Vintage Triumph Registry website

[Sherlock]

Over the last three or four days I've tried getting onto the VTR website - www.vtr.org - with no success.

Is the website down? Or is it just my internet line?

 

[speedracer]

Sherlock,

I've tried to ping the VTR server with no response - the server would appear to be down.

Cheers,
speedracer

 

[UltimateQuestion]

The VTR site has been missing since at least mid April. Could be a temporary thing - be back later - or since it hadn't been updated since 2002 maybe its under major revision or just plain gone. I know the organization still exists (2004 Convention this summer in Richmond VA), maybe someone who is a VTR member could clarify the situation.

 

[SBooth]

I check the VTR classifieds daily; there are listings dated as recently as 4/19. Had problems going to their home page.

 

[Sherlock]

Fun... Website trouble

I somehow suspect that it is temporary problems unless they moved websites (in which case they usually inform you).

One club website over in the U.K. malfunctioned last year, wouldn't let anyone on to it!

Had the e-mail address of someone in charge and discovered the website was doing it to everyone, including webmaster, club members, etc...

 

[Cain]

I've noticed the same as SBooth. I don't seem to have trouble going to most VTR pages, but I cannot get the home page to come up sometimes.

 

[Sherlock]

Hmmmm...

Just clicked on the homepage link for the heck of it, it came up but looking very strange like an incomplete page, maybe they are doing a webpage changeover.

 

[piman]

Hello Sherlock,

Just looking at your byline:- "a walking encyclopedia of useless car facts".

What is your definition of a Vintage car?

regards,

Alec

 

[Sherlock]

True definition of vintage...

That unfortunately has been a rather mucked up term (or any term used to classify old cars)

Veteran - anything pre-1914

Classic - I believe anything pre-1948, but only certain high end models, they actually have a list of which vehicles qualify.

Vintage - I could be wrong but I think it refers to anything 25 years old or older... which means that guy down your block with the rusty, very "non-classic" 1978 Buick LeSabre can claim the car as collectable now

OK, getting into semantics here, but I know there are proper terms to describe and classify old cars, and I confess that I'm not completely familiar with them. And of course I have zero control over what names car clubs use, although I know the VTR is a highly-respected club that has been around for many years.

[ 04-21-2004: Message edited by: Sherlock ]</p>

 

[78Z]

Looks like someone is doing a very bad job of editing the main page.

 

[StagByTriumph]

Ohhhh boy, this is a sore subject for me and it is opening old wounds.
Here is the scoop with the VTR web site from what I can gleen from scattered information:

Until three years ago I was the VTR web site maintainer

(actually 6 years ago for three years). Basically I busted my ass to keep up with the site changes, and had an action plan in implimentation to streamline the site maintenance, add subject area helpers (web spinners), also have it hosted on a commercial server for free. It was however a labor pain of love.
After banging my head against the VTR board brick wall for too long trying to get the features approved by the powers that be, I decided the ratio of volunteerism to stress combined with no forward progress and bleeding out the aural passages where too high, so I resigned whilst bringing on a helper.
The helper was Jill Kallos, a top knotch commercial professional Web page designer who is also a Triumph enthusiast, and is responsible for the existing format you have known and loved for the past three years. To cut to the chase, she successfully implemented many of the list of changes Ken and I developed; and Ken Streeter, humble founder of the VTR site, successfully moved and improved the new classifieds implementing many of the upgrade features as we had been discussing for years to a commercial high speed server able to handle all the traffic. Some other features I was pushing to get established; have a MS Netmeeting feature set up so VTR board meeting could be held online in virtual face-to-face; Members only sections that so many clubs now utilize to support and catalogue their technical information was also on the list including archives of TVT and TSOA newsletters with search engines.

The VTR web site is a very successful site achieving well over 50 thousand hits per month. Yes, All was right in the Triumph Globe until the VTR site server crashed last year, a privately owned piece of equipment. that should have been the reality check and have cause for alarm.
This type of catastrophic failure was exactly what I was trying to design out of the VTR site by going to a free, non-advertising, commercial class server such as provided through Hemmings Motor News, and have automatic shadow web site for backup, and regular off site backups of the site programs.

