Look Who's Talking

DavidB · 10-15-06, 01:54

A couple of months ago we had a thread started that was basically poking fun at how another forum was discussing detailing. I let the thread go on for a while until it got to the point of giving our community a bad reputation. I later thought "Hmm..., what if Autopia could reach out and be more involved with other automotive communities?"

Back in June I started a project to collect data about automotive communities in general. I get the data by pulling URL references everytime someone visits my Autopia store. So, I decided to extend the same basic capability to Autopia.org. I thought it would be facinating to see what forums are linking to us so we can be involved in their conversations.

So, I'm releasing Look Who's Talking V.01 (Beta 1) so you can start to see what conversations are taking place. In this version the program only shows the past two days of thread visits, because I'm concerned about performance. The database has 850+ car forums recorded and more than 10,000 thread topics. I will eventually open it up for full searching.

I would appreciate your feedback. Enjoy!

Look Who's Talking v.01

Accumulator · 10-15-06, 09:46

Yeah, cool idea. Heh heh, I bet some people find more than they bargained for if/when they do check out Autopia

A few of those threads made me want to jump in with my $0.02

This should also serve as a good reminder about keeping things civil and not bashing other online communities and/or people with certain preferences. I'd sure hate to see a "look what the jerks at Autopia said about us!" thread on there.

Charlie Matco · 10-15-06, 11:31

Very interesting concept. It picked up two threads from other forums I visit regularly.

Pats300zx · 10-15-06, 11:54

Thats very kewl David. Hope that you incorporate it into the forum permanently...

DavidB · 10-15-06, 12:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pats300zx

Thats very kewl David. Hope that you incorporate it into the forum permanently...

Thanks, Pat.

There are still a few bugs to work through:

1. What to do about forums that require you to be logged in to look at their threads (Boo!). I collect the information, but it does very little good to link back to it if visitors can see the thread.

2. Threads have multiple entry points, which in-turn creates multiple URLs. This causes my database to have multiple records for the same thread. I'm close to having a master/detail record structure working.

3. Sometimes people come directly to Autopia.org from another forum by typing www.autopia.org in their browser address bar. This gives a false indicator. Not sure how to solve this problem yet.

I have had my data collector running since June. I am amazed that there are 850+ car related forums on the web that have linked back to "Autopia". For more than half of these sites I have recorded all of their META data, which means you can do a keyword search for "mustang" and find the 47 different sites that are Ford Mustang related.

Over the next few days I will open up more of the information in the database for Autopians to use. I believe that we (Autopia), more than any other car community on the internet, cross all demographics (make, model, age, location, special interest) and should make this kind of information available.

db

DavidB · 10-15-06, 01:02

I just released the "Forum Directory" browser. Put in whatever your car interest is (e.g., honda accord) in the search box and see what comes up. I think you'll discover new communities that you had no idea existed.

DavidB · 10-17-06, 02:52

This feature has been up and running for a few days. Is it something the community wants me to keep developing?

Grimm · 10-17-06, 06:05

I don't know how usefull it really is, but it's pretty cool that you did this. I am not surprised about the number of sites referencing Autopia. This is a pretty major site in my opinion with a lot of members. I frequent three other car websites and have mentioned Autopia in conversation.

I suppose it could be a great marketing tool for Autopia. Maybe you could give some special incentives to some members to patrol the threads and reply to posts and/or contact people directly and welcome them to come join Autopia. Could be worth some added sales for the Autopia store. If anything, this could open the door to new sites that we may not know exist that some may want to join.

DavidB · 10-17-06, 06:34

Grimm,

Thanks for the feedback.

The purpose of the feature is to widen the social network of our community. By showing threads in other communities that mention Autopia, Autopians have an open door to join in the discussion.

For Autopia V4 I am investigating other social networking tools and opportunities. One of these tools allows other forum owners to stream threads from within the social network on their home page. Members can choose their interests so they see only "cars" and not "cars, girls and techie-stuff".

Another feature I'm interested in is a social network integration system that would allow Autopia members to have a myspace style profile that is joined with hundreds of other forums, many of them are car related.

db

Grouse · 10-18-06, 04:56

intresting i get an error when trying to view it.

DavidB · 10-18-06, 05:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grouse

intresting i get an error when trying to view it.

Our primary web application server bit the dust last night. I tried to revive it but it was DOA. Os, I have been up since Tuesday AM now without a break trying to recover.

Fortunately I was able to move all of our order processing applications to a backup system and had them running by late this morning when the crew came in. I will have the other "less critical" stuff back up tomorrow.

Now the cool news... Autopia is getting a new home:

Dual Xeon 3.2
+ 4gb ram
+ 4 x 250gb SATA hd in RAID 0+1
+ RHE 4 (64-bit)
+ 3000gb monthly transfer

It's gonna rock!

Grouse · 10-18-06, 05:41

very nice. Yes i am intrested in the info that this kind of service provides.