Jaguarforums.com – the story so far……..

Most of what is written here is from memory, along with a little research to help clarify things along the way. I will try to acknowledge certain members, moderators and techs as we go, but please accept my apologies is anyone is missed, its unintentional I assure you.

Jaguarforums.com was founded in March 2005 by Patrick of AutoForums Universe and had a handful of members which slowly grew to over a hundred in the next 18 months.

Members at this time included - Racerx82 / O4Xtype / Humy / Dennis Black / Supralative / BuckMR2 / Michaelnv / RudyF6 / Iron Cobra amongst others and these guys kept things going. I myself joined in November 2006 after buying an X type 2.5 V6 Sport and was looking for help, my userid is 107 so that tells you how many members we had at that point!

I quickly got into forum life and more members added every other day, so the site slowly grew. Around 6 months in there was starting to become a need for moderation as we had none at that point. Patrick as Admin had many other sites and duties to attend to so was an infrequent visitor, I was appointed as moderator.

About a year later we had progressed further and Aquill & Bigdreams were added as mods as was Cadillac ( later name change to RegentV12 )
It quickly started to become apparent that to get the best for the forum we needed an Admin who was on site on almost a daily basis, to troubleshoot as quickly as possible and resolve any issues, I was appointed and we moved forward.

Along the way we’ve been so lucky to see some great additions to the site with the likes of Gus / Test Point / FactoryJaguarTech / Brutal / Dennis / Avos / Thermo / Translator / H20boy / Joycesjag / Doug / Seismicguy /JagV8 / K Westra / Bfsgross and many many more……

Mods changed and Supermods were added with Translator becoming Supermod along with RegentV12 and H20boy and more recently Norri / GGG / Plums / Joycesjag and Steveinfrance

It’s at this point and moving forward I’d like to state for the record, we have simply too many members with high post counts, some with less that have posted too many wonderful how to fixes, with pictorial posts and or video posts.
We have been blessed with so many wonderful techs along the way, some have unfortunately come and gone and some are still here, helping out for free. We have and have had so many great moderators / Super moderators who have given of their time freely, for the love of the marque and for this site.

Too many to say thank you individually, but whether mentioned here or not, you know who you are and I thank you for your valued participation.

IB (Internet Brands) has taken over ownership of the site and over the recent years, as we have grown, have begun to work more closely with us.
They have over 100 forums of which we are one and have 204M monthly page views with a little under 26M monthly visitors, quite impressive!
As of July we had a little under 1.2M page views and climbing....

Here at Jaguar forums, we quite early on identified the need for camaraderie amongst the members. We the Mod team, have looked at other sites and seen instances of over moderating or worse still heavy handed mods which just isn’t acceptable.
In some cases either little or no moderation at all.

We decided to ensure we were / are a friendly and welcoming site with little tolerance for forum bullies or RTFM responses. We are all here of our own free will to participate and help to the best of our ability. Its true to say that we have been complimented many times on the way the site is run, this down to the self policing members as much as the mods in some ways.
Although we can’t and don’t please every member and are far from perfect, we continually strive to be better.
Unlike some forums we listen to the member base and take the views seriously, sometimes this results in changes / upgrades or additions to the site, sometimes it doesn’t, but we do listen.

For some time it had been apparent that there was a need to regroup some of the larger files that could not be directly uploaded to the Forum HOW TO sections and so in October 2010 a Mediafire account was created in order to make these files accessible from one place.
With the help and support of forum members this has now grown to contain around 1000 Technical Files and is nudging the 100,000 download mark.
Many hours of work have been put into this by Translator with assistance from both mods and members here, the resulsts are simply outstanding.

Recent changes have been made to the regional section with the appointment of Regional Coordinators, these tasked with the responsibility of making things happen within their region.

We've been contacted by several companies over the last few weeks that are considering becoming sponsors of the site also, adding to the vendor base available for the member.

With the help of IB, some generous techs and excellent forum sponsors, outstanding members and moderators who have done so much for this site, we currently have around 16 thousand full access and registered members, which is constantly growing on a daily basis.

Jaguar does monitor this forum quite closely along with others and rest assured do take note of the content.

It’s been my pleasure to be here for nearly 6 years and I enjoy my time here and hope you do too.

Special thanks go to …….
Mod Team, past and present – Aquill / Bigdreams / RegentV12 / Thermo / Gus / JagV8 / Joycesjag / JoSworth / Plums / Norri / H20boy / Translator / GGG and Steveinfrance

Tech team, past and present – Brutal / FactoryJaguarTech / Jag_genius / Jagtechohio / Real_Tech / Teck4Jag / Motorcarman / JustV12 / XJRguy / BlackX300VDP

How to contributor – Reverend Sam / Vance580 / Joycesjag / H20boy / Translator / Dennis Black / Jose / Gus / Androulakis / JimLombardi / Frog / WhiteSTR / WhiteXKR / JFenley / 310jag /


Update 02/11/2012

Around August / September after discussions with various members about donating to the site and its members, Steve ( WhiteXKR ) shows his generosity by donating 3 wonderful products as FREE prizes.

These consist of the following...

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-17/free-prize-xk8-xkr-realgauge-coolant-gauge-upgrade-kit-oil-pressure-option-winner-79918/?highlight=free

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xj-x308-xj8-xjr-27/free-prize-xj-x308-realgauge-coolant-gauge-upgrade-kit-81146/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk8-xkr-17/free-prize-xk8-xkr-convertible-remote-top-controller-module-82592/

They generate a lot of interest on the site, with many new members joining to participate and enter. There's a buzz around the place and lots going on.
Kudos to Steve for his generosity which is greatly appreciated by all

This now seems to catch on and negotiations with member Gonzo ( Tbirddmnd ) bring up some other excellent FREE prizes, this time available to X type, S type, XJS, XJ and XK8/XKR owners....

see details below....

