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Suggestions for BajaSAE.net

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Category: General
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URL: http://forums.bajasae.net/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=26
Printed Date: Mar/28/2024 at 11:20am


Topic: Suggestions for BajaSAE.net
Posted By: mikez
Subject: Suggestions for BajaSAE.net
Date Posted: Dec/15/2008 at 2:12am
Welcome
Just to be clear, this online community is here to serve:

-You, the Teams, who are currently designing, building, and preparing to compete.  Everyone from the top 10 to the first-season teams is encouraged to participate here. Ultimately, this site exists to help share information for your benefit. 

-Your local Competition Organizers, who want to keep the lines of communication open so that all are well-informed about what to expect before coming to competition.  This does not necessarily mean that they will give you every last detail, but they do want you to understand how your cars will be evaluated and be well prepared for the event.

-Baja Alumni who want to stay involved in BajaSAE and share experience and advice wherever applicable.

Unofficial Disclaimer
Once again, these forums are "unofficial" in that they are NOT officially sponsored, endorsed, or monitored by SAE in any way.  Currently, for official statements or rulings from the national tech inspectors or other organizers, you must email them directly.

As many of you are aware, there are already national Baja forums available (hosted by SAE).  Many members feel that those forums are outdated and lack important capabilities that are critical to good, agile collaboration. 

OK, so who IS running this?

This site is operated by a number of Baja Alumni from several universities.  Many of us still  volunteer at a competition every year, some of us are Competition Organizers, and others are National Tech Inspectors.  We love Baja, and while we enjoyed everything Baja had to offer, we know many of the frustrations you guys [still] deal with all too well.  We want to stay involved, and now that we're not competing anymore we're spending some of our time trying to make things better than when we were behind the wheel.

So, we've decided to supplement what is currently available with this site.  We believe that this is for the better of all involved in BajaSAE, and we are trying hard to be seen by SAE as a benefit (rather than a threat).  We ask for your support here--as opportunities arise, please reinforce to them how this site has made your BajaSAE experience a better one.  Positive feedback from teams is most likely the best way to ensure that we can continue to provide these forums (and other services) into the future.

What's Next
Speaking of which, we'd like to open up that topic for your input.  We opened with the BajaSAE.net Forums, which are off to a good start.
What else would you like too see here?
 
Feel free to suggest any ideas you have for other stuff for BajaSAE.net, or how we can continue to improve what we already have. 

Thanks for your time!
-Mike




Replies:
Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Dec/15/2008 at 2:49am
I'll start with a few things that have been suggested already.  Share your thoughts about these.

-FAQ / Knowledge Base for the official BajaSAE rules
(published and maintained by the National Tech Inspectors)

Every year people always complain about the BajaSAE Rules.  Many teams have made the statement that, in order to be able to understand the rules, you have to simply have been to competition at least once and learned by the experience.  It's definitely true that few things are better than having been to a competition to observe everything before the first time you compete.  But this is not always possible for first-season teams, and it should not be a requirement in order to be able to understand the rules and comply with them.  And yes, everyone agrees (officials included) that some of the rules are "stupid".  Finally, suffice it to say that in *some cases* the rules are non-specific by design, and are left to be evaluated in their full extent within the context and competition at hand.  Doing so is not always the best idea, but usually attempting to explicitly state every possible option is equally as impractical.  Such is the reality of organizing engineering events.  Etc, etc. 

I don't want to go on and on about every problem with the rules.  What I do want to do is discuss how we might make them (or access to them, and discussion of them) better.  I think we can all agree that some means by which we can better understand what is meant by the rules would be a big step forward.  The FAQ / Knowledge Base system could essentially supersede the email-only process that we currently have in place, and could become THE place to go to easily ask questions (and find answers) to rules-related topics. 

Imagine there is a rule about which you had a question--say "seat belt mounting".  Suppose you could jump to the rule by entering "33.2.3", or find it by searching for any rules that mention "shoulder belts".  Once there, you can read the rule itself and also see a list of all questions that had been asked about that particular rule, and even read the responses to those questions from the National Techs.  You could "subscribe" to that rule's  section, so that whenever someone asks another question related to that rule (or a Tech answers one), you get a notification to check it out.  You could even ask your own question (publicly or privately) and get an authoritative answer.  Also, from season to season as the rules committee changes the rules, you can be notified (once they are released) about exactly which sections changed from last year and start getting clarification on those items sooner rather than later.  If you think about it, much of this information is already available, but the ways which we currently manage it make finding, accessing, or even becoming aware of it a challenge.  In this age, there is no reason for that.  We can have the tools to handle this much better as long as we can see where it is that we want to be, and are willing to adapt that into our workflow.

In order for a system like this to ever work, it would of course have to have support from the National Techs and SAE, which is definitely not a given at this point.  Still, I think the idea has a lot of potential to provide better management of the rules and the other information that teams need to fully understand their meaning.  I also believe that something like this would ultimately make life easier for the Teams and the National Techs, while enabling both to do a better job.


Posted By: JeremyB
Date Posted: Dec/18/2008 at 3:21pm
Would a classifieds forum be of any interest?


