Welcome to the All New ScoobyNet! - Please read here first
 

Dear ScoobyNetters

I cannot tell you how pleased I am to welcome you to the new ScoobyNet (ScoobyNet 4, if you've been counting!! :) ).

This is a massive change, so we wanted to have this thread up and running to answer many of the questions that might spring up.

IMPORTANT :
If there is something about the new look ScoobyNet you don't like, please first check this thread out for comments. After this, I promise you, we are placing enormous importance on this being what you want.

So, moving on, the following is a bit of background, some answers to some of the most expected questions, and an idea of why, and what's to come.

But first, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone here for all your support and patience over the years. Due to financial and time constraints it hasn't always been possible to deliver everything you want, but I'm pleased to say that we're giving it our all now, once and for all :)

Why?
As anyone who visits regularly will realise, ScoobyNet continues to get bigger and busier. Its remarkable how far the site has come in its 7 or so years.

This is great, as it means we're doing something right! But, in some ways the site has stagnated. At first, ScoobyNet was a bit of fun to run, having a little play here and there, adding features, enjoying the banters, etc. But inevitably, as the traffic increased, so did the workload on more mundane things like server management, database backups, etc, etc.

The servers seem to get stretched to breaking point about every year and we have to upgrade. All of this costs lots of money, and lots of time. This means that there hasn't been time or cash left over to plough back into the site giving you more features and more content.

Its a chicken and egg situation that if we had more income we could afford staff to add more content and manage more features. But you need the content and features in order to generate the income! :brickwall

This was going round and round in circles and we realised that the site was being neglected while we battled with it all. So, about 6 months ago, we decided enough was enough and to invest heavily in massively upgrading ScoobyNet. Its a big financial gamble, as there will have to come a point sooner or later where it earns its keep, but we're willing to ride it for now in order to get ScoobyNet how it should be.

We've recruited a top notch web marketing agency who has been working tirelessly behind the scenes to find quality partners for us so that (and this is SO important to us) :

.. you do not get swamped with advertising ..

it has to be about the content and the community way before its about the advertising. So our advertising will be relatively subtle, but will be quality rather than quantity.

I hate change.. help me!
You know who you are!! :D This section is for you ...

The Fixed Width. It sucks, do something about it now!!
Right, I realise that some of you might not like the fact that scoobynet now has a fixed width. Firstly, let me assure you that if this really is the end of the world for lots of you, we will sort it out and give you an option to make it expandable.. but...

This will be a massive job for us, so I ask you two favours :
1) Please give it a try. I have been using this layout for about 2 months now, and while I didn't like it at first, I am completely converted now. It is much more ordered and clean to read, and makes the whole thing just sit together much nicer.
2) If, regardless of all your efforts, you just can't get on with it, then please in about 1 month's time start a thread in the scoobynet policy forum politely asking for votes as to how many people would like to see it changed.

I am absolutely sure that it isn't going to cause anyone an absolute hell on earth nightmare, so please just give it a go for us, it makes our lives so much easier in terms of managing the rest of the site.

Thanks :)

Update : While it appears that the majority are happy with the fixed width layout, it is clear that some of you really hate it in the forums! :D So, and purely due to so many people saying ".. but I'll give it a try as you ask .." (which was just great of you, thank you), we've added an extra option in your control panel (Go to "Edit Options" and scroll the bottom). Thanks again for your patience, support and understanding.

I used to be able to do X, but now I have to do Y
Firstly, there is VERY little of the actual functionality of the forum which has been changed. But, if you find that something doesn't work as well as it used to, or is completely broken, please let us know. Please post in the ScoobyNet Bugs and Feature Requests forum.

Above all else
Please remember, this is the result of over 6 months of hard graft. There is always more that goes into this kind of thing than meets the eye. We've done it for you all, and for us, so if there is something you don't like, please remember, we haven't done it deliberately to spite you. But, by all means, respectfully ask us anything you like and we'll be delighted to answer and discuss, as and when time allows. :)

Prodrive, Subaru, SWRT, STi
Wow.. all this official content and support.. how does this change things?

This is a momentous turning point for ScoobyNet. International Motors (Subaru UK) have decided that Prodrive and the Subaru World Rally Team may now be officially involved with ScoobyNet.

