An Official CZ Club

[burningsquirrels]

my first impression of CZF was "very nice site, but *** is this yuku crud?" :-\

 

[Zan]

I've taken into account what all of you have said and making a leap like this to a new format is a tough change. I'd leave it up to the guys who run the CZ end of the community to want or not the opportunity to take on this project and maintain a site like this. I've made a concept of what the front page would look like. The rest of the site is mainly designed, but I'd rather keep it a suprise if they choose to go forward to a new place and look. So here goes:

Hope you guys like it.

 

[burningsquirrels]

looks good!!

 

[GZOh]

WOW... Beautiful Job Zan!!! Talk about 'day-and-night'... gotta give another WOW... very impressed!
Everything seems to be pretty organized, relevant and simple! The 'look' is spiffy as hell!
You could be providing a 'state-of-the-art' site for CZers. The information you're providing (news, headlines, archives, etc. is GREAT.. and so neatly organized with no clutter and confusion.
Boy, glad you didn't listen to my advice! If I ever decide to go into the Computer Business and need a web-site designed, YOU'RE GONNA BE THE GUY!
Good Luck!

 

[FEG]

I personally can't stand Yuku, and would be more than happy to see it move to a VB backend (I'd even help do it!). Yuku makes things far to cluttered, and strikes me as being overly complex to administrate.

That is a major part of the problem. Armoredman does most of the "heavy lifting" like registering the new members. Even so, the yuku software is so clunky and difficult to administrate, that it is hard to make any changes. That is, we are all unpaid volunteers with full time jobs and family commitments. Yuku is such a PITA to run on a day-by-day basis, I suspect part of it is the lack of time and energy to make the necessary changes. I know I do well just to keep up with all of the posts (one of my responsibilities is killing spam).

The administrators at CZF are always open to suggestions. If we seem slow to implement them, I have to admit Yuku is part of the problem. We receive a lot of great ideas from folks every month that just can't be implemented with Yuku.

One obvious solution would be to conflate all of the full-size Type B 75/85 series pistol subforums into one forum, and have one forum for the 75 series compacts. This alone would do a lot. IMHO, some models like the RAMI and CZ 100 need their own subforums. The models are distinctive enough to merit their own boards. It would also help keep down the well-meaning misdirection. (For example, "I don't own a CZ 100, but this is what I do with...")

Zan, that looks phenomenal. Please send me a PM here at THR, if you would.

 

[sgphoto]

CZ Forum has served me well the past few years with good people and knowledgeable moderators.

That being said it takes me about one minute to go through the list of forums there and see what's new. On my end I have no problems with the current layout though a consolidation of a few sub-forums might help others.

Other people want a more "designed" front end such as the excellent example presented by Zan.

There's pros and cons both ways. While a great design, it also takes longer to scan for new info and can be somewhat busy to the eye. For others, it may be the design that encourages them to stay.

I myself prefer to cut to the chase as soon as possible to get the meat. Others may prefer the chase and happily lollygag on the front page.

But if your interested in the rimfire .22s by CZ there is the CZ forum on rimfirecentral.com that is the best by far for those particular firearms.

Steve

 

[Zan]

The ease of use and consolidation of the forums, seem to be the major issues you guys keep bringing up. If we as a community made the switch and the forum staff brought over all the necessary material from the CZForums, it would allow the right forum structure to be set up, give many more options to not only the administrators of the website and forum, but the users who post there as well. Posting here at THR is nice for the knowledge and popularity, but knowing vBulletin and phpBB the way I do, most of the good options for users are disabled here at THR and their simply not available on Yuku with it not being a powerful enough board system. vB/phpBB offer personal galleries, more details profiles, a better voting and posting systems and so much more. Almost anything is possible with a system like that.

Let's not just look at the forums either. The content:

- CZ News
- Reviews/Previews of firearms, parts and accessories
- Interviews with leading community members, competition members, CZ officials and guests
- Articles and Opinion on firearms and political ethics
- A complete listing of all the CZ models/MSRP & street price
- Guides how to do just about everything pertaining your CZ firearm
- How-To videos, Team CZ competition coverage videos, Video interviews, Picture gallery, wallpapers, icons, skins and themes, logos..