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x-type-14/%2A%2A-free-prize-x-type-bonnet-hood-liner-competition-%2A%2A-83449/

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s-type-s-type-r-supercharged-v8-15/%2A%2A%2Afree-customised-bonnet-hood-liner-s-type-%2A%2A%2A-83898/

Both of the above are still current at time of writing, with the X type just about to close and the S type just started.
The rest will follow shortly and no doubt be well subscribed with members looking for really cool FREE products to enhance their rides. Thank you Gonzo

Member numbers are climbing on a daily basis, with many new UK members joining and the forum is a busy place to be.

RegentV12 ( Caddie ) steps down from mod status at this time as his participation dwindles. Caddie as we all know him is a loveable and long time member and one who we hope will still be around from time to time.

Translator as Supermod continues with his content on the Mediafire account and figures easily exceed 100,000+ and continue to grow daily.

Norri, GGG, Joycejag, Steveinfrance & Plums are remaining moderators

Onwards and into 2013 and the site continues to grow, with new members adding daily, the recent forum promotions were really well received and a hot topic for discussions.
New section set up for the F type coming soon, and already there is a buzz of excitement waiting for its arrival.

UPDATE 23.04.13

Recent FREE promotions made possible by members Joe Cee ( X & S type headlight adjusters ) and also $50 gift voucher by David Boger of EverydayXJ are complete and a success.

Many thanks to the members above who donated very generously.

Just coming live are more FREE promotions made possible by BagpipingAndy with his excellent compressor repair kit, and WhiteXKR again offering his RealGauge coolant upgrade for XK8/XKR models.....Outstanding!!

Member numbers continue to grow daily with more & more UK members coming onboard, which is fantastic to see.....The site seems to get more International by the day!

I've been advised by IB that we now hit around the 1.3M page views per month, so we're constantly growing and expanding, making the site better than ever.



Update 23.09.2013

Recently changes made to the mod team with the inclusion of Cambo351 and Sklimii, ready to move forward again.

We've also added some new Regional Coordinators for the various sections and meet events are springing up everywhere. This has been helped by the donation of a Jaguarforums banner from IB now available for these events. There are also at the time of writing forum decals on offer for members who attend.

BagpipingAndy and Caldoofy have both been kind enough to donate their products for yet more FREE prize promotions for the members, always very popular.

New forum vendors added in the form of Jagbits and CarId too!

Lastly we have reorganised the forum with a reshuffle, the sections being more clearly marked & the less popular sections moved to the foot of the page. The classifieds have also undergone a major transformation with thumbnails and Icons added.


Update 23.01.2014

So more changes and updates to add for the record.
SteveinFrance has left as a mod, Steve was a good moderator and helped on the site but life gets in the way and we move on, thanks Steve.


The mediafire account / Large files download thread in the General Tech helps section continues to go from strength to strength with....
Currently 177,340 downloads. 1009 files, 1.88TB served.

In brief more recently, we have 2 new great vendors added to the forum in the guise of Pinnacle Wax and SNG Barratt.
Both of whom have been very active on the site, helping members, offering advice, member discounts AND some great FREE prize offerings to boot.

There's a good chance that Mina Gallery and Britshparts may also come onboard shortly, so watch this space.

All good at JF

Update 10.10.2014
Pinnacle and SNG Barratt remain extremely active onsite, offering great forum member discounts and FREE giveaway promotions.
Steve ( WhiteXKR) also offers up more FREE promotions of his famous Realgauge and Remote top controller.

New Regional Coordinators added for most every region, meets taking place AND a forum banner specifically for the UK and another for Australia /NZ!

New vendors added in the form of Mina Gallery, Lockwood Int, Britishrecyclers and Velcoity Automotive Performance.
DonB has been added as a forum moderator.

All good with numbers for new posts, new threads, new registrations and activity levels all up.

Jim

 

updated 17.01.13

 

Hey, just now saw this thread. I liked reading destails of our history and how the forum has really grown over the last few years. We've got very generous owners who provide us most of the really cool upgrades and features that are requested by members and mods...a kind gesture considering our relative size to their other forums.

Did I miss something Jim, I didn't actually see any 'updated content' for 1/17/2013, at least not specifically noted in the post.

 

UPDATED 23.04.13

Hey Matt, thanks for the post.

No, you didn't miss much at all buddy, just added a few lines is all and added "updated" so that newbies etc are aware of its existence.

Some may find it interesting to see where we've came from to where we are now.

 

updated 10.10.2014

 

figured to awake this thread!


"WHAT A LONG STRANGE JOURNEY IT HAS BEEN"

has been very helpful to me, i wished it was around back 1993/1996, when rebuilding my XJS!

course i didnt even have a computer then.

THANKS again

 

As a new member I am interested in finding out about the genesis and evolution of the forum. This thread has a lot of the information that I was looking for but has gone quiet for almost three years.
Thank you for posting JimC64, it is an excellent summary and well worth the read..

If you are still an active participant JimC64, is there any chance that you could do further updates to bring us up to date in 2019 ?
Failing that, are there any other knowledgeable moderators, techs or long-term members that would care to continue the updates ?

Finally, I would like to commend and thank all the site volunteers for their hard work and efforts. It may be a labour of love, but it still takes a lot of time and commitment from them to keep the site running smoothly and being such a great forum.

Thanks