New Feature Members Motors v2 - The Garage

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New Feature Members Motors v2 - The Garage

Members Motors is dead, long live Members Motors!

1639729796143.png

This one took a bit longer to test and complete, but I'm happy to announce that today is the official launch of the new forum garage :)

Whereas before the Members Motors was just a simple thread per vehicle, things are now moving into a database/CMS type system so they can be much more easily organised and displayed in cool ways.

Don't worry! The threads still exist, just the first post of a thread is now the link to the garage section - but discussion continues on like it used to and will show up as normal in new posts.

It's going to take me a while to convert all the old entries (they need to be done manually!) but I will go through them in batches, if you want yours done sooner just drop me a PM and I'll prioritise you.

Seeing is believing, so here are some I prepared earlier...

The garage homepage
All my vehicles
The one that started it all
Example update page

Adding your own

I've put this in a separate how to of its own - which can be found here.
 
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Decided that doing each vehicle one one by one was ridiculous (there are about 7000 vehicles), so I spent today writing some scripts.

And here is the result of script number 1 - about 2000 vehicles all imported in :D

Script number 2 (which I'll aim to finish by tomorrow) should be able to convert another 1500.

After that it starts to get tricky (read nearly impossible) - but I'll do my best to bring in as many more as I can :)
 
Ok my last bit of work for today, script 2 ran perfectly and imported another 1500.

The ones left now unimported are either:

1) No prefix was set, so I can't know the model (although not so many of these)
or (most likely)
2) They weren't using forum image hosting.

I guess technically I could go through the lot of (2) and then see if the externally hosted files are still valid, if so download and attach. But I'm worried that images that are dead might be replaced with "This image doesn't exist" images, which would then be put in the gallery.

I'll play around a bit more to see how often that does happen, but for now I'm happy with what we've got.

You can use the model filter now to get up just the types you like and we have a pretty impressive amount in each!

Phew - I'm off to the xmas bowling event now, was supposed to be there in 2 minutes, but that ain't gonna happen!

:)
 
Ok a small update to this, firstly I realised there were a few hundred Non-FIATs that hadn't imported, so they are in now.

But more importantly, the way "Updates" display is a little different now.

Instead of there just being a placeholder post made with a link to the update - they will display inline with the thread :D

You can see an example with my car here, the first two posts are actually updates.

Hopefully this will now persuade you guys to use the updates section instead of just adding news posts - it's really handy as they are then available separately in their own tab (y)
 
Members Motors is dead, long live Members Motors!

View attachment 392316

This one took a bit longer to test and complete, but I'm happy to announce that today is the official launch of the new forum garage :)

Whereas before the Members Motors was just a simple thread per vehicle, things are now moving into a database/CMS type system so they can be much more easily organised and displayed in cool ways.

Don't worry! The threads still exist, just the first post of a thread is now the link to the garage section - but discussion continues on like it used to and will show up as normal in new posts.

It's going to take me a while to convert all the old entries (they need to be done manually!) but I will go through them in batches, if you want yours done sooner just drop me a PM and I'll prioritise you.

Seeing is believing, so here are some I prepared earlier...

The garage homepage
All my vehicles
The one that started it all
Example update page


A quick "How-To" Guide
  1. Intro
  2. Posting a new vehicle
  3. Posting vehicle updates
  4. Adding an existing MM thread to the garage

Intro
So as linked above, you can get to the new garage by following the link in the header menu which will take you to the main listing page. This will then show you all the vehicles we have, listed chronologically with newest first. You can use the navigation section to jump to types (Cars, MPVs etc) or if you want to see a particular model, click on the "Filters" menu on the green bar, then select the prefix (model) you want to see.

Viewing a vehicle is as simple as clicking on it, then use the sub menu at the top to get to the different sections:
View attachment 392317


Posting a new vehicle
From either the garage or the Members Motors forum, simply click the View attachment 392318 button then choose the type of vehicle from the popup:
View attachment 392319

The next page is pretty self explanatory, but with a few caveats:

Prefix: Make sure you pick which model of vehicle you have otherwise it won't be allowed.
Images: Use the View attachment 392320 button in the "General Information" section to upload your images. The first image you attach will be set as the main thumbnail image, so choose a good one! (This can be edited afterwards, but why not just do it first time around :))

You don't need to write about every single thing you have here, some of those might be better suited to Updates, which have their own section below.

Once you're done and created, it will look something like this.


Posting Vehicle Updates
This is the really cool part as now when you update your vehicle, it will get its own "update entry" with separate gallery, no need for someone to browse all the comments in your thread to find the good stuff, it's now all in one place. Of course if you are just doing something simple or don't think a whole update entry is necessary you're free to update your MM thread, but just bear in mind it won't show up in the garage.

To make an update, go to your vehicle and simply hit the View attachment 392321 button - fill in the details, attach the new images and boom, all done. It will update your main thread to let people know something has been done, add the count to the "Updates" menu tab and then add your update to the list, like this.



Adding an existing MM thread to the garage
If you already have a Members Motors thread that you want brought into the garage, no problem! Just send me a message I'll be able to get that done for you. At this moment in time, there is no way to import an "update" entry, so just the first post will be brought in (the rest of the thread will stay intact) - but as soon as the software release comes, I will then go through again and import any of your updates (y)
Good work fellah. You must have the patience of a saint.
 
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@ben
Afternoon sir..... added my vehicle to my garage.... VIN as well but missed a zero.... expect a common faux pas... updated on garage now.

Appears in eper vehicle drop down but due to the original error coming up as not found.

Correct(ed) VIN is X

Any guidance very much appreciated :)

TIA
A
 
@ben
Afternoon sir..... added my vehicle to my garage.... VIN as well but missed a zero.... expect a common faux pas... updated on garage now.

Appears in eper vehicle drop down but due to the original error coming up as not found.

Correct(ed) VIN is X

Any guidance very much appreciated :)

TIA
A
Sorry to say but the VIN database only goes up to 2014 - we're still working on getting a later version :(
 
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