Anything we'd want or desire and it would probably bring in enough community traffic alone, that it would drive the number of actual CZ owners up in the community, which is what CZ wants. I wonder if this project is something they'd be willing to donate for seeing how it would benefit not just us, the community, but them as the maker? (They could post ads on the site)

 

[GZOh]

Impressive!...

This is what was very helpful and impressive for me (besides the excellent graphics and visuals)... Some of this stuff is real exciting!

Let's not just look at the forums either. The content:
- CZ News
- Reviews/Previews of firearms, parts and accessories
- Interviews with leading community members, competition members, CZ officials and guests
- Articles and Opinion on firearms and political ethics
- A complete listing of all the CZ models/MSRP & street price
- Guides how to do just about everything pertaining your CZ firearm
- How-To videos, Team CZ competition coverage videos, Video interviews, Picture gallery, wallpapers, icons, skins and themes, logos..

Zan... Contact the guys at the CZF, you could have a 'marriage', or at least a 'relationship' in the offing!
Good Luck... Cause all CZers will benefit.

 

[phrozenlikwid]

Zan, good job on that front page! Slick and clean, I like it a lot. Is that Drupal, or Joomla doing the CMS?

I too, like VB, though I haven't much experience with phpBB. Can phpBB provide flexibility, security, and ease of administration comparative to VB? Being as CZF is a volunteer service, comprised of non development type people I think that this would be one of the larger issues.

The content on the front is slick, but I wonder how easy it would be to provide new content? I would pitch in an write articles if needed (and I'm sure many others would too), so maybe it wouldn't be much of a problem?

I think the idea of trying to get CZ UB on board is stellar. Heck, just getting them to chip in a little bit would go a long way, and their presence would be GREAT advertising I think. As good as CZ's stuff is, I find it odd that they don't have more of an advertising presence. CZ people are somewhat scattered, and many (myself included) have to look online for a "community", as there isn't one locally. CZF is the best thing we have, and serves as a great meeting point for like minds. Having everyone together (and pulling in new users as THE GOTO CZ place), would present a very dense area for targeted advertising.

Somebody should make this happen, as I think it could certainly prove to be a worthwhile venture for the owners, and for the community as a whole.

 

[FEG]

In general, most of the CZF volunteers are not technical folks. (I know I'm not.)

Traditionally, CZF has wanted to remain independent of CZ-USA and CZ-UB for reasons of objectivity, independence, etc. I think that attitude is still pretty common in the core membership, but the only way to find out is to ask...

 

[phrozenlikwid]

Traditionally, CZF has wanted to remain independent of CZ-USA and CZ-UB for reasons of objectivity, independence, etc. I think that attitude is still pretty common in the core membership, but the only way to find out is to ask...

This is a good point.

Though commercialization certainly has it's benefits, it can also destroy a forum and has been proven to do so many times over.

I would like to see CZ onboard simply because I think they could use the exposure, and the potential of them "helping out" the site. They could also provide a sense of "official-ness" to it, thereby (hopefully) solidifying and growing the user base.

As you mentioned however, with the commercialization would come rules and slants that might end up degrading the same base. I don't think I'm alone when I say that impartiality is a top criteria when I look for information. Perhaps juggling the business interests of CZ, and the personal interests of the user base would prove to be an impossible task....

Either way, I was just throwing out suggestions and hope the best for the forum, and the community.

 

[GZOh]

The SpinMeisters...

jeremy... You're dead-on! The need for impartial, non-biased, non-commercially influenced information is always critical!!! We live in a world of 'psychological sophistication' and manipulation where the 'Spin-Meisters' Rule!! From politics, to Business, to the Markets... hype, spin and good-ole BS seems to be the standard-of-the-day!! Integrity and honest evaluation are at times a thing of the distant past! The hope is always that there are enough good, honest people out there that can see thru the 'crap' and can say and do what is right. Let's hope a 'modified' CZ Forum could avoid this 'relational problem.'