Posted By: CLReedy21
Date Posted: Dec/20/2008 at 4:58am
Free candy...?

-------------
-Chris Reedy
TTU Alumni
Fourwheeler Drawer



"Quick with the hammer, slow with the brain."


Posted By: JeremyB
Date Posted: Dec/20/2008 at 10:23am


Edit: Re-linked picture


Posted By: CLReedy21
Date Posted: Dec/20/2008 at 5:43pm
Nah man I know that dude, his name's Jim and his van is white but he's totally legit.

-------------
-Chris Reedy
TTU Alumni
Fourwheeler Drawer



"Quick with the hammer, slow with the brain."


Posted By: CLReedy21
Date Posted: Dec/20/2008 at 5:48pm
On a serious note a page with known vendors who are friendly with the Baja program and have good discounts would be a good section.  I know Fox has a decent discount at 25% and Douglas used to do 2-for-1's on their wheels but a good reference of who is supporting the program with cheap parts would be great.

-------------
-Chris Reedy
TTU Alumni
Fourwheeler Drawer



"Quick with the hammer, slow with the brain."


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Dec/20/2008 at 10:44pm
A list of good Baja vendors and their discounts sounds like a great idea to me.  I'll put it on the list.  Thanks!


Posted By: charles ulaval
Date Posted: Dec/31/2008 at 12:12pm
How can we use this discount with Douglas?
thanks


Posted By: FWBcut
Date Posted: Jan/01/2009 at 11:49pm
Last year I asked Douglas about the discount and they said they weren't doing it anymore. I think they said it was because they didn't have enough money for it. 

-------------
Joe
U. of South Florida
Baja captain 07-08
www.usfracing.com


Posted By: jhu42
Date Posted: Jan/29/2009 at 4:04pm
Hey all,

Of course the success of a forum is related to the number of members on it.  As a result, you guys should make a flyer and pass it out to the teams at competition.  Something simple like the forum url and a picture of a baja car going off a jump.  I think that will really help the forum add many more members.  It is really nice being able to post pictures and I think the other teams once they know about this forum will use it more.

My thoughts,

Thanks,


-------------
Adam Baumgartner
Social Media Director, #BajaMaryland
Test Driver, Honda R&D Americas Inc
Hopkins Baja, '07-'10


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Jan/29/2009 at 8:07pm
Thanks, Adam.  That's a great suggestion, and one that we are hoping to be able to do during the first race this season at Auburn. 

The only thing that makes me hesitate even a moment on it is that I'm not sure how SAE will react.  In the recent past, they have expressed irritation that our forums even exist, citing that it basically competes for attention with the "official" SAE forums.  Unfortunately, they could probably give us hell if they wanted to get nasty about things. 

However, upon us finding that FormulaSAE has their own independent http://fsae.com/groupee?s=763607348&cdra=Y - forum (and apparently has for some time time now), there is a better precedent for the BajaSAE forums too.  In fact, I really feel that I should have started this forum back in the early 2000s when the ideas first came up.

In any case, I really feel this site (especially the forums) has a lot to offer the Baja community, and that the benfits outweigh the risks of angering SAE.  (And, if they'd hear me out about the topic, I really feel that they would actually agree.)  Therefore, I'm going to try to do my best to spread the word about BajaSAE.net at the upcoming competition.  I'd ask for you guys' help also.  Let people know that we've got a good thing started and to come be involved!

Thanks for your support,
-Mike


Posted By: adrive7
Date Posted: Jan/30/2009 at 1:19pm
I could see SAE being annoyed about a different forum, but at the same time it's not like there is an revenue being missed out on. Also, the official forums suck. A lot. The only way this forum is not better than the official one is that it is unofficial.


-------------
-Joe
Chief Organizer, Baja California 2016, 2017, 2019
Ohio State Baja 2005-2009
Co-Host, Science... Sort Of
http://www.sciencesortof.com


Posted By: collinskl1
Date Posted: Jan/30/2009 at 1:34pm
Agreed that the official forum is terrible...  more active members would help this one flourish. 
 
I like the idea of a classified or FS/WTB section.  As the captain of a second year team, we struggle with budget and funding, especially these first few years.  From tools, to trailers, to shocks, CVT's and wheels... we don't have the money to buy new stuff only to find out that it doesn't fit the bill of our needs when we test.  More established teams have warehouses of parts that they don't use I'm sure, and it would be nice to have a place to find some deals on "lightly used goods"  even if some of them do need a rebuild...
 
 


-------------
Kyle Collins
Lipscomb University Alumni
2x Project Manager

Nexteer Automotive
Product Engineer, Electronic Power Steering

... and the 8th simple machine: a bigger hammer.


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Feb/02/2009 at 11:30am
Agreed on the FS section.  We have a ton of stuff that we could sell to new teams.  We don't have a whole lot of funding and getting rid of some of these parts would help a ton and clear up some valuable storage space.


Posted By: JeremyB
Date Posted: Feb/02/2009 at 12:32pm
Classifieds section created. http://forums.bajasae.net/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6 - Clicky

Shazaam!


