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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:32:45 GMT
With thanks to DemolitionChica, I now have the text of the original thread about this website on the other board, which I'll copy over here, so it can hopefully be continued with no further interruptions  -------- Original poster: Ghirlracer I know the thread about John's idea died out a while back, but me and KF have been thinking about it off and on since then, and have decided we're going to have a go at making a somewhat simplified version of the original proposal. I was a bit bored earlier, and threw together a rough front page, and with a bit of refining, I think I've got the basic layout for the site at www.knockhill.plus.com/scr/index.html - what does everyone here think of the look of it? Feel free to make any suggestions on design, colours, etc - I'm quite happy with it, but there's no way I could've thought of every possibility, so someone else could come up with something that'll really improve it I'll probably have a word with Mark soon, if the site looks like happening, and ask him to create a division of this forum in the same colours as the site, so it'll be a proper link-up, rather than me just linking to the Knockhill variation as a temporary measure Oh yeah, final question - anyone got any ideas for the name of the site? I've come up with SMRC Racing and Scottish Club Racing, but the second one sounds like it should cover *everything*, rather than just the track events at Knockhill, while SMRC Racing sounds like it's affiliated with the SMRC, which they may not like too much, when it's just a fan site... anyone reckon one's better than the other, or got any alternative ideas? Once there's a name for the thing, I can do a bit more in the way of features, graphics, etc, but I'm out of ideas just now :s -------- Well, I meant to post this over two weeks ago, but the board died while I was writing it :rolleyes: Shall we just say I'm having second thoughts about the board link-up now... for more on that, see the page I've put up under the Forum link on the site - let me know what you think |
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:34:34 GMT
Original poster: Knockhill Fan
I tried posting a report on last weekend up here just a couple of minutes ago but the board didn't like it (too many images apparently though all I used were some smilies :rolleyes: ) and it deleted the entire post!! Have a look at the above site to find it cos I can't be bothered typing it all again here in case it vanishes into limbo again... :blackeye:
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:36:02 GMT
Original Poster: rocket racer
just been to the new site and it's looking good, also the new forum is as good if not better than the one we're on.
anyone who is into scottish club racing needs to have a look.
Well-Done Ghirlracer and Knockhill fan.
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:37:16 GMT
Original Poster: GM*
Good luck with the site. As for a name, really depends on what you intend covering. I'd be inclined not to use "SMRC" - as you suggest , they may get a bit iffy about that (speaking as a member!). As for "Scottish Club Racing", well I'm hoping to do some of that tomorrow - but in a boat not a car, so may be worth being more specific? I assume you're looking to cover racing at Knockhill. What about other events - rallies, sprints, hillclimbs, autotests, bikes? And would you look to cover other venues when/if someone eventually runs races at one of the other much rumoured venues?
As for which forum, difficult question. In some respects you have a vicious circle - until the forum gets known, the web site may not get known. But until the website gets known, the forum won't....
I must admit that I found the forum via the Britishrally site which was (I believe) one of the biggest referers - and they've moved to their own forum now. Soo which do you choose? If I knew that I'd probably have managed at least one of tonight's lottery numbers..
[editted cos I caann'tt spppeeeel]
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:38:57 GMT
Original Poster: speedyvic
quote:
It's really good, and the only thing i can think of right now is fine-tuning the appearance - better font on the table perhaps?
I'll probably think of more, but unlikely to have a huge difference
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:41:28 GMT
Original Poster: jfin
KF & GR,
Like the rest of the comments made to date I think the site looks really good and like your online racing site you have obviously put a lot of time, effort and thought into it. I can't really think of much to say in terms of improvements. Maybe as time goes by it will evolve....
In the previous thread I know we talked about whether any site like this should be the SMRC site, affiliated, sanctioned, or linked to the SMRC site in any way. Whilst I would certainly support a site not linked to the SMRC and use it for information, post to it etc, I'm afraid to say that my preference would still be for a re-launch of the SMRC site but it having all the features you currently suggest - i.e. the site you have developed but under the official SMRC banner. Now I know both of you expressed big reservations about this before and I accept all of what you say. In some ways an "official" SMRC site would carry much more credibility and would be like to get more hits ? The potential reverse of this is that it would also come with much more responsibility, (probably) hassle and less flexibility and lack of editorial control ? Are you still against the idea of being involved in any SMRC website or would it depend on how it was run ?
