G4 Owners Club

RE Forum Access....

https://forum.g4ownersclub.com/Topic3557.aspx

By willowkis - 6 Sep 2007

I think it's a great idea to limit access to paid up members, but I must ask a question; I'm a fully paid up member and as such am enjoying the benefits of being a member.  My husband also frequents on here and is yet to post (his reason is he says he hasn't been able to get a word in edgeways with me :hehe:) does this mean he will not be able to view the boards?  It seems unfair having to pay two lots of membership for one vehicle.

Kim :D

By Moose - 6 Sep 2007

Well I think that parts of the forum should be for paid up members only.



How about a family membership for £50



Kim for you I guess maybe a family membership would be a good thing if you dont want to let him use your password ??? or just give him a few sides to read every now and again :w00t:






By DarrenG - 6 Sep 2007

On other forums using a similar setup families use a single login but add a signature line to indicate which member of the family authored the post.
By willowkis - 6 Sep 2007

cold_n_wet (9/6/2007)
Well I think that parts of the forum should be for paid up members only.

How about a family membership for £50

Kim for you I guess maybe a family membership would be a good thing if you dont want to let him use your password ??? or just give him a few sides to read every now and again :w00t:



I agree that parts of the forum should only be for paid up members, but my Husband and I come as a 'team' and have paid for one membership, i.e. when phoning for discounted tickets for Peterborough, we both wouldn't phone.  It would be different if we were using two vehicles, then 2 membership fees would be fair.

Kim :crazy:

By DarrenG - 6 Sep 2007

But it's not as if only one of you can read the forums? You don't mind sharing each others login to access here do you? You could change your forum user-name to a 'team' name ;)
By willowkis - 6 Sep 2007

DarrenG (9/6/2007)
But it's not as if only one of you can read the forums? You don't mind sharing each others login to access here do you? You could change your forum user-name to a 'team' name ;)

Darren,

We have the same IP address but different logins that shouldn't warrant having to pay two membership fees for one vehicle.

Kim :crazy:

By General Lee - 6 Sep 2007

Hello Kim,

I understand the ruling to be 1 couple 1 membership. How you stand with two forum names I am not sure :unsure:. Would it not be easier to drop one.  :w00t: Only  a suggestion:Whistling:

By willowkis - 6 Sep 2007

General Lee (9/6/2007)
Hello Kim,

I understand the ruling to be 1 couple 1 membership. How you stand with two forum names I am not sure :unsure:. Would it not be easier to drop one.  :w00t: Only  a suggestion:Whistling:

Hi Allan,

That's good to hear "1 couple = 1 membership".

It shouldn't create any problems with Chris using his own log in especially as we have the same IP, all that would have to be done is to note both mine and Chris' log-ins as being members and hey presto no more problems. :D

Kim :crazy:

By DarrenG - 6 Sep 2007

I'll raise this with the committee, the problem for us is the difficulty in ensuring only paid-up members get access.
By willowkis - 6 Sep 2007

DarrenG (9/6/2007)
I'll raise this with the committee, we're all learning and this is the first request :)

Thank you Darren, I'll wait for your response.

Kim :D

By DarrenG - 6 Sep 2007

Oops you beat me to a reply whilst i was editing! I was just pointing out that the issue with separate logins is not that we are mean spirited but that it is difficult to police i.e. ensuring that each login is a subscribed member.
By Marnix L - 7 Sep 2007

hello guys,



I have some second thoughts about this whole idea of limiting the forum.



I live in Belgium, so the additional benefits of free entrances, discounts on insurance etc is of no value for me, so being the devil's advocate, why should I pay £30, or roughly 45 euro for something I can't benefit from ?



the more I was just getting this forum popular with some other G4 LE owners in Belgium.



if you would like to offer G4 stuff only to members, I fully understand, but getting the forum closed for everybody accept members, is like taking away the candy from a kid, after you said he could take as much as he wanted :crying:



The LR owners club Belgium has another philosophy : the forum is open to anybody who registers, but if you become a member for 25 euro/year, you get a club magazine, and you can participate in road books, events etc ... and in my honest opinion, this is more democratic ...



no hard feelings



greetz



Marnix - Brussels - Belgium
By ct93usa - 7 Sep 2007

Here's another query.