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Feb/02/2009 at 5:41pm
Thanks!


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Feb/14/2009 at 3:25pm
It may have already been suggested but I would like to see a "Build Progress" section of the forum where each team could start up their own thread to post pictures and updates on how their build is coming.


Posted By: JeremyB
Date Posted: Feb/18/2009 at 6:21pm
I may create a "Build Progress" subforum when traffic has increased a bit. In the meantime, feel free to start a thread dedicated to your car. 


Posted By: infocustrasti
Date Posted: Feb/18/2009 at 6:34pm
Hey how about making some stickers with the URL to post on the cars of the people that are already part of the forum! I wouldn't mind... would have to see what the rest of the team says but I bet that one sticker is good for at least 3 hp!!


Posted By: adrive7
Date Posted: Feb/18/2009 at 8:13pm
Originally posted by infocustrasti infocustrasti wrote:

Hey how about making some stickers with the URL to post on the cars of the people that are already part of the forum! I wouldn't mind... would have to see what the rest of the team says but I bet that one sticker is good for at least 3 hp!!


I like it. Someone with more creative photoshop skills can take it from here.

Here is the .psd file: http://joe.batwinis.googlepages.com/BumperSticker.psd - http://joe.batwinis.googlepages.com/BumperSticker.psd




-------------
-Joe
Chief Organizer, Baja California 2016, 2017, 2019
Ohio State Baja 2005-2009
Co-Host, Science... Sort Of
http://www.sciencesortof.com


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Feb/19/2009 at 12:23am
Haha.  Awesome!  Downloaded...  Thanks guys.  I'll see what I can do.


Posted By: goliath0904
Date Posted: Feb/23/2009 at 10:19pm
I think a Baja SAE wiki would be a great thing that could benefit many teams.

Our team uses a wiki to keep track things like vendors, catalogs, and other resources.  If every baja team contributed to a centralized wiki I think it would be a great help to many teams.


-------------
Jared Szechy - Treasurer
University of Dayton Mini Baja
sae.udayton.edu - sae.udayton.edu



Posted By: jhu42
Date Posted: Mar/04/2009 at 11:01pm
Hey guys,
I had other ideas about what the forum could do.

First, there should be a search function.  This will keep people from making posts that already exist.

Second if it is possible a page to post links to team's videos from competition and testing.

I imagine it would work like this.  I can post a video on my site, but the chance someone searches for my exact "baja hopkins" link is low, the same issue exists on youtube,  typing baja sae only gets you so far, also the quality stinks.  What we need is a list that has say team name and them links added below them.  This allows people to come to this site and see where the videos are and then click the link to them.  Basically it is a Baja video catalog.


Example

Ohio State
video 1
video 2
Johns Hopkins University
video 1
video 2 --(perhaps and explanation of what the video is of)
..etc

USF's page has a good example of this type of organization.  It will work well because BajaSAE.net does not have to host the video's, just hold the links, this allows any format also (WMV, Quicktime, Youtube,).

I would really like this because it would allow more people in the baja community to see my video; I am sure the other teams would want the same type of centralized area for their videos. 


My ideas for the site,

Later,
Adam


-------------
Adam Baumgartner
Social Media Director, #BajaMaryland
Test Driver, Honda R&D Americas Inc
Hopkins Baja, '07-'10


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Mar/04/2009 at 11:09pm
Thanks Jared.  We are definitely considering some sort of central repository for storing and easily sharing knowledge in the Baja world.  I've noted your ideas and suggestions for that stuff, and we will be announcing the kickoff of some of those types of features hopefully this fall.

Thanks,
-Mike


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Mar/04/2009 at 11:18pm
Adam-
I also really think your suggestion for using part of the forum as a springboard to your own content would work really well for many teams.  I like and agree with your supporting reasons. 

Does anyone else have anything similar to this in mind?  Should we shoot for something specific to videos, or would it be beneficial (or worse) to make it even more general than that?  Thoughts...?

We have an organizer meeting tomorrow and I'll discuss this with JeremB and see what he thinks would be the best way to do it.  We'll wait a week or so to give everybody time to discuss it here if they want.  Stay tuned, and thanks for sharing the ideas!

BTW, have you used the forum's search feature?  (Personally, I haven't much, so I'm not sure if it's adequate for what you are asking...)  Did you find it had problems or shortcomings?  If not, check it out.  Let us know what it doesn't do that you're suggesting we should have.

Thanks,
-Mike


Posted By: zehlerdj
Date Posted: Mar/05/2009 at 12:06am
I would suggest pictures as well, I know sometimes one team may get a picture of another hitting a big jump or doing something sick and that would be a good way to share all the cool pics teams have as well as videos.

-------------
Dan Z.
Clarkson Baja
Team Leader


Posted By: mu
Date Posted: Oct/13/2009 at 10:57am
Originally posted by goliath0904 goliath0904 wrote:

I think a Baja SAE wiki would be a great thing that could benefit many teams.

