heres an idea for the site

[big dave]

I think that all the articles on the main portion of the site (portal), should be copied and added to the forum in their own category, and locked so they dont become discussions. Reason being, theres a lot of articles with good info on 4wheeling that will fall off the main page when new articles are written. Its kind of a documenting process, and itll make them easier to find if on the forums.

Secondly, maybe we can put together a "phone book" of all the shops retailers we know in the SoCal area. We can build a list of suppliers, fabricators, 4 wheel clubs, California government services (ie, forest dept, BLM, DMV, CHP, etc), etc etc etc. What do you all think?

[cruiserlarry]

I think setting up an archive of articles is an excellent idea - I just have no idea if it's possible to do or not, so we'll have to leave that to our resident IT specialist, Ken.

OAUSA is in the process of setting up advertising to qualified vendors, so I'm not sure if we would set up a retail directory that would include non-participating vendors, for obvious reasons. However, an archive of all the official local, state, and federal agencies that we might need to contact, along with local clubs and organizations related to the various outdoor activities presented here, would be a terrific feature for the site, IMO...

Let's see what everyone else thinks about it...

[DaveK]

Sounds like a directory would be a good idea. We need someone with some time who is willing to put in the effort to gather the information for this type of directory, subject, of course, to the limitations that Larry mentioned.

Re the articles on the home page, they are "featured" on a rotating basis and the other articles which comprise the whole list are available in another section on that page. Our home page will be undergoing some major revisions and upgrades soon and we are very conscious of the value of the articles. This is good food for thought.

[big dave]

Im in agreement about keeping the directory limited to sponsors when it comes to retail, or mechanical services.