Member signature requirements

[500AMM]

Hello.

We see new members comming in, but it is also an increasing anonymity - no first name, no living place, no car type - what's the point?
We all have questions about the cars, parts, sources, vendors etc.. but it is not easy to give advices when it's no info. As a minimum should all put up the car type in their signature, and for the name they could use a false first name and living place if it's so da... secret. The German AMG owners club forum has a nice rule which is something like "we say hello to new people and sign the posts with our first name". Maybe something similar could be used.

Thanks

 

[johan h]

I added som info now on my profile. I´ll uppdate with pictures later

 

[500AMM]

I added som info now on my profile. I´ll uppdate with pictures later

Wow - that was fast, Johan, and very thorough.

I am not an adminstrator and have no authority to put up requirements on the board, so this thread is a proposal with an encouragement to a "do it now" among the members. Sometimes we need direct speaking.

 

[Trae]

I like the idea of identification as it allows us to get to know a little of the personality and automotive history of some of the members.
My wife and kids say that you are my online "friends."
They walk by the computer and say, "that's not a REAL car. . .", in reference to this commercial:

[youtube]TUGmcb3mhLM[/youtube]

 

[Jelmer]

I LIKE it when I can think of you guys as a person, and not as a "member on a forum". I refer to Arnt, Christian, Gerry, etc as their names. Both in my mind but also to my wife or parents whenever we talk about this stuff (or: when they can stand a minute of me blabbing on about that old Merc stuff ). But: I don't believe it should be mandatory. You only divulge (been waiting ages to use that word) as much information as you want. It still bothers me that I have no idea how to address "195910", yes. But its his choice to have a nearly empty profile and I respect that.

Having my car in my signature feels useless to me. I only have one car, and it ought to be known by know. If it isn't, click on my name, look up my "member and their cars" section, and you're done. Repeating those stats in a signature over-and-over feels unnecessary.

 

[Trae]

I used to fly to Amsterdam, Munich, London, Frankfurt, and Stockholm a LOT. Have not been in some time, but that may change. It would be nice to put faces with names someday.

 

[gerryvz]

I have struggled with this topic since I first opened up the 500Eboard back in December of 2008 ... whether or not to require people to provide information, and how much information.

The conclusion I came to is that we shouldn't REQUIRE any information beyond contact e-mail (for verification and messages). For privacy purposes, most everything else should be optional. Everyone has a different level of comfort with regarding to divulging personal information online ... and the world being the way it is, being a bit paranoid and hesitant to openly share lots of information may not be a bad thing.

That being said, I do believe it is common courtesy for all forum members to provide at least basic information. This should include location (or at least the COUNTRY or REGION of the world you live ... i.e. "Europe" or "Middle East") and it would be nice to have in your profile what car or cars you own, and perhaps even your real name (at least your first name). Anything beyond that (such as the age, or hobbies, or description of onesself) should be totally optional. It would also be nice to have a "real name" to sign posts with; as Jelmer says it's nice to connect a real person's name with an online persona, particularly with frequent contributors here.

If you want to add a custom title or a signature block/image, you are welcome to do that too. I have experimented with signature stuff but in the end didn't like it. I prefer to sign my messages with "Cheers, Gerry" as that's what I've used on e-mail and the Internet for more than 20 years now. We have a few members (such as GSXR "Mushroom" Meimann and Jelmer "I'm 'Special'" Baas, and of course E500E High Mileage King "Dr.P" and the Site Honcho) with custom titles and anyone is welcome to have a custom title of their own choosing...you can add/change it in the User Preferences area.

We could implement a "custom field" in the message underneath "Join Date" or "Location:" that could say like "Car" and identify your year and model of car. I don't know that everyone would feel comfortable using it, though.

I will say that it goes a LONG way toward helping diagnose and solving problems when you know what car and model year the person has, up front and in advance. That's a big "plus" for having a "Car" line in the message header.....

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[Trae]

All I know, is that without this site I would be LOST in dealing with my babies (500s). Since joining, I have been able to do much more than I would have dreamed.
It is nice to send my appreciation to a real person, instead of a technical manual.

 

[gsxr]

That being said, I do believe it is common courtesy for all forum members to provide at least basic information. This should include location (or at least the COUNTRY or REGION of the world you live ... i.e. "Europe" or "Middle East") and it would be nice to have in your profile what car or cars you own, and perhaps even your real name (at least your first name). Anything beyond that (such as the age, or hobbies, or description of onesself) should be totally optional.

+1. I'd like to see the country/region as a requirement. There are too many differences between the US-spec cars and Euro-spec, and it gets tiresome having to always ask about this. I can't imagine how this would be a privacy concern unless someone is a wanted fugitive worldwide. :roll:

I will say that it goes a LONG way toward helping diagnose and solving problems when you know what car and model year the person has, up front and in advance.

+1000!!!

 

[redred]

I previously hadn't included a signature because I don't have a W124 (yet), but your point is completely valid so I added one anyways Good suggestion. Only way to get to know people around here

 

[gerryvz]

One other thing is that when you see the area where someone is from, it helps facilitate GTGs and other contact. And I have to say, it's FUN meeting fellow forum members !! I think I've met somwhere around 70 E500E owners over the past 10 years, in cities/states and countries all over the world !!

 

[redred]

Good point Gerry! I'm really hoping there is an LA/OC GTG sometime. Would love to see some of the SoCal members E500E's! Captruff, Glen, Tanger, etc... Some stunning W124's out here!

I'm surprised there isn't an introduction section to the forum. One of the things I really enjoy about a couple of the other forums I belong to is that they have an introduction section and it's great to see new members post a little bit about themselves. Also gives them an opportunity to state why they came to the forum and what they might be looking for, or looking to get out of joining. I know there is the Owner section, but for many of us noob's we may not have a car yet but it would be great to be able to introduce ourselves.

 

[philnor]

Gerry, that is a remarkable number of E500 owners. It must be fun and interesting. My own experience is that I have only ever met 1 owner and that was 15 years ago! in Abu Dhabi.
Personally I like to be able to put a proper name to my " forum buddies" Thanks for everything.

Cheers, Phil

 

[jano]

Yo RedRed:

Not an official "introduce yourself" but accomplishes a similar thing.

http://www.500eboard.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?40-Owners-and-Their-Cars

 

[gerryvz]

You got it Jano. Each member has a thread of their own to post whatever they want....


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