Our team uses a wiki to keep track things like vendors, catalogs, and other resources.  If every baja team contributed to a centralized wiki I think it would be a great help to many teams.
 
I came here to suggest a wiki, it seems like someone else already had the idea.  it would cool to be able to list info in one easy to find location (e.g. CVT weights, ratios, etc) instead of searching through tons of posts or having someone else ask the same question.


-------------
Andy

2009-2010 Ohio State Baja SAE Captain
http://www.osubaja.com - www.osubaja.com


Posted By: adrive7
Date Posted: Dec/04/2009 at 5:48pm
Some sort of blog on the main landing page for recent news either directly about baja or events like it.

Something along the lines of what http://www.ecomodder.com - Ecomodder has.




-------------
-Joe
Chief Organizer, Baja California 2016, 2017, 2019
Ohio State Baja 2005-2009
Co-Host, Science... Sort Of
http://www.sciencesortof.com


Posted By: CLReedy21
Date Posted: Dec/14/2009 at 9:10am
A gear/parts review section would be great.

Somewhere we we can either sing the praises of/denounce publicly tires, shocks, cvt's, wheels, hubs, etc.  Maybe even a special subsection for tires since they seem to be a fairly important part of both vehicle handling and event-specific performance.


-------------
-Chris Reedy
TTU Alumni
Fourwheeler Drawer



"Quick with the hammer, slow with the brain."


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Dec/14/2009 at 10:35am
I agree that a parts/company review section would be pretty sweet.


Posted By: p.lewis
Date Posted: Feb/13/2010 at 8:52pm
So... Alabama '09 is looking pretty lonely in the "Competitons" section of the Forum. Any plans to add this year's competitions, or is the Competitions section going the way of the dodo bird?


Posted By: jarmumd
Date Posted: Feb/14/2010 at 2:40pm
There are major changes going on behind the scenes, please be patient through this transition, it will take some time!

-------------
Auburn Baja 03-05

Masters involving dynamic simulation of baja car and driver

SAE Auburn Race Organizer 06, 09, 12, 15

SAE Birmingham Race Organizer 11

National Tech. Inspector 07-15


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Feb/15/2010 at 11:21pm
Sorry.  I accept responsibility for the slow progress.  However, the following are in the works at the moment: 

-Slight Forum re-org, including updates to the Competitions area.  (This area got caught up in political snags during the past year but we believe it is now on the right track.)

-Expansion of the BajaSAE.net site to include new stuff like what has have been suggested earlier in this thread.  Along with the forum, all this stuff will be referred to as the BajaSAE.net "community services".

-Updated set of Community Member Terms of Service which will more clearly outline our expectations related to content and conduct when using any of the Community Services.  (Nothing crazy, don't worry.)

-New BajaSAE.net home page featuring a Baja / Offroad / Racing news feed.  This is your community, and we want to give you the tools to reach out to it...  anyone with a community member account can submit Baja news items, links to other races, automotive or industry articles, and other relevant cool stuff.   We'll also feature a pane where you can promote your own BajaSAE-related events with a graphic, some text, and a link to a forum thread, your own site, etc.  (Submissions to the news and events pane will be quickly reviewed by the community moderators before being posted to the public.)  Baja team members will also be able to submit pictures of their car to be featured at the top of the BajaSAE.net homepage in rotation.

-A Baja Wiki is in the works.  You can use this area to publish information about any aspect of BajaSAE that you feel has value for other teams.  Unlike the forum, the Wiki is not a place for discussion as much as a more structured means of knowledge transfer.  More on this later.

-The "Baja Vault" is a public area where you can record your team's progress, competition attendance, placement, etc for each season, and even throw in a few pictures too.  We'll hold on to this stuff long after you've graduated, and your school's future Baja team (and others) can later discover and appreciate the legacy you built while on the team.

-The login system will need to be expanded to cover all of the above new services.  We're working hard to find a good way to do single sign-on for all of these different systems to make using all of them more convenient.  (This is lots of fun, and is currently what I'm stuck in, but given that it all needs to play along before we can roll out these services, it's the big deal at the moment.)

-There are also some neat team-management features that we have planned that should make keeping track of your team members and submissions much easier.  However that part is all just ink on the whiteboard at this point, so I'll be vague and leave it at that.

Keep the ideas coming.... we're listening and working for you guys.  

Thanks,
-Mike


Posted By: johnpate01
Date Posted: Feb/16/2010 at 12:21am
 
Originally posted by MikeZ MikeZ wrote:


-A Baja Wiki is in the works.  You can use this area to publish information about any aspect of BajaSAE that you feel has value for other teams...

-The "Baja Vault" is a public area where you can record your team's progress, competition attendance, placement...

-There are also some neat team-management features that we have planned that should make keeping track of your team members and submissions much easier...

Thanks for the hard work.  I am especially excited about these things, personally.  These should be some really nice tools.



-------------
-John

Co-Captain, Team Tennessee 2008-2010


Posted By: Rob71zilla
Date Posted: Feb/16/2010 at 7:40am
The Wiki and Vault sould pretty cool. I'm excited for the changes, thanks for the hard work!