I'm in the USA. I dont have access to any G4 vehicles but I do when I visit the UK - all too infrequently.I have an interest in the G4 being a Land Rover retail manager here and the fact that the event took over from Camel and involves many of my Camel Friends as marshals.

I am a member of CTOC (founder member) and Overseas Liaison for them. Many of my Camel contacts are now G4 people. Also the CTOC forum has certain area access by membership or committee. All set by CTOC.

In rare instances where you guys could benifit would it not be better to allow access on a discretionary basis. I suspect Ex competitors or Marshals may not have current membership but would be welcome to comment on a forum.

Discuss!!

Pete

By martin bisby - 7 Sep 2007

everyone

deffinitive answers for one and all will be forth coming after peterbro, please do come and talk to us on the stand and discuss, much appreciated with your concerns and comments

marnix, magazine on the drawing board, news letter draft copy in next two weeks

kim, yes one vehicle one membership, we will fine tune the log  on logistics

usa, i have a list of G4 owners, all 50 of you :w00t: so i will be sending out letters soon, help appreciated with offers to re-mail from bulk

the idea to shift forum access is not intended to alienate any one, however we do need to move the membership benefits forward.

regards

martin

By willowkis - 7 Sep 2007

martin bisby (9/7/2007)

kim, yes one vehicle one membership, we will fine tune the log  on logistics

regards

martin

Hi Martin,

Thanks fot that, I will come and find you at Peterborough to discuss the other point ;)

Looking forward to meeting you.

Kim :D

By VA - 7 Sep 2007

Personally I always believe subscription on forums is a bad idea - you basically lock the forum and only a few diehard members actually take part. I think you will find a decrease in members and slowly fewer and fewer posts. There are people out there who have valuable contributions to make but why should they pay to help others? It's your site, your choice - If every site did this I'd be bankrupt!
By Marnix L - 7 Sep 2007



deffinitive answers for one and all will be forth coming after peterbro, please do come and talk to us on the stand and discuss, much appreciated with your concerns and comments





sorry to be the advocates devil again, but how many people will come to this event and talk to you about your ideas for the forum? only a handful, and the majority here is left in the cold :(



just keep the forum as it is, will be much better, and yes I'm positive for the membership fee if it is for :

- buying exclusive G4 stuff WITH the guarantee that it will not be sold on ebay or any other channel

- exclusive magazine

- unique G4 events BUT not only in the UK, for example an event in Marquenterre-France, participation on national LR events throughout Europe and even outside Europe ( of course in collaboration with the organizers )



if you go for this type of formula, I'm sure that you will have a lot of forum visitors, and in the long run a lot of paying members ( and eventually I'll even become a member )



hope that my voice will not be lost in the lonely desert



greetz



Marnix
By Gadget - 7 Sep 2007

As someone who has been lurking on here for a week or two I'd thought I'd help out (or hinder) with an outsiders view.

I believe restricting some parts of the site to fee paying members is fine given that it takes time, effort and money to keep this site going. 

However if areas such as 'next meeting' discussions are restricted then you'll miss the passing traffic.  Also if the majority of the chat occurs in these areas people like me will see what we think is a dead website and move on.

By being open as it is at the moment, seeing the vibrant nature of the club and being sold on the possibilities, without anyone consciously trying, I'm now considering G4 ownership (the one at Nene overland looks good).  At which point the membership fee becomes a no-brainer.

I was thinking of changing my 'normal' D3 to a 'ordinary' 110 with some expedition mods.  This site has opened up further possibilities.

In short:  Yes, have a restricted area but keep the majority open.  A welcome page or even a welcome forum won't convince people to stump up the cash.

How about this....a voluntary contribution where people who have contributed get a marker in the left hand side of each post.  You may be surprised how many people will pay up through embarrassment after they've been registered and using the site for a while.

Anyway, thats my first post.  I thought I'd make it useful rather than just a 'hello'.