i would have thought the most logical, non-commercial, person to take it over would be Richard who runs Filllpg.co.uk. I've got his email address I'll drop him a note.
That would be great.
Kind of off subject - I just sent this email [below] to Damian (for benefit of others Damian is the LPGforum owner). Long shot but Richard would certainly be worth getting involved with this if LPG users are to give it a go.
Hi Damian,
Before LPGforum closes (if it does close), would it be possible to send a PM to all users to inform them about a petition to fuel retailers that will hopefully steer them to sell LPG at more sites than currently? Someone suggested this to me on another forum and I have just started an email address lpgpetition@yahoo.com for this purpose. I haven't yet come up with a format that people should use when sending an email but on the other forum I suggested the format should include name, town, wording to the effect they want to join the petition, something about having to drive X miles to buy fuel, if they are aware of others in the same situation.
Due to this https://forum.elgrandoc.uk/threads/lpg-forum.9598/#post-98324 (see last few posts).
I've not heard off Richard H in a while, neither has Dave who has developed the Filllpg App.
Also Simon - Unless we have registered on there and posted 10 topics, or pay them £3 we can't read the post you linked to?
BrianH wrote:
Also Simon - Unless we have registered on there and posted 10 topics, or pay them £3 we can't read the post you linked to?
Bugger I forgot about that Bri! On ElgrandOC forum someone said they'd already tried personally contacting Morrisons and Asda to try to get them to increase number of filling stations selling LPG, they asked me if I could get some sort of petition going on 'That forum you go on Simon' (LPGforum). I originally said no because it'd never work as a thread but then thought Damian might be willing to send a PM to every member - for most of LPGForum's 6077 users old and new (of which I know a lot will no longer be interested) this would mean they'd get an emailed alert about the petition. Might be the last chance we get to even try to approach so many people who might be interested.
BrianH wrote:
I've not heard off Richard H in a while, neither has Dave who has developed the Filllpg App.
Neither have I but he must still be around. I've emailed him to see if he is one of the other interested parties and suggested he should be if he isn't. The LPG Forum and his site go hand in hand really.
I'll offer my son's services to anyone who takes it over to help it meet legislation and switch platforms etc lol... It's OK I've asked him!
Someone like Richard probably wouldn't need the help though.
Lpgc wrote:
I'll offer my son's services to anyone who takes it over to help it meet legislation and switch platforms etc lol... It's OK I've asked him!
Someone like Richard probably wouldn't need the help though.
I'd suspect scrubbing the user data and keeping the content with an attached username without the profile info would be enough to cover any concerns regarding transfer of the data, typically this happens when the forum software goes for a major upgrade when its jumped versions elsewhere. I would imagine most of the concerns could be addressed with the active members quite easily, its the inactive ones hes probably more concerned about.
Sadly its often the way that forums end up dying due to people having moved on from the original subject after a few years, one of the others i use has had various issues with the software, meaning now that most new posts get missed as nothing gets brought to the top, no post counts get increased either so if anyone replies to anything beyond the top post in a forum it doesn't get seen.
Making users and posts anonymous would prevent any member saying "I wrote that 5 years ago but last year I became a paranoid recluse and don't want anything to identify me on the internet or I will sue" lol. Maybe more worrying for the owner of a site such as LPGforum is that there will be plenty mentions of firms etc in posts,the forum I linked to above just had it's first legal threat from a vehicle import firm after someone left a bad review claiming a vehicle they'd paid a deposit on and went to buy had been clocked. Someone suggested that the site could cover it's own back by adding a disclaimer to every post to the effect 'the views expressed by users are not necessarily the views of this forum', I don't know if that would prevent any legal comebacks and the owner didn't do that, instead he just deleted the content but at least he said he'd allow criticisms of firms and reviews if the critic substantiated points made with proof. The reviewed firm has had positive reviews on the same forum before and has no doubt gained some work from that, so if I were in the site owner's position I might have told them that if I was going to delete negative posts I'd also delete positive posts and any mention of them, either that or they could argue their side of the story on forum and drop the legal threats.
You don't have to do anything for the GDPR, because it's a non-profit organisation.
Lpgc wrote:
the forum I linked to above just had it's first legal threat from a vehicle import firm after someone left a bad review claiming a vehicle they'd paid a deposit on and went to buy had been clocked. Someone suggested that the site could cover it's own back by adding a disclaimer to every post to the effect 'the views expressed by users are not necessarily the views of this forum',
Not necessary. It isn't the forum that action would need to be taken against but the author of the post. If he could prove what he wrote was correct, then the firm wouldn't have a leg to stand on. If it was just a suspicion that would be different unless he specifically said he suspected it had been clocked and not that it actually had been. The forum is just a place to publish your views to a wider audience, no different to standing outside the firms premises with a big placard saying that they are selling clocked vehicles. They wouldn't be able to take legal action against the council for providing the pavement for him to stand on.