-------------
Robbie
Former Team Captain
SUNY Institute of Technology
Current Engineer for Remington Arms

A Redline a day keeps the carbon away.


Posted By: BajaSaeAdmin
Date Posted: Mar/10/2010 at 4:08pm
Originally posted by p.lewis p.lewis wrote:

So... Alabama '09 is looking pretty lonely in the "Competitons" section of the Forum. Any plans to add this year's competitions, or is the Competitions section going the way of the dodo bird?
The original plan was to add a subforum for each competition with organizers moderating their own subforum. But as Mike said, that got held up due to political issues. Once those were cleared up we settled on a generic catch-all competition subforum with another one for "unofficial" events so they get a little more exposure.


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Apr/21/2010 at 9:59am

I'm new to the site so I apologize if its already being done, however would it be possible to have a calendar with all of the events. A simple monthly calender that holds information about formal and informal events. Make it possible for members to add events that they may hold. Whether it may be driver training, design review, endurance races etc. When an event is posted, make it a link to another page that provides additional information.

Just a thought
Erik


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Jul/06/2010 at 8:40am
Originally posted by CLReedy21 CLReedy21 wrote:

On a serious note a page with known vendors who are friendly with the Baja program and have good discounts would be a good section.  I know Fox has a decent discount at 25% and Douglas used to do 2-for-1's on their wheels but a good reference of who is supporting the program with cheap parts would be great.
 
What ever happened to this idea?
 
A spline cutting resource is needed by many teams, just to single out a certain item


Posted By: p.lewis
Date Posted: Jul/12/2010 at 4:40pm
Originally posted by johnpate01 johnpate01 wrote:

 
Originally posted by MikeZ MikeZ wrote:


-A Baja Wiki is in the works.  You can use this area to publish information about any aspect of BajaSAE that you feel has value for other teams...

-The "Baja Vault" is a public area where you can record your team's progress, competition attendance, placement...

-There are also some neat team-management features that we have planned that should make keeping track of your team members and submissions much easier...

Thanks for the hard work.  I am especially excited about these things, personally.  These should be some really nice tools.

 
Anybody try out the private team wiki that Minibuggy.net said they'd provide?
http://www.minibuggy.net/forum/sae-baja/ - http://www.minibuggy.net/forum/sae-baja/
"SAE Baja Projects and Teams forum. If your school would like a dedicated private forum for your team, contact an MBN staff member."


Posted By: RonGeorge
Date Posted: Aug/11/2010 at 9:41pm
I suggest a small and simple addition to this forum, but an immensely practical one nevertheless.

Every post should have a number, which could be shown on the side. Big threads get cumbersome to reference. You could incorporate this into the code.

I follow the CR4 forums with my bread and butter every morning, and the more I participate in discussions there, the more I realize how simple and enjoyable a tool it is to learn, discuss and ask questions. The downfall of any website is complexity. I happen to be a popular blogger on the interweb but I don't stop there as everyday I'm asking myself how I can make my site easier for someone to navigate through, and use. Now I don't shun the value or skill of a website designer anymore.




-------------
-Ron George
Systems Engineer (Cummins Turbo)


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Aug/30/2010 at 1:48pm
I completely agree with having numbered posts.  It really does make things way easier.

Also, I think the video library thread is a great place for people to find videos of other schools. However, with all the chatting and people posting random pictures, etc... , it has become somewhat difficult to browse.

I suggest adding a Video subforum.  This would allow each video to get the attention it deserves without getting lost in a sea of other videos or comments.  Members could comment and discuss the video without the clutter that the current Video Library thread has become.


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Sep/25/2010 at 12:36am
Going along with joe's current post about new members, a few moderators made up of some active senior members would help keep the forum organized and clean


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Sep/27/2010 at 12:22pm
Originally posted by ErikHardy ErikHardy wrote:

Going along with joe's current post about new members, a few moderators made up of some active senior members would help keep the forum organized and clean

Agreed.


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Oct/31/2010 at 9:20pm
Search function. Can we get a google search box on the site? Even when I know exactly what the thread topic was when searching for it, nothing comes up in the curent search feature. I often go back to google to search the site from there.
 
For instance search for "3 tanks of argon later" and nothing comes up, but maybe its just me..


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Oct/31/2010 at 9:27pm
I have had no luck using the search function either.


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Oct/31/2010 at 9:31pm
Yes, search kinda blows.  I'm talking with the vendor about that one.   Maybe they can help us make it index better.  sry!


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Oct/31/2010 at 9:32pm
Thank you!


Posted By: Jcad
Date Posted: Nov/01/2010 at 9:15pm
How about a live chat section?

-------------
Jcad
WVU Tech
HMFIC


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Nov/05/2010 at 8:36am
An "online/offline" indicator under everyone's username.


Posted By: collinskl1
Date Posted: Nov/10/2010 at 11:11am

on the main forum page the active users are displayed...

I'd like to see a section for parts/gear/tools/major suppliers review.  Somewhere we can discuss drills, benders, shocks, etc.


