Westfield Elevens

I've been meaning to improve the website/register/galleries (ie everything thats not the forum) section for some time, but so far I've not been particularly inspired.

The intention was/is to provide some detailed information and pictures about the W11 (and the supersport variant), possibly a technical faq for reference and try and get more entries into the registry, which is after all what the site is supposed to be about. Finally tidy-up the platform it all sits on so it presents a more cohesive site rather than its current rather disparate 'sectional' approach.

So I'm looking or suggestions, ideas, contributions to try and get it started. Which might include the suggestion that the forum is the only bit that people are interested in...

I think an XI FAQ will be very useful for current as well as potential owners.

Build tips, techniques, standard improvements and mods. How to repair fibreglass (a la the postings on the Boardroom). An "out of the box" menu spec for fast road use, gleened from the likes of Vizard etc.

More cars in the register (sorry - mine to come).

WXI stories, build diaries etc etc.

Sounds like a good idea. Even better if photos could be posted directly to a site archive, best if directly to the post.

I have over a hundred build pictures on my "westyownersbuildersdrivers" site at Yahoo. The pictures include everything from the crate, parts acquisition, engine assembly, and the entire build, including chassis setup (coming soon). These could be shown here as well. The subject XI is an RHD model, with bias bar pedal, twin master cylinder brakes, T9, LSD, double bearing hubs and 125 HP Vizzard spec engine with a custom alloy radiator and duct. It also has 15" wire wheels with the proper Dunlop vintage race tires.

I think a register trying to gather all S1 and S2 cars, possibly in the shape of a 1 page spec sheet would be helpfull. It would allow us to see how each car looks like, and to keep track of each car.

It should be easily accessible, maybe in the members section (or maybe not)

I volunteer for support for this part of the site.

Hello.

I strongly support the expansion of the register/forum with encouragement for people to include photographs, history and details of their cars.
Any information that can be gleaned from Chris Smith et al with photos etc about the birth of the XI would be great in an historical section.
To increase awareness of the register/forum so that more people could be encouraged to register their cars, would an approach to the relevant motoring press about the site, with an offer to test drive a car or cars be possible?
In FAQ's how about a list XI friendly companies that members are aware of as a kind of central archive?

Regards - Alan

Thanks for the replies, suggestions and volunteering .

I agree its the register side of things that needs expanding as much as possible. I thought about having each car represented as a thumbnail picture, which you click on to get the full page of information about that car. The thumbnail pictures would be listed in chassis order, S1 then S2. Clearly this would need to be an 'opt' in process and would have to decide exactly what information was or wasn't viewable.

The FAQs would need to be built by and large by user contribution.

I'll add direct picture posting to the wish list, and think about relevant sections to put these into.

I'll start with the hosting platform aspect and then once I've got somewhere useful, I'll ask for contributions/help/layout ideas/etc.

One suggestion would be to make it easier to actually register a car. I just went to the Registry and did not find a link to register my car. If I go to the section marked Register it wants me to sign myself up again as new member, surely this cannot be correct? It seems to be needlessly difficult to accomplish what is the actual intent of this entire website: to register Westfield 11's into a database. For a start perhaps "register" in the toolbar should be replaced with "sign up" or some other wording to avoid confusion with the process of registering ones car.

When I click on members, hoping to edit my own data and maybe register my car, I go to a list of members. FAQ has no answers either, nothing there about registering my car, just registering myself which I have already done. The User Control panel was no help either, nothing there about registering my car.

I am sure it must be something blindingly obvious, but I cannot find it.

No - its not blindingly obvious, you haven't missed anything - a user can't edit their own data at the moment.

It is a symptom of the website having grown up around the forum, which originally was only intended for private use organising a group of westy 11s on a trip to Le Mans. Everything else was bolted on around it as the need arose, gallery for pictures from the trip etc. Eventually it was just made public (internet) read as it was.

So this is why I'm looking at building it all in an integrated fashion, which will hopefully be more fit for purpose.