From my perspective, at the end of season beer-a-thon organised by Nick (where is Nick by the way - maybe he is still lost in the middle of George St in Edinburgh, frantically still trying to call people who were only 10 yards away) there was (some drunken) talk of him or I maybe putting our name forward as the XR2 drivers representative next year. I have not spoken to Nick since then and I could probably be persuaded to do this but if I got involved in the SMRC committee I would want to have a wider say on SMRC matters (e.g. the website, the programme, wheelspin, online entries, etc etc etc) so I'm not sure I would be welcomed or listened to. I might try and speak to Kevin Pick over the next week or so over a beer and get his thoughts again. I will let you know.
In the meantime, well done on the site, its really good. Don't let any of my ramblings put you off going for it. Depending on where we (you)get to with this over the winter, I will likely to be quite happy to carry the name on the car next year....
J
PS A final thought on the site, an additional area which would be good and which would lighten the tone even further is an area for Maggie Miller. Photos of her in the usual understated clothes along with the driver interviews she conducts (which often get edited out of wheelspin) and anything else she would like to include would be great !
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:47:37 GMT
Original Poster: Ghirlracer Glad you all seem to like the look of it so far - especially John, with it having been his idea in the first place! To answer some of the points that have been made so far.... *GM* - your points about the site names were exactly what we were thinking about them, tbh... for content, we're just covering the five main SMRC categories (XR2s, Legends, FFord, Caterhams, Saloons & Sportscars), as they're what we know the most about (to be brutally honest, we know nothing about anything else in the way of club racing ), but obviously that doesn't help much with the title... anyone got any bright ideas on that? :confused: speedyvic - which bit are you meaning about the font? If you're meaning the buttons in the menu, I chose that because I did it like that in text as a temporary measure, and liked the effect enough that I just used it for the buttons too I'm going to modify the way the buttons look slightly, so the 3D effect works better, but can't think of much to do to make the text look more exciting without ending up making it look too flashy!  If you mean the titles to the pages, though, I know the font's terrible there... just trying to come up with a decent name for the site, then I'll make a proper header graphic for each page, which'll be the end of the boring old Times New Roman John - lots of points here, and I'll try and cover as much as I can so far... As far as being an official SMRC site goes, I'm afraid we're still none too keen on that idea - for a start, if it were an official site, we'd (quite rightly) be expected to update it very quickly, which isn't always possible: we both have several outside interests (plus Mike has a job!) which take up quite a bit of time, so we simply can't commit to anything more than an unofficial site, although obviously we'll do our level best with the site. I see your point about it being more likely to attract visitors if it's official, but having said that, I'd imagine it'd be relatively easy to spread the word around the club racing community anyway, and get quite a few people interested - everyone on this board seems interested, and I'm sure you all know other people who'd likely be interested too, plus if we got Kevin Pick interested, it may (or may not - I don't know what limitations the SMRC put on him) even be possible to get the odd plug in Wheelspin, if we were lucky, which would definitely spread the word pretty fast. The fact that the likes of yourself are involved will give it credibility, IMHO, so I think we can probably live without the SMRC connection. Thanks for the offer of having the site name on your car! Hopefully we'll be able to make it work well enough that you think that'll be worthwhile, cos that'd be fantastic publicity for it Hope this answers most of the points raised so far |
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:48:48 GMT
Original Poster: jfin
Hi,
Re a name I would not get too hung up on trying to make it exactly fit the bill for what you hope to cover. If it was called something like "Motorsport in Scotland" it does not suggest any affiliation to the SMRC or Knockhill and you can quite clearly say on the front page of the site that it has no affiliation to (nor maybe does it want to) either of those bodies. You could also include links to both those sites for those who surf in and want to go to either. Also whilst "M in S" would imply covering everything that goes on in the world of scottish motorsport, again you can make it quite clear what areas you focus on and what areas you don't. Links again could be provided where these are known.
I will try and speak to Kevin soon and see how much rope the SMRC give him over wheelspin etc. I still feel that if I do get involved in the SMRC committee that I would push for a revamp of their website (online entries for example would, to me, make both the SMRC's and the drivers lives much easier) so it would be a little bit unfortunate if we had two sites trying to do the same thing. Maybe any revised SMRC site would not want to be seen to be publishing anything as informal what is being suggested here and maybe the best solution would be a link from there to here ?
