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T3G Feedback and questions about Tacoma3G.com - How can our community and website be better?

Putting this here so I don’t forget.
 

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just putting this in here to take photos of how to do these and post thread links so I can share in the facebook page because commonly asked on how to
  • detailed with pictures how my cb is run
  • how to use normal gps coordinates on the touch screen instead of the bullshit N S E W on the toyota gps
  • truck bed cap camping setup
 
T3G fam,

I always try to keep it real with you guys and talk about behind the scenes development and plans for the website when I can. I think a key part to being a good forum administrator is being personable with your members and bringing things down to a level that doesn't have them feeling left out. Because what good would any of my ideas be if you guys had no say on them, hated them, and left the website? So here we are.

This weekend at an OC-Overland meet in SoCal, I ended up in a conversation with @Mr. Nobody, @Malcolm, @Romp-A-Taco, and @Paige about a relatively spontaneous idea.

What if we opened the forum up to all Toyota 4x4 trucks instead of being exclusive to the 3rd gen Taco? ?

Hear. Me. Out.

I created T3G as a 3rd gen specific forum because those are the trucks I care about. I honestly have no need for 1st and 2nd gen content to be available to me. I thought a specific niche like this would make us unique and a reason we'd be able to succeed. And it pretty much is.

However, over the year that we've been doing this, many people ask me and other staff about other Toyota trucks. "What about 2nd gens and 4Runners? You guys don't want those?" Well, no, we don't... that's the point! Even vendors have been saying they wish they had an alternative to TW but T3G being specific to 3rd gens just isn't enough because they sell products for all Toyota trucks. I have never really considered these opinions until this weekend.

This weekend I started really thinking about this and brainstormed some options. People love T3G because of the way the community is. Respectful, no cliques or trolls, and the forum itself is pretty and modern. But not everyone has a 3rd gen, so while they would like to be part of community like that, they feel like they can't. How can we take the good things from what we've built and expand on it, opening it up to this rapidly growing hobby? Create a sister site for other Tacomas? Meh.

But I think I might have a solution.

There is a way that I can open up our forum to all Toyota 4x4 trucks and still have it feel like it is only for 3rd gen owners if that is what you prefer. It is actually possible for me to give members the option on what content they want to see, completely customizable by them. If they ONLY want to see the 3rd gen stuff, exactly the way it is now, they can do that. If they want 3rd gen stuff and 1st gen 4Runner stuff, they would be able to do that. If they want all Toyota 4x4 stuff, from Hilux to FJ to Land Cruiser to whatever else, they can have that. This would even function in searches. If you hide everything but 3rd gen stuff and do a search, only 3rd gen results will appear. It would truly allow you get rid of all the content you don't want.

The major noticeable change if we did this would be a rebrand on our name and a (hopeful) increase in new members to join our community.

As far as changing the name, it wouldn't feel right to have a forum for all Toyota trucks under our current name. We'd think of a new name that is more fitting to our new structure. I already have a list of names, some awful, some decent, and one that I am kind of favoring. But if you guys like this idea, I'd love to hear your suggestions for names. And for the T3G name and logo - it doesn't have to die. It can represent a branch within our main website and the URL itself would redirect to the 3rd gen Tacoma section.

Increase in members: Opening our community up to all Toyota 4x4 and overland enthusiasts has potential for us to grow substantially. And while I don't expect you to suddenly care about 4Runner and FJ rigs, it does still bring something to the table, which is new friends to share a common interest. Say we gain 1,000 new members from this, all who have a truck that isn't a 3rd gen Tacoma. That's still 1,000 new members that can be linked up for local meets and wheeling trips, 1,000 new members to discuss and share ideas about universal truck parts and camping gear like lighting, tires, tents, 1,000 new members to buy and sell those items with, and 1,000 new members to shoot the shit with in our off-topic sections.

I have already created a rough mock-up to help you guys understand my vision. This is meant to show the major changes in the forum structure. It is obviously missing the regional, vendor, and off-topic sections because those would remain the way they are currently. For the truck sections, they can be made as broken down and specific as we want them or as broad as we want them (meaning there are other options we could use compared to what is seen in this mock-up). I think I have a happy medium for the current amount of posts and site traffic we have. We don't want to spread our content too thin by creating a sub-forum for every single different type of topic, but as the site grows it can absolutely be broken down further for more organization.

The big point about this whole idea is that all of the specific truck sections will be customizable by the user. This means everyone will have the ability to hide whatever section they don't want to see with the click of a button and it will even be hidden in search results. This functionality is really cool and I think it can set us apart.

