I've been spending a lot of time getting the product ready that will run the WheelFinder application. What is WheelFinder you ask? WheelFinder in it's most simple form is a database of Wheels that is searchable. What is different from this application over lets say the one Tire Rack has that shows their wheels on a MINI is this will be made up of your wheels. There are no brand name limits, there are no it's not a perfect by the book fit so we don't list it issues. The WheelFinder will be filled with data from you, the wheel buying MINI owner. What the WheelFinder does In it's early days I'll admit, not a whole lot. This is were you come in. In the next few days the app should be complete and loaded on Motoring Alliance. Then it's your turn to come in and fill in the blanks. Once there is a decent amount of data in the database the tool will start to become invaluable for the those looking for wheels. Say you have a Chili Red R53 S, and want to see all the various 17" wheels in an offset that ranges from 38-43 in black. You just select those options from the search and moments lates pictures of all kinds of black wheels with an offset of 38-43 in 17" that are on Chili Red MINIs appear. This is an early version of the search block, it has been updated since, but this give you some ideas of it's capability. So stay tuned and watch for the release of a what think is going to be a really great feature. And don't worry, there is plenty of backend room for your wheels too even after all mine are loaded..
Been playing around with the final version of the search interface... Comments and questions are appreciated..
Moving towards public release Those of you that may have been on the site last night/this morning between say 1 and 5 am CT would have things pop in and out of the top Nav bar as more testing was underway. The framework for the wheel data entry screen is being finalized now and I'll be doing a bit more testing today. Being it supposed to rain a bit I don't think I'm gonna head out to the track to watch the other MINI folks I know out there play in the rain. Here is a screen cap of part of the data entry form...comments appreciated..
That'll teach me from trying to link to images in an album marked private. It's there now thanks to DrMike and my other user account that has no admin permissions.
Use the key combo of Alt 0252 It's the only key combo for special characters I have memorized and lord knows Tüls is a special character!
You may have noticed a new bit showing in a very few post headers. Clicking on that bit reveals the wheels configured in a members wheel rack. Almost ready...some fine tuning and it's a go... Screen cap of display.
Now Live ! Motoring Alliance is happy to introduce a new feature to the site, WheelFinder. Please see http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/how-do-i/724-how-do-i-use-wheel-rack.html The are two sides to this feature. Wheel Rack Wheel Rack is where you add data about your wheels that helps populate the WheelFinder. You will find slots to put in information about your MINI, it's Wheels, Tires and if you have spacers or studs. There is also space to upload up to 15 images. This space does not count against any image limits anyplace else on the site. Image size is limited to 64MB. Each of you have 10 slots on the Wheel Rack. For those of you that want to add more than 10 sets from your own car please contact me. You will be moved to a new user group with the title Wheel Whore. So who is going to be the first one for the group, besides me. Everyone is welcome to avail themselves of the Wheel Racks. Please post your OEM setup with pictures of your car, if you changed from one OEM type to another post that too. Of course those of you with aftermarket wheels, we want those in there as well. To access your Wheel Rack go the UserCP. It will be the first entry. The more complete you fill out the form the better the WheelFinder will be for all...leading us to... WheelFinder WheelFinder is a seach mechanism of the Wheel Racks. In time, as the Wheel Racks get built out this will be an invaluable research too. You can sort on every option, set offet ranges, wheel weight ranges, if the wheel has TPMS or not etc etc. To access the WheelFinder Click on the WheelFinder drop down in the top Navigational Bar. You can either Browse the last 30 entires or use the Search. One last note...The underlying software is new, Motoring Alliance is the first site using this live. A lot of testing has been performed but it's very hard to simulate actual real world use. Please contact me about any issues that may arise. Have a better idea for the work flow, please let me know. Have a better display idea, let me know...this is an evolving product.