Big site announcement

[Tad]

Good morning everyone,

Since I created the Planetisuzoo web forum in 2003 the community here has grown and matured. With it I have managed to keep up with demand, as well as make some improvements along the way. While I have enjoyed making the site available to you all and enjoying the company of the members around here, I have decided to transition the ownership and maintenance to someone else. I intend to stick around and participate (hopefully more with the extra time I'll have available), and the rest of the moderation team will still be around as well. You can pretty much expect things to be business as usual around here.

When I decided to explore options for lightening my load on the back-end side I was looking for options that would perhaps allow for better support from someone who does this every day. I ended up reaching out to AutoGuide.com, a company with many automotive enthusiast websites under their management. While I would have liked to discuss the transition process with you all publicly, that was not an option due to the terms of the transfer.

The website has already transitioned to AutoGuide.com's servers, and soon you'll see a new member or two on the mod team from AutoGuide.com. You can reach out to any of them with questions or concerns, or any of the existing moderators.

As I have mentioned numerous times before, I can't thank you all enough. It really is the easy-going members here who make the community what it is. Because of the AutoGuide.com method of maintaining the uniqueness of the sites that they control, I have little worry that Planetisuzoo will continue to be as wonderful as it is now, and for the foreseeable future.

As always, if you have any questions, please ask.

-Tad

[AG_Admin]

Hello everyone,

My name is Phil, I am a community manager for AutoGuide.com, I work with a small team that will continue to manage the webmaster duties for PlanetIsuzoo.com along with the current moderator team. We are here to help primarily with the technical end of things and help make the jobs of the current Mods/Admins easier. I posted a real basic run down to answer common questions below. If you have more questions or concerns please feel free to post them in response.

What are our intentions?

We bring reliability, support and the infrastructure needed to ensure that the community will continue to be around for years to come. It’s our goal to work with the mod/admin team to help provide the resources and required work to give this community a broader reach, to attract new members, and to better the overall knowledge shared in the community.

Will leadership change?

Continuity is the focus here, YOU as the membership work very hard to keep building this community while your mod/admin team keep the walls and the roof up in this place; we are primarily here to make sure the lights stay on. Every community is unique and should always be respected in that regard. You all have established your own unique rules and regulations and a strong reputation that is carried by all of this. For us it’s paramount to maintain this level of integrity and enthusiasm.

What am I here for?

Our primary role is to be the technical contact; you all contributed to building the strong foundation the site was built on. Moving forward we will all work together to keep the momentum and the community growing. We will be on the forum checking in daily to make sure regular maintenance is taken care of and keeping things running smoothly from behind the scenes. We will also be setting up a help desk on the site for when you have questions or issues with the site or your account and need assistance.

Looking forward to working with you all.

Thanks,
-Philip

[mudoilngears]

Not sure I like this, but if Tad can't keep up, I guess there's nothing else that can be done. Hoping for the best.

[AG_Admin]

what is the concern?
-Philip

[JoeIsuzu]

what is the concern?
-Philip

What Isuzu do you own?

I suspect that may summarize anyone's concern.

Jack

[Tad]

And to hopefully calm everyone, I'm not leaving. I love you guys.

-Tad

[AG_Admin]

what is the concern?
-Philip

What Isuzu do you own?

I suspect that may summarize anyone's concern.

Jack

Hi Jack,
My primary focus is to handle the technical aspects of the site not manage the community. I work for the company that acquired the site, me personally not owning an Isuzoo should have little bearing on my ability to make sure you can post and participate. Unless there is an issue with your account or the site; or you have an idea to make the site better there should be little to no interaction between us. I would not worry much since Tad is still here and staying here. Same people you know and love that run the day to day here are still the same.
-Philip

[egagnon086]

Thanks for keeping the site alive, without the forum, many of us would have no where to turn. Thanks again Tad for the site, im sure the new technical side will keep it running well.