-------------
Kyle Collins
Lipscomb University Alumni
2x Project Manager

Nexteer Automotive
Product Engineer, Electronic Power Steering

... and the 8th simple machine: a bigger hammer.


Posted By: RoughMill
Date Posted: Dec/15/2010 at 10:34pm
Im new to Baja SAE,  My involvement is on the fabrication end of things.  I know there are allot of other resources on the web relating to the fab of offroad vehicles  but I think it would be cool if we had a dedicated section focusing on fabrication here on these forums.  Other than that I like it!  I think ive been over to the "official" forums once or twice. 

-------------
MCC/Tribune Racing
President
Fabrication Team Leader
Monroe Community College
Tooling and Machining 2012


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Jan/13/2011 at 7:59pm
It would be nice if embedded videos would kick you over to watch the video on Youtube when clicked on.  They are supposed to do this when you click the Youtube icon in the lower right hand or the title.  I haven't found any way to get it to take me to the video on Youtube yet.


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Jan/13/2011 at 11:34pm
Same problem here with firefox and Internet Explorer. It is possible to search youtube by the video title and go that route.


Posted By: dillon_b12
Date Posted: Jan/13/2011 at 11:45pm
Originally posted by ErikHardy ErikHardy wrote:

Same problem here with firefox and Internet Explorer. It is possible to search youtube by the video title and go that route.

No luck with Chrome or Firefox for me.  I'm aware I could just search the title, just way more convenient not to have to. Smile


Posted By: tp
Date Posted: Feb/13/2011 at 8:23pm
This might be a dumb question, but the homepage still says that new features are coming in 2009. Is this going to change?

-------------
-Tom

Oregon State BajaSAE Team Captain


Posted By: mikez
Date Posted: Feb/13/2011 at 9:04pm
Originally posted by tp tp wrote:

This might be a dumb question, but the homepage still says that new features are coming in 2009. Is this going to change?

It's a valid question.  The quick answer is yes, and relatively soon...  and while we're on the subject, I'll take responsibility for the information vacuum in this area.  Much of the detail will come later, but here is a brief update:

During mid/late 2009 my team gathered all of the proposed ideas and formulated a preliminary design for each concept, which took us into early 2010.

Next we put forth a lot of effort trying to get official support for the forum and funding for many of these other BajaSAE features.  The result was fairly positive and the questions and claimed benefits sparked some discussion about a number of other enhancements that would benefit everybody involved in Baja as well.  Realizing we had an opportunity to help improve stuff even more, we spent much time and effort (most of the rest of 2010) discussing and designing those other components. 

As of the beginning of 2011, the plan is done, the stakeholders are happy with it, and we are currently finalizing the nature of the official support.  As always, it's not possible to do all of the enhancements right away, and the most beneficial ones have been pushed to the top of the list.  However, we do hope to roll out some exciting new stuff in the coming months and on into the future.  (I dare not specify another date...  I won't make that mistake again!)

Thanks for the interest.


Posted By: p.lewis
Date Posted: May/25/2011 at 5:39pm
The "Printable Version" feature doesn't seem to work on long, multi-page threads. Print copies I've tried to make cut off somewhere on page 3. Does anybody else have this problem?

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University of Rochester Alum


Posted By: tp
Date Posted: May/31/2011 at 2:15pm
Is there a way we can make a rule that new members have to introduce themselves in the Introduction thread first? It'd cut down on the people that keep showing up to make a few dumb anonymous comments then leave. I've seen it on a couple other forums and it works well.

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-Tom

Oregon State BajaSAE Team Captain


Posted By: Rob71zilla
Date Posted: Aug/03/2011 at 12:33pm
See Soccerdan's post here....

http://forums.bajasae.net/forum/innovation_topic782_post10445.html#10445

On that note, I would "like" the above suggestion


-------------
Robbie
Former Team Captain
SUNY Institute of Technology
Current Engineer for Remington Arms

A Redline a day keeps the carbon away.


Posted By: OctoberSky
Date Posted: Aug/07/2011 at 4:22am
Originally posted by tp tp wrote:

Is there a way we can make a rule that new members have to introduce themselves in the Introduction thread first? It'd cut down on the people that keep showing up to make a few dumb anonymous comments then leave. I've seen it on a couple other forums and it works well.

I second this one big time.  If people don't want to put their name, at least providing basic info about their school and experience would be at least a start.  It may take more work than it's worth, but also having the first thread started by a new user to be reviewed by the "mod squad" (or even us members) before they can start another thread could prove helpful.  It's starting to seem that I have to go farther and farther back to get useful, innovative information regarding actual engineering.  Then again, I had the luxury/sense to ask all of my dumb questions to older members on my team/ pick up a book before posting on this forum.


-------------
UCLA Racing
2010-2012 Captain

"we'll never win mini baja" -Cheddar


Posted By: OctoberSky
Date Posted: Aug/07/2011 at 4:30am
I really like the idea of adding a drop-down option to threads started in the design dicsussion that allows the poster to mark their thread by subsystem (steering, suspension, brakes, tire selection, drivetrain, etc.) that can be seen by the search function would be nice.  It wouldn't be required, but having the option would be nice, so that someone searching for info on CVT weights doesn't end up with a bunch of posts about how much someone's frame weighed after paint a year ago (just an example).  Not a huge change, but it could eliminate a lot of repeat threads and fragmented information.  

