Site changes

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Oscar
Site Governance Team
Site Governance Team
Posts: 810
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:26 am
Location: Holland

Site changes

Post by Oscar »

Dear FordsonTractorPages friend,

When I started this website back in the '90s, I never expected it to last this long. That it is still here, 20-odd years later, signifies how many people worldwide still bond with Fordson tractors! Over the years I've seen lasting friendships develop between people who got to know each other right here on the site - that is immensely gratifying.

The site has always been free, and has always relied on help from others. JC and Kevin have been true supporters for many years now and I am very grateful to them for their efforts, their support and their knowledge. Brian Dye has been here almost as long as I have. Over the years, his help, support and friendship have been indispensable. Brian and I meet each other occasionally, either in the UK or in Holland, and of course then we discuss the future of the site. A few months back, Brian and I decided to change the site. People's lives change over the course of so many years and my life is no exception. As you have no doubt noticed, many sections of the site have not been maintained due to lack of time. Brian and I felt that the Forum and the Wiki are the main areas of the site, and that the rest is basically obsolete and in need of thorough review and maintenance. Such an overhaul would require more time than I can make available. For that reason, we decided to take everything offline except the Forum and the Wiki. My intention was to do this months ago but it got delayed (again due to lack of time). Today I finally got round to it, so except for the Wiki, the Forum and the Merchandise pages everything is offline.

I hope that you can understand and support our decision that "no info is better than bad info". Some of the stuff I took offline was factually wrong. When this material was first included in the site, it reflected our best knowledge at that point in time. As time progressed, new knowledge became available yet I wasn't always able to keep things updated. So as of now, until I can find time to completely overhaul the site, FordsonTractorPages will consist of the Forum, the Wiki and the Merchandise pages.

Thank you all very much for visiting the site, and for staying with us over the years. We really appreciate it.

Warm regards,
Oscar

henk
Site Governance Team & Expert Team
Site Governance Team & Expert Team
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Location: Arnemuiden, The Netherlands
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Re: Site changes

Post by henk »

Hello Oscar,

Nice to hear from you again and hope you and your family is well.
Less nice to read that the main site is reduced, but I can understand the reason very well.
I think wiki and the forum are the important part of the site and used by many all over the world.
Thank you for giving us the possibility to use it for so long now, and I hope we may use it for many years to come. Lets hope that one day the The Ford and Fordson pages will be back. :clap:
Kind regards, Henk

Fordson New Major February 1957 Mark I

oehrick
Site Governance Team
Site Governance Team
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Location: Norfolk Broads UK

Re: Site changes

Post by oehrick »

As a newbie I've gained a lot of useful and interesting information from the site and the same plus some good natured discussion & amusement from fellow users plus Brian & Anns company face to face.

Thanks for providing that opportunity Oscar & Admins.

Rick

One of the upsides/downsides of the internet is that devices like the 'Wayback Machine' are busily archiving web content so even if you turn off part or all of a website, it, (or parts) will in all probability survive, my website 'died' when BT stopped web hosting 2011 ish but nearly all of it remains here http://web.archive.org/web/201012131536 ... /index.htm regardless of if I want it to or not and with no option to correct anything which might since have been found to be wrong!
Best regards
Rick - Bogside on Bure


1958 Diesel E1A Mk2 s/n 1470165 - still in working clothes

Emiel
True Blue
Posts: 729
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:22 pm
Location: Netherlands

Re: Site changes

Post by Emiel »

Hello Oscar,

Thanks for this site and all your efforts in the past. Having little time is very recognisable, and I can fully understand your decision to take parts down.

Good luck and we'll try to keep the board alive.

Rgds
Emiel
Best regards

Emiel

N 1937, E27N 1948, 8N 1949, E27N 1950, E1A Diesel 1953, E1ADKN PP 1956, Dexta 1959, NH Clayson M103 1964

Bensdexta
True Blue
Posts: 2666
Joined: Mon Sep 15, 2008 12:59 pm
Location: N Wales

Re: Site changes

Post by Bensdexta »

Would it be possible to re-instate some sections, eg the info on serial numbers which are, I think, referred to quite a lot?

Alternately could they be made available as stickies on the relevant pages of the forum?

Very many thanks to Oscar and the teaam for all their hard work over so many years. I am sure the site has saved many Fordsons from the scrapman and brought many people much joy. :clap:

Long may FTP continue. :beer:
Bensdexta - 1961 working for a living!

Brian
Grumpy
Grumpy
Posts: 5216
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:07 pm
Location: Norfolk, England.

Re: Site changes

Post by Brian »

Hi Ben, take your point about the Serial Number Info, will add it to the "Identifying your Tractor" threads on the Wiki when I get around to it. We found that people did not visit the main page just came straight to the forums. Same with the Wiki, it gets few visitors.

The management team have little spare time or some of us, the skills, to rework the board. Over the past few years Oscar and I have actively tried to find someone to take the Board on to correct and modify the information from the main page but to no avail. There have been a number of organisations express an interest but none have gone further. That is why Oscar and I agreed to delete most of the home page and continue on with the forums and Wiki to make the site more manageable.
Fordson Tractor Pages, now officially linked to: Fordson Tractor Club of Australia, Ford and Fordson Association and Blue Force.
Brian

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