My observations of CZ as a company (as a consumer and enthusiast) and as someone who has talked with several of their Executives, is that they seem to be an honest-straight forward company, but several years behind in the area of Sales and Marketing (I would love to see what their sales/advertising budget, as % of US Sales, is). I do alot of traveling around the country, always stopping at dealers and ranges when I can, and am totally amazed at the lack of CZ awareness and penetration that exisits. Someone at CZ Sales is gettin a real free ticket!!

Yes, I think a good web site could only help their total presence, image and sales in the marketplace. I like many other CZers hope that some positive changes/modifications can be made to the Forum that will benefit ALL!
Good Luck.

 

[Zan]

Apologies to the gentleman I responded to in PM with the same msg, but I thought this should be posted for all the see so they know my intentions as a designer and the outlook I'd be looking for to fill the shoes of a project like this.

The idea is to remain an independently ran and opinionated, but since there is rarely negative critique of CZ, I wouldn't see why being an affiliate of the CZ company would be an issue as long as they let the community leaders run it the way they see fit.

I think a more in depth and informative discussion about our intentions with CZ is needed to convince them that this project is good for both CZ and the community. I definitely think it would drive more people into the realm of CZ firearms if they could see a community established and backed.

As for the content work. That's a another whole ball of wax in itself. In order to provide the kind of content I was thinking about, there would need to be a staff dedicated to providing consistent and updated information on what's going on in the world of CZ. That means a Public Relations contact with CZ, companies who make parts and accessories for them and professionals involved in the shooting community.(Min. 5 writers, including a chief editor).

I haven't talked with anyone outside that post about it yet. If you'd direct them to the post, our discussion and see what their thoughts are about this project, I'd appreciate it. I'm a good web designer, but I'm know where nearly as knowledgeable as some of you guys about firearms and the CZ end of it specifically.

Here are my keys to making something like this work:

1. The CZ forum leaders need to acknowledge that a major change is needed and this is a good direction for the CZ online community to go.

2. If it is, then CZ, the company, needs to know about it and understand what its about, why we're planning to do it and how we plan to run it. More importantly, if CZ was willing to pitch in, proving we can get the project going, finish it and moderate it effectively to our independent standards. I can finish all the design work up, no problem, but my coders are going to want around $500-600 to complete it. (that's me getting a buddy deal, it would normally be over $1000 easy)

3. There needs to be financial incentive to writers and content contributors in researching, purchasing and providing quality content to the site. If the site is to make money to stay on top of things, it needs to have advertising, which I will provide the means to do. That revenue needs to be impartially and honestly kept to provide for the sites expenses. Also think about ways that members to can get incentives for contributing financially. (VIP Membership) Exclusive content, news letter, discounts, etc.

I'll add more later, but we're talking about going from just a forum of enthusiasts to a full blown "Official CZ Club and Information" site in my eyes. It's an undertaking that frankly, some may not have time to do unless they some benefit for doing so.

Let me know what you think and by all means, get this info to the right folks.

Alex "Zan" Gillis
zandog(at)gmail.com

I hope this clarifies what I intend and what I'd like to see from anyone involved with this. I definitely don't want to change the outlook and independent thought process of the site. I think CZ is smart enough to realize that something like this with so little expense is a smart thing to do without having the community that critiques it, change the way they operate.

 

[Zan]

I just wanted to say thanks to the guys who have msg'd me in response to this thread. I've got nothing but positive feedback from you guys and I hope, along with you guys that everything works out. No response from the main movers and shakers of the CZ online community, but it's only been a day so I expect I'll hear from someone soon. Quite a few views on this thread since my last post, thanks guys.

 

[GZOh]

Great Job...

Zan... you did a great job, made a great presentation and I'm sure, got alot of people thinking!! In reading your "keys to making this work"... it's obvious you've done this before and have good experience in this area. But it's also obvious that alot of things would have to be done/put into place to make YOUR CZ Forum concept work and become a reality.

