Can somebody please explain why the Registry is so unintuitive? You can no longer look up your car - any car - by the last 4 digits of the VIN. Somebody made the decision to use the "production number" which is off the last 4 vin digits by 10 - who does this stuff? Who thought that would make sense?

 

I've asked that question several times and it still astounds me that it's done that way. Annoying enough that I never go to it any longer. I couldn't even find my car on there and neither can anyone else that asks me about it.

 

Throw something in the subject line about wide Cup IIs and Jarrod should post right up....I think he's an officer now, but I could be a few years out on that. #OC fedup.

 

I believe changes have been made to allow registered users to search by VIN using the site's VIN Decoder tool. Previously, the decoder was reserved for club members only. If you want to look up a specific car by VIN:

1. Either register with the site (free) or join the club ($29.28/yr)
2. Login
3. Go to the Resources tab > VIN Decoder
4. Enter the VIN and allow it to pull up the specifics about the car
5. Click "See Registry Entry" (assuming the car is in the database)

If the car isn't in the database, it will return the option to enter it. To date, we have nearly 3100 cars entered, most of which are US but we do have a fair number of ROW cars.

I'll ping Bill Van Vlack and Derrick Bass, both of whom handled the site architecture and migration of the old Registry to the current site. Perhaps one of them can explain the reasoning behind sorting by production order. I know it was the subject of considerable debate, even at the board level, but that predates my involvement. As such, one of them can better explain.

If anyone has issues using the site, please let me know. If I can't answer your query, I'll get someone who can. Thanks!

 

Agree it is unintuative.

 

We'll change the headings to make it more clear on how to search by VIN.

We welcome other suggestions as well and will do our best to incorporate them within the limits of our website and database software. If end users don't speak up, publicly or privately, we remain unaware of the issues. Those of us who use it everyday are familiar with it and can easily navigate the site, but we certainly understand that may not be the case for everyone else.

If anyone here has significant database management experience, particularly with Cobalt and Fabrik, we would welcome additional volunteers. Presently, we have two and they have lives outside of the Registry. Just getting to what we have now, which is a big improvement over the original OC site and 928 Registry, was a significant undertaking.

 

I sat down one night intent on adding 6 cars. Ended up walking away. Membership requirement will unfortunately guarantee that the registry wont grow. Such a basic concept, guys. Jeez.

 

I just joined and will add both my Aussie delivered 1986 S's.

 

At an Owners Club discussion three years ago, it was felt that owners' privacy could be protected from BOTs/Scammers/Scrapers connecting VINs to owners if the VIN numbers were only available to folks registered on the website; production numbers were used instead.

To enter a car in the Registry you just need to register on the website; it's not necessary to be an Owners Club member.

 

This assumption should be revisited. The last 4 digits of the vin (which is what the intuitive and historical method was) is no less safe than a production number. I am not worried about privacy when it comes o these things. Anybody who is, should not register their car, post to rennlist or any other forum in the first place. These tools are only as good as they are easy to use. My .02

 

I must say that I am not an 928 Owners Club member. When I was considering to become a member and realized what they had done to the registry, I decided not to become a member. The whole idea of making a "closed information" source seemed so dumb in todays internet world that I just didn't see the point.

I don't mind paying for something, but my patience ends when web searches reveal an info that when I click on it needs registration to see the information. True, the US 928 group is more dynamic, but seeing the execution irked me so much I opted out. Of course, I am not representative of most people... But it's one datum.

Kind off-topic but related: I do support Rennlist because the information is available to all. BUT, I have reservations to the degree that there are so many "links" out to other webservices. I am on an old PPC Mac and see the following connections directly linked to the my access to Rennlist: 33Across, Acxiom, Amazon Associates, Audience Science, BlueKai, DoubleClick, eXelate, Facebook Connec, Google Adsense, Googel Analytics, MediaMath, Meetrics, ScoreCard Research beacon, Simpli.fi, Sonobi, and more... I always ask myself, if I deserve this as a paying member.

 

Here is some history.....

Registry Status a/o 2008

Chuck moves on from the Registry

Registry for sale 2012

Chuck asks for opinions regarding the Registry

The original site was built with software available at the time. That software was no longer available when the OC acquired the Registry so it was necessary to start from the raw data files. Folders of photos, html page code, etc. Many hours were spent bringing it to what it is today. More will be necessary, it sounds like, to satisfy the 928 community. As Jarrod points out, these are volunteer hours. Raise your hand if you have website development, content management system, MySQL database experience, or PHP coding skills.

I'm glad we're getting comments; it will help us make it better.

By the way, if you are using NoScript when you land on the OC website you will not see it asking permission to run javascript code on your machine.

 

There are problems in using other numbering than VIN that might not be immediately obvious. For example US '86 and '86.5. Some 60+ cars were not made. Using running numbering what happens if its found out that gap is not what it is now? Will all 1001+ VIN cars get new numbers every time something new comes up? Just an example which might be ok in current setup but there can be other similar cases. VIN is always unique and never changing code which can be used to sort cars into an order as needed.

 

Greetings all – The 928 Owners Club Registry Committee has taken note of the issues aired in this thread. Bill and Derrick have spent the past week working diligently to address them to the extent possible. To recap/clarify the state of the Registry as of today, Labor Day 2016:

• You do NOT have to register or join the club to view the Registry entries (however, VINs will not be displayed)
• You DO have to register or join the Owners Club to see the VIN for each entry (must be logged in)
• You DO have to register or join the Owners Club to use the VIN Decoder (must be logged in)
• You DO have to register or join the Owners Club to enter a car into the Registry (must be logged in)
• Registration with the site is, as it always has been, FREE
• We’ve heard your cries - VINs are now searchable! Under the Registry tab, go to “Search/Enter/Edit Registry by VIN” (must be a registered user or OC member and must be logged in to use this feature)

The previous lack of ability to search by VIN and the sorting of the Registry by production number appear to be the two biggest issues most of you have had with the site. We believe adding the VIN search tool solves the former and diminishes issues with the latter.

The new VIN search tool is also the new primary method for entering cars in the Registry - just enter the VIN and it will tell you:

• If the car is in the Registry and provide a link to it
• If the car is NOT in the Registry and provide a link to enter it
• If you are the car's owner and the entry is not currently assigned to you, it provides a link to contact the Registry Chair to have this corrected

We're also working on a variation of the VIN search tool to facilitate searching using the last four digits of the VIN - stay tuned!

Without spending considerable time and expense, the Registry will remain sorted by production number for now. We remain open to constructive criticism and feedback on ways to improve the Registry, within the time, talent, and budget constraints of the club. Additionally, as previously noted, volunteers with database management experience, specifically Cobalt/Fabrik/MySQL/PHP coding are welcomed and encouraged (we’ve received none.)

Thanks!

 

Thank you Jarrod, Bill and Derrick