (Global West units) so with the square notch already in them they won't work for me. Any chance you can bend a set up without the relief for the subframe? I can put that in myself.
