"Just Because" Give Away Contest

What I Like:
Great advice and help with no put downs, great pics and infos on finished details, good all-round friendliness of the forumn

What I'd Change:
Make the pages show more posts as it would be faster to read threads, and yes make it faster if possible (I know that gets expensive).

Love this forum, going to try some of the techniques I've learned out today
 
Like some members here, I, too have joined other detailing forums to hopefully learn a whole lot more about detailing. TID is the first forum I look at. It's actually in my PC startup!

What I like:
= The friendly atmosphere everyone gets when they post.
= The advice and encouragement we 'newbies' get from the pros here.
= Overall, TID rocks! :notworthy:

What I'd like to change/see more:
= like TLMitchell posted earlier, I'd like to see a 'For Sale/Trade' section among members. I'm open to try on new stuff, and if possible would like to try a small amount before I purchase a 'regular' size.
= I'd like to see more specials, promos, contests!
= Hopefully, samples of products would be available with our order?
TID: Keep it up! :thumbup:

Raoul
 
jrt81 said:
Hopefully, samples of products would be available with our order?
Click to expand...

Speaking of which, I recently picked up numerous Optimum products in 8 oz sampler sizes. ADS bottles their own 12 oz sample sizes, some vendors carry Menz 16 oz sizes. I'd love to see CMA carry smaller sample sizes. Probably not much profit in them but the profit comes on the repeat sales when you find something you really like.

TL
 
Great suggestions from everybody! I can promise you that with guys like Angelo and Jack, they will look at every suggestion and take to heart the changes. Jack has done a great job with this forum and I humbled to take a small part in it.

It is, has been, and will always be, his forum. You guys rock, thank you very much for the suggestions!
 
Okay, I know that I posted one already, but I thought of something else that I would like to see here.

How about a Product Guide Section. In this section you could have all kinds of documentation about the products, ie. directions, manuals, tips, uses, etc. Maybe, it could also have copies of owners manuals for download.

I'll keep thinking.
 
What I Like

The personal involvement of PAC staff.
Participation on the forum of World Class professionals willing to share their knowledge.
Layout and functionality of the Website is very good (see What To Fix below).
Site doesn't use Flash (which really slows down rendering and can be a security risk).


What To FIX

Fix the spelling error "tecmiques" in the site meta name description (in the HTML code):

meta name="description" content="Truth In Detailing is an automotive detailing and appearance forum dedicated to providing the truth in detailing products and tecmiques."


The site pages have a number of coding errors which different browsers handle in different ways but generally can cause slow rendering of the pages. For example, the main forum page (//truthindetailing.com/Forum/forums.php) is described as "DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional" but testing against this standard finds numerous errors such as:

>> XML Parsing Errors: 35 errors of opening/ending tag mismatch and premature end of data in tags. This error is numerous and common to all pages on the site.

>> end tag for X omitted, but OMITTAG NO was specified: 14 errors where you may have neglected to close an element, or perhaps you meant to "self-close" an element, that is, ending it with "/>" instead of ">".

>> document type does not allow element X here: 2 errors where the element named above was found in a context where it is not allowed. This could mean that you have incorrectly nested elements -- such as a "style" element in the "body" section instead of inside "head" -- or two elements that overlap (which is not allowed). One common cause for this error is the use of XHTML syntax in HTML documents. Due to HTML's rules of implicitly closed elements, this error can create cascading effects.

>> end tag for X which is not finished: 1 error where most likely, you nested tags and closed them in the wrong order.



What I Would Add

Take the "Best Of" articles, tutorials, how-to posts and place them in a "Library" section. The pages would NOT allow posting/discussion (only by admins), just have html AND a downloadable version of the topic in a non-proprietary format.

Maybe add storage space to upload images with a size and quantity limit per post (such as 6 images per post, no larger than 200kb each, 800x600px max resolution). Reasoning for site storage is linking to other "free" pic services will "break" (as in Image Not Found) if the owner doesn't keep up membership - then the TID thread will be missing pics.

Regards,
GEWB
(Gary in Denver)
 
Another thought - upgrade to PHP 5.2.12 (if not already done). Also try techniques to optimize PHP (see articles such as "A HOWTO on Optimizing PHP").

Regards,
GEWB

Gary -- already been on that version for a while..
Thanks,
Admin
 
What I like about TID and PAC:

Excellent customer service and solid prices. One thing I really like about PAC are the LC pad designs available. Nobody else offers the constant pressure style and it really does make a difference. The MF cloths are also a step above competitors in quality.

The TID forum is nice because it has a lot of knowledgeable people. I think people are drawn to instructive posts by people like Todd.



Things that might be changed:
TID, like pretty much all forums out there, limits search words to a certain minimum length. This is really annoying when you consider that we often use acronyms for products. I'd like to search for Meg's All-Season Dressing information, but everyone calls it "ASD" and I can't search on that. You might be better off limiting common word searches instead of word length.

