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All new members please read!!

27K views 59 replies 50 participants last post by  James128 
#1 · (Edited)
PLEASE READ!!!!!


It has been bought to my attention by @NigelK that the "rough" location of new members should be added to their profiles.

By doing this it will make it easier for us to offer advice regarding parts suppliers & dealers ETC ETC

:big_grin::big_grin::big_grin:

Cheers all...
 
#4 ·
When folk ask for recommendations for this and that and have no location on their profile then I just ignore them as I can't be arsed playing guessing games. If they actually spend time and read the forum/ conducted their research prior to asking a question then they would quickly realise that the forum covers the entire universe and not just their little bubble!

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
 
#28 ·
When folk ask for recommendations for this and that and have no location on their profile then I just ignore them as I can't be arsed playing guessing games. If they actually spend time and read the forum/ conducted their research prior to asking a question then they would quickly realise that the forum covers the entire universe and not just their little bubble!

Sent from my SM-J510FN using Tapatalk
USA southeastern
 
This post has been deleted
#7 ·
Right, joiners and 'newbies' are still not putting in their country or rough location. Nor any details of the Gen/Model/Year/Fuel Type of their Mini.

I'd forgotten what was involved in registering so I've just been through the registration process as a 'fake' new member with a different name. And there lies the problem.

All you have to do is fill in Name, Password and email. And your in as a member. No other details requested, mandatory or otherwise, such as country, location, model, year, fuel type. Neither in the first panel or in a second panel that then appears once you've completed the first panel.
So here I am, in a panic, I know naff-all about cars, and I have a problem, for example "my car won't start - when I turn the key I just get a clicking noise" or "when I turn the car off (and it is a baking hot day), the fans go on running", pretty basic stuff.

Sooo, trust me, I've spent a lot of my career involved in the interface between users and IT systems, business processes and was, way back, what was then called an O&M Analyst (Organisation and Methods).

Unless the registration process is changed most will never put in any other data than that asked for in that first panel.
Other forums I'm on DO invite input of such data as part of the registration process.
Can this be looked at and changed?
Unless it is things will simply carry on as they are. Which is unsatisfactory.
 
#8 ·
If people want to help themselves then they should state in their post where they are from. If they actually took a few minutes to read the forum prior to making a post then the country flags next to the posters usernames is a huge giveaway!

I joined a Peugeot forum a couple of years ago looking for help. I searched their forum looking for my answer but couldn't find it so I created a post explaining that I was fixing a car and was not a Peugeot driver or specialist nor had any interest in Pugs. I also told them the details of the car/ fault and my location etc. The response was outstanding and also the admin of the forum helped me and I got all the answers I needed. Needless to say I thanked them as I fixed the car and this proves that if you take the time to be upfront with all the relevant information then help is out there. A lot of people these days (and I see it daily at work) just can't be arsed and expect others to do the legwork for them.....
 
#10 ·
The MINI specification section under User CP Edit Your Details is a mess ... 3rd Gen specifications haven't been included, there are fields missing (Wheels and Tires) and fields which are supposed to hidden showing up (Hide xxxxx). The MINI Profile section for users who have supplied specifications for the their MINI also has fields showing up that should be hidden.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Barbcoley66 View Post
Hi, newbie poster so bear with me as trying to work out where best to post. I need help please.
My 11 plate 1.6 mini ones alarm went off this morning when trying to unlock, but wouldn't unlock. Using either of my two keys.

Left 30 secs or so and then was able to open boot and climb in. Then tried to start and radio came on and went off, doors unlocked, wipers wiped and then everything went off.

Came inside to locate handbook to see if anything in there. Nothing. Opened again and then put key in, radio came off and then faded, and service icon came up on dash.

Car won't start but alarm still working.

Please any advice gratefully received.


Get your battery load tested at an Auto Electricians, make sure that it can supply the same CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) that is designated on the battery. Whilst a Battery can be charged up with a 24-48 hour trickle charge, this does not ensure that it can supply the required CCA. A dead or dying battery in a Mini will do some very strange things to your electronics as you have mentioned. Once you can confirm your Battery is OK, correctly charged up and can still supply its rated CCA, then start at looking further into possible issues.
Come on guys, please, please this questiopn and answer are in completely the wrong place. Can admin please move it. Let's not plough ahead answering queries that are completely misplaced within the wrong section in the forums. It makes a mockery of having thread titles, sub forums, sections.

How about "If you pop your question in the correct section I'm sure you will get an decent answer".
 
#14 ·
Hello world

Hi All,

Following instructions to introduce myself as a new member here. Thought I would pay it forward a bit after recently completing a heated seat retrofit on my wife's 03' BRG MCS. Once I figure out the forum details I'll post my additional details / photos in case it can help others. Regards,
Darren
 
#16 ·
The lack of info about your carvon signing up, especially about model owned and model year, is common to every car owner forum i’m on and it is very important when seeking technical assistance as the car’s are not the same between markets - not just optional,extras but complete engine versions may not be available in so markets (diesels are huge popular in Europe yet not imported into the USA). Also the same is the list of specifications of cars and colours is often notbu0dated by forum admin which can be frustrating for members. Mini is maybe not so bad as some other Marques of car who make big spec changes every couple of years
@admin
Why is the sign up and User CP so weighted to the USA (as is all the advertising, yet most members are European based) and why on earth do you ask for so much info - much of it is now illegal in Europe for you to hold on us.......have a look at the new EU GPDR regs
 
#17 ·
The vast majority of it you can leave blank if you want

Looking back at old threads when this forum was more active it seems there was a large proportion of US members which maybe explains that side of it. Wonder why the American co.s carry on (presumably) paying for advertisement though I doubt they get a lot of traffic now ??
 
#19 ·
The forum is hosted by an oufit called Vertical Scope, in Canada. They host hundreds of forum websites, for N American communities.
Here is what they say about themselves:
VerticalScope is a privately held corporation headquartered in Toronto, Canada. We specialize in the acquisition and development of websites and online communities for the Automotive, Powersports, Power Equipment, Pets, Sports and Technology vertical markets. VerticalScope has built a portfolio of more than 600+ websites with more than 25 million aggregate pages of content and more than 105 Million unique visitors per month
VerticalScope.com

That is why the ads etc are N America orientated.

In October 2017 the site ground to a halt. Because I worked in IT Services for many years, this is kind of my bailey-wick. So I emailed them and then, at significant expense to myself, phoned them a couple of times as well.
Firstly I phoned their helpdesk/tech support ...... and it went to voicemail!!!!! Really?:eeksurprise: In my world that would have been inexcuseable as a service provider. Hanging offence with respect to service provision.
So secondly I rang their HQ and asked to speak to their CEO>:D. Got a PA, explained briefly, she said "not her area, need to ring tech support", I said "I know that, been there, rung them, goes to answer phone, which is pathetic - do the C level execs know this is what is happening, no helpdesk available?". Hopefully she clocked that I kind of knew about hosting and wasn't going away. So I told her, please speak to whoever and get it sorted, thank you.
Which seemed to work, as it was.

Here is the body of the email I sent:
MINI COOPER FORUM S/W ISSUE - UNUSABLE
The forum we log onto as www.mini2.com and you call the Mini Cooper Forum, whose membership are predominantly in the UK, has some sort of software glitch and is pretty much unusable. It has been like this for a number of days already. It is a popular forum - a lot of very unhappy members out there.

I am assuming that you provide the technical support for this forum? Let me know if this is not the case.

It 'grinds', to the extent it runs at all, at a snail's pace, takes 100% of PC for minutes at a time and continually comes up with the panel "Warning: Unresponsive Script" - see attached.

Please will you look at this immediately, assuming you have techs in over the weekend, and I'd be amazed if you didn't, and get it fixed. And please email me that you've sorted it.

Thank you,
Nigel Knight​

Hope that provides a heads up.
 
#20 ·
Nigel many thanks, I appreciate the issues as I also moderate two other car forums and an off road club forum - we have until recently had huge amounts of spamming from China, Vietnam and India on one of them......... a headache for the one and only moderator...... especially when I am online over a deathly slow satellite link from a remote location and have 100’s of posts being reported by longstanding forum members. Has the EU GPDR reg caused you any issues yet? 2 of the forums i’m On it hasn’t been an issue as the host has looked after it but on the third we have had to delete loads of people who have signed up but never posted because they didn’t return the permission mail about their private data that was sent out.......
 
#21 ·
Tim, I am not the moderator on here. It is minione2002. With that issue it was bugging me and everyone else on here, so I just decided to pitch in. Thinking, given my working background difficult for them to give me flannel.
I've no idea what privileges or priority access, or any access come to that, minione2002 has to Vertical Scope, the hoster of the forum. He probably doesn't want to call them because it is expensive - and I don't blame him if he doesn't.
 
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