Nobleparts

[GTO600]

Daisy is totally correct & like everyone else I haven't bothered to use it as intended. Personally l would like to see it continue but as she say's why bother if we don't use it so hopefully we all post our specific Noble only enquiries & group buys on Nobleparts as the US do on their forum.

Shame to see it dissapear along with the data base !

Thanks for all you effort Daisy Duke
Kevin

[TuxMan]

Totally agree Kev !!! Be a big loss to loose it

[sundance002]

That would be a real shame. I would use it but it doesnt work with the ipad so cant

[GTO600]

Craig I've got an iPad 2 & it works fine.

[Adrian W]

Not exactly busy over there is it!

[Richardanorris]

Well said GTO600 I'll definitely be using it, I hope it keeps going

[Richardanorris]

Use it or Lose it......

[ajf]

Tried using it but got answers on here
Daisy did email me about it
Can the site not be opene up a little to non owner but still keep some res owners only

[Plumber1]

Would be a real shame to loose it, has been so helpful to me,

[Daisy Duke]

ajf said:

Can the site not be opene up a little to non owner but still keep some res owners only

Phil and I periodically discuss this as he initially set the site up some years ago in response to concerns about sourcing parts for Nobles. Due to the fact that he didn't want to have the N&S issues that PH has, and the fact that some of the info on NP is sensitive, he decided to keep it as only available to verified owners. When I took over, I wanted to open up the site a bit more, but I don't want to get involved in moderating the site - not only is it a time-consuming and often frustrating and thankless task , part of the USP of NP is that, unlike here, discussions are effectively held behind closed doors so forthright views about suppliers, garages etc can be expressed without fear of prosecution.

So it's a bit of a conundrum really. As I said, I did create an area where people could openly advertise parts that they made (or had made on their behalf), regardless of whether they would profit from it or not, but it doesn't get used much. The Register is currently in a closed area because originally people wanted contact details on it as well (so they could arrange meets etc) which I didn't think should come up in Google searches. As it stands, it probably could be put in a public area, although prospective owners often contact me directly to find out about a car, and much of my info is still in notes and not online yet (as I'm awaiting confirmation) anyway.

I suppose the whole site really needs a bit of a rethink and possibly rewriting. I have considered doing this but it's hardly worth doing if only a handful of people are going to use the site regularly anyway. I know it's never going to be financially rewarding due to the specific nature of the site (and small number of Noble owners), but I have to feel the time and effort it'll require is at least worthwhile in other ways. Currently I'm rather fed up with setting things up that have been asked for but which then get little use (both here and on NP), and with the difficulty in getting information from some sources (yet they have no qualms about asking for help from me), leaving me feeling that I'm banging my head against a brick wall. Maybe it's just time to stop.

Thanks for your kind words, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions (well most of them ) as to where to take it from here.

[mgbond]

I think it should be set up as an owners club with a yearly membership. That may atleast add a little incentive to keep it live

Is there a way we can link the two sites together so you are always on the same site so there is no flicking between then.

Isn't this kind of how it used to run? We had a website that was basically PH and what you put on that site went on PH?

Bondy

[Daisy Duke]

mgbond said:

I think it should be set up as an owners club with a yearly membership. That may atleast add a little incentive to keep it live

Is there a way we can link the two sites together so you are always on the same site so there is no flicking between then.

Isn't this kind of how it used to run? We had a website that was basically PH and what you put on that site went on PH?

Bondy

I think you may be referring to the fact that there used to be multiple urls (such as www.nobledrivers.com etc which are now defunct) that all pointed to the same Noble area of PH. Nobleparts has always been completely separate to PH, but it's not meant to be a rival to it, rather to compliment it i.e. to keep the more contentious threads away from PH. There are hidden areas on PH that are only open to certain members, but these are still subject to the same site-wide rules to do with N&S, advertising etc, so if owners want a place where they can be completely candid about suppliers and advertise parts, it needs to be somewhere not related to PH.

As for a membership fee, whilst it sounds a nice idea, I bet it'd actually end up being even more trouble than it's worth due to rules about financial transactions etc. Running NP has never been about making money (although it'd be nice to at least cover the hosting fees ), but about having a resource that was useful to the Noble community as a whole. I had hoped to foster more of a club mentality with the Register and special offers/visits for members, but this is nigh on impossible without the help and cooperation of Noble Automotive, which so far hasn't been forthcoming. Hence I feel that so far my work is in vain and further enhancement of the site will be a waste of my time - particularly as it's hardly an enjoyable hobby.

As an aside, it would of course be helpful if people making registration enquiries contacted me directly, rather than emailing Phil - he doesn't have the time to deal with NP at all (hence why I took over in the first place) and therefore he often doesn't notice these mails for some time leading to long delays before they are forwarded on to me.

