Now Open! The B6 A4 Tech subforum, only for our Active Members.

[Anthony]

The completely overhauled and rethought Tech Subforums are for the hardcore hands-on wrenchers, and will be free of Noobs, Trolls, and Flaming. This section is for the open and insightful discussion of technical talk which may be too advanced for your average Audi owner.

Further details about what it will take to participate in this new forum section can be found within my recent Blog Entries, snippets of which are below.

...Another important factor is maturity and one's ability to be friendly and follow the rules. As you may or may not know, we hand out Official Warnings and Infractions when a member breaks the posted Audizine Rules & Guidelines. These Infraction Points add up and lead to suspensions, or eventually, a permanent ban. A permaban comes at 4 points, but when/if someone receives 2 points then they will be demoted/unavailable to climb the ranks and achieve the extra perks that these new account levels will bring.

These new account permissions will include things like extra PM space, extra Gallery storage, the ability to upload more ads to the Classifieds, and (last but not least) access to special new forums. Restricting access to specific account levels from certain forums should make for more on-topic discussion free from Noobs, Trolls, and Flamefests... MORE

...These changes are set to arrive this Friday the 9th, and will look a little something like this...

New Member: activated account that is less than 30 days new AND with less than 10 posts
• Classified Ads: 0
• PM Space: 50 messages
• Gallery Space: 2 Megs (2,048 kB)

Registered Member: achieved at 30 days AND with at least 10 posts
• Classified Ads: 2
• PM Space: 100 messages
• Gallery Space: 4 Megs (4,096 kB)

Active Member: 90 days AND 30 posts*
• Access to Tech subforums
• Classified Ads: 5
• PM Space: 300 messages
• Gallery Space: 6 Megs (6,144 kB)

Senior Member: 2 years AND 200 posts*
• Classified Ads: 7
• PM Space: 400 messages
• Gallery Space: 8 Megs (8,192 kB)

Veteran Member: 5 years AND 500 posts*
• Access to OG AZ CC forum
• Classified Ads: 10
• PM Space: 500 messages
• Gallery Space: 10 Megs (10,240 kB) MORE

Follow my AZ Blog: http://www.audizine.com/forum/blog.php?u=2!

[a4darkness]

Had a thought here, Anthony.

While I completely understand and agree with the purpose of this section's creation (a more refined area of sorts), I just noticed something. Now maybe I'm misunderstanding the hierarchy here, so bear with me.

The FAQs + DIYs and the Wiki are now part of the Tech Forums which is now inaccessible to New / Registered Members. This might be a mistake. These two areas contain the fundamental knowledge to educate new members on the basics. Here, they can absorb a wealth of knowledge that quickly explains / answers the often repeated (and annoying) questions. Makes for better conversation all around.

Examples:
B6 A4 Ultimate Performance Noob Writeup/FAQ. Read first!
B6 A4 Ultimate Modification Information Thread. A must read!
Official Turbo Comparison
And especially the Wiki.

Myself and many others have posted links to these sections of the site time and again to get new users educated about their A4s.

Example: This has been my rubber-stamp answer of sorts for basic brake related info in which I reference the Wiki (in hopes they'll read all of it, as most don't know it exists).
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...=1#post5075223

Example: New user goes from STI to A4, check the first reply from A4natomical... under this new system, the OP will not be able to access any of these threads.
http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php?355019

Bottom line, the formula is often: noob asks annoying question, someone replies "search!", someone makes a smart-ass comment and another links them to a thread like these.

I don't know if this was an oversight or rather a means to make new members earn the right to access this info. Regardless, limiting access to these sections could be detrimental. Additionally, it does the more seasoned users a disservice in that we can no longer point the new members towards this pertinent info.

Again, I firmly believe the Tech Section is a great addition to the site. However maybe re-exposing and sharing this wealth of knowledge will make for a more holistic community.

That said, I'll shut up now.

[secnd2no1]

Agreed ^x2