We respect this decision immensely, and will offer our continued support of the Subaru brand, Prodrive's products and services and to the Subaru World Rally Team.

This does not mean that we have to change anything in the forums. The same freedom of (legal) speech will remain, and you can respectfully talk about any subject as long as it is conducted legally, and fairly.

But, on top of this, I want everyone to fully appreciate the enormous commitment that has been made to us here. I believe IM place huge importance on listening to their customers and prospective customers, and this is another sign that they want to give as much as possible to the experience of owning a Subaru (top marks! Other brands take note!). So it is important that we continue to show our support in return. Other than that, stay tuned and look out for the regular installments! :)

Enjoy.. and be happy!
We've been working on this for quite some time, and there is SO MUCH more to come.

There's loads more to explore and find.. have some fun for a bit, and I promise, any downsides, we'll address with you, and we'll continue to listen to you about what features you want us to add next.

All the best

Simon, Shaun and the ScoobyNet Team.

well what can I say but..............................



:luxhello: :thumb:


I think that covers it for the time being :)

:notworthy :notworthy

Well done Simon Shaun and team :thumb:


Great Job

Well done :thumb:

One thing though !

Can we have a traffic counter ?? As in how quickly things are loading up against how many people are online ?

Just a suggestion.

Well done with it all:luxhello:

Looking good like it :thumb:
Youve still got the survey running though thought this had ended
KIP

Fair enough 800 pixels it is then... still looks **** mind. :D :p

Well done though guys, sterling effort. :thumb:

Andy

On first impressions it looks sweet as :thumb:

It now looks a lot worse on mobile devices.

since no-one has mentioned it, we have the new logo as well :)

looks good on the site....

1st impressions

1. ok the width is off to get used to especially if you have a big ass screen

2. the top strapline with the navigation bar looks a bit odd as the grey bar cuts off and then has a sliver of image under it (willl post a screengrab if you want)

3.going to scoobynews brings up the error access message

4. my scoob is not featured in the Featured scoobs section. I will let that one go as an oversight on your behalf ;)

5. glad to see the carbon fibre go on the spacing bars..bit dated anyway :)

thats it so far... :lol1:

looks ok so far well done sn team

It looks very nice but why is the forum only displayed in the centre bit of my monitor with thick grey borders? :wonder:

Resolution is 1280 x 1024

I dont post much on here but i ve been around for a while - an i quite like it :D

<<<<<<<<<Look nearly 200 posts in 6 years. Post whore huh :thumb:

the answer is in the sticky

s'nice :D

fantastic job well done it kepps getting better and better

well done!!:D

Any chance that the new posts option can be set to display more than 100?

Firstly...thanks for all the hard work. :thumb:
2nd - :luxhello: I am going to enjoy having a look around the new site :luxhello:
3rd - minor typo alert in this thread. "I used to be able to do X, but not I have to do Y", not = now.
4th - fixed width is unpleasant, expect to see "polite post in policy section" in about a month :p

looks good ;)

Some thing wrong here; adjacent to the rudimentary arrow:

http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i71/mickywrx/SN.jpg

Not sure whats obscured by the numbers? :wonder:

Display is ok on mine.

obscured text is members

To plow back into the sight...........

What's a plow?

Plough?

Spell checking is essential to keep that 'corporate' look ;)

Looks good so far but yes the fixed width is dire. I can't stand websites that have fixed width. Most people run higher resolutions on their monitors nowadays so having a variable width would be nicer. I have huge acres of blank space. Makes a mockery of modern monitors. Apart from that I'll go and have a look around....:)

Ta Sir Fozzy :thumb:

Oh yeah ;)

Thank for all the comments guys, we really appreciate them.

We're going to frantically go round fixing bugs you've mentioned (and some spelling mistakes! :D) .. so please keep them coming. Thank you.

For feature requests.. we'll start talking about them in a few days once we've got everything under control.

Cheers

Simon

just an update what i mentioned about the top banner and the cut off you get.

this is it on a mac running safari

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...h/Picture5.png

and on a mac running firefox

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/09...h/Picture4.png

havent tried it yet on my pc
guessing that may take a bit to fix than the spelling errors :D

Any chance of having Impreza STi Spec-D under the models thingy in My Scooby?

:D

Looks great overall! I love it.

Adam