[mudoilngears]

what is the concern?
-Philip

I have been/am member of several other forums. The general way Tad and any other mods there may be, have handled the forum is very different from others. If that should change, so would the atmosphere. I know most of the great community feeling we have here stems from the users themselves. But I am referring more to to mod practice, as an example, on many forums it is a sin to post in the wrong subforum .etc But as I say, I hope for the best.

[superman27344]

If I understand this correctly, this will effect us very little if at all. Tad along with the other staff will still be admining the forum as far as posts and what not, correct?

[Tad]

If I understand this correctly, this will effect us very little if at all. Tad along with the other staff will still be admining the forum as far as posts and what not, correct?

That's my understanding!

Tad

[AG_Admin]

I am Not about to change how you guys do things here. The spirit the site is run in is strong and successful and works. I am sure I will get told a whole bunch "if it ain't broke don't fix it". No plans to break anything and no plans to fix whats already running well for you all. If it is broken ever, I am the one that will be responsible to fix it.
-Philip

[MarkB.NV]

Tad and others have built a really wonderful site here. And I for one find that it is the extremely valuable in terms of how to repair and maintain our trucks, where to find parts and solutions, and little tricks to get by, when Isuzu retail has basically dried up.

What I've also come to appreciate is the friendships, camaraderie and social connections among like minded members.

I don't always have 2-nickels to contribute, so I've tried to give what I could, my own versions of how-tos and pics and diagrams and help with others who are working on a similar problem that I might be able to help with. I'm happy to do that, because I need to pay my way as it were, and give back to the community that has been extremely helpful to me.

My worry is that the center of the site gets smaller and smaller, while the surrounding advertising take up more and more of the screen. A commercial app has to deliver eyeballs to advertisers, it's the follow the money game. I hate FB, Twitter and Pinterest with a passion - those are soul sucking sites that reflect the worst in big business and corporate abuse. Cannot use the site, cannot access the site, cannot search the site -without your FB credentials. You are constantly subject to corporate censorship -cannot speak ill of the corporate sponsors, or of things that corporate has ruled as politically incorrect (not social decorum, but things that you simply cannot say on the site). They track everywhere you go, every post you make, every connection you have, and every search term from that site, from your google searches, from your amazon searches, and then bombard you with still more advertising that chews up all of your mobile bandwidth and gives to the NSA every piece of your online identity without your knowledge or consent.

Yes, I'm a data security pro -and I wear a tinfoil hat ... underneath my other tin foil hat.

Alas, those are my sensitive issues with online communities.

... and I owns an Isuzoo Trooper.

[N law]

I totally understand where this is coming from but I fear the necessary evil of hiring someone to do the work tad no longer has time to do. I know tad volunteered a lot to make this community what it is and I don't think the AG group is volunteering. I'm thinking that the value for value exchange going on here is tech support for advertisees. I get it, but I know that everyone has their motivation and for the Phillip, it's not owning an Isuzu, but rather a paycheck, that comes from revenues generated by the site. Maybe tad has been making money off the site without me noticing, but I fear this will become like a lot of other forums where you cannot hover over text and God forbid you click in the wrong area or a pop up will occur. I avoid those types of forums unless absolutely necessary, but I'll stay optimistic and wait to pass judgement.

I have told many non-Isuzu folk that this is my favorite forum.

[GoodyMOBB]

Will our linked email addresses be used by the new parent company in any way?

[lorenzo816]

good question Goodymobb.

Hi Phil from Ag, nice to meet you.
Tad I hear ya. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Explains all the DB errors the last few days. y'all were setting connections up.


The old timers will still be here.

[AG_Admin]

Tad and others have built a really wonderful site here. And I for one find that it is the extremely valuable in terms of how to repair and maintain our trucks, where to find parts and solutions, and little tricks to get by, when Isuzu retail has basically dried up.

What I've also come to appreciate is the friendships, camaraderie and social connections among like minded members.

I don't always have 2-nickels to contribute, so I've tried to give what I could, my own versions of how-tos and pics and diagrams and help with others who are working on a similar problem that I might be able to help with. I'm happy to do that, because I need to pay my way as it were, and give back to the community that has been extremely helpful to me.