-------------
UCLA Racing
2010-2012 Captain

"we'll never win mini baja" -Cheddar


Posted By: jarmumd
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 10:07am
What would people think about an alumni section?  I've been wanting to start up a Baja SAE Alumni Association so that we can re-integrate graduates with tech, design, race organizers, jobs...  As a prelude to an organization, what say you about a section in the forum?

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Auburn Baja 03-05

Masters involving dynamic simulation of baja car and driver

SAE Auburn Race Organizer 06, 09, 12, 15

SAE Birmingham Race Organizer 11

National Tech. Inspector 07-15


Posted By: ErikHardy
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 10:16am
Something like, how do I become a tech inspector, Help organize a race, need help finding a job?


Posted By: collinskl1
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 10:32am
I like that idea.  It would be even better if there was a way to make it a private section of the forum reserved for that specific group of users.  

-------------
Kyle Collins
Lipscomb University Alumni
2x Project Manager

Nexteer Automotive
Product Engineer, Electronic Power Steering

... and the 8th simple machine: a bigger hammer.


Posted By: johnfar109
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 11:27am
I like the idea. I think it could help Event Organizers Share more information and Get more people involved. 

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- John Farnach

RIT BAJA SAE

That Guy 04-09'

RIT 2010 Maneuverability Captain & Track Prep and Construction
RIT 2013, 2016, 2019 Electronic Scoring & Track Prep and Construction


Posted By: Soccerdan7
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 11:37am
I like that idea too, and for what its worth I want to volunteer at TTU this year. Preferably either design or suspension, but I'll take whatever is available.

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Danny

Cornell

(fall'07 - spring'12)
Former Captain / MEng / that guy with all the carbon
10 races, 7 top ten's, 2 overall wins


Posted By: DomUL
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 12:33pm
I think this would be a good idea. For my part, I would like to volunteer at the Rochester event. I think there is more and more alumni on here and something should be done to avoid losing those good ressources!

-------------
Dominic Marceau
Baja SAE Laval 2008 - 2012
Driver 2011 - 2012

http://minibaja.gmc.ulaval.ca/


Posted By: collinskl1
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 12:55pm
Yeah, I would like to volunteer as a tech or judge or whatever before I'm out of the game too long and become too much of a senile and crotchety old man.  

-------------
Kyle Collins
Lipscomb University Alumni
2x Project Manager

Nexteer Automotive
Product Engineer, Electronic Power Steering

... and the 8th simple machine: a bigger hammer.


Posted By: Tony Rivera
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 1:01pm
I agree, I would like to be involved in Washington this year, and I think that an Alumni section would be very useful.

-------------
Tony Rivera

Arizona State University
Team Captain 2009-2010

Local Motors Vehicle Systems Engineer


Posted By: adrive7
Date Posted: Oct/25/2012 at 8:20pm
Originally posted by collinskl1 collinskl1 wrote:

Yeah, I would like to volunteer as a tech or judge or whatever before I'm out of the game too long and become too much of a senile and crotchety old man.  

Concur. It's something I've been meaning to do, but I'm now 3.5 years out of school and still haven't gotten around to it. 

But I did meet an Embry-Riddle Baja alumnus today who apparently works for my company. Talked some baja shop. So that's cool.


-------------
-Joe
Chief Organizer, Baja California 2016, 2017, 2019
Ohio State Baja 2005-2009
Co-Host, Science... Sort Of
http://www.sciencesortof.com


Posted By: taukea
Date Posted: Jun/24/2013 at 4:36pm
Due to a recent influx what do you think about a sub-forum for Baja India?

-------------
Iowa State Tech Director 2013-2014
Iowa State Project Director 2012-2013


Posted By: Purduebaja
Date Posted: Jun/24/2013 at 8:57pm
Ahh just saw this, looks like I posted in the wrong thread.


Posted By: Nate
Date Posted: Jun/16/2014 at 11:08pm
Any way to synchronize the user accounts for www.bajasae.net and forums.bajasae.net? I hate having a million accounts, and anybody with an account on www.bajasae.net that is affiliated with a team should automatically get forum access in my opinion.


Posted By: Mod Squad
Date Posted: Jun/19/2014 at 4:01pm
I believe this was originally planned for, but something that didn't get implemented. I'll ask Mike Z and have him answer.


Posted By: kcooper273
Date Posted: Jun/19/2014 at 7:37pm
Originally posted by taukea taukea wrote:

Due to a recent influx what do you think about a sub-forum for Baja India?

I wouldn't mind this as well. Some of the questions asked are just awful....


