In October of 2004, Spike thought it would be neat to move the VAF from Yahoo! Groups to more web-enabled forums. He suggested it, but the owner(s) of the forums did not like the idea. He made an offhanded comment to me about having his own forums. So I made it happen. I bought the domain name, provisioned a server, installed the software, configured the forums and made up the cute little airplane icons that you see next to each forum name. And so rivetbangers.com went live at approximately 10:30pm on October 14, 2004. We never expected it to get even this big. It was a personal website.
captain_john wrote:Naw, nobody wants ads.
We need to make it easy for people to join. It seems like the only new members we get are the ones that want to sell Viagra and male enhancement products. I am all set in that department!
Unlike some other sites, Spike and I aren't trying to lure millions of visitors. This site is a nice friendly place where people can talk RV. Questions get answered. Information gets shared. Friendships are developed. We're meeting our original goals.
captain john wrote:
I mentioned it about a year ago, but a link on the homepage should be "how to join"! On it, there should be information like, what this place is like, what it is for, what you get for joining and reasons to sign up.
Rivetbangers.com isn't a club. It's a website. The front page says the following about who we are and "what this place is like":
rivetbangers.com front page wrote:Rivetbangers.com is a privately owned and supported site that is focused on promoting and supporting the community of RV aircraft builders. Through the use of document shares, resource listings, and its integrated forum, gallery, & email software, Rivetbangers enables users from various countries to share their experience and knowledge of arguably the best selling kit aircraft of all time, those marketed by Vans Aircraft. Welcome!
The "Forums" link comes to the front of the forums where people will find a "Register" link if they want to post. Otherwise they can read anonymously. Our hit counter will testify to the fact that we have a lot of people who just like to read.
The "List Serv" link goes to a page that instructs you on what a listserv is and how to sign up.
The "Email Digests" link goes to a page that instructs you on what the Email Digest is and how to sign up.
The "Document Share" link goes to a page with lots and lots of links to documents that you will find handy as you are building. No registration required there.
The "Builders Resources" link goes to a page with hundreds (thousands?) of links to personal blogs, kit manufactorers, part retailers and everything else you can imagine. No registration required there.
captain john wrote:
THAT would be a great first step!
CJ
First step to what? This site takes a lot of $$ out of our pockets and time off of our hands. It's not a business; it's a hobby. Rivetbangers.com is doesnt need thousands of users or a constant growth curve. It's not a commerical enterprise. It's John and I sharing our passion for flying and building with the world. The problem is that the site is starting to cause Spike and I some pain.
Our users want new features. Our users want us to grow. Because Spike is terribly busy with his job right now he doesn't have the time to add every new feature that every one wants. That tells me that the site has grown to the maximum that we can handle. This isn't a full-time job for either of us. We each commute a minimum of 2 hours every day. We have families. We have a church. John is involved in his EAA chapter. Our weekends are spent working on the house and doing chores.
We love you all dearly, but we (read Spike and I) are not in a position to be able to handle growth right now. Give us some time to get things sorted out. Spike's job should get a little less hecktic once the holidays roll around. We'll have a lot of the house renovation work done then too. We'll get to work on your feature requests then. We might consider some site growth too; who knows. If I have my way, we may even consider turning rivetbangers.com from an RV-specific builder's site into a site for all builders.
So what's the bottom line? Please, be patient with us. We're trying. But we've been overcome by life at the moment. We would like to see some manageable growth, and we'd love to give you all the new features you want. I promise, we're not ignoring any of you. But life happens. Give us some time. Please?
CJ
CJ
JW. This is a great place to be!!! 
Rivetbangers is NOT that way from what I have seen so far. Thanks for taking the time and resources to make it happen.