Fintail.org (https://fintail.org/forum) is a new online community for fans of the W110, W111, and W112 chassis Mercedes-Benz automobiles. Spread the word!
I admit W116.org was my inspiration for starting this site. We didn't really have anything like this for the fintails, and it's apparent at how much W116.org benefits W116 owners. Without W116.org forum, I think it would be very difficult for us, as our cars tend to be shunned by the rest of the Mercedes community.
All we really had before Fintail.org forum were large general Mercedes forums, an outdated site from the 1990s with no user interaction, and some Facebook pages and mailing lists which were difficult to follow, not to mention it seems like the people at the top were hoarders with little interest of helping anyone but themselves.
Well, this is why I joined. To help. I no longer have any fintails, but I have plenty to share.
I want to create a page like you did for the W108/W109 cars, and maybe somehow squeeze in W100 cars. I realize the M-100 group exists, but it's run like a Nazi era corporation, and interest and membership has severely declined. Can you comment on the ease/difficulty of creating a web page like this?
Quote from: UTn_boy on 27 November 2018, 04:40 PM
Well, this is why I joined. To help. I no longer have any fintails, but I have plenty to share.
I want to create a page like you did for the W108/W109 cars, and maybe somehow squeeze in W100 cars. I realize the M-100 group exists, but it's run like a Nazi era corporation, and interest and membership has severely declined. Can you comment on the ease/difficulty of creating a web page like this?
It wasn't terribly difficult, though I have some experience from making websites back in the 1990s when I learned html code (which is now being replaced by html5), so that gave me an advantage. The first thing I did was to find a good web host. Usually they charge a monthly rate for whatever plan you choose. Then I secured a domain name, which is typically charged annually. If the domain name isn't taken, it's usually fairly cheap (some of them start as low as $12 a year, and they can reach into the millions depending on how desirable it is). Fintail.com was already taken (and I preferred .org anyway) and is advertised as being for sale by "Anikar Group", whoever that is. For an internet forum (and any website these days, in fact) it's a good idea to use the https:// protocol to protect members'/viewers' privacy. For this I had to purchase an SSL certificate, which is typically billed monthly by the web host, though they can sometimes be purchased from a third party.
A good web host should have software included which makes creating sites much easier. Sometimes they'll even have an html editor program which lets you build a page without using html code--you just type or paste things in and it does the rest. Very handy! Often they will include in the software package forums like Simple Machines or phpBB which once installed in the correct directory in file manager, are fairly easy to set up and customize.
I'm still learning a bit, and want to add an image gallery and some more pages with data on the main site. I'll be doing some more exploring and experimenting at some point.
As a (student) webdeveloper I really enjoy seeing enthusiasts doing stuff like this. I wish you good luck with your forum.
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 28 November 2018, 05:21 PM
I'm still learning a bit, and want to add an image gallery and some more pages with data on the main site. I'll be doing some more exploring and experimenting at some point.
Have you looked at WordPress https://wordpress.org/ (https://wordpress.org/)? It's a nice easy to use CMS with great support and a huge community. It's easy to create pages with images etc. I've used it a couple of times during school projects (with real clients) and with a couple of clients from my company and haven't had any real complaints from them.
Quote from: Max-NL on 28 November 2018, 06:08 PM
As a (student) webdeveloper I really enjoy seeing enthusiasts doing stuff like this. I wish you good luck with your forum.
Have you looked at WordPress https://wordpress.org/ (https://wordpress.org/)? It's a nice easy to use CMS with great support and a huge community. It's easy to create pages with images etc. I've used it a couple of times during school projects (with real clients) and with a couple of clients from my company and haven't had any real complaints from them.
I haven't really looked into it yet, but noticed that WordPress was available as part of the software package provided by my web host. I'm excited to try some things.