Ideas on how to improve TinBoats

[Jim]

I, too, would like to see a "how to" section. I have a notebook full of posts I've gotten off of this site for a yet-to-be-built boat. Whenever I see a post on something I think I will be able to use at a later date but know I will never again find, such as what gauge wire to use where, what kind of paint to use, or how to repair a crack in aluminum, I print it and keep it in a notebook. I find that sometimes I just can't locate it again although I know I've seen it somewhere in the site. It could be that I'm not using the right search words or maybe I'm just having a senior moment, but when I need it the most sometimes I just can't seem to locate a post I know I've seen.

A section on "Electrical", for example, is fine, but it covers everything from outboard to trolling motors, boat wiring, and trailer wiring. Maybe breaking it down further with subsection on each of these topics would help refine a search and make it less time consuming. Regarding the front deck, maybe a section on "Hatches" and how to build them would be useful. I see this question asked from time to time, but doing a search on "hatches" turns up lots of posts that mention hatches peripherally but have no information on how to build them. Just a thought and it may be too time-consuming to even consider.

The site wiki that was mentioned awhile would solve all the problems, the problem is the horsepower (server, bandwidth,Traffic) would kill the site. For sure I will do it when the site is on a dedicated server ($200 per month :shock: ) one day.

I did try to start some sort of organization with this thread. It lists the boat mods and at the bottom of the first post it lists other cool stuff that I thought would help people. You think it might be helpful if people add links to this thread and I keep on updating it? https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3156&start=0

My issue is I cant keep up with all posts anymore. =D> So I miss allot of good and innovative stuff.

 

[Deadmeat]

Yeah, I though that would be a problem. Even as often as I check out this website I can't keep up with all the neat stuff I'd like to know and to take the time to organize it into subsections would take an inordinate amount of time.

 

[Waterwings]

All good ideas suggested by members, however, after taking into consideration what Jim mentioned above concerning the band-width useage, and other factors, such as the $$ cost of a dedicated server (never crosed my mind until he mentioned it), recommend we stick with the updating of the current thread that currently exists in Jim's post above. Probably the most time I spend as a mod is trying to keep up with the posts and seeing that they are in the forum pertaining to the posted topic. As an example, I believe that anything to do with trailers (wiring, tires, framework, bunks, winch posts, trailer hitches, etc) should be in the Trailer forum, so if anyone has a trailer question/proposal they can readily go to that forum. Another example would be the Boat Talk forum. If no modification/conversion has been done to a boat, and someone is thinking about doing mods, then that topic would go in the Boat Talk forum, not the mod/conversion forum. Perhaps once a conversion has started, a PM to one of us that work has started, we could easily move the topic to the conversion forum, just as long as a link to that particular thread is provided. Just my thoughts. 8)

 

[Jim]

I, too, would like to see a "how to" section. I have a notebook full of posts I've gotten off of this site for a yet-to-be-built boat. Whenever I see a post on something I think I will be able to use at a later date but know I will never again find, such as what gauge wire to use where, what kind of paint to use, or how to repair a crack in aluminum, I print it and keep it in a notebook. I find that sometimes I just can't locate it again although I know I've seen it somewhere in the site. It could be that I'm not using the right search words or maybe I'm just having a senior moment, but when I need it the most sometimes I just can't seem to locate a post I know I've seen.

A section on "Electrical", for example, is fine, but it covers everything from outboard to trolling motors, boat wiring, and trailer wiring. Maybe breaking it down further with subsection on each of these topics would help refine a search and make it less time consuming. Regarding the front deck, maybe a section on "Hatches" and how to build them would be useful. I see this question asked from time to time, but doing a search on "hatches" turns up lots of posts that mention hatches peripherally but have no information on how to build them. Just a thought and it may be too time-consuming to even consider.

Deadmeat (and to all actually),
You can bookmark any topic you want to save for later reference. When reading a post, right underneath the Reply button on the top left is a bookmark topic link. If you click on it it will save it in your profile bookmarks. Whenever you want to revisit them, click on the User control panel (underneath the TinBoats.net banner at the top) and then Manage Bookmarks. Any bookmarks you saved are all located there.

Hope this helps someone.

 

[Waterwings]

Hope this helps someone.

It helped me! 8) . I always forget about the Bookmark capability.

 

[BassAddict]

Who else has ideas??

Ban Ahab. :roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao: :LOL22: :LOL22:

best idea EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!

And Jim absolutely refuses to take any "donations", on numberouse occasions I have tried to offer him free stuff/discounts and every time I get threatened with being banned :shock:

 

[huntinfool]

I understand the bandwidth issue. Perhaps you need to up the sponsorship to help cover the cost of this. But I'm assuming right now you don't have enough sponsors, and if you upped the price you would lose those that you do have. However with this site being nationwide I can't see why there couldn't be more sponsors...(unless you have kept them to a minimum on purpose)

This site will grow, there is a growing demand for tin boats and especially for modifications.

