Other A/S info sharing sites

Rog0525 · 10-15-2002, 12:32 PM

While web surfing earlier today I noticed that Yahoo has a free A/S info sharing group so I tried it out of curiosity.
Forget it. The messages are posted in just one long continuous thread and each message has to be approved by a moderator before it is posted.
Andy and all of the moderators here have done an excellent job of making this site very user-friendly and easy to navigate. I give a big "thumbs up" to all the cast and crew here.

RoadKingMoe · 10-15-2002, 05:59 PM

If you are referring to:

The Airstream List

that's the Airstream List, now on Yahoo. It's a good group that's been around for awhile and I enjoy both it and this site.

An email list has the advantage of downloading all your mail to your PC quckly, letting you read it off-line, compose replies off-line, and then upload those next time you check mail.

This isn't a big deal if you're constantly hooked up to a phone or data line, but if you're on the road, borrowing phone lines or even accessing the net over a 9.6 or 14.4K cell phone, the last thing you want to do is use a web browser!

The Yahoo "Groups" which came from eGroups which came from oneList, also let you specify to receive plain text rather than HTML mail, to keep things quick.

Let me correct some misinformation you posted:

"The messages are posted in just one long continuous thread"

If you subscribe to an email "digest" you'll get all the messages for a certain time period in one long message. If you subscribe in "list" mode, you'll get each post as an individual email. If you view it on the web interface, you access each message individually, not in one continuous thread, but you'll have to put up with a full page Yahoo advertisement about every third screen and a Yahoo ad in each message.

"each message has to be approved by a moderator before it is posted. "

Wrong. The FIRST messages of each new user are moderated. Usually only the very first. This prevents advertisers and spammers from joining the list, posting an ad, and disappearing forever, as they do in unmoderated groups.

Let me also add, the Airstream List "Group" doesn't permit attachments, which prevents you from getting email viruses from them.

If I may say so, you didn't bother to gather enough information about it, or gather it correctly, to be criticizing it here.

BobbyW · 10-15-2002, 06:36 PM

Post a message on the about the AirstreamForums.com on the Yahoo list with a link to here and see what happens to it. It will promptly be deleted and you could be banned from the list.

That will never happen here, and that is a promise.

-BobbyWright

Rog0525 · 10-15-2002, 07:54 PM

My post was intended to applaud this site rather than to disparage another.

"The messages are posted in just one long continuous thread"

That is what I saw on their message board as opposed to messages being sorted by topic.

"each message has to be approved by a moderator before it is posted. "

I stand corrected. The moderator's response to my first and only message led me to think that all messages would be delayed.
I have received 4 email messages from that site today. 3 of them were regarding topics that were of no interest to me. I have unsubscribed.
I apologize if I posted any misinformation. I'm sure their site is very informative and helpful but I much prefer this site's presentation.

RoadKingMoe · 10-15-2002, 08:42 PM

Well, Bobby.... I'm pretty sure I found out about this forum from the link Andy posted to the Airstream List Links section that has NOT been deleted.

In response to your post, I sent an email to Hunter and specifically asked if I posted a reference and a link to AistreamForums.com would it be deleted and might I be banned.

Her answer was NO and I believe her. But I also believe if I continued to do it over and over, I probably would get put on moderated status.

The bottomline is that I will continue to draw from and contribute to both resources and won't get into your "us vs them" game.

JW84345 · 10-15-2002, 11:05 PM

I prefer the forum format and interface to e-mail lists in general. I especially like the search capability. AirstreamForums is a very nice site. It's has the best AS Classic MH info anywhere I've seen.

The Vintage Airstream Club (VAC) also has a good list serve. I subscribe to both Airstreamlist and VAC. Some very knowledgeable people are active on both lists. If you interact on the list, it is best to get each message as an individual e-mail. That makes it easier to respond. My problem is I don't have time to read them often enough. I find it enjoyable when I do, but often the topic is old by the time I get around to reading it. I now opt for the summary e-mail from both. I try to scan the topic list for info of interest.

The great news is, we have several good sources of Airstream info on the web now!

Jim

RoadKingMoe · 10-16-2002, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JW84345
I prefer the forum format and interface to e-mail lists in general.

I'm on several mailing lists and forums. I HATE the Forum format! That's why the "Home Page" on Airstream Forums.com is so great... it's all on one page. I wish all the forum sites had it.

Quote:

I especially like the search capability.

The Yahoo Groups also have search capability.

Quote:

If you interact on the list, it is best to get each message as an individual e-mail. That makes it easier to respond.

I have Outlook (work) and Outlook Express (home) both set up with folders for each list-serve, and rules that pre-sort the messages into the folders.

Works well for me. Different strokes for different folks.

**Andy R** · 10-16-2002, 10:03 AM

In 6-12 months I will be upgrading our forum so that we will be able to have List Server type interaction. By that I mean you can get digest of all the new posts sent to your email and you can also reply to posts via email. The beauty is that everything will stay organized by threads (topics). I have discussed moving the VAC list to our servers, but kept running into issues with our MajorDomo (List Server Software) installation. Soon I hope AirstreamForums.com will sponsor the VAC list. With time this will be the "default" online center for Airstream knowledge.

I contacted Hunter prior to starting this forum to invite her to help. I explained the difference in the 2 communication types. It is kind of like comparing instant messaging and email (they are very different). She sent me many nasty emails telling me I should not build this site and that it would hurt the Airstream community. Some people dont like change or competition I guess? I consider the AirstreamList to be more like Hunter's List. Sometime 50% of the posts are from her! I think it is more like a social club if you want to be Hunter's friend.

I contact AirstreamCentral.com and VintageAirstream.com too. I expalined to them that we needed better "best-of-breed" software and that I owned a small boutique web hosting company and would donate the resources. No one answered?

So here we are. In the next month we will become the largest Airstream community online. Right now we are the largest forum community site, but soon we will be the largest community period!

New features and tools will keep coming...

Together we can keep building the best community online! This is our community, not mine. There is no List Mistress or dictator here. No need for moderating newbies unless they become troublesome! Freedom of speech is alive and well.

53flyingcloud · 10-17-2002, 11:25 PM

With time this will be the "default" online center for Airstream knowledge. No doubt~!! Already~ I know this for a fact: The guys at A/S factory read this site on a daily basis~ GREAT JOB on the 1000th membership~!~
ciao

BobbyW · 10-18-2002, 06:27 AM

Quote:

I know this for a fact: The guys at A/S factory read this site on a daily basis

I am just curious. How do you know this?

Best Regards;
-BobbyWright

Pahaska · 10-18-2002, 08:21 AM

Because on a phone call from the factory, I was told that they monitor the site.

I have had responses from them concerning things I have posted on the site and not emailed them.

53flyingcloud · 10-18-2002, 09:56 AM

John, that's the same response I had when I called as well...thanks
ciao

**Andy R** · 10-18-2002, 11:09 AM

Glad to hear the product creators are keeping in touch with the end users! Welcome factory guys!