By the way, if you want I could come up with a "lap of Knockhill" kinda like the one on the K website which David Leslie has done but from a duffer driver perspective (why do I feel I am leaving myself open to a bit of ribbing here...)
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:50:43 GMT
Original Poster: Ghirlracer Thanks for the feedback on the name - think you're probably about right on being able to just make it clear on the front page what's covered Wht do you think of the current name, Scottish Club Racing? That seems the catchiest one so far, and I've got used to it now, but if anyone wants anything different, I'll consider that before coming up with any logos or anything (got a mental block on them just now, anyway ) - how's www.ScottishClubRacing.co.uk sound? Good point for the SMRC site - I definitely wouldn't want there to be any competition, but as things currently stand there isn't anyway... tbh, the SMRC don't seem particularly interested in actually doing anything interesting with that site of their's, so maybe it'd be best to concentrate on having it functional (regularly and accurately updated results and points tables would be useful to a lot of people, for example ) for now, and hopefully let this new site concentrate on stuff like reports and the fun side of things, as such - I definitely like the idea of having links between the two sites, if they won't mind having a link to an unofficial site on their site Love the lap of Knockhill idea - I actually thought of that one a few days back, but forgot again before I managed to ask for volunteers! That'll definitely be a great one to go on the site if you get a chance - thanks! |
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:51:25 GMT
Original Poster: jfin
GR,
On the name I suppose I would be keen to get either "motorsport" or "car racing" in there somewhere. Club racing could mean anything ?
I will try and call Kevin tonight. Might offer to investigate upgrading the SMRC website - would you help with that if there was no ongoing maintenance required nor responsibility put on you ?
Once I decipher my password you sent to my home email last night I will try and get something written up and posted to you.
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:52:40 GMT
Original Poster: charliethornton What about ALL us drivers doing OUR perfect lap and then posting them all simultaneously. That should be a real hoot. 'Turn right at top of Duffis, aim for gravel trap, dodge cars still using tarmac......' :laugh: |
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:55:19 GMT
Original Poster: Ghirlracer I see your point there, but tbh, I think anyone likely to be interested in a website about club racing would know enough about it to know what it meant... it'd be easy enough to make the page title include the words motor racing, so search engines would pick up on it, anyway, if that's likely to be an issue, although I suspect this'll end up mainly a word of mouth thing anyway I could, but working with other people's designs isn't at all easy, and I wouldn't want to start from scratch, as it'd likely end up looking a good bit like the new site does, or else it'd be lower quality, as I'd be trying to make sure it looked different :s It'd be possible, if no-one else was wanting to do it, but I'm certainly not keen on the idea if it'd just be on a voluntary basis... I might be persuaded if some cash came into the equation, though? Not too sure what you mean about the password? Or are you meaning the one for the forum? That's sent out automatically, nothing to do with me.... |
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 19:58:37 GMT
Phew - hadn't realised how long that thread was! Anyway, a whole load of cutting and pasting later, we have the original comments, so we can hopefully follow on from where we left off now Anyone got any further comments about the site? |
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Post by speedyV on Oct 31, 2002 20:46:30 GMT
I did mean the buttons, only problem is that my knowledge from Higher Computing is rather thin these days (:beer: :rolleyes: )
:idea:
ecosse motorsport?
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Post by Catriona on Oct 31, 2002 20:56:54 GMT
I did mean the buttons, only problem is that my knowledge from Higher Computing is rather thin these days (:beer: :rolleyes: ) I get it - reckon the font's just too dull, or could it be improved by making the overall buttons more interesting? I could probably play with the 3d effects and give it a 3d border, almost, that might look ok, and fill in the blank blue bits, but I liked the effect of that font (most my sites have buttons that look nothing like the text on the rest of the site, so I'm trying to have a fully-integrated site for a change ) I'll have a play around in Photoshop in the next day or so and see what you think, anyway lol, sadly that's already been used - Team Ecosse called itself that in one of it's former incarnations.... www.knockhill.plus.com/team_ecosse/index.html ;D |
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