Idea/suggestion:

When any member starts a new thread in any section, have the forum do a quick search for related threads already started and possibly finished.

Example:

New member begins his 'starting new thread' on any subject....ie..ground problem
Member inputs > Ground Problem < for the title of his new thread
Bonnevilleforum then automatically drops down a window below the 'title' line with similar already started and completed threads on same subject.
Then prompts him to either continue or click on threads to do more research.

Idea behind suggestion:

It would help to eliminate multiple threads on same subject. Also would encourage members to use the 'Search' before defaulting to starting a new thread that has been covered time and time again.

Sensible Answer:
Sounds good on paper. If you can get vBulletin(Jelsoft) to include this in their software, we could be halfway there. Otherwise your scheme won't fly. We don't have anywhere near that degree of tweaking. No Forum Software does.

Realistic Answer(*)
The average (Majority) Member isn't going to do this. Your complicating the thread/reply process and could cause less participation.

We have a hard enough time getting Members used to Forum Rules/Avatars/Signatures/Image Hosting/Linking. I think this would have a negative impact on participation. This doesn't simplify things, it aggravates them. For all but Staff.

Every problem can't be grouped into a General one. To many car problems are caused by any number of symptoms. For instance, we could list a half a page on problems that could cause a misfire. I'm not feeling the need or want to create a system that tries to group problems into "catch all" threads/solutions. As well soloutions to problems can vary greatly by the Generation of Bonneville, and trim level (GXP) Your suggestion would be further complicated by doing it for each.

Anything suggestion that causes less threads and replies doesn't set well with me, regardless of merit.

searching is a great but the only thing that is a negative about it is when members don't look at the dates and post in a thread from 2005 or 2006 without looking and don't get an answer to their problem so encouraging members to do it more seems like it could lead to bringing more threads back from the dead

good feed back. Thanks for considering though

Hey , thats what the Section'* for. A good idea, but it'* easy to see a lot of negatives clearly showing. A suggestion needs to be simple to process, easy to include in what has become a fairly complicated Forum as is. And show a good percentage of pluses against the minuses.

I know for a fact that I have seen this on a vBulletin board before, so someone has already written the code, you just need to find it. I have my own, albeit slightly unsuccessful, web forum that uses pbpBB which has a ton of mods for it, I sometimes write my own code for the site and have made my own themes for them on several occasions.

There is a TON of 3rd party software for vB out there, not written by Jelsoft. And most want $$$ We do have a 15,000 member, 1,000,000 post, and Tech Info database to consider and protect. Availibility wasn't my only concern. The other things I listed leave me cold on this.

My main reason for suggesting this is because as a gearhead answering the same question over and over again gets a bit redundant.

But I was not thinking of the impact it would have on member involvement lowering possible visits and or activity. So with that said I highly respect John'* input on this.

It'* a nice idea, but it'* going to be a pain because so many members can't read. As a gearhead we really need to learn the tech info area. Post a link is the best thing to do. If somethings not there and we have a question, then it should be there.