Very much LOST

tomatoman

tomatoman

Member
To be honest, after coming to this site and spending some time looking around I feel like someone with a Grade 2 education that just stumbled into a MENSA meeting.

At age 67, I'm no stranger to computers, the internet or on-line forums. However, as someone who would now like to start up a forum of his own, I have a ton of questions. I have no experience in running a forum other than acting as a Mod on one site. Therefore, all of the terminology used on this site is akin to trying to decipher a long, dead language. This is not to say that I am incapable of learning but I don't know where to begin.

I'd like to purchase the current version of the software with a view to putting my site together but I'm wondering just how steep the learning curve will be. In addition, I realize that buying the XF BETA version is simply a single step in the process of ending up on-line with my project. It would be nice if I had a much clearer understanding as to what the first step would be and then the steps that must follow to ultimately reach my goal. Of course, there is also the issue of initial costs as well as ongoing costs and once again, I have no clue about those either.Disclosure on that aspect would be most welcome too.

Perhaps I am asking a lot. I don't know. However, if I don't ask..... I'll never know...... so here I am.......looking for all the assistance that forum members and XF staff are willing to provide. I thank you for your anticipated assistance.
 
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It's really up to you as to which domain extensions you think are worth buying in addition to your main one.
It largely depends on the target audience and whether you think it's worthwhile having .eu, .org, etc.
Personally I just have .com and .co.uk.

Having the domains redirected to your primary domain doesn't cost but you will have to pay an annual fee for each domain. The fee varies depending on the extension, host, package, etc.
See here for the extensions and some pricing to get an idea: http://www.whois.com/
 
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Edrondol said:
As long as you specify something like "Tractor-fans.com" or stuff like that you'll be fine. Such as your daughter could have had "FordFans.com" and probably been fine.
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I would try to avoid hyphens. Before registering a domain, ask yourself "is it easily spelled through telephone?".

I personally prefer to register two .coms than a .com and a .net for the same site, anyway it may be interesting depending on your project. For example, you can use the .net to run a network (irc) and the .com to offer services.

Be also careful to put your domain name in provider's whois service since some of them will catch your query. I personally recommend internic.com if you don't run GNU/Linux or UNIX (to run whois command in the shell).
 
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Puntocom said:
Be also careful to put your domain name in provider's whois service since some of them will catch your query. I personally recommend internic.com if you don't run GNU/Linux or UNIX (to run whois command in the shell).
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Okay, if that sounds like Greek to me, and I've been doing this for over seven years, I can only imagine what tomatoman must be thinking about now. He's probably giving it the RCA dog look.I know I am, lol.
 
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tomatoman said:
I guess that I should open up and provide some key info in order to obtain the very best advice. I collect, restore and discuss garden tractors. It's a hobby and it keeps me from being a Walmart Greeter. As such, my future forum will focus on one particular brand of garden tractors. As you know, there are various types of suffixes used. I am not an organization nor am I a COMmercial business. However, I'm not sure whether search engines make any preferential distinctions that would affect my site. In other words, I want to do what I can to make it easy for people to find me. So, what suffix should I choose?

I think I'll stop here and deal with other questions after.
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Like the rest have suggested, I'd go with a dot com. As to the name, while avoiding hyphens are best, you don't have to, it's just easier for people to remember your URL if you do.

Now, as to the name itself, while you do have to avoid using trademarked names, you can hunt for a name using part of a trademarked name. If you need help, we can help or there is a web site that will help make suggestions. I use it just to see what it comes up with but never use it for anything else http://www.nameboy.com/ altho they offer other services. I ignore those and just use it as a method to generate ideas. For example, if the garden tractor in question is a John Deere, then try using the word Deere in the name and see what it generates.
 
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Elizabeth said:
Okay, if that sounds like Greek to me, and I've been doing this for over seven years, I can only imagine what tomatoman must be thinking about now. He's probably giving it the RCA dog look.I know I am, lol.
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shell.webp

Much safer IMO, I don't trust the web forms. I have heard some cases of looking for a domain and get it registered the next day if the domain is good enough.

I also don't trust to enter my email & namecheap (great service!) passwords in propietary operating systems since I don't have the possibility to know what is running in them. Ubuntu is very easy to use.
 
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DaKat said:
No love for the lawn tractors? :(
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Down, Rover! :D

While the focus will be the more popular garden tractors, there is also room for the very few who happen to own a lawn tractor made by this company. :) This is all about making the site easy to find for the largest number of people and not about excluding the minority. ;)
 
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It feels like I have wandered into quicksand here when it comes to the domain name thing but I can't expect you to try and operate in a vacuum. So ......in order to get the best out of the collective minds here, I see that it is important for me to lay it all on the table.

The problem is rather complex and you need to understand the history behind this or your suggestions won't be as helpful as I need them to be. So here's the shortest version that I can give you. Sorry..

In 1962, Colt Manufacturing was born and began making a unique line of garden tractors that was quickly bought up by the well-known J. I. Case Corp in 1964 who began releasing garden tractors under the Colt brand and the Case brand. In 1966, the Colt brand ended but the Case brand continued until late 1983 when the line was sold again and re-branded as Ingersoll. It was sold again to a German consortium that retained the Ingersoll name and then drove the company into Chapter 11 where it got picked up by another company who is still manufacturing the tractors under the Ingersoll name today.

Therefore, all of the discussion groups out there in cyber-land, incorporate the three brand names into their domain names or sub-groups in order to provide a landing strip for owners who are circling around and looking for a friendly place that speaks their language.

It is essential to include the terms "garden tractor" in the domain name as well as the three brand names if I am going to be found by search engines because 90 percent of the machines sold by these companies were garden tractors, not lawn tractors. Now, I haven't done any name searches so far because I feel that it's much smarter for me to come here first, tell you guys what I'm trying to accomplish and then draw on your collective experience and advice.
 
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HomeMadeTractors.com :D

tomatoman: although you don't include the brand into the domain name, if you talk about that brand you will attract people searching about it since XenForo does extremely well in Google search results ;)

I would prefer to be sure to avoid future trademarks problems to sleep well.
 
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A domain name with all 3 comapany names and the words "garden tractor" is going to make for a very unwieldy URL.

To be honest, the person best placed to choose the domain name is you as you will know this niche market better than anyone else here.
 
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Domain names should be as simple as possible. Overly complex names will drive people away or prevent them from finding your site. It's the CONTENT that will bring people in through Google searches, etc. So you don't need to - and shouldn't - feel that you need to put the brands into the domain name.
 
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Adwords are good because if you get traffic you can make a few bucks from advertising. Every little bit helps.

And Google Adsense & stuff like that are free. You pay nothing. So the price is right.
 
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tomatoman said:
As for the rest of the advice, it is being heard loud and clear. Thank you very much. Back to the drawing board, as they say. I am so glad that I landed here right from the start.
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Suggestion: ccigardentractors.com I realize that initials aren't always wise but your market will know what the cci stands for and gardentractors was taken. Adding the names was way too long. Also, you can add the long names in your meta tags (that is what search engines look for when the read pages)
 
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