I personally do not know any of the CZ Forum, as you call them, "movers and shakers" other than from their posts and comments on the forums. I don't know the exact amount of cooperation they get from 'parent' CZ. I have no idea of the finanaces and money involved in opertating and maintaining a site like CZ FORUM. But what I do know is, that these guys are true Gun Enthuisiasts, they love the CZ product and are very committed to working with others of 'the like' to share experiences and the joys of CZ shooting. I know I've asked several of these 'shakers' personal questions from time-to-time, and have got nothing short of friendly, prompt, 'encyclopedic' responses (hell, Walt even gave me Ranges in NC for my son to go shooting in)!!

Also, I'm kinda dead-sure none of these guys are coming from the Bank every Friday afternoon with a BIG smile on their face, nor have they left their day-jobs yet!!! It's a labor of love and few of us understand the work and effort that goes into it! My hope from all of this is that there can, and will be IMPROVEMENT changes to the CZF that ALL of us CZers will use and appreciate.

'Movers and Shakers', thanks for the job you've done 'til now!

BTW: I'm sorta 'semi-computer literate', can someone kindly explain what a 'YUKU' is??

 

[Zan]

Zan... you did a great job, made a great presentation and I'm sure, got alot of people thinking!! In reading your "keys to making this work"... it's obvious you've done this before and have good experience in this area. But it's also obvious that alot of things would have to be done/put into place to make YOUR CZ Forum concept work and become a reality.

I'm just trying to offer a richer format to whats already there. I think it would do nothing but help CZers. I've done sites like this before and I've worked for a news publishing group in the past. The thing would be, if something like this were to happen. Would the guys running the forum now, want to be that involved? Do they have the time to do so? If not, would they trust others to get content on the site? Obviously, not ALOT of work as CZ doesn't update and change daily. But an article a week, news when it breaks, that type of thing would be nice. MY cz forum concept is not changing the forum, just surrounding a few things that help the CZ community out, around it.

I have no idea of the finances and money involved in operating and maintaining a site like CZ FORUM. But what I do know is, that these guys are true Gun Enthusiasts, they love the CZ product and are very committed to working with others of 'the like' to share experiences and the joys of CZ shooting.

The way the forums used to sit before the change made by armoredman today, probably didn't cost much to operate. It's the time spent to operate that costs.

BTW: I'm sorta 'semi-computer literate', can someone kindly explain what a 'YUKU' is??

Yuku is just a free "ad driven" forum system that you can sign up for at www.yuku.com. They also provide premium "ad free" forum services, which obviously CZforum uses.

It's going to be interesting to see how this new forum system works that is to be implemented today. I hope it's vB or phpBB driven and offers a better solution to the CZ community. I'm wondering if this thread expedited the independent change to this new forum because I haven't heard to armoredman or anyone else running the CZforum except his wife, who I think was misunderstood about the thread posted here on THR. I'd hate to interfere with what armoredman is trying to do., instead work with him on making things better.

 

[armoredman]

Well, now, isn't this interesting. Very nice webpage pictured. Looks like the Guns and Ammo home page.
Zan, CZF was designed and created several years ago buy a gentleman who posts here as CZF. I took over last year. That board has always been run by and for CZ enthusiasts. This same gentleman has been running CZshooters for some time, as well.
The YUKU thing was not our idea - EZ Board was picked up by them. EZ Board was very easy to use and run.

If you want to float your own page, by all means, good luck. As for CZ-USA, they have a link to us from thier website. I speak to thier sales and technical people quite often, and we have done quite a bit of reaching the web based community with advertisements and information since inception. I think a few people here may have seen a pic or two I have done over time.

Perhaps the product you offer is what they would like, I certainly don't work for the company, and cannot speak for them in any way.
Changes are underway at CZF, to streamline and improve our forum, and based on the number of new members we recieve every day, we must be doing something right. We are strictly donation based, as well, for those who can, and it is definately not a requirement for membership in any way, same as here. Keeping it simple keeps it inexpensive, and on my state salary, that's important.
I appreciate the support shown to CZF on this thread, thank you all very much, we try to remain the best niche in the Internet for all things CZ.
Best of luck, Zan.

