How do you use this site? Please respond

[mikeythemini]

Changes are being made to the way sponsors can use this site that I am questioning
What I want to know is were do you look when say you are looking for new products for the exterior of your Mini? Do you go to the exterior forum for your gen Mini or do you go looking through all the sponsors forums?
Poll attached (if it works)

Cant edit the poll - it shouldnt say exterior - it should say the relevent forum (exterior, interior, performance etc)

[Restyle]

Although I dont presently buy a lot for my car , Ive just been looking at the way things are laid out from the PoV of a newbie trying to search for some add-ons, & its not that intuitive at present.

Surely it would be better with a "Sponsor Directory" button in place of that confusing & nondescript "Directory" button presently at the top of each page, which doesn`t even inform of the Country of Origin, or Type of Service offered to prospective buyers !

..... and while I think of it - Wouldnt it also be useful if a desciptive tag popped up while hovering over those buttons ?

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by mikeythemini (original)

I cant edit the poll the first option should say - search the relevant forum (exterior, interior, performance etc)

Poll has been edited

[mikeythemini]

Thank you

[Mike Clarke]

Can't vote as mine would be a "None of the above" vote.

First I would do a quick Google then I would look through MINI magazines and hopefully having found what I was looking for only then would I look at MINI2 to see if the supplier is a sponsor or to see if anyone else has bought the item.

[Rakey]

I can't vote either, as I would have said that I use this site less than I used to overall.

But if I was looking official MINI parts first port of call is Chris at Woodmans, anything non-mini then its you NewMINIStuff.com and if I can't find it from either of those trusted suppliers I bugger off to eBay as to be honest I've not had dealings with other suppliers or interaction with them so they might as well be another eBay vendor.

I prefer to spend my money that do the best work, the best products, and give the best service, but if I am dealing with a faceless/nameless organisation like some suppliers on here then I will shop around for best price.

[MINIAC]

If I was looking for a product, I'd use the Advanced Forums Search and search the thread titles in the relevant forum plus the Group Buys and MINI2 Special Offers and Supporting Vendors forums.

For example, if I was looking for dash rings:

V

For those that like to find things the hard way, redirects for product announcements can be made by Global Moderators in the relevant forums.

In the example above the following redirect exists in the Interior & Ice forum until Feb 28th:

[GBMINI]

I'd much prefer to look for posts from - for example Mikey, in the ICE forum, if I wanted something "ICEy" for my MINI.

Sounds, MINIAC, like you're saying that such vendor posts will be deleted from the relevant forum after a while. Not very helpful. Not how it works on the other US-significant site

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI (original)

I'd much prefer to look for posts from - for example Mikey, in the ICE forum, if I wanted something "ICEy" for my MINI.

You can search for threads started by a vendor and the title should describe the product.

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI

Sounds, MINIAC, like you're saying that such vendor posts will be deleted from the relevant forum after a while.

New product announcements posted outside the vendors forums will be moved with a redirect to the appropriate vendors forums. Old product threads won't be moved unless the vendor requests it.

Quote: Originally Posted by GBMINI

Not how it works on the other US-significant site

That site just instituted Vendor Talk forums. The public forums may still have threads on non-sponsor products reviewed by members who've fitted the product, so you still have to look in multiple forums when trying to find out what's available.

The best way to find products is by searching NOT browsing.

[GBMINI]

Quote: Originally Posted by MINIAC (original)

That site just instituted Vendor Talk forums.

Maybe one more reason why I (used to) come here for ICE info ...

[AprilWhine]

I do it differently, I go to the sponsor directory and then click through to their website.

[rkw]

IMO this was a business decision to give the owners and administrators of MINI2 more control over vendors but it is a step backwards from the user standpoint. Searching assumes that you know what you want to search for. Browsing is a distinctly different activity. If I wanted to browse for audio mods, I would look at the ICE forum and I want relevant vendor announcements to be posted there as well.

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by rkw (original)

IMO this was a business decision to give the owners and administrators of MINI2 more control over vendors but it is a step backwards from the user standpoint.

The decision to give vendors their own forums to promote their products was done as a result of the increased sniping between vendors in the public forums. The vendors now have control of the content in their own forums.

NAM has just done the same thing with their Vendor Talk forums.

Quote: Originally Posted by rkw

Browsing is a distinctly different activity. If I wanted to browse for audio mods, I would look at the ICE forum and I want relevant vendor announcements to be posted there as well.

At 30 threads per page how many pages of a particular forum do you go through when browsing?

Redirects to vendor announcements still show up in the public forums you're browsing.

[mikeythemini]

Quote: Originally Posted by rkw (original)

IMO this was a business decision to give the owners and administrators of MINI2 more control over vendors but it is a step backwards from the user standpoint. Searching assumes that you know what you want to search for. Browsing is a distinctly different activity. If I wanted to browse for audio mods, I would look at the ICE forum and I want relevant vendor announcements to be posted there as well.

Exactly
Although I am a vendor - I am also a Mini owner & therefore a potential customer & when I am interested to see whats new that I might want for my car I will pop into say Interior - 1st gen to see whats new. I dont go browsing around 15 different vendors forums

[MINIAC]

Quote: Originally Posted by mikeythemini (original)

... when I am interested to see whats new that I might want for my car I will pop into say Interior - 1st gen to see whats new.

At 30 threads per page how many pages of a particular forum do you go through when browsing?

Redirects to vendor announcements still show up in the public forums you're browsing.