What is Happening to our P.O.G. website

[Bob Gilman]

It seems to me that over the last year that our P.O.G. message board has gone down hill,the posts are very few and the usual people are the only ones that use it.A lot of people are going to facebook and thats ok to but I wish they would post whatever on P.O.G. also.Karen does her best to maintain this site.The only thing I hear is they can't post pictures.I know nothing about computers,maybe we could take a collection of money if this would solve this problem.This site used to be the best,lets not lose it.An old 84yr old man blowing off steam.That would be me........

[skiracer]

Bob and POG members,  nicely said. Here's an idea, how about raising our a couple of dollars to enhance our web site?  I'm in, who else wants a better web site?

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[R.T.Fischer]

Being able to post & see photos would be a huge improvement, the saying a photo is worth a thousand words is still valid ! You all reckon ?

[Mike Rosso]

Totally agree with the ability to post (host) photo posting being most important to bring some life back into the P.O.G. message board ....just think if Facebook was only words then it would have gone downhill into oblivion years ago. Karen and Bill what would it take from the P.O.G. members to help with getting photo posting....I'm in for whatever it takes.

Some websites have the annoying "popup" advertising to help with website features....but some websites that have them also have a way of serious members to pay an annual membership that removes those annoying popup ads and ad a few perks too. Also there are ad blockers that members already have to minimize those darn popups This site is too important to lots and lots of people to let it fade away. Please let me know what I can do to help?

Mike

[Mike Rosso]

Totally agree with the ability to post (host) photo posting being most important to bring some life back into the P.O.G. message board ....just think if Facebook was only words then it would have gone downhill into oblivion years ago. Karen and Bill what would it take from the P.O.G. members to help with getting photo posting....I'm in for whatever it takes.

Some websites have the annoying "popup" advertising to help with website features....but some websites that have them also have a way of serious members to pay an annual membership that removes those annoying popup ads and adds a few perks too for the membership dues. Also there are ad blockers that members already have to minimize those darn popups This site is too important to lots and lots of people to let it fade away. Please let me know what I can do to help?

Mike




(see how my post is a little less, not much, boring with an image attached [}:)]  )

[Daniel P. McEntee]

I read the POG list several times a day here. I think Karen is working on an upgrade to the web site to make it more up to date technically  and to make it easier to post photos. The trick is making sure to archive what has been built up here over the years and make sure that information and photos are saved and moved to the new site. I think if you search a bit you can find the thread. the first step was ironing out the bugs that had crept in over the last year and bogged things down and they seem to have that under control a bit. The next step was archiving and that takes time. Then making the change over to the new site, and I think she said that it would even look about the same as it does. She was working with a few members of POG that earn their living at this stuff also. I wish there was some way I could help technically, but can't. But with that said, I would chip in a few bucks if it would help make things go easier. I was an early member of VINDURO and some other YAHOO groups for different brands. When that went away, an untold huge volume of technical information went with it. Thinks about what is accumulated here !!! I got back hooked up with Facebook just to be able to see some stuff, but you can't archive information and have photo and video albums like you can here. Here's hoping for some good news soon on the subject !!!
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[marsattacks]

There used to be a program called "Site Sucker" that would take and download to your hard drive every single bit of data on a web site.  All photos, all posts, all everything.  I had to use it for a legal case one time involving defamation.  Seemed to work great.  Of course it is a static depiction of the site as of the date you run the program.  You can keep running it sort of like a backup if you want.  I actually ran it on POG just for fun back then and it worked fine.  POG had very little data as compared to a major forum.  This was about 10 years ago.

[61rover]

I'm a newbie to the site and I have found the people here and the advice they give invaluable.  I support whatever it takes to preserve it and move it forward.

John Crouse
74.5 Jackpiner 175

[Tom Penton]

I've liked the simple layout of our POG website: that reply to topic, even if the post is a decade old, pops to the top, and the search works very well. I get frustrated with Facebook razzle-dazzle confusion. It would be a shame to lose it, and I'm in with some Stimulus Check money donation ... let me know where to send.

