2006 .. here we come!

[jamz]

GM Performance Tuning
December 23, 2005
For immediate release

To all loyal GMPT.net members:

First of all, I want to say thanks. Thanks to all the members of GM Performance Tuning who have made the site what it is today. Thanks to everyone who was with me in the early days, about six years ago, with Grand AM Power in late 1999 and early 2000. You know who you are and what you have done. I can’t thank you enough, especially Josh Combs, who has been with me for about 5 years now, and continues to help GMPT grow, develop, and just run day-to-day operations.

On April 27, 2001, Grand AM Power turned into GMPOWER.net, a website for all GM drivers. It was a great idea and a true passion of mine. I wanted to develop a remarkable site for auto enthusiasts. The incredible stories of dot-coms exploding and all the ideas turning into millions of dollars brainwashed me. I wasn’t as smart as I am today with internet business and really didn’t have any solid productions under my feet. As a result, bad decisions were made when I decided to partner with someone on GMPOWER, handing over a huge percentage of ownership. Things turned for the worse and I ended up releasing that site and handing over all contents to them. However, I missed my friends, and GM drivers I came to know.

Thinking I would just walk away and move on was silly. I couldn’t, so GMPT.net was officially founded on February 1, 2003 when I made a few clicks and bought the domain. It’s hard to believe that in just two months GMPT.net will be three years old. If you ask me whether I am pleased with the growth, well, I would say I am happy with the loyal members but not with the growth. Part of this is my fault. Over the past two years I have devoted a lot of time to my personal life, personal investments, and making jamz.net a true productions company and exploring other ventures.

Despite all of these distractions, GMPT.net is always on my mind. I will always be a GM Diehard, own GM’s, promote GM, and actively visit GMPT.net as much as I possibly can. However, I cannot devote the amount of time that I desire but I want a community that will explode in 2006, with over 1,000 new members. Is this realistic? Of course it is. I am asking for your help. Take ownership of GMPT, as if it were your own site. Help us grow, promote, and be a success. Our growth will be unlike any other on GM forum’s expansion. We are going to grow in members but maintain our loyal membership base, informative discussions, and remain an overall pleasant place to be.

My goal is to give ownership of this site to select members who contribute heavily to the site. Josh Combs, a major partner with me, will remain a huge shareholder but other members will have an opportunity to get involved and create something the GM community has never seen.

I ask that you to get involved and don’t just be a message forum poster. Take ownership mentality, help create something you will be proud to say you are part of. Help us grow. Let’s do it together and make a personal goal to make 2006 see something it has never seen before in GM communities. Let’s do it!

Sincerely,


Jason Miller – “jamz”
Webmaster/Founder

[ProjectGT]

upgrade vbulletin to 3.5 :(

[Josh]

then that means I have to learn how to mod it again lol. But I am up for the challenge!

[ProjectGT]

Originally posted by Josh
then that means I have to learn how to mod it again lol. But I am up for the challenge!

You can do it, 3.5 is sooo easy to work with.

[jamz]

I am planning an entire overhaul of the site to version 3.5. However, my concern is this theme. I don't know if it will upgrade smooth. Any thoughts?

[ProjectGT]

Well besides your header and footer, everything is pretty standard on here. You can easily add the same header and footer in 3.5 with just a little work. Don’t let the theme stop you, if you have a few hours to mess around it will pay off

One of the things you may want to do is download this style before upgrading to 3.5. Then you can upload it as a test style in 3.5 and revert all templates but the header, headerbit, and footer. I know you can easily figure it our form there

[jamz]

It's in the plans for sure. I am just limited on time at the moment. I may contract it out, who knows. I also need to have a main page splash page that pulls content from the forums. Does 3.5 include that?

[ProjectGT]

No but vbadvanced does and it's free. You can see my site use it as a main page http://cobaltss.net and http://chevyhhr.net

[jamz]

I see .. looks good. I am going to look into the upgrade a bit further. Something I do want to do. Just need to look at the theme a little harder I suppose.

[Josh]

I am up for the challenge.