Shoptalkforums.com

The Germanlook.com is still down...

That is a real shame and forgive me but since James get it the thing goes from bad to worst.
He has advertised as new online shop not as a forum !!!
If you want to make a online store go ahaed and nobody disagree with that but your first priority is to bring the forum back first.

I would like to hear some opinions here...

Jim

It has been a long time now. The activity on the site had slowed after being down a couple times. I hope that it (the forum and site content) will be back and activity will recover. It will be hard to get interest in the site back after such a long shutdown. Site admin is not an easy task. It makes me greatfull for the fantastic job that Zen, Alex and Sandeep did with that site when they were at the wheel.

I'm very disappointed it is still not back up. SBO has been back for a while now so I don't see why GL shoulnd't be up again too? I do appreciate that it is all a lot of time and admin running these things but it does look like it is being hijacked for a new venture...

It's pretty sad how this is playing out. http://www.superbeetlesonly.com/ has been back online for awhile now, and nothing at germanlook.com . I thought when the message showed up:

FORUM NEWS: We have successfully moved to a new server and the forum will be back up soon.

it was going to be up like in a day or 2.

I really don't know what to make of this. Will the forum still exist? will it be a online store?

Apparently i am no longer a member of SBO? I can't log in, my previous posts are gone, and my account doesn't exist?


Pete

petevw wrote:Apparently i am no longer a member of SBO? I can't log in, my previous posts are gone, and my account doesn't exist?


Pete

That is funny. The same thing happened to one of my customers after we did his type 4 conversion. I guess according to some on the SBO forum there was a problem with having our shop do the work. After that he too has no longer a member and all his posts were gone.

Regardless of the outcome, I feel this has been handled VERY poorly, and the enthusiasts that the changes are supposedly being made for are the ones that are being left to hang in the wind...

Jason

This is definately being handled very poorly.

I do have a copy of the old database (2004) from when Alex and I ran the site using Zen's awesome hosting services, along with all of the original pictures ( ~600). As a last resort, this is available.

Sandeep

I have a GL T3 build, and was getting ready to post it to a forum.

No way I'm going to waste time posting to a place that disappears all of the time.

The tech articles that were setup initially were priceless...

Doc has indicated an interest in hosting some GL action here.
Because this is also the greatest site in the world for the T4,
It seems like a logical match.

How do we get the stuff from the old GL.com up here?
There HAS to be a way.

There was some killer stuff on that forum, even just lately.
Anybody else out there missing Wally's G50 pics yet?

Let's all admit it, GL.com is dead.
Even if it does come back up, Most aren't going to trust it to stay that way.

So Come On, Guys, Let's Make This Happen!!!
Doc said he was down!

What can I do to help????
Maybe there's a way to poach all the stuff off a wayback machine or something?

I have been contacted by a couple of GL members inquiring about residency here. As before, STF is more than happy and able to provide a home for the GL members.

However, i want to get my concerns right on the table now.

First, many times in the past, the core membership of forums that began on STF have pulled up stakes and started their own site. Ok, it's a free country, but I never got a warning or a thank you or even a complaint. I have always chaffed at these incidents and would chaff further if it happened again. If STF is to provide a home, there needs to be some commitment to respecting the site and sticking with the program.

As most know, STF under my admin has maintained a set of rules that some think are too rigid. Those rules won't change if new membership comes aboard. I never feel like they are too restrictive, but I am aware that others do. So, might as well get it mentioned.

Per my first issue, STF is not in the business of usurping other forums membership or content. If the principals at GL don't agree to moving, reposting, transferring, etc., then that won't happen. That said, forums are about the membership and I am willing and anxious to respond to the members desires. We'd love to have you here at STF. But we're not going to pirate anything. This may entail starting over - a formidable task.

So, I will await further comment and contact. I will assure all that although I am old and crochety, STF is here to stay (in our 9th year!!). Just like all other forums, we have problems from time to time, but my promise is that the forums will not just fold and not return.

doc

I have all of the original content, including the tech articles.

The one thing that @#$#$ me off on the GL.com page now is the Porsche Big Brake kits and the archaic pictures of the components. You can bet that the webstore is taking precidence in set up over the forums.

Anyone who is looking for a brake kit (Porsche or not) will know Lanner is the MAN when it comes to these kits, but I am assuming he is not providing any to the future webstore.

Anyways, I have the complete site from 2004, but no time to work with it. Perhaps the current moderators of GL.com need to say a few words about how this new venture should be set up.

Sandeep

Here is a quote from James aka Superman, "I agree with you that it is being handled poorly, I understand and appreciate your enthusiasm for the GL forums, I want them back up too!"

The GL.com site will be back up soon. It will have a parts store section and it will have the forums section fully restored to where it was when the site went down. It is currently being converted from a V-Bulletin Board to an Invision Board configuration. Most of those who are complaining (GL moderators) about the board going down without notice were involved in and informed in a thread late last year that the GL site was going to go down for this conversion after the first of this year. The store will prolly come back up first with the forums coming back online shortly thereafter. So to all the faithful GL'ers out there, Please be patient and life will be good in the GL world once again.

Bugorsh wrote: The store will prolly come back up first with the forums coming back online shortly thereafter.

Well there you go Sandeep. You hit the nail right on the head. The online store is taking the rivers seat and the return of our forum/galleries/tech articles/etc. has been kicked to the curb.

Yes Superman made a post about transfering the site to another server and another format. He made no statment about opening an online store under the name of germanlook.com or using the domain name for his own personal gain. Germanlook.com was past on to him with the trust that he would carry it on just as Zen did when Alex and Sandeep needed a break from it. I am sure this is not what any of the members or administrators past or current had in mind when it was handed over. I think we should come back to shoptalk. Most of the members of germanlook.com have given up on it. It has been a rough road since it was past on the Superman.
Hell he hasn't even posted here to offer any words for what has happened or why it has taken so long.

I used to be moderator in the brakes section in GL as the older guys remember.When James take the site the forum just lost....

I am mad now as the efforts of some great people (Alex Sandeep and Zen) went away to make the domain site a online shop ?

I wll be able to moderate and I do time available to help but... I am not familiar with board software...

Thank you all for your support guys.

Here is Supermans reply:

1) The store's profits will be used to pay IPS for the new board, the conversion of the database from vB to IPB, and to pay an IPS tech. to get everything working perfectly.
2) Germanlook.com is owned by "Superman"; it is, has been, and always will be owned by "Superman". "Superman" can do what ever he wants with HIS website.
3) "Superman" will not post on other (other than SBO!) forums.
4) A person, a webmaster, can not plan for a server error, data corruption, or any other kind of a crash.
5) Good day.

Now this is legal agreement or what ?

3) "Superman" will not post on other (other than SBO!) forums.

What he thinks he owns germanlook.com was built for ALL not for ONE ???
Guys this is the most sad end for a site who OTHERS build it and try their best for it.

Everyone is judged by his own choices....

And forgive me but I hate this attitude.