-------------
Michigan Tech Baja 2010-Dec 2014 Victory Lap: Auburn 2015. 2nd Victory Lap Maryland 2015 (Peer Pressure)

CYS Motorsports-TORC Super Stock Truck #873


Posted By: Mod Squad
Date Posted: Jun/27/2014 at 10:04pm
The forum was originally created for the North American competitions. Central/South American teams joined and and began contributing.
Indian teams also joined, but have given almost no contributions and generally spam the forum with ignorant posts. 

Of the last 25 or so threads in Design Discussion. I think only 2 are non-Indian. Maybe 3 are worth anything. So 90% of the threads in DD are Indian, and they're all crap. 

I'm favoring making a moderator-approved registration. If you're from India, you get no registration. You sneak by and make stupid post- you're banned. 

An Indian sub-forum doesn't help the search results being crushed by terrible threads/posts. It also seems a little bit off to me to segregate Indians to their own little sub-forum. Lastly, I just don't like the idea of giving people forum bandwidth that don't deserve it. 

However, this forum is for the users, not the administrators/moderators. If yous guys want an Indian sub-forum, we can try it and see how it goes. 


Posted By: zglazer
Date Posted: Jun/27/2014 at 11:22pm
I'm generally not in favour of restricting forum membership to non-Indians. I think that sends the wrong message; instead of encouraging them to improve, we're just giving up on them. Regardless of how bad some of the posts may be, I have to believe that there are Indian Baja participants out there who are genuinely trying to improve. If we have to put up with a thousand terrible posters to find that one guy, at the end of the day, I think it's still worth it.

Also, even though many of the threads are pretty inane, some genuinely interesting discussions have come up in response to Indian posts that probably wouldn't have happened otherwise. Plus, there's the entertainment value.


-------------
Zack Glazer
McGill Baja Racing Alumnus 2009-2013 http://baja.mcgilleus.ca/" rel="nofollow - http://baja.mcgilleus.ca/
2012-2013 Drivetrain Designer


Posted By: adrive7
Date Posted: Jun/28/2014 at 1:39am
Remember how games used to have a "Vote to Kick" feature (Maybe they still do, I don't play much any more...)? 

Would it be possible to have a voting system on a thread to just down vote a topic to the point where it could just be deleted? So if you asked something stupid, the users could downvote the topic and it would go away. 

In the event that a topic was worthwhile, it would get upvoted and stay.

I tend to agree with Zack re: blanket exclusion, but at the same time it is a major issue. An ideal solution would be a wholly separate forum for Baja India. They keep the collaboration and don't have to do it in broken english. But, that would have to be setup locally. Not by this crew.


-------------
-Joe
Chief Organizer, Baja California 2016, 2017, 2019
Ohio State Baja 2005-2009
Co-Host, Science... Sort Of
http://www.sciencesortof.com


Posted By: Pedro UFPBaja
Date Posted: Jun/28/2014 at 2:04am
Kinda funny mocking on morontic/suppa-lazy-mode-on topics, but this is not a humor forum, and this wave of lame topics really can be a problem in long term

-------------
Former Team Captain


Posted By: Pedro UFPBaja
Date Posted: Jun/28/2014 at 4:12pm
I vote for banning the user  http://forums.bajasae.net/forum/search_results_posts.asp?SearchID=20140628210416&KW=" rel="nofollow - Ashutosh95
Every time this guy posts in the forums, comes with poorly vague questions easily answered for a quick google search and puts at least 3 copies in unrelated topics. true spammer.


-------------
Former Team Captain


Posted By: RLM
Date Posted: Jun/28/2014 at 5:09pm
^+1

-------------
McMaster Baja Racing (09-Dec 2015)
Team Captain 2012-2015
Suspension Lead 2015-2016
All spoonfeed PM requests will be billed at $10 USD per reply, payable via paypal.


Posted By: RLM
Date Posted: Jul/24/2014 at 6:27pm
sub forum for DANA Spicer H12

-------------
McMaster Baja Racing (09-Dec 2015)
Team Captain 2012-2015
Suspension Lead 2015-2016
All spoonfeed PM requests will be billed at $10 USD per reply, payable via paypal.


Posted By: zglazer
Date Posted: Jul/24/2014 at 7:02pm
I honestly don't even think that would help.

-------------
Zack Glazer
McGill Baja Racing Alumnus 2009-2013 http://baja.mcgilleus.ca/" rel="nofollow - http://baja.mcgilleus.ca/
2012-2013 Drivetrain Designer


Posted By: joey.m.gonzalez
Date Posted: Jan/30/2015 at 12:52am
Suggestion for the forum: Tapatalk compatible?  That might require re-doing the entire forum, though.


Posted By: Nick Sjoberg
Date Posted: Jan/16/2018 at 8:15pm
When I try to submit a rules question it brings me to a different screen and gives me these options. None of which help me submit a rules question. Is there an email address I can just send a question to? 

Also, why is the forum account different than the normal website account? 

COMMUNITY MEMBER

  • http://bajasae.net/cdsweb/gen/Change.aspx - Change My Password
  • http://bajasae.net/cdsweb/gen/UpdateAccount.aspx - Update My CdsWeb User Account
  • http://bajasae.net/cdsweb/gen/ManageEmailPrefs.aspx - Manage Email Preferences



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