Consider linking the forum and the store. The current store has ratings (stars and a brief narrative), but often not much of substance. Including links to selected forum discussions would give customers more information and would get more people involved in TID.

One thing that other stores have done lately is to offer BOGO or daily deals. I won't mention who, but you know your competition. These get me checking back at the store just to see what's on sale today. I did it back before Christmas when PAC was doing this.
 
My likes on TID:

1. Though its sponsored by PAC there seems to be a big freedom on product discussions, I remember reading some post about products that were from another competitor, but it wasn't bashed, rather it was opened for discussion, something some forums don't allow.

2. A lot of forum participants are at a professional level. It allows newbs like me to really believe what we see.

Improvements:

1. I like the "how to" section, but it seems to be needing a lot of recent activities.

2. Perhaps more product reviews? I wouldn't mind seeing product x vs product y on car a with factor t and factor s. Like the opti-coat thread, I think that's really interesting.
 
Likes and improvements.

Likes: When PAC comes up with these contests.

Improvements: Have these contests more frequent....so I have a better chance of winning something.
 
What I Like About TID:
A safe place to come and post. I visit TID usually multiple times a day. I don't post often, but I do feel comfortable posting here. That said, I do like the

People that are regulars on this board.
PAC: Angelo, Todd, Jack
Midnight Sun and Wet Diamond

What I would like to see Added:

More product reviews of items PAC sells. For example the Metro Air Force Blaster, Hose and cable catchers, etc..

:)

Mike
 
Positives:
Todd, Angelo, and Jack post and contribute some good information.

Looks to be the one consistent location for quality and professional information.



Suggestion:
The color scheme is too close to an earth tone for a visual art forum.
 
A PAC store suggestion:

Currently when I search for a product, it comes up with a description and the "add to cart" button.

However, it defaults to quantity "0" so when I forget, or don't notice, and click "add to cart" nothing happens.

Very bad for a retailer as it makes me decide twice whether I want that item.

Suggestion - Make it all that product description pages default to "1" for quantity.
 
One more PAC store suggestion:

Have a sign in so I don't have to input my address and then go hunt down the 10 digit code for any "reward level" I have earned.

In addition to address, etc... the sign in could remember the relevant coupon code for any "reward level" and automatically input that code to the cart on checkout.
 
Well, I should really classify myself as a lurker these days, but I thought I would chime in here.

The good:
- I really like the articles. They are consistent and offer a great deal of information that is understandable for beginners and experts. It caters to everyone.

- There are a ton of high caliber members here that I can rely on. For example, if a member suggests a product, it is not because they are a shill, but rather the product really does work. On other forums, you have to take the advice with a grain of salt. I remember one retailer created an abrasive chart a while back that was absolutely ridiculous. Shows how much they know about the products they sell!

- The forum stays positive. While I enjoy some of the drama that on other forums, I cannot stand the person vs. person attacks.

- There is no blatant censorship. For example, XXXXXXXXX Midnight Sun is a great product. It is a great way to push their in-house products, while destroying credibility.


Things to change:
- On the CMA website, it would be really helpful if the quantity to add to your cart starts at one. Instead of manually erasing zero and replacing it with a number, it would always start at one. After all, nobody wants to add zero items to their cart.

- How about some polishing videos? I always enjoy watching those to learn from others.

- On the forum main page, it would be great to have some page links next to the thread title. I usually come back to threads and it makes it easier if the pages are linked.

- There are only a few websites that sell sanding disks along with detailing supplies. If CMA would sell the Trizact or new Meguiar's disks, that would be awesome. On the same note, a starter DA sanding kit would differentiate CMA from the others.

- I would place the polls under a new poll section.
 
Jeff U and PorscheGuy, while I really was looking for TID comments I will address both of your points on the "quantity" issue on PAC. We are aware of the issue of the "0" default in the item quantity. When we made changes to the site last year, we originally had the default set to "1". The problem is, when people wanted to order a different size of a particular item, say a 32 oz. instead of a 16 oz. they would not zero out the 16 oz. They would then get to the shopping cart and have both items. We decided to zero out everything and then the customer could choose the size they wanted. Understand that while this may not be the best solution for everyone, it is only a temporary situation. When dealing with a web site's functionality, some things may seem like a simple fix will work when reality dictates that much is at the mercy of your platform and server and the fact you are dealing with a wide spectrum of people. In this case it is yahoo and frankly there are many times I have an idea I want implemented, it often comes back to either "No, we can't do that" or "practice writing large checks $$$$$$). This issue and many more are scheduled for change this year and I promise I will come back to the people of this community for input, (sounds like a future contest :clap:). Be patient, changes are coming.

jk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top