[sundance002]

Being a little thick here(spare the comments) but I cant get into it, when i sign into PH and go to noble mods and click this is the screen i get
WikiUpdate this Article Report to Moderator History
This wiki has links to threads that contain relevant information on the modifications below.

Floor Pan Replacement

Tunnel Cooling Mod

Installing Electric Windows

Fitting HID Headlight Kits

Side Pod Oil/Air Cooler

Front Mounted Oil/Air Cooler

Uprated Valve springs available from Piper Cams VSSNFV6 and this includes 24 x valve springs & 24 x valve spring retainers and the cost is £300.00 + vat per set.


And none are highlighted to click on?
What am i doing wrong ?

[bernhund]

Sorry to be a party pooper, but I just can't see how NobleParts can continue to function. I think it is a great idea but really needs to be run professionally and not by someone who is doing their very best to help out all Noble kind. They no doubt just get bogged down with it and for what? Professionally I imagine it will never happen unless a Noble specialist (no pressure Dave and Matt) were to run it along side their business as support for the Marque as well as an online supplies service and ultimately a link to that professional company to take in servicing and repairs. The big question is this: How many Nobles were produced for the UK and how many of the current owners do you see on PistonHeads? If I hazard a guess you will see around 20-30 hardcore enthusiasts names crop up regularly and that's not enough to justify someone's time running NobleParts. Of those enthusiasts, there will be a number of them like me; someone who loves their Nob but has no time, skills or interest in repairing / modifying it themselves. Consequently it goes to Jetstream. So the figure gets smaller. Of those people, most have met and exchange info regularly. In my opinion it leaves NobleParts very few people to support.
If everyone were to pull together and document all modification tips and known part numbers for common replacement parts etc. someone with the necessary skills could whack them onto a one page website that remains static and not in need of contributions just for reference. As far as I understand websites, it wouldn't need maintenance? So in a nutshell, one page full of info and that's it.Or run by a repairer.
What do you think? Have I got it completely wrong?

[Adrian W]

That would be the best way to ensure I never go on there again.

[bernhund]

Adrian W said:

That would be the best way to ensure I never go on there again.

If it was linked to a business?

[TuxMan]

Hi Craig , you cannot get to Noble parts via Pistonheads you need to go too :

www.nobleparts.co.uk , if you e-mail Daisy and give you her car details ect she will allow you full access to the site .

Tux

[sundance002]

TuxMan said:

Hi Craig , you cannot get to Noble parts via Pistonheads you need to go too :

www.nobleparts.co.uk , if you e-mail Daisy and give you her car details ect she will allow you full access to the site .

Tux

Cheers mate have entered my car details, finally can use it

[Daisy Duke]

sundance002 said:

What am i doing wrong ?

Hi Craig, as Tux says that isn't anything to do with NP, it's just the Noble Modifications Wiki on PH, and you're not doing anything wrong - there aren't any links to see at the moment. And the reason that it doesn't have any useful info in it is just another example of me setting something up in response to a request, and then it being subsequently ignored. see here http://www.pistonheads.com/xforums/topic.asp?h=0&a... I know that in this particular instance it only wasted five minutes of my time to do so, but I do wonder why I bother sometimes, and it doesn't exactly inspire me to set other things up. I think it may be best if I just remove it as I keep getting reports that it's not working, and then I have to explain why not and usually end up having to answer the person's queries on how to do a certain mod directly.

I also volunteered to put guides on certain modifications on NP, but I'm not prepared to write them myself as, not only do I not have the time, but these things have a history of becoming contentious with there being different views on how mods should be done - and I have no wish to get into that situation again (even if I was subsequently proved to be right ).

BTW All wikis on PH can be altered by any member, so if you want to add info or notice a broken link on one, you should be able to make the changes yourself.

I hope this clarifies the situation, even if it doesn't exactly help,

bernhund said:

What do you think? Have I got it completely wrong?

Whilst I appreciate your feedback, I think you may be missing the point. Unless you're happy for all information (including the register) to be publicly available, any admin would have to check each registration request before allowing access, so it would still take time to run. Even if you are, if you really think everyone will pull together to document all the modification tips etc (and my experience so far would suggest that they won't ), why do it for a commercial organisation and not for NP?

And I can't see a commercial organisation allowing unbiased discussions on its services or adverts from competitors either.

Oh and given my previous correspondence with NA, I'd say the chances of them wanting to take it on are slim at best.

[bernhund]

I was thinking that you leave the chat for PH as the majority of chat is already on there, and just a static list as a reference for spares etc.on one webpage called Noble Parts. No chat or discussions, no registers.
Does that still miss the point though? I'm not sure. I've used NP for finding part numbers and some written technical advice but other than that most questions are answered by the hardcore Noblists like yourself on PH.