Future of OffroadSC.com

#1
Merry Christmas Yall,

Its been an interesting few years recently in my personal life. At home I try to spend as much time as I can with my daughter and at work I have taken on a lot more in my position with the South Carolina Design-Build Office. I know many of you have gotten married, divorced, had kids, grandchildren, etc in the last few years so you all know how busy we all are. I haven't had or made the time needed to post often or update threads as much as I used to before kids and real world work. This has been a volunteer position for me and it has been moved to the backburner. As a result the traffic and discussion on this site has fallen off. There are still hundreds of visitors each day, but not as many posts begin made. Lets face it, other forms of social media are faster and easier. What forums have allowed us to do is document things, research, and come back to things. I have recently been asked a tough question, and I'm seeing what you guys think. The site needs upgrades badly, and the company that hosts it is looking to go to a XenForo. The new forum software automatically works on a smartphone and requires not external app to view via a handheld device. It is optimized for mobile browsing and posting. The holdup though is that this requires a signicant chunk of cash and they do not see a need to continue this forum as it is only Local discussions occurring.

There are a few options on the table, and I'm looking to hear from you guys what we should do.

1. Migrate to XenForo and somehow boost traffic
2. Have an external company buy the database and host as needed.
3. Shut it down and just keep a facebook page for discussion.

Soooo....Lets hear it.
 

LBarr2002

LIFETIME
SUPPORTER
#3
Don't everyone speak at once...

I've always thought it was odd that offroadsc didnt have more traffic, and in the past year or so it has been dead. NC4x4 has been around longer, but is always busy. Seems like what little traffic there was died off even more with that little database incident...

It's nice to have a place to document long running projects. I know Dan and a couple others keep up on NC4x4 too, and I may do the same. I just cant stand how facebook is the same questions being asked over and over, because it's too difficult or impossible to search for previously answered questions.

There are people that dont do facebook, but it doesnt look like they frequent here much anymore either. Email seems to be the best way to get club communication out.
 
#6
Well those of you that know me know that I don’t do Facebook much. I have a Facebook page but that’s just to keep up with what’s going on in MCJ. As for OffroadSC there’s not a day that I don’t check it out to see what’s going on and if I can add to a conversation I will. And I would hate to see it go away and I would also hate to lose access to all of the information on it.
 
#7
I'd hate to see it gone, however it doesn't get the used as it once did. Let's face it, when the new wore off it became what USJEEPS once was. And with social media what it is, it definitely hurts the site. A few guys who kept the chatter have left or been dormant so that hurts it as well. Were getting old guys....

I know how you feel Brook's. In the past two years I have grown my client base and upped my work load significantly. Between that and now being married, I don't really use any forums anymore.

What is the cost of the site currently? Will the content move to the XenForo format smoothly, or will a lot of stuff go missing?

I hate Facebook, if it weren't for the classifieds/buy-sell groups, I wouldn't have one. So i don't really need other things to put me there.

Whatever the choice, I will continue to support the site in any way possible. I think it is a good outlet for everyone to learn and document their builds. Also the April ride is something most everyone looks forward to. Hell, thats the only time I go wheeling anymore. I bought a damn RZR just so I wouldn't miss it.
 
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#8
I am not here very much as I don’t do much 1:1 wheeling anymore. I mainly catch the RC stuff when I can. The RC4WD side has kept me super busy on top of working 60 hours a week. But, I think it is a good place to gather as some don’t have Facebook and the drama that comes with it.

I would kick in a few bucks to be a “supporting member” like on other sites to offset some operating costs.
 

LBarr2002

LIFETIME
SUPPORTER
#9
I am not here very much as I don’t do much 1:1 wheeling anymore. I mainly catch the RC stuff when I can. The RC4WD side has kept me super busy on top of working 60 hours a week. But, I think it is a good place to gather as some don’t have Facebook and the drama that comes with it.

I would kick in a few bucks to be a “supporting member” like on other sites to offset some operating costs.
$20 annual supporter membership has always been an option here. Brooks, how many recurring members do you have?
 
#10
I think we can get some more traffic going with the move to a new format. Do that and get our club site finished by integrating the forum could help a lot with traffic. I know it's confusing to new members when we have two Facebook pages and a forum. If our site forum was centralized it would make things easier. Just have to get with Tripp to finish it.
 
#11
I don't Facebook and would rather have a website to go to. I'd be willing to pay a little more to help out. But..... how many new members find out about the club via Facebook? Would we be closing off a recruiting tool?
 
#12
I’ve fallen off a lot as work and family has picked up so much in the past 2 years. Haven’t been wheeling to any extent in a long time. I tinker with my XJ but it’s more of a means of transportation.

I hate navigating with Tapatalk ever since it was updated some time ago and don’t find myself checking the forum as much bc it’s what I usually browse on. I’m more on Instagram then Facebook, Facebook is a lot of ads and garbage.

I’d hate to see the site go away. Met a lot of good friends through Usjeeps and offroadsc. Bought and sold a lot of parts through it. This site has been more of a hang out then a tech heavy forum, I’d guess that’s because of the lower number of contributors compared to a site like NC4x4.

Besides I still have a TJ build that needs to happen one day.....


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#13
If we go with the new format, I’m all for it, I know my paid membership has lapsed, but I will definitely pay again to keep ofroadsc alive no matter which way it goes


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#14
Going to the new format will make the site 150 times easier to browse from a mobile device. If you have a membership to IH8MUD.com, its the software that they use.
 
#15
I will say although my gripes with tapatalk, the only way I knew about this thread was from an email they sent about top posts.


How much more is the new site format? Yearly membership now is $25-30 correct? What would it bump that up to if the average number of paid members currently contributed?

I know you took over the site some years ago and appreciate everything you’ve done for it.


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#16
got an email from the company that owns it now, they have a possible buyer that would take over the hosting of the site and cover the cost of transferring to the new software. All funds and revenue would be paid to the management company. All mods and admins could stay. Currently the money that comes in I dont see anyway, its used to pay for hosting and server maintenance, which we havent been getting the best customer service from our current company anyways. So it could be looking up.

I'm not sure what this would do to me funding some of OSCAR from the supporters and vendors fees though. But it does give us a way out and a chance to at least try the new hosting software.
 
#17
Now that America is Great Again I don't have the time to spend on here like I used to during the work day. After 5pm family and life takes over as well. I gained a ton of tech and info early on with USJEEPS and OffroadSC but as time has passed all that transitioned to networking/friendships etc.

Most of my web-wheeling is satisfied thru Instagram these days and if I need specific Tech I'll gravitate towards Google which will bounce me to several other forums. Also, I think that since most of us are older now than when USJEEPS started we tend to buy the "already fabricated" product as opposed to searching on here how to make our own using a student loan based budget.

Not sure what all the above means......:2c:
 
#18
Now that America is Great Again I don't have the time to spend on here like I used to during the work day. After 5pm family and life takes over as well. I gained a ton of tech and info early on with USJEEPS and OffroadSC but as time has passed all that transitioned to networking/friendships etc.

Most of my web-wheeling is satisfied thru Instagram these days and if I need specific Tech I'll gravitate towards Google which will bounce me to several other forums. Also, I think that since most of us are older now than when USJEEPS started we tend to buy the "already fabricated" product as opposed to searching on here how to make our own using a student loan based budget.

Not sure what all the above means......:2c:

I think many of us are in that boat.

I'm working with a few folks from the forum to start something soon, and we will have an update hopefully soon.
 
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