80s MX website

[Graeme M]

OK, I officially give up on this one. A few months ago I got really keen on trying to push the Pre 90 thing. Magoo was (and probably still is) keen, Firko reckoned it was Bad. I still think there is a place for it.

After thinking about it tho, I decided that Pre 90 as a race class was unlikely for a while yet (VIPER notwithstanding), but a website to start celebrating it wasn't such a bad idea. The more I thought about it, the more I got this feeling that the whole of the 80s was more what I was driving at. The 70s had a distinct vibe, and so did the 80s.

The steady evolution from twin shock bikes through to the truly modern MXer. The 80s also embraced some great riders/races, especially with Leisky in Europe and the stuff in the US at that time. And all those great big bore bikes like KX500s and CR500s etc.

So, I created a site and registered a domain name. I installed Joomla and started to build it. But sadly, I couldn't for the life of me figure Joomla out. I just don't get a lot of this web stuff. I asked Gezza to have a go seeing as he likes the 80s stuff more than anything else, and he too gave up on it.

So... Here's the offer. if there is anyone who wants to run the site, it's all yours. I will provide the space, pay the site hosting and so on. You just have to figure out Joomla and maintain it. I am happy to talk it through, and if you do take it up and it gets too big for my server, you are welcome to take it elsewhere and take the domain name with it.

If no-one is interested, well... it'll just sit there I guess.

You can go check it out right now. Just remember, it's not functional so don't try to register or login. And I don't think any of the pages work either.

http://www.80sMX.com

PM if you are interested. Or have a lively debate right here.

[Mark Austin]

Joomla is not really that hard if you persist with it...
And there is always help from some coders all over the world for not a lot of money - www.rentacoder.com
If anyone is interested in running with it, I can help them get it set up, but I don't have time to manage it.
Any takers?
Cheers,
Mark

[Graeme M]

I know you got it sorted pretty well Mark. And so did Alan in WA, who rubbed it in with something like "oh yes and my wife picked it up one night after dinner while she was watching TV". But it's just too computery for me. I like things that are really simple and obvious (maybe why I like with vintage MX?) and Joomla just makes my head hurt. But to be honest I just don't have the time to either persevere, or to maintain another site.

So, anyone who's up for it, Mark did a great job of Joomla for the Red Devil site and could probably get you up and running with 80s MX too.

[firko]

A slight correction Graeme. I don't think pre 90 is bad. I just think that it's a few years premature. Surely I'm not the only person that can see that the current structure hasn't even reached half of its potential yet? I thought this pre 90 dream was dead in the water.
Sorry to hijack the thread.

[Graeme M]

It's not dead in the water, just listing a bit

I do take your point though. The site wasn't meant to promote racing or anything so serious, it was aimed at being a bit of an archive I guess with photos, articles, a forum and so on for anyone keen on the whole 80s MX thing. I reckon it's an idea whose time has come, just look at Retro night at the US SX recently.

If I had the time I would still go ahead with it, but all that scanning and so on would be just too much work I think.

Anyways, given it hasn't actually sunk it'll still be there in a few years when the time does come.

[Gerard De Ruyter (Twistandshout)]

hey - i'll do the website soon ok.  just don't work to the same 'tight' timelines that you do (god, suppose you expect the kids to have made their beds before they get out of them of a morning too....).  some of us dance to the beat of a very different drum than you....one that's barely beating in fact....now where's that remote control and me sambucca....

[geraldo]

sorry can't offer any expertise or time but will be a regular viewer when its up . I think the 80's is the most interesting & exciting decade in MX history bikes went from twin shocked, air cooled , drum braked dinosaurs thru a bewildering bunch of changes & then into a silohette that we all recognise today.good luck , wish I could help