So where we are? server is offline, and it is sole sourced to a single private entity to recover, whatever its status, at their own expense of time and money. That may work for a small club of years ago playing with the web, but today, many many more people rely on those sites as their main source of information to support their hobby.

In addition, Jill has become completely fed up with the same old never changing VTR politics that the "Web site does nothing for the VTR so it gets no support" even though it generates a huge amount of world wide Triumph related traffic and visibility for the club. Many think the web is a toy, and all ths interest in VTR is generated through the TVT newsletter circulated to direct VTR members only and advertisements in a few Magazines. Right ... 4000 annual members compared to 50k hits per month.

Hum, seems like I wrote this same diatribe just about three years ago ...

The VTR has such great potential to be a world class organization. Someday I hope it will be. For now it is thanks to all the great VTR chapters for keeping the club alive, that is where the real kudos need to focus.

Just some of my not so humble opinion ...

 

[78Z]

For what it is worth I thought it was an excellent site. Well designed and full of good info. Pity it didn't any support from its owners.

 

[tr7sprint]

Here is some more info on the VTR website that is in discussion on another tr7/8 mailing list (forum).


----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Buja"
To:
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2004 10:00 PM
Subject: [Wedge] VTR website - it's alive!


> Joe >> and Wayne > wrote:
> > > I assume that the VTR website is still down.....
>
> > You assume correct. I got a forward from a friend and it looks like the
> > VTR site has died of neglect.
>
> We all know what happens when you a s s u m e...
>
> The VTR website is on its way back online as of this morning at
> <https://www.vtr.org/>. It's looking pretty ugly right now due to some
> formatting problems and missing code, but the majority of the web content
> is still there. The maintenance handbook is not currently linked from the
> homepage but is available at <https://www.vtr.org/maintain/index.html>
>
> I noticed the comments on this list stating that the site was down again
> and made an inquiry last night. It turns out that all of the host
> company's 14 servers and several routers were hacked last November.
> Restoration attempts seem to have annoyed the hackers and their servers
> have been under constant attack since then, to the point where the owners
> were even considering shutting down the business.
>
> I will be happy to try to answer questions you may have regarding VTR -
> off list. Please be patient - VTR is staffed by volunteers, and some
> things take time to resolve while we tend to more important things like
> our families, jobs, etc.
>
> Tim Buja - Rockford, Illinois, USA - 80 TR8, 73 Stag, 72 TR6
> VTR Event Coordinator

 

[StagByTriumph]

PaaLEASE!

If I may, In My Not So Humble Opinion: I pay an annual membership fee to support VTR, plus volunteer, plus run my own business, plus run a rather successful club and manage to keep up with my family on occasion. So sorry, the family and jobs argument does not completely wash with me because I was IN that VTR position once. I well know about the demands. Flatly, if you volunteer, make the time to do the job, not just be a place holder. Otherwise if you can not take the time to do the job, don't volunteer! I would rather bring on a willing volunteer who will learn the position and take the time, than try to get work out of a volunteer who is a place holder.
Once a club gets to the point it is at a critical mass supporting its members, it must support the members or the club will wither. There are over 3500 members in the VTR, that is a vast base to draw volunteers who are dedicated, provided of course the officers and board do not alienate the volunteers.

So if the VTR membership that uses the Web site complain loudly and regularly enough to the club officers and board of directors, stating how much you use the VTR Web site and services there, maybe this once great web site will be restored and then maintained properly.

Want to complain, offer comments or suggestions, or support and volunteer?
Write them!! OFTEN!!

Vernon Brannon, VTR President
vbbrannon@hlmdesign.com
Andy Mace, VP Member Services
herald948@aol.com
Bill Sohl, Director at Large
billsohl@mindspring.com
Tim Buja, Events Coordinator
tkbuja@insightbb.com

I won't guarantee you will get a response, but at least send the note.