The Clubman Library

Fixed the thread indexing issue

2006-04-20T10:08:00+10:00

I found time to fix most of the thread indexing issue this morning. As you may recall - it is one of the main things stopping my from doing what I planned with the archive. (ie expanding to include other lists, and providing a decent agregated search system to dig up hidden technical gems)

Still doesn't cover all of it - when a post is made using Yahoo's web interface it puts no thread reference in at all (pity for those using email viewers and of course alternate archives).

For those bored enough to ask what I did: The gateway code was looking at "reference" values only. I changed it to also check "in-reply-to" and "thread-index" values as well. The parent message is found using these three different ways.

The only option to fix Yahoo's hassle is to fix the email account by looking at the website for any message with no parent message - to check if there really is one. I am likely to do a qmail script for this that can be plugged into the email account you use to get messages.

Cheers

UPDATE: okay it seems there is also another non-trivial bug in the gateway code. I have set the forum up to collect data on what the system IS doing so I can work out how to fix it.

Anti-Bot code now working, and restyling

2006-01-12T14:19:00+10:00

I am happy to say that the anti-bot code is now in operation (and if you know somebody with this same problem I had feel free to point them in my direction if they need a hand). If you find it has been triggered when you are just browsing the site please let me know.

You may also notice some restyling of the forum/archive. I have cleaned up the default header (always took up too much space in my opinion) and added what I hope are unobtrusive Adsense adds in a few blank spaces.

frak

Post Indexing, bots and a call for contributions

2006-01-07T13:35:00+10:00

For those of you wondering what is happenning with this site, I hope you will find the following illuminating:

I had planned by now to have a number of other email lists being archived here by now (as this sites potential is only realised when there are more on-board) however I have been trying to work out a problem with the emails received from Yahoo! Those of you subscribing to emails directly from Yahoo! (not using Yahoo!s web reader) and using a threaded display would have noticed this problem. The problem is that Yahoo does not provide the "reply-to" email reference when a reply is posted via their web interface. This means that threads are often broken into pieces if viewing with an email client - or anything else that subsribes to the email system - like this website.

It is very annoying that Yahoo! is refusing to honor one of the oldest standards online - the email RFC. I need to get this fixed before I extend the archive to cover other Locost references. The good news is that I have worked out how to do this (it helps that I write code for a living). The bad news is I may have to reload the entire archive once I put my "fix" in.

From checking my logs today for January I noticed two things:

It is gratifying that it seems people are using the article archive both to keep up to date, and to look things up using the search engine (especially since the latter is a large part of why this site was started)
I notice with dissappointment that 75% of article lookups are "bots" sucking up information. (the expensive kind that grab a post a second and attempt to kill your webserver as a result). I'll update the forum software to block this action in the future.

A call for contributions
One thing that I would like this site to become, is a source of information on "how I did x". Now obviously the forum archive does achieve that, however if you do have something to say on Clubbie technical topics, I would love to hear from you.

Cheers
frak

Movies featuring Se7ens

2005-10-01T06:26:00+10:00

Just discovered this site - its an imdb for cars, essentually. This page is for movies featuring sevens: http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Lotus_model-Seven.html. I've seen RPM - its a car thief film where the main character spends quite a bit of the film driving the clubman (including under a truck - don't worry the truck doesn't drive over the "novelty speed bump")

The list however is only 3 - surely there's been more than this? Anybody?

clubman-library.com

How to improve your welds

2005-09-27T20:19:00+10:00

If you want the welding inspector to say something like "that weld is too pretty to hold" then you will find this post - complete with video - of interest. (Me I'm just happy when it's not full of slag inclusions and such!)

I found this from a post on OzClubbies.

So what have I been doing

2005-09-26T21:35:00+10:00

I've been mostly organising links to the site (kind of useless of nobody sees it...) particularly since we are a week or so off he next "Google Dance" when web page link scores are allocated - this happens only 4 times a year.

I will be changing the header picture to a better clubbie picture (I still don't know what that picture I have actually is!). I had a great chat to Mike Laws who had been kind enough to send the pics from the Clubman Roundup.

My plans after getting these links better organised (if you link to me please tell me) I need to get the directory sorted, and then add other lists to the archive. Once that happens I have some really cool stuff planned.
Clubman-Library.com

About - Why This Site Exists

2005-09-17T22:48:00+10:00

I have had the dream on building my own Seven Clubbie (Locost in particular) for the last two years. Due to a lack of time and finances I am still at the "thinking" stage, however I have spent much time researching options, re donors and so forth, on the various online forums and email lists. There is a veritable gold-mine of information on such lists, however it is hard to find.

As a long time lurker and sometime poster on Yahoo's Locost lists, I would often see posts such as these: 'I have had a look in the archieves but cannot find...' due to the strange and frequently misunderstood search system.

This got me thinking about a viable alternative - at least for my own use in looking up the vast knowledge-base of information available on those lists. The answer is the system I have now assembled - a fully searchable archive of all the posts in Locost_oz, with more to come.

It seemed logical to make such a resource public so that others could use it in constructing their own clubmans so here it is on clubman-library.com

Please let me know what you think.

Clubman-Library.com Launched!

2005-09-17T20:24:00+10:00

New - the Clubman builders resource library

Clubman-library.com has just launched with over 10,000 archived posts relating to all aspects of building, upgrading and maintenance of clubmans, lotus seven, locost versions. It is a site is by an enthusiast, for enthusiasts.

The site has a directory plus full text search capabilities of the archives and will be a constantly updated technical resource for all those interested in this amazing car. In the following months this technical resource will start to expand to include all manner of other kit cars as well.

Mathew, the webmaster has this to say:
"as a long time lurker and sometime poster on Yahoo's Locost lists, I would often see posts such as these: 'I have had a look in the archieves but cannot find...' due to the strange and frequently misunderstood search system.

This got me thinking about a viable alternative - at least for my own use in looking up the vast knowledge-base of information available on those lists. The answer is the system I have now assembled - a fully searchable archive of all the posts in Locost_oz, with more to come.

It seemed logical to make such a resource public so that others could use it in constructing their own clubmans so here it is on clubman-library.com"