The marketplace can be handled in a few different ways, so I'm looking for suggestions. The way I have it mocked-up could work fine until we have more activity. For example, you'd go into the Tacoma marketplace and each thread can have a prefix in front of it with what generation the part is compatible with. Then there is a marketplace for parts that work on any truck, like lighting and tents. And one more for unrelated stuff like mountain bikes and tools. Again, we can do this however we want and it doesn't need to be like this.

This is a rough first draft and I am absolutely open to your feedback on this entire idea, but here is the mock-up with the potential name blurred out for now.

ttmock2.png


I already discussed this with all of the T3G staff and they agree that if done correctly, this could be great for the Toyota overland community. But I'd like to hear what you guys think. If you read through this, please comment with some type of feedback. Please remember this isn't definitely going to happen, it's just an idea that I recently had and I feel like I should present it to everyone.
 
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I think this is a great idea. I love that the goal of this site is to be and is a community and not a place where you look for help only to get rude comments. I think the filter option is great because like @Tyler said I really only care about 3rd gen tacos. However when we hit the trails, it’s great to have more people out there and have a good time. Sure trail runs with all 3rd gens look great in photos, but all that really matters is that we enjoy the trail and we all have 4 wheel drive and the ability to get places others can’t. I would for sure keep the 3rd Gen portion called Tacoma 3G.
 
When I read the top half of the post, I pretty much hesitated the change. The reason I came onto this forum was because of small the community is and it seemed like everyone is real close with each other. I didn't really join TW because of how massive it is and just seemed to be a mess to me, lots of information everywhere.

But as I continued, the way you thought about addressing the different makes sense. It's organized and I think it would work well.
 
I think this is a great idea. I love that the goal of this site is to be and is a community and not a place where you look for help only to get rude comments. I think the filter option is great because like @Tyler said I really only care about 3rd gen tacos. However when we hit the trails, it’s great to have more people out there and have a good time. Sure trail runs with all 3rd gens look great in photos, but all that really matters is that we enjoy the trail and we all have 4 wheel drive and the ability to get places others can’t. I would for sure keep the 3rd Gen portion called Tacoma 3G.
Couldn't have said it better. This is exactly what I'm talking about. Once we are on the trail or at events and meets, we're all friends. The group photos of a single type of truck can still be created.
When I read the top half of the post, I pretty much hesitated the change. The reason I came onto this forum was because of small the community is and it seemed like everyone is real close with each other. I didn't really join TW because of how massive it is and just seemed to be a mess to me, lots of information everywhere.

But as I continued, the way you thought about addressing the different makes sense. It's organized and I think it would work well.
This type of reaction is what I was afraid of with this idea. And I don't blame anyone that might feel this way. T3G was created the way it was for a reason. But I'm glad I was able to make my case in a way that someone with your initial reaction can understand where I'm coming from and ultimately be for the idea. Thanks for your feedback!
 
I think this is a great idea. Like @Rob Daman said, it would definitely promote growth for a great site.

If I may suggest also adding a section for proposed trips and meet ups. A quick reference for calendar of events would be great also.
Having an actual calendar that can host and organize events like that is a big thing on my to-do list!
 
It's a double edge sword. A bigger community will bring more vendors, potential forum discounts more knowledge, write-ups from experienced users ect. It will also bring ALLOT more dipshits.... Case and point refresh the TW main page at any random time and at least 5 thread titles will make you say to yourself "what the fucko_O"?

I believe the leadership here can successfully expand. Just remember where it started, rule with iron fist and dont be afraid to ban members purely because they suck!
 
It's a double edge sword. A bigger community will bring more vendors, potential forum discounts more knowledge, write-ups from experienced users ect. It will also bring ALLOT more dipshits.... Case and point refresh the TW main page at any random time and at least 5 thread titles will make you say to yourself "what the fucko_O"?

I believe the leadership here can successfully expand. Just remember where it started, rule with iron fist and dont be afraid to ban members purely because they suck!
I agree with this. The bullshit members and posts are a factor and something we will inevitably come across. And the leadership plays a huge role in keeping the vibe of the community the way it should be, which is a problem TW has because some of that leadership (moderators) is the problem in the first place.

Something that is very important to me is staying humble and not letting power get to your head. Those are two things that most people in the Marine Corps do the exact opposite of and I hate it. So that is why those two things are traits that I take very seriously for myself. And as a result, I do believe we'd be able to expand like this without having it become a shitfest. Idk if anyone has ever used the Pirate4x4 forum, but I've been a member there since about 2008, and that place is absolutely the worst of the worst when it comes to this.