My worry is that the center of the site gets smaller and smaller, while the surrounding advertising take up more and more of the screen. A commercial app has to deliver eyeballs to advertisers, it's the follow the money game. I hate FB, Twitter and Pinterest with a passion - those are soul sucking sites that reflect the worst in big business and corporate abuse. Cannot use the site, cannot access the site, cannot search the site -without your FB credentials. You are constantly subject to corporate censorship -cannot speak ill of the corporate sponsors, or of things that corporate has ruled as politically incorrect (not social decorum, but things that you simply cannot say on the site). They track everywhere you go, every post you make, every connection you have, and every search term from that site, from your google searches, from your amazon searches, and then bombard you with still more advertising that chews up all of your mobile bandwidth and gives to the NSA every piece of your online identity without your knowledge or consent.

Yes, I'm a data security pro -and I wear a tinfoil hat ... underneath my other tin foil hat.

Alas, those are my sensitive issues with online communities.

... and I owns an Isuzoo Trooper.

We don't typically serve much in the way of advertising to logged in users. Logged into the site you will never see ads that will block content or even intermingle with it intentionally. Facebook/twitter etc registrations will never be mandatory here. We are not big on censorship of any kind and the rules established here are what will remain the rules enforced. I have been a member of multiple online communities before I even began working for AG so I know all about your concerns. I don't personally use twitter or pinterest and only keep a facebook page to keep in touch with my in-laws who appear to prefer to use facebook over picking up a phone. As I mentioned before, I am not here to dictate how you use the site or what you can say. I am not here to ban or lock accounts. I am here however to hear your suggestions on things you feel this site could use to make it better. I am here to help you recover your account if you cant log in. When you need me you can pm me, otherwise Tad will still be the same familiar face that you know helping you with the little stuff.
-Philip

[AG_Admin]

good question Goodymobb.

Hi Phil from Ag, nice to meet you.
Tad I hear ya. Gotta do what you gotta do.
Explains all the DB errors the last few days. y'all were setting connections up.


The old timers will still be here.

Good to meet you as well. I am hoping you all continue to enjoy the site.
-Philip

[AG_Admin]

Will our linked email addresses be used by the new parent company in any way?

On some sites we have newsletters we send out that can be opted in or out of. These are typically a round up of the most interesting content posted here during that week or month. That does not run on all sites and if it did run here you would get notice of it. Beyond this the only thing your email is used by us for is sending you notifications if you subscribe to threads (same as before) and if you happen to need help accessing your account I would use your email to verify the account is yours.

We do not sell your email or any of your personal contact info.

-Philip

[loopedr1]

im nervous....

[lorenzo816]

Come on Andy.
I think he sounds legit.

as long as things stay the way they are.

[superman27344]

I think the people who are voicing concern over this change are missing the part that the change has already taken place and the forum is still running just as it was before. I can definitely understand why you chose to wait until after the transition to tell us.

[mudoilngears]

I think the people who are voicing concern over this change are missing the part that the change has already taken place and the forum is still running just as it was before. I can definitely understand why you chose to wait until after the transition to tell us.

Nope. There's immediate effect, and long term effect.

[itsmehb]

Wow, definitely the biggest, most important post I've read since becoming a member. Having participated in other auto forums, namely corvette, Mercedes and Honda. This is the most friendly forum where we as members feel we can post opinions, and go off topic and talk about almost anything and as long as we remain above board we all get along. NOT so on other forums. Try going off topic and see what happens. Mark, really nice post, expressing my concerns as well as I'm sure others in better format that I could have used....Harry

[N law]

Wow, definitely the biggest, most important post I've read since becoming a member. Having participated in other auto forums, namely corvette, Mercedes and Honda. This is the most friendly forum where we as members feel we can post opinions, and go off topic and talk about almost anything and as long as we remain above board we all get along. NOT so on other forums. Try going off topic and see what happens. Mark, really nice post, expressing my concerns as well as I'm sure others in better format that I could have used....Harry

Please, try to stay on topic!