Frequently Asked Questions

See also An introduction for new users

Adding and managing vehicles

How do I add a vehicle?

There are two ways:

  • Navigate to the model of car you have using either the model browser or searching for it using the search box in the top right-hand corner of every page.
Remember, you need to be registered and logged-in to add a vehicle.

The model of my vehicle isn't listed. What should I do?

Easy -- just add the model (see below). Please try to specify the correct model, including the generation (e.g. not just Ford Cortina, but Ford Cortina Mark 1), as this will help organise the information and mean the whole thing hangs together better. See "How are models organized?", below.

How do I delete a vehicle?

Just click on "delete vehicle" link just below the vehicle's name on that vehicle's page. Obviously you can only delete your own vehicles.

How do I chose which photo of my vehicles gets displayed as the main one? 

Just click on the photo you want to set as the main photo (it can be any of that vehicles photos or any of the photos for that vehicles' running reports), click on the link that says "See photo details", and you'll be on the main page for that photo. Click on the photo icon next to "Make main photo for [name of your vehicle here]". Job done.

Adding models and marques

The model of my vehicle isn't listed. What should I do?

If the model isn't there at all, e.g. there's Jaguar but no E-Type, go to the marque using the model browser or model search box in the top right corner of every page, and click on "Add model".

The marque isn't listed. How do I add one?

Click here

I've noticed a mistake in a model. How do I correct it?

We're working on developing a way you can make a change, but for the moment, just drop us a line at the email below and we'll sort it.

How are models organized?

Note: some of this is somewhat technical (and arguably not very well explained).

autopendium works by bringing together the information in all its users heads for the benefit of everybody. It works best if information (clubs, suppliers, websites) is added to the specific model or marque it is relevant to and if those models and marques are organised in a consistent manner.

There are all sorts of various theories for how best to do this, from the loose model of Wikipedia (there is no structure except that formed by articles linking to other articles), to very strict structures where things are linked only in a very strict parent-child relationship (this is the structure often used by other car websites).

autopendium is somewhere between the two -- marques and models are fairly hierarchical, but there are lots of exceptions -- companies change name or ownership, the same model is produced under two different marques, and so on.

How we've dealt with this tricky situation is a longer article for another time, but in brief, we've tried to taken a flexible, car owners' perspective. Marques (e.g. Jaguar, Volvo, Chevrolet) are the beginning of the description of a model (who that marque is owned by -- Ford, GM, British Leyland, etc -- is not so relevant). Then there's the model name (E-Type, Camaro, Amazon), and perhaps a generation, and even a year -- e.g. Chevrolet Camaro First Generation 1968.

By using a structure like this, all the relevant resources, vehicles, photos, etc are picked up when you look at a model's main page, or at your vehicle's page. So if, when adding a vehicle or model you try to be fairly accurate about it that'd help everyone. Still, it's not something to lose any sleep over.


Friends and other users

What is a friend?

Definitions of friends vary. Some say it's a person who'll always be there when you need them; some say it's the guy who helped you get your first car back on the road when it broke...

In autopendium's case, a friend is someone who you want to keep up-to-date with, knowing when they make new posts about their vehicle, or add vehicles. They may actually be a friend.. or they may just be someone who's got really interesting cars.

How do I add a friend?

First you need to find them. If you find a vehicle you like, just click on the line below the vehicle's name that says "Add user to my friends". Or, if a (real-life) friend is a member of the site, they can just email you a link to their vehicle, then it's the same story.

How do I delete a friend?

Go to your personal home page (My Home Page in the menu, left), and you'll see a list of the people who are your friends. Click on their name to visit their details and you'll see a link "Remove [soon-to-be-ex-friend's-name] as a friend". Job done.

How do I send a friend a message?

Click on "Send private message to [friend's name]", either in the friends listing in your personal home page, or on one of their vehicles.

How do I send an ordinary user a message?

Click on "Send private message to [user's name]" on one of their vehicle's pages. Just remember to be nice.


RSS feeds

What's an RSS feed?

It's an information feed that allows you to subscribe to information, so you can tell when it's changed or when there's new information. A classic example would be a blog that has entries only occasionally -- an RSS feed allows your RSS feed reader (and they are built into many email programs or personalised web home pages (e.g. My Yahoo) to check whether there are any new entries, so that you don't have to. Still not make sense? Try this article from the BBC

What RSS feeds are there on autopendium?

We've tried to make the information on autopendium as easy to access as we can, so you'll find RSS feeds of many of the pages. Looking at a page about a vehicle and want to keep a track of the latest posts, just click on the RSS logo at the bottom and your browser will offer to subscribe you to that feed (if it's a modern browser, such as Internet Explorer 7, or Firefox). With older browsers you should right click on the RSS logo and select "copy link location". You can then paste this into your feed reader.

Can I subscribe to other sites' RSS feeds using autopendium?

Sure. Just click here and and your feed will be retrieved and shown in the panel on the right. You'll need to be logged in and know the URL of the feed, of course.

Classic Car Events Calendar

How does it work?

The Autopendium Classic Car Events Calendar list all the classic car events we know about -- shows, races and race meetings, tours and rallies and auctions. You can see all the events, or choose to see events only for a particular type of event or country, or both. Click use the selection box at the top of the page.

How do I download an event to my electronic calendar?

If you use Apple's iCal, Google Calendar, recent versions of Microsoft Outlook you can download all the details of the event just by clicking on the download event icon to the right of the event's title.

Can I subscribe to the Autopendium events calendar?

Sure. If you use Apple's iCal just click on the link at the top of the page which says "Subscribe to this calendar". If you use Google Calendar or recent versions of Microsoft Outlook click on the same link using the right mouse button and select "copy link". You then need to paste this link into the appropriate part of the calendar program. In Google Calendar, for example, click on the "Add" button on the My Calendars section and choose "Add by URL". Paste the link you copied previously, and you should be all done.

My account

How do I change my password/email address/username?

Go to My Account and follow the instructions.

Why do you need to know what country I'm in?

Basically, it helps the system show you the most relevant items, and ensures we show you th relevant books from Amazon from the store closest to you. However, if you want, you can lie about this.

How do I close my account

At the moment you have to email us at the address at the bottom of this page, but in the near future we'll be automating the process. See also "So if it's my data, I can take it back?", below.
 

Personal data, copyright and other sticky issues

Who owns the stuff I put on the site?

We believe very strongly in your right to own your own data. So you own all the personal info you put on autopendium -- that is, anything about yourself or your vehicles, all your vehicle posts, and any photos you submit. Obviously, by putting the info on the site and uploading the photos, you give us the right to publish it (otherwise it couldn't appear on the site), but the copyright remains yours.

Information about models, resources, and other common information is a little different because it might need to be edited, corrected, or summarised, or other users may add information, making it a more collaborative effort . However, we do plan to allow access to the common information for non-commercial use in the future. See our terms & conditions for full details about all this stuff.

So if it's my data, I can take it back?

Of course. Go to My Account and click on "Export all my stuff on Autopendium". It's exported in XML format, which is a bit geeky, but if a better site comes along doing the same thing as us, this is the format they would want to import it for you (just make sure you can get it out of there again).

In the future, you can even delete your account, and we'll erase all your personal info (info about you, your vehicles and all your photos) from the site. If you want to do that before then just email us using the address at the bottom of the page and we'll sort it.

Why do you allow me to do take my data away?

Two reasons:

  1. It's your data
  2. Think of it as a guarantee that we'll stay honest

Spam, abuse & fair comment

What's your policy re abuse/spam/dealers posing as users?

We hate it. Spam is an evil abomination and we've tried to set things up to stop it becoming a problem. Abuse is pointless and stupid -- though friendly differences of opinion are OK. Our policy re advertising is below, but in short, dealers posing as users are a definite no-no.

I've seen some spam or abuse on the site. How do I report it?

Just click on "Report abuse" link that's on pretty much any page with user submitted info. We'll deal with it at once.


Advertising and money stuff

You don't seem to have any advertising. How do you pay for autopendium?

We do plan to accept appropriate advertising in the future, but we're not in a hurry to do so. It's more important to us to get autopendium working for us all first.

Any plans to charge for using autopendium?

Nope. 


Created by on 07 Mar 10:40 (over 3 years ago). Last updated on 12 Apr 13:10


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