Some people have really, really badass trucks. But that doesn't mean the new guy asking about a 2" budget lift or good looking running boards should be bashed. The experienced dude with the truck on 37s should be humble enough to advise him in the right direction and suggest why he might want to consider rock sliders instead.
 
I agree with this. The bullshit members and posts are a factor and something we will inevitably come across. And the leadership plays a huge role in keeping the vibe of the community the way it should be, which is a problem TW has because some of that leadership (moderators) is the problem in the first place.

Something that is very important to me is staying humble and not letting power get to your head. Those are two things that most people in the Marine Corps do the exact opposite of and I hate it. So that is why those two things are traits that I take very seriously for myself. And as a result, I do believe we'd be able to expand like this without having it become a shitfest. Idk if anyone has ever used the Pirate4x4 forum, but I've been a member there since about 2008, and that place is absolutely the worst of the worst when it comes to this.

Some people have really, really badass trucks. But that doesn't mean the new guy asking about a 2" budget lift or good looking running boards should be bashed. The experienced dude with the truck on 37s should be humble enough to advise him in the right direction and suggest why he might want to consider rock sliders instead.

Pirate 4x4 = If u dunt have 2.5 tun rockwells and aggie tires then yur a fukin homo and so is yur truck.

Sorry not trying to get side tracked that place is the worst lol
 
So far loving this whole conversation. It's great to see the forum members actively involved in the future of the site, not just a couple of people ruling with an iron fist.

In short, I'm for expanding the site. I see a ton of benefits to it but I also understand and recognize the potential issues. That said I am a firm believer that that with a dedicated base of OG membership, and moderators with the right mindset we can continue and grow the great vibe we've got here.

We want to make Tacoma3G/Insert new name here forum the BEST forum for people to go and connect with other members and companies/vendors, while we build an archive worth searching. Please let us know what you guys want from the forum and we'll work to make it happen.
 
With Everything i have read, i couldn't agree more on the expansion. I read in a comment about the hesitation due to clutter and disorganization and although expanding "could" lead to that; in my personal opinion and having seen the care and dedication the moderators and O.G.'s put into the site, i don't believe that would happen. From comments been read, it seems that everyone is on board. There are a few bad eggs in every basket, that is inevitable, but the fantastic people/ community that have the potential to join and be a part of this greatness would only benefit everyone.

I could not see a downside to the expansion and with all the new branches within the forum brings new creative ideas, products, and most importantly friends made.

Great idea I'm my mind and i cannot wait to see the forum take a new and better turn. It is very exciting to see as member and see the changes, and with that the support to the changes from such a great group of people.

Super Stoked!!!
 
This is getting overwhelmingly positive feedback and it is very motivating.

I understand this is not for everyone and I appreciate your honesty, @17cementpro. That is why I feel I cannot actually implement this unless I am sure I can make it work in a way that it won't "bother" those who are truly only here for the 3rd gen Taco, but I believe I can do that.

Because of the positive feedback so far, I'd like to start getting some opinions on potential names next. I have a list of the names I thought of but I'm not going to share them just yet.
 
I’m may not be the most “active” when it comes to writing in the forums, but I am active in reading just about everything that is posted in them. At first I was hesitant about the change since I really don’t like the vibe some of the other sites have. It has turned into a community of “elitist” and keyboard warriors, which is very unwelcoming.
That being said, I am all for the expansion because the leadership here is much different than other sites and I trust you all will not allow it to get out of hand. Like so many others coming here is a breath of fresh air and hopefully with the changes you all are looking to do, and the team behind it, the community will continue to grow (hopefully bringing some added income of financial gain for all those who put in an effort here as well). As an old dead Greek guy once said “Change is the only constant in life.” Bring on the change!
 
This is getting overwhelmingly positive feedback and it is very motivating.

I understand this is not for everyone and I appreciate your honesty, @17cementpro. That is why I feel I cannot actually implement this unless I am sure I can make it work in a way that it won't "bother" those who are truly only here for the 3rd gen Taco, but I believe I can do that.

Because of the positive feedback so far, I'd like to start getting some opinions on potential names next. I have a list of the names I thought of but I'm not going to share them just yet.
Toyota’s Trail Riders
The Toyota Family
Off Road Yotas
Off Road Toyota’s

Just some quick ideas. Might come up with more after some thinking ?
 
Toyotacommunity .com
TCGen+ (toyota community gen +) The acronym keeps the same TG3 vibe
ToyotaGeneration .com
TG . com (toyota Generation) Same thing with the acronym
 
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