I had been playing with this idea for a long time and was eventually persuaded by the many emails I received about the very same topic.
Soon, the official PFF-CD will be available! This CD will contain every single message from the start of this forum up until now from the TD&Q- and GFC-sections of this forum.
It won't be a simple "browse-through-all-the-messages"-CD since I've build a pretty good search engine making finding messages about any topic a very easy job. The CD will also include every single image posted on this forum thusfar!
I'm not sure about the price yet but rest assured it will not be an expensive CD at all.
I think the CD will be ready in a month or so. If you have any ideas what you would like to have included on this CD, please leave a message here. For instance, I'm thinking of including a links section with links to Fiero-related sites on the internet. This would be free for all of course.
*LOL* - I'm afraid so Patrick! This CD will contain some 70,000-80,000 messages and I really don't feel like going through them all to filter out those that are non-fiero related.
But not to worry - the CD will only have people's screennames and no further information about them (so no profile information).
It's a great idea Cliff! There's a lot of valuable technical information here as well as a lot of humour. Having everything on a CD would sure make it easier to access what we need to find. Put me down for one!
Great Idea. I think a year ago when I joined I am one of the folks that was asking about archives?? Just a thought? How about doing it once a year Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 6, Who said I could count? Or maybe once every 2 years? Anyway its a GREAT Idea, Start a list of buyers and Put the old dog on the top of it.
And as always, something that is never said enough.
And -- on my web site there are a BUNCH of useful links on my links page www.tgowens.com/fiero -- help yourself!! (oh yeah - there is a better picture of my car there too!!)
Outstanding idea once again, Cliff! Put me down for one. Let me know the price and a check will be in the mail. I gotta agree with dog. If it's not too much trouble, a volume each year (or every other) would be neat.
I just checked and the "Fiero found on mars" thread is indeed on the CD.
I was wondering if I should include the Totally O/T section as well on the CD. It has nothing to do with Fieros of course, but there are some funnier than hell threads in there...
Cliff, I have a question. In the thread I've posted a link to above, there's a link in it that no longer works. Is this because the original "Mars" thread has been archived?
Along the same lines, I guess none of the links on the CD that refer to threads on the Fiero forum will work at all (unless we're on-line when we try?).
Wait, I answered that to quickly. Any link to outside the forum (inluding any inserted pictures) will of course only be available when connected to the internet. Local links however, are handled a bit differently. How local links are handled is still subject to changes (I keep changing that). Where it will go is that there will probably be a "smart"-link mode. When online, it will simply link to the real threads on the forum. When offline, it will link to the threads on the CD. Like I said, this isn't sure yet since this is no easy task to implement.
[This message has been edited by Cliff Pennock (edited 08-22-2000).]
Cliff, I think I understand what you're saying about outside and local links. It sounds like you've got (or will have) that part under control. Great!
What about the other question from my previous post regarding archived threads? Are archived threads given a different "address" which then renders an older (local) link to them useless? (I hope you know what I'm talking about.)
Patrick, I see what you mean. I haven't really thought about that one yet. When offline, it isn't really all that hard to change a local link to its archived link (I could check beforehand if the thread is available on the CD and, if not, check if it has been archived by any chance). But when online, that's a totally different story.
