7173Mustangs turns 10 and still growing!
July 2020 marked 10 years for 7173Mustangs.com! That is a pretty nice landmark for any internet site considering all of the competition out there anymore! Facebook is probably the number one forum killer on the web today…it’s fast, easy and just about everyone is already using it. But Facebook has several flaws that should keep it from ever killing a forum…for one, Facebook’s search feature is terrible! You can barely find a post you made 2 days ago on any busy FB group! Another flaw is that the post/thread architecture is hard to follow and posts get lost easily! Thirdly, there are just too many Facebook groups and pages competing for the same traffic! The names can even be the same, whereas on the web, domain names are unique, individual and easier to remember and find! One other thing to mention is that Facebook groups seem to have more trolls, trouble makers and over zealous admins than any well moderated internet forum! This is a big disadvantage to Facebook because many users can be intimidated and hard pass on participating.
But, even with all of these perceived downfalls that plague Facebook, their pages and groups continue to grow exponentially! Traditional internet forums must find ways to attract and keep users…usually by using a mix of things to help captivate their audiences. 7173Mustangs.com is no different…we are focused on a small niche of Mustang Owners and fans that only covers 3 years! That means the interested amount of users is already a low number. So we have to learn what these users want and adapt it to the traditional forum software! Here at 7173Mustangs.com, we have acknowledged that users want a hybrid mix of internet forum staples as well as new social media features, so that is what we have started to build on!
At the beginning of July, we actually migrated from MyBB open source software to Invision Community professional software for several reasons including security and reliability concerns with MyBB as well as feature and theme availability! Invision is one of the world’s most powerful forum software products available and they have a huge amount of 3rd party plugins and apps available. Invision’s forum software offers an amazing mix of forum and social media features right out of the box with apps available to fine tune the forum to the needs of the membership…and that is exactly what we did at 7173Mustangs.com!
With the roll out of our new software platform, we have also introduced new features such as social clubs, member blogs, community map, member garages and enhanced member profile pages! The forum offers more member controlled features as well as tons of social media inspired touches such as likes and reactions, sharing, name mentions and even push notifications! A forum member can now invest as much or as little time as he or she wants and still be able to get maximum value from the forum!
So as you can see, 7173Mustangs.com is here to stay and we want to be part of the time that you spend online! The major benefit is in the information and data that we are building together! Information and data that will be here to help future members long into the future! This cannot be said for Facebook groups! So please, help us spread the word…use our “Tell a Friend” sidebar box to invite friends and family. Stop in an post something regularly. Add your car to the Garage. Share some photos or restoration knowledge in the forums! Be proud of the forums that we have built together…take ownership because you are just as big of a part to the forums as the staff and admins! You are the main reason that the forums exist! As an owner, I don’t get any glory, fame or wealth from the forums…I get the satisfaction that you guys enjoy using the site and knowing that so many of you found the site useful and helpful in your projects!