I would instinctively think not necessary too, and such threats probably wouldn't worry me much if I was threatened, but this sort of situation seems to be becoming increasingly common on forums.
I once helped a few people on a Subaru Legacy forum who all had the same problem (never ran properly) with BRC systems fitted over 6 months despite many trips back to the installer, other BRC installers and Pete the BRC tech guy. At the time the forum users thanked me for my help but at the end I did a bit of summing up which one guy took exception to.. I implied that it couldn't reflect well on the installer or other BRC people that the owners had had to put up with BRC systems fitted so long that never ran properly and that the problem would be due to a combination of tech that wasn't really suited to the vehicle, how the tech was fitted and those involved's misunderstandings about what was going wrong and what would be necessary to sort the problems. I said that I could sort all the problems for £X by fitting spuds in the correct location with short pipe runs and fitting a different (none BRC) ECU and that if my fix didn't work first time round I wouldn't even charge for the repair. The guy who took exception said he was very happy with the service he'd received from his installer, other BRC installers and BRC tech's support guy Pete even though his car still didn't run properly, he tried painting a picture in which the BRC installers and tech support guy had somehow suffered bad luck but persisted with helping him with his problem. I painted a different picture in which I said I wouldn't expect any customer of mine to be happy in the same situation and in which the other guys didn't quite know their job well enough. He then threatened the forum and admin deleted the whole thread.
There's also a lot of bias on forums, particularly Toyota/Lexus forums, a certain done in a day installer in Wales seems to have just about all admins on forums about those vehicle marques in their pocket. They pay to sponsor one or two forums and then the admins are mates with admins on similar forums, all those admins prevent (on pain of a ban) any installer except the Welsh installer posting on forum (not that the Welsh firm ever do post) and even prevent forum members posting anything negative about them or doubting anything the installer says or does (again on pain of a ban). I've converted a lot of imported Nissans recently but getting into converting similar Toyota/Lexus vehicles through such forums is a problem because I'm not even allowed to discuss LPG on such forums. In an early post on one such forum I mentioned the Jap vehicles should have valve lube systems fitted but this didn't agree with what the Welsh installer said and admin deleted my post and threatened me with a ban.. which I eventually got. Lubes are still discussed on the same forum but admin says they're not necessary, I have customers who go on such forums who know they are necessary but don't dare contradict their forum admin because they'd end up getting a ban so there's lots of BS talked about lubes can't be necessary because LPG has a lower calorific value than petrol so valves can't get as hot as running on petrol so will last longer running on LPG lol. I suspect some admins get a free conversion or a big discount if they agree to keep plugging the Welsh firm.
Don’t you just love the world today, you help someone out, tell them the truth, and because they realise they’ve been fleeced, they get out there pram,
Keyboard warriors seem to be increasing all the time, they ask for help, but if they don’t get the answer in there mind, out comes the dummy.
I’ve never had to deal with such, but my stepfather got a bad review , when we researched it, they’d slagged off the wrong garage, ffs, got that removed instantly without a problem.
Hehe, I work at a visitor attaction and it seems that our chairman lives by Tripadvisor. I heard a great story today (via our EPOS provider who has a lot of customers in the same sector). Attraction X got a stinking review on Tripadvisor and within minutes they had worked out from the TA profile and the CCTV that the customer was still on site. So, off they went to ask the guy what had annoyed him so much and offer to refund all his lunch and tickets. They still only got a 4/5 review... but the guy was a bit taken aback when they walked up and asked his name!
@Giilbertd Did you hear from Richard?
Nope, nothing as yet.
Latest on this on LPGforum..
OnTheFenceDev posted
'Just to let you guys know that I also contacted Damian about taking on the hosting, maintenance and support of the forum - it certainly is too good a resource to let it die.
My primary connection with the world of LPG is that I developed the FillLPG Android application (not the website, just the app) - and am currently planning a new release which will include an iOS version.
Anyway - I'm not an installer, but I am an IT professional so I'm willing and able to take the site on from a technical standpoint. What I would not be able to do is moderate the site - I have neither the time nor the insight to do so.
The offer is there but if someone else is better suited to take it on then I'm happy to stand back'.