Perhaps another one or two Moderators to help spread the load and to help move the threads. Then it all wouldn't fall on one or two guys. That should help at keeping it more organized as suggested above.

Just a thought.

 

[Jim]

I understand the bandwidth issue. Perhaps you need to up the sponsorship to help cover the cost of this. But I'm assuming right now you don't have enough sponsors, and if you upped the price you would lose those that you do have. However with this site being nationwide I can't see why there couldn't be more sponsors...(unless you have kept them to a minimum on purpose)

This site will grow, there is a growing demand for tin boats and especially for modifications.

Perhaps another one or two Moderators to help spread the load and to help move the threads. Then it all wouldn't fall on one or two guys. That should help at keeping it more organized as suggested above.

Just a thought.

I wish I could get more sponsors! (working on it on a continuous basis)

More moderators are coming shortly too.

:beer:

 

[poolie]

On the bright side, even if nothing changes and the site stays just as is, it's still one of the most enjoyable places on the internet to visit. This is like our version of 'Cheers'. I rarely stay at any given website very long because there's always the typical personality conflicts that happen when you get a bunch of more or less anonymous people together. I love talking politics as much (or more) than most people, but it sure is nice to have a haven to get away from it all and just talk about something that we all have in common which is the love of fishing and our cool tin boats.

So to Jim for providing this site and the mods that keep us all in PG mode, I say thanks and good job! :beer:



-- Poolie, who's been on the internet since Al Gore invented it ;-)

 

[Henry Hefner]

I did try to start some sort of organization with this thread. It lists the boat mods and at the bottom of the first post it lists other cool stuff that I thought would help people. You think it might be helpful if people add links to this thread and I keep on updating it? https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=3156&start=0

My issue is I cant keep up with all posts anymore. =D> So I miss allot of good and innovative stuff.

I have that thread bookmarked, and commonly send people both the main page link and that one when directing modders to the site. It would take a lot of work on the part of someone with more knowledge than I have, but how about a boat mod FAQ page? One that answers the very common questions like:
What guage wire is required for (blank) amperage?
What is the best thickness for wood decks?
What is the best way to repair cracks in aluminum?
Should I use rattle can paint?
Is flotation foam really necessary?
Will removing seats weaken my hull?
What is the best way to waterproof wooden decks?
Can I use screws or should I use pop rivets?
etc.

 

[FishingBuds]

What about this, is this still posible?

https://tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=8214

 

[Henry Hefner]

I suggested in another thread that we should all try to put links to our mods in our signature lines and huntinfool thought that suggestion should go in this thread. I got to thinking... is the site software compatible to adding this in our profile so that links to member's mods would show up under their avatar? Often I read a member mention "I did it this way", and I wish he had a link to his mod in the post. There are just too many mods for me to remember which mod was whose.

 

[huntinfool]

I plan on adding a link to my mod threads in my signature...once I figure out how. I like that and think it is a good thing that we the members can do with out costing any money.

Jim what is required to become a sponsor? What are the guidelines? I might have some connections that I could get some more sponsors.

 

[Jim]

I plan on adding a link to my mod threads in my signature...once I figure out how. I like that and think it is a good thing that we the members can do with out costing any money.

Jim what is required to become a sponsor? What are the guidelines? I might have some connections that I could get some more sponsors.

PM sent!

Thanks for the effort :beer:

 

[Henry Hefner]

I plan on adding a link to my mod threads in my signature...once I figure out how.

Go to the top left of the page and click on "user control panel", then choose "profile", then "edit signature"

 

[FishingBuds]

I plan on adding a link to my mod threads in my signature...once I figure out how. I like that and think it is a good thing that we the members can do with out costing any money.

Jim what is required to become a sponsor? What are the guidelines? I might have some connections that I could get some more sponsors.

PM sent!

Thanks for the effort :beer:

Can I have a hit from that PM to Jim?

 

[Ouachita]

How about a separate section under boats for the following type posts:
"Should I buy this boat?"
"Is this boat a good deal?"

These seem to clog up the boat section at times. Just a thought. Love the site Jim and thanks for all the hard work and time you put into it.

 

[bobberboy]

I wonder whether a forum loosely called "inventions" or something like that might be possible. This might be for little gems of ideas that are otherwise hiding inside the bigger rebuilding stories. I was just looking at Riverdawg's thread and saw the very cool rod holders he made for himself. One of the things that made me join Tinboats is that the people are very creative and inventive. My project wasn't really a challenge because I started from new (it seems like cheating in a way). A lot of the guys here have taken rust buckets and made the Queen Mary out of them. If necessity is the mother of invention then not having a lot of dough must be the father. Hat's off to all you creative guys out there that can just figure stuff out and do it yourself. Some like the challenge, some don't have the $ but in the end everyone is making it work. That's pretty cool.