"The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is
another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a
month." Fisherman's Luck (1899), Henry Van Dyke
Good morning everyone,
By now, the redesigned VTR web site should be visible worldwide at
<http://www.vtr.org>. It began to go live Friday evening at about 8:00pm
EST. I wanted to give my fellow Triumph enthusiasts an update about what's
changed, what's yet to change, and what is still needed. Before I begin, I
want to thank those before me who have put long hours into the VTR site in
the past, I've only built on the foundation they created and nurtured.
The site has been given an updated, fresh look and navigation has been made
a bit more intuitive in that the navigation bar is visible on every page
regardless of where you move throughout the site. Each page has been given
the new look and I've checked about 90 percent of the site for broken
links. If your club's link on the "Other Triumph Links" page
<http://www.vintagetriumphregister.org/other-links.shtml> is missing or has
been removed, that's probably the reason. To correct or add your club's
link, please drop me an email.
Also, the various "Owner's Pages" on each of the car type pages have been
given the same scrutiny. That is, if the link to your web site showing
your car is missing, it's because the link failed. If you do have a
personal web site with information about your car, please get that link to
me as well. Think back to when you were contemplating your first Triumph
purchase and how you wanted to get as much information as you
could? Reading about other owner's cars was quite a lot of fun then, and
it still is.
Now, a bit about the site itself. It remains a work in progress, and
always will be. My main goal was to get readable pages in place as quickly
as possible. I developed the new pages "parallel" to the old one,
development took place at www.vintagetriumphregister.org, and began in
late October. After discussions with the VTR board, four goals were
developed: 1) move the site to a reliable server to eliminate down time;
2) add online membership and renewals using PayPal; 3) add an online store
for regalia sales; and 4) provide content for members only. The first
three goals have be accomplished, the fourth will occur soon. As with any
club, there are benefits of membership in VTR. In addition to benefits
such as VTR's award-winning quarterly magazine, "The Vintage Triumph,"
inexpensive vehicle insurance, access to vehicle consultants, etc., members
will enjoy unfettered access to all pages on the site.
Regarding the site's new look and feel; the home page animation was created
from images of vehicles sent in by many of you. I received over 250
pictures of some very pretty cars! I'm still going to use many throughout
the site, as you'll read. If you own a Stag or TR8, you'll notice the
absence of those two models in the animation. It wasn't an oversight, I
just didn't receive suitable 7/8-view pictures of them. I'm going to work
on getting those images over the summer at various car shows I attend and
get them added by summer's end.
The blue GT6 that dominates the level two pages is serving as a
placeholder.. It will remain on some, but again, the space requires a side
view of a vehicle, and as I get them, I'll retouch them and get them in
place. That should start occurring gradually over the coming driving season.
Each of the various "Triumph Motorcars" index pages will have
representative photographs, sent in by you, in a right hand column. Look
for this to start happening tonight.
So here is where I need your help. First, as you peruse the "Triumph
Motorcars" pages, you'll see that several models don't have Owner's Pages,
Buying Guides, Production Information, etc. If you are able to provide
content, please get it to me for inclusion. Also, I've done my best to
eliminate broken links and clean up content, but it's VERY likely these web
gremlins still exist out there. Please let me know of them as you
encounter them.
Second, the site was created in such a way that site maintenance is very
simple and requires no knowledge of the HTML web language. If you can use
Microsoft Word, you are qualified. I agreed to revamp the site, not be
it's webmaster. I've done the revamping, now the site needs a parent,
someone dedicated to keeping it current and useful to members and
non-members alike. It's certainly not rocket science, and if you can help,
now is the time to step up to the plate! Contact me if you have questions
about the ease with which this job can be handled and are interested in
helping out.
Last, Ralph Janelli of Fourth Gear, the company that manufactures the VTR
embroidered regalia, has had to raise prices five to eight percent on some
items, but has offered to give a 15-percent discount to help give the
online regalia store
<http://www.vintagetriumphregister.org/regalia/index.shtml> a good
workout. This results in a net savings of seven to ten percent from old
prices on most items. But, he's agreed to offer the embroidered VTR
t-shirt at a super price of $8 net. It's normally priced at $12, so that's
a huge savings. To get the special discount, enter coupon code VTR-OPEN at
checkout. This offer ends at midnight, April 10th.
Enough rambling. Thank you in advance for any feedback, positive or
negative about the new site. Hurry Spring!
Cheers,
Blake Discher
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America's British Reliability Run info: <http://www.abrr.org>
Don't Crash My TR6: <http://www.blakedischer.com/triumph/>
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