Edited to add - we may not be pros, but we are very fond of CZ products...in case you missed my wife's new tattoo...

 

[Zan]

Well, now, isn't this interesting. Very nice webpage pictured. Looks like the Guns and Ammo home page.

Thanks. I made the dsign with news and community in mind. I was hoping you’d like it and want to use it. After all, I made it for you and the CZ community.

Zan, CZF was designed and created several years ago buy a gentleman who posts here as CZF. I took over last year. That board has always been run by and for CZ enthusiasts. This same gentleman has been running CZshooters for some time, as well.

Yeah, that’s what was said by some of the CZ guys. I remember CZF, he helped me with questions I had about my P-01.

If you want to float your own page, by all means, good luck.

Actually, I don’t want to run my own site at all. I’d like to see you do it with the help of people you trust that are knowledgeable about CZ and its online community. I’d love to help out doing the graphics for the site though.

As for CZ-USA, they have a link to us from their website. I speak to their sales and technical people quite often, and we have done quite a bit of reaching the web based community with advertisements and information since inception. I think a few people here may have seen a pic or two I have done over time.

This is great! If you have good contact and repore with CZ-USA, maybe they’d be willing to help you get a project like this done if you’d be willing to make that step.

Perhaps the product you offer is what they would like, I certainly don't work for the company, and cannot speak for them in any way.

This isn’t a product because it’s not for sale. It’s for free. Made for you guys and I don’t expect compensation. I don’t expect CZ to be financially vested into a community website like this. The site needs to and should remain independent, as covered throughout this thread.

Changes are underway at CZF, to streamline and improve our forum, and based on the number of new members we recieve every day, we must be doing something right. We are strictly donation based, as well, for those who can, and it is definately not a requirement for membership in any way, same as here. Keeping it simple keeps it inexpensive, and on my state salary, that's important.

These changes are exactly what people were hoping for and I’m glad to see you taking the time out to get them done. The site should always remain donation based and no one should profit financially from it unless they are providing a service which cannot be offered for free. I agree. Offering more to the CZ online community is the only thing this project was aiming at.

I appreciate the support shown to CZF on this thread, thank you all very much, we try to remain the best niche in the Internet for all things CZ.
Best of luck, Zan.

There is no luck involved as I don’t intend to open a site without you having direct influence on how it’s ran and what direction it goes. I hope you read this entire thread because I’m not doing this to give the CZ online community another CZ site to go to. I’m doing to give it more than just a solid community forum. If you haven’t, please do read the entire thread and let me know if you continue to have the same view because it sounds like you’re not interested.

My objective is simple.

Offer my skills to provide to a community that clearly deserves the contribution with nothing in return but to keep a good thing going.

She’s got a sweet tattoo.

 

[Mrs. Armoredman]

ZAN, thank you for the kind words on my tattoo. I was not sure what your intentions were.Now that you made them clear I understand where your comming from. We are trying to make the CZF better and easier for people to join and post. Yuku is a pain in the backside. I hope you come over and check it out when you want too.

 

[armoredman]

Thank you for clarifying, Zan. We just now got the new CZF up and running, will be revising and condensing some forums later. The look is very similar, deliberately so, to the original CZF.

 

[Zan]

New forum is posted guys. Give some feedback!

http://www.czforumsite.info/

 

[tekarra]

Help,
Trying to log in to cz forum but cannot get in. Old password is deactivated, did not receive activation notice and when I request new activation code, I am told my account is already activated! What to do?

 

[eerw]

go to new site
use your log in and click the lost password button.

 

[bluetopper]

Would I be wrong in stating the best and best looking CZ guns are the Dan Wesson 1911's?
They have a good active forum on 1911forum.com.

 

[Rmac58]

parisite, opinions are never wrong.

I just bookmarked the new site.