Difflock forum rules.

Just noticed that they have imposed a rule of not promoting other forums this on top of the ban on posting events for free a while back.

Am i alone in thinking its a bit strong? I use other forums and there are frequent cross linking to other forums without any issue.

Are there any other general 4x4 forums out there as active? Pistonheads 4x4 section is a bit slow, i use a south african forum now too. The SA forum is a nice change, where difflocks zuk section is full of questions about keeping rotten SJ's going they have embraced the jimny over there.

Looks like they have begun to loose the plot. Difflock has always been a front for a commercial venture but now that OEC have taken it over the commercial drive appears to be getting stronger.

In fairness to them, running any website costs money. There are hosting charges and just the effort in keeping the software updated and the spammers at bay can all be measured in cost.

As Difflock do not run events, it seems a bit strong to prevent people advertising events, particularly as people that are attracted to the site will see the banner adverts for their products.

However, the more open a forum is, then the more appealing it is to the members. If I prevented anyone discussing "rival" companies on here it would quickly reduce membership.

Perhaps I should open a "Other 4x4's" section?

That South African 4x4 community is HECTIC! 6000+ posts a week and bootloads of Jimny interest. It has been one of my favs for years. I often quote in there from here and other Jimny forums. I think if you have a real interest in the Jimny it is good to "shop around" and allow information to be spread around.

I used to be in some "closed" forums where you couldn't mention other mobs without having the posts deleted so... I deleted them, after scavenging what I could

The only thing I would say is "Don't forget to say where you got your information from" as that is only common courtesy.

For instance, the "Tyre Calculator" I often refer to comes from www.exploroz.com ...
www.exploroz.com/Vehicle/Tyres/SizeCalc.aspx

ZookFastback wrote: That South African 4x4 community is HECTIC! 6000+ posts a week and bootloads of Jimny interest.


The only thing I would say is "Don't forget to say where you got your information from" as that is only common courtesy.

I've only just registered on the SA forum so i've yet to really find my feet but i love the Jimny chat on there.

As you say it would be courtesy to state the source of the information. After all online "communities" are all about helping each other and if users are cross linking it only helps expand the community.

I agree with Martin too, they seem to be losing the plot over there and have lost sight of why people use the forum. The internet has made a big difference to our hobby in the last few years, i can remember that it could be quite a closed group before. If you didn't have the contacts locally it was hard to get to hear about events as it was all word of mouth - even as little as 2-3years ago round here - especially if you didn't have a lawn rover!

I personally think theres room on here for a general 4x4 sub-forum with events, tech and pictures/build thread(possibly the best section on difflock) but it would take more moderation to keep the sections tidy and the main basis of the jimny forum clean and free of other 4x4 posts.
Its a difficult one as i like how active it is on here for a single vehicle but the community would develop massively by opening it up.