Some of these have been on my mind lately. I am not promising them all but which one would you like to see first?

This is long-range planning.


Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

Modeling blogs and vendor profiles sound good to me.

Jim, check your e-mail asap

I like the "what's new" as long as the items are really new and not just new to Armorama. Something that's been discussed in T-L, M-L, RMS, etc. for a couple of weeks or reviewed at Perth isn't really new anymore.

One of my pet peeves in the news items in the forums are the vague titles like "Another NEW Dragon Release..." and within the post there isn't even a clue as to what the new release is.

I click on it and see the umpteenth German halftrack being released. No big deal as far I am concerned and a waste of my time to check out the story. Just reminds me to make a note to myself and not check out vaguely titled news articles.

Would it have been so hard to add the model kit name to the forum topic or at least in the body of the post?

As far as the poll, I'd like to see a kit database. AMPS has one that is usable, but sorely outdated. All it takes is a sentence to tell someone what's inside the box, if the kit is original or the second coming of an old kit in someone else's box.

I am not sure, what "Modeling blogs" are
Someone please inlighten me on this one
Cheers

Hi...
I voted for Kit/Ref Database, but there are a few more that I think would be a good idea.

Hobby store locator and Vendor/Mfg profile pages would be good.
Rowan and I have touched on an idea recently that might attract more ads (inc classifieds) and maybe sponsors in the long run.
How about a monthly (or longer) Supplier or Manufacturer feature?
A sort of "Get to know the guys at the other end of your order'" kind of thing.
For example..."A day in the working life of Macky Sue at Squadron or Adrian at Hannants"
And a look at how our kits are made by the Manufacturers. Might be an interesting insight seeing all that raw plastic and resin turned into bits on sprues or casting blocks.

Forgive my ignorance but what is a blog and how is it different to our forums? I was born pre-computer lol.

Improving campaigns? How?

Cheers
Peter


:-)

I believe it is a shorthand term for biographical log. Sort of what you do on a day to day basis. Similar to journal entries in the campign album.

Rob, the whole point of the 'what's new' items are to link into the news story - no-one is going to start re-writing the news story in the forums. They function as links and in that respect are useful. You know yourself how much work can go into a news item - the last thing you want to do is to start doing it all over again... I see (rightly or wrongly) that 'what's new' in the forums is little more than a 'teaser' if it encourages debate - fine, if not it the users can choose to access it or not...

On one of your other points - if an item is of sufficient interest and it encourages debate, I personally don't think it's a problem if it has appeared on every other modelling site on the web... I will go half way with you on this one though - I am sick to death of the same story (particularly inane posts) which are stuck up on every site. A review (IMHO) should be exclusive to the site it is published on - under no circumstances should the same review/article/news story be republished ad infinitum...Jim

I believe the term "Blog" comes from the word...
"web-log". In short, blog. daily entry of info of an event or task.

kevin

Kevin is right on the blog (web log) and that gets my vote.

Mike

I thought we already had a hobby store locater on here. At least I could have sworn I found my LHS here. I personally would like to 2nd Sabot's suggestion of a model data base. I'd love to get quick info on if a kit is new, or re-issued, etc. I have thought a data base of scanned instruction manuals would be good, but I don't know the legality of this.

I would like to see the campaign section redone to make it easier to set up and run. Also I think Gunny & Jim need a little help on approving them as well

And there was me thinking that "blog" was short for build log.Doh, Silly me. I'll second what Cliff has said re campaigns.
Pete

What exzacery is meant by a kit/reference database?

As the person who has been harrassing Jim over the Manufacturer Profile idea, let me explain briefly what it would entail and why it would be an important addition to the site...

1) This site can only exist through two forms of funding, the A-Guard scheme which allows members to contribute financially and secondly the Retailers/Producers who 'buy' advertising space on the site.

2) The Company profile, would effectively give manufacturers/retailers a 'free' advert on the site. It would be a service to the existing advertisers (keeping them content and happy) and secondly, a form of attracting new advertisers to the site.

3) It would also be useful as an information source for new members/modellers. Looking at the company profile feature would give them an idea of what that particular company had to offer. Those of us who are 'old - hands' on the site, find it easy to forget that not everyone has the same knowledge level. Many of us can talk blithely of companies such as Tristar, Accurate Armour or Formations, knowing what they produce knowing about the quality etc. for a less 'keyed-in' modeller, this is not so easy...

4) Think of it like the 'advertising features' we see in newspapers. Some are positively irritating, others are extremely well-done. We would aim for the latter. The editorial control would be ours. It would NOT be a slavish 'this is the most wonderful company in the universe' kind of thing...

5) Support it!! It's a very useful feature for the site. One which if it works correctly, will bring in much-needed revenue and raise our profile in the modelling community...

Thanks, Jim

A kit database would be a listing of available products, models, references. For instance, if you looked up "Sherman" the database would list all Sherman tank kits by manufacturer, scale, etc.

Each entry would give a brief description of whether the kit was good, fair or poor. It would also state things like the Heller kit is a reboxed Italeri Sherman with whatever changes were made to decals or parts.

It would also list the plethora of aftermarket accessories available and for which kits they would go to.

Well then, a kit/reference database definitely gets and got my vote in the survey.

Hi there

I'll certainly add a "plug" for a LHS list - it's something I made a start towards on A-UK. In my opinion, these are the life-blood of our hobby - while I'm a huge fan of ordering over the Net - we'll be in serious trouble if we become totally dependent on mail order...

The manufacturers list... definitely good! How many times have you needed a spare part and not known who the regional importer / distributer is?

The kit list... awesome! A HUGE project! To keep track of every new release and cross-relate it would be fantastic - and probably impossible! At the very least, a full-time job and, NO! I'm not volunteering! - but, yes, I'd love to see it done!

All the best

Rowan