I've had luck with linking to Blogger.com:

https://pentonusa.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=19275

Can people see the following photo, "cousins"?:



Tom Penton

[Toolsurfer]

I post nothing on Facebook or Twitter ,etc .  This is the only site of this type that I visit. If not for Penton clan and all the support would not have any use for other . This site deals alot with MY TIME in dirt that I remmember vividly and love when people share theirs . There is a lot of space between us and this is the only way to keep it real.  Just my 2 cents worth. William H. Rush

[Don Roth]

Tom,
See it just fine, that is the current method, let another site host the file and embed the url. As someone who 'pounds a keyboard' for a living, when I realized facebook was selling not the content of one's page, but the connection between folks, I said adios.
Karen and Bill do a fine job, just my $0.02,
-don

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

  First off, hats off to Mr. Bob Gilman for instigating this discussion.  

  It is very nice and generous that some have offered up financial support to help with this website if needed. I most certainly will not say that I speak for the POG Board and/or Officers, BUT, in all my years of involvement let it be known that the Penton Owners Group has always stepped up as needed to support this website and will most certainly continue to do so. You dues paying members have kept the POG solvent through thick and thin and your dues dollars are available as needed to pay for what Bill, Karen and their helpers deem necessary. Bill has always kept the POG Board and Officers very well informed as to the website expenditures that may be needed. I would like to state that since the inception of the Penton Owners Group Bill Smith has always been an invaluable part of the Group, sure can not thank him enough.

   What you folks in this thread have supplied with your thoughts is as valuable as the trail markers in a 185 mile enduro, an indication as to the route the POG needs to take concerning the development and continuation of the website, Thank You all very much for your thoughts and suggestions. Thank You also for stating how you feel about this website VS Facebook, your comments are invaluable in many ways and to your credit they all are what i would call constructive criticism.

   I just spent 29 minutes on the phone with Bill Smith discussing your thoughts and suggestions. Bill and Karen are in perfect sync with what you folks are asking for, and are working towards implementing what is needed to accomplish these following goals.

1.  Retaining all of the archived photos and information that is contained in this website and keeping it available as the website evolves.

2.  Solving the photo posting issue, YES, some of you can post photos with ease, but compared to Facebook posting photos on this website is like adjusting your Sachs gearbox in the dark.

3. Keep the Message Board as much as it is as possible. The ease of use and simplicity of it is second to none, according to years of comments from many of its users.

   I told Bill about this thread and he and Karen will be reading it and taking note of your thoughts. Bill and I also discussed the fact that if Karen needs dollars to "make things happen" that the POG is ready and willing, as always, to cover those costs.

Thank You to all of you for your comments, and offers of financial help if needed.

If I have missed anything please feel free to make mention of any omissions and or suggestions.

Bill and Karen, when you read this if there is ANYTHING I have missed or is incorrect in anyway please feel free to make note of such errors on my part.

Thanks folks.....see ya all at the next gas stop...
Paul

[Richard Colahan]

I joined F/B reluctantly and only to join like-minded F/B groups. such as Vintage Triumph, Pre-units, Vintage Husqvarna, Penton, and of course our AHRMA Mid-Atlantic XC group...as that is where our event info is posted.
I do not use the F/B "friends" thing because I do not understand it or trust it...
That being said...to me there is no substitute for the POG web site and this message board. I have enjoyed the posts of both current and historic Penton history and stories.
Just in the past few weeks I have asked a # of questions regarding a 1974 125 SD I'm working on...and the replies have been prompt and helpful.

I VERY much appreciate the work of the web site admins, and if additional funds are needed to keep it going, count me in!

Richard Colahan
1969 V1225
Upper Black Eddy PA

[Bob Gilman]

Thanks to Paul Danik for always being the"first" to step up to the plate and help with a solution.

[rob w]

This is using Google "Photos".
You have to click on a link. But it's free.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/GM5ApTBjaxPtnzQR7