Conrgratulations!!!

Congratulations to angelfactory the 2008 Profile of the Year!  You can view the complete results here.

Coming soon

The 2008 Profile of the Year contest starts on January 19th!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all the Awesome AutoLoggers!!!

Current state of TheAutoLog

Hello AutoLoggers!

It's been a while since I wrote, but I feel you should have an idea of what's going on here behind the scenes. We've had some challenges dealing with a handful of people who have spent a lot of their energy and time trying to stir up some drama and negativity over the last 6 months or so. We've done a lot of things to counter this, we've created a block user feature so you wouldn't have to deal with people you don't like, we've sent out warnings and even banned several people. Still, we don't feel like we have our community back as there are still a small amount of wannabe AutoLoggers trying to bring our community down. Too bad for them it won't happen. We are working diligently on creating a new feel for TheAutoLog. Specifically that one will have to EARN their privileges here on TheAutoLog. I'll keep you all up-to-date with our progress and look forward to seeing a tighter, more close knit community being created here in the future.

Warm regards,

Alex

UN-official AutoLog chat room

Some of you may know that their is an UN-official chat room for AutoLoggers. I must stress that this chat room is UN-official and I or any other employee of TheAutoLog will not be using it. So if you see anyone on there pretending to be me or stating some official policy about TheAutoLog - DO NOT BELIEVE IT.

That being said we are still working on getting an official IM set up here on TheAutoLog.com.

Challenge Slamming

I thought more AutoLoggers knew about this, but I get quite a few AutoLoggers asking me if there is cheating going on in the challenges. AutoLoggers will cite 20 or 30 votes coming in the last few hours of a challenge. This is called "challenge slamming." Challenge slamming is just one of the many tactics used when challenging someone.

How it works:

Challenger A and Challenger B are challenging each other. After a few days, and with only one hour left in the challenge, the two challengers are only off by a few votes. It looks like it will be a close finish... or will it?

Challenger A posts a bulletin and sends messages to his friends at the last minute for votes. Other AutoLoggers see the request and vote for Challenger A. Within 45 minutes Challenger A is up by 25 votes. With only 15 minutes left Challenger B simply can't catch up and loses the challenge.

I know some of you do challenges just for fun and some of you take challenges very seriously. If you take challenges very seriously you should do some research on your potential opponent. Look at his/her record. What types of challenges are they strong in? What types of challenges are they weak in? Does the user have a winning record? Does the user have a losing record? How can you word the challenge to your advantage?

Doing a little research before accepting every challenge will go a long way in helping you build a winning challenge record.

PHOTO COUNT INCREASED!

We're excited to announce that TheAutoLog has taken a major step by increasing the total amount of photos you can upload from 60 photos to 240 photos per vehicle! That's over 1000 photos you can upload per user account of 5 vehicles!

This is just another step that TheAutoLog has taken (as voted on by AutoLoggers) to make TheAutoLog the #1 automotive enthusiast network in the world!

January 2008 Profile of the Month!

Congratulations to Jenn the January 2008 Profile of the Month! View the complete results here.

Next Feature - Upload 240 Photos!

The site wide poll just finished and it was close!  Increasing the photo count limit to 240 is the winning item with 34.57% of AutoLoggers voting for it.  Upgrading challenges came in a close second with 32.94% of AutoLoggers voting for it.  Thank you to all AutoLoggers who participated, we hope to have the increased photo count limit implemented by February 19th.

TheAutoLog Banner Contest

Do you have experience with photoshop and graphics?  TheAutoLog is ready for a new top banner.  If we choose your banner you'll recieve a badge on your profile and have the respect for your contribution to TheAutoLog.  The banner should fit with the color themes of the site, and be 800px wide by 80px high.  It must have TheAutoLog logo (big files found here and here.)  Please send us the URLs to your banner, which you can upload via imageshack.us

TheAutoLog on Facebook!

We've just launched the AutoLog Challenge on Facebook!
You can add the application with this link:
http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=6582242485

We only have a few AutoLoggers on there right now, but if you have a Facebook account and you'd like to challenge your Facebook friends be sure to join us! :)

Welcoming a new forum moderator - Ektor!

I would like to welcome and introduce Ektor as a new Forum Moderator to TheAutoLog! He brought in the first 2008 lancer to TheAutoLog and his lights on it are sweeeet!

2007 Sweet 16 Snapshot competion results in!

The 2007 Sweet 16 results are in. View the results. Congratulations to all our winners!

December 2007 Profile of the Month

Congratulations to TEKWATCH the December 2007 Profile of the Month! Stangchick took second place and MustangJessica05 took third place. We also want to note azsonicsnake as an honorable mention.

You can see the complete results on the December 2007 Profile Winners page.

TheAutoLog Gear and Apparel!

Due to a popular demand TheAutoLog has set up a shop with Cafepress.com to make gear and apparel available.

Support TheAutoLog.com!
http://www.cafepress.com/theautolog

New Forum Features!

3 exciting new forum features implemented!

You can now add smilies to your posts and replies. Forum threads are displayed by most recent activity first and you can subscribe to forum posts.

December Monthly Newsletter

November 2007 Profile of the Month
================================

We had a record voter turnout for November Profile of the Month! As usual there were a bunch of amazing cars and profiles in the running. The First Place Winner, Adam, blasted into first place on the last day after steadily climbing the ranks from 16th place. Amylu1982 came in Second Place and MDcars came in Third Place. And as an honorable mention, Grandpixgt9901 came up fourth with only one vote shy from third place. Congratulations to all of the November Daily Profile Winners!

View the entire results here:
http://www.theautolog.com/mfp/1107.php


What's new
================================

SWEET 16 COMPETITION!

On the morning of December 31st (~9am PST) TheAutoLog will find the top 16 vehicles in each category of the Sweet 16. These 16 vehicles (for each category) will be awarded a permanent '07 Sweet 16 Trophy Badge on their profile. Everybody is eligible for this friendly competition.

Learn more about this one-time only event here:
http://www.theautolog.com/ruless16.php


2007 PROFILE OF THE YEAR

It's almost that time of the year again! The top 3 Profiles of the Month for each month in 2007 will be competing for the prestigious 2007 Profile of the Year award. Like last year there will be awards and prize money given as well as a pair of exotic driving shoes!

Learn more about the 2007 Profile of the Year here:
http://www.theautolog.com/mfp/poty.php


TRANSFER PHOTOS

Under popular demand we have released a new feature that lets you move photos from one album to another with you having to delete the photo and re-upload it. This also means you get to keep all your photo comments as you transfer your photo from album to another.


EVENT MODERATORS?

Also we are on the look out for some more voluntary Event Moderators, if you're interested in promoting and reporting events in your area please let us know:
http://www.theautolog.com/feedback.php


NEW MAIN PROFILE PHOTO POLICY

In the spirit of keep TheAutoLog an automotive-focused community we have implemented a new main profile policy. Your main profile photo must be an actual photo of your vehicle. Art, drawings, stock photos and/or photos of people are not allowed as main profile photos. It IS OK to take a photo of yourself next to or in your vehicle. You are also allowed to upload photos of yourself, art, drawings into your albums, they just can't be your main profile photo.

We'll ask you nicely the first time to select a new main profile, the second time we will simply delete your profile. Thank you for your understanding :)


FORUMS

Please stop by and say hi in the forums if you haven't already. We have a friendly group of regulars and the video sharing, photo sharing and discussions are really starting to pick up!

---

A big THANK-YOU to all of you for telling your friends and family about TheAutoLog.com. As you may or may not know, TheAutoLog's growth relies solely on our members continuing to spread the word.

Hope you are all having a great month of December!

Warm regards,

Alex
and TheAutoLog.com staff

Profile of the Month and Year Details

This blog has been posted to announce some of the dates for the December Profile of the Month and the 2007 Profile of the Year competitions.

The last 2007 December Profile of the Month Daily winner will be awarded on Dec. 20th. The 2007 December Profile of the Month voting will go from Dec. 21st through Dec. 26th 2007.

The 2007 Profile of the Year contest voting will go from Dec. 28th 2007 through Jan. 2nd 2008. The top three winners for each month will be competeting!

There's a lot at stake for Profile of the Year. Of course there is the prestigiuous Profile of the Year badge that goes on your profile, plus prize money and some riduculousy awesome driving shoes! Learn more.

Good luck to all!

Warm welcome to Flashwing!

I and TheAutoLog would like to send out a warm welcome to our latest Lead Blogger: Flashwing. I know we're all looking forward to reading his blogs.

AutoStats Upgrade

Check it out! It's now even easier to share you Auto Stats on MySpace and throughout the web!  With your AutoStats you can put a "mini-profile" of your vehicle on any web site you like. You can choose between three different styles and a variety of colors to suit your specific style.  Have fun showcasing your vehicle!

'07 Sweet 16 Competition!

Just for the fun of it we've decided to launch an '07 Sweet 16 Competition. On December 31st we will take a snap shot of each category in the Sweet 16. The top 16 vehicles in each category will be award a Sweet 16 badge on their profiles.

Learn all the details here.

Photos upgrade!

We made a few changes last week to the photos section. First off, the large photos have had their size increased by 50%. So, when you go view other people's photo albums and click on a photo to see the large version, that photo may be up to 600px wide. Before, it was a measly 400px.

Second, you can tag your photos with TheAutoLog logo. This logo will only show up on your large photos. If you don't want the logo on your photos, simply uncheck the box before pressing "UPLOAD" when uploading your photos.

Have fun!

Congratulations to the October Profiles of the Month!

We had an extremely close race for the October Profile of the Month! It makes sense since the profiles and cars for October we're all of pretty top caliber.

The official results are:

1st Place: KnightViper
2nd Place: MYSCZ06
3rd Place: BlueRX8
3rd Place: Xtreme03

As you can see we had a tie for third place. Also there was a 1 vote difference between 1st and 2nd place. It really goes to show that 1 vote (your vote) can make a huge difference. Congratulations to all of the October Profile of the Month!

Who's Online at TheAutoLog?

For the last site wide poll, AutoLoggers overwhelmingly voted for a feature to see who's currently online. TheAutoLog has a reputation for letting AutoLoggers choose and have a large say in what the site will implement next, and therefore we set out and created the latest section to TheAutoLog.com - "Who's Online?"

You are now only a click away to see which AutoLoggers are actively online. It's a great way to see if any of your friends are online or to make new ones!

Photo Albums Released

TheAutoLog has upgraded the photos section! You can now have 3 photo albums for your each vehicle you own. Each album can have hold up to 20 photos for a total of 60 photos per vehicle!

For instance, if you have 3 vehicles on TheAutoLog, you can have 3 albums for each vehicle. Maybe you decide to have on album for interior shots of your car, another album for exterior photos of your car and the third album for photos of you. 3 vehicles x 3 albums/vehicle x 20 photos/album = 180 photos :)

New Features and Lead Blogger

I have 3 exciting pieces of news to bring today. First of all I would like to welcome Toby Barnett (GoingBigger) as TheAutoLog's new lead Blogger. Toby currently blogs at Barnett Associates and the Seatlle P-I. We are very happy to have him here.

Second, as you can tell the Blogs section had gotten an updated look! We're happy to have been able to give this section a look and feel that fits more closely with the rest of TheAutoLog.com, while at the same time still featuring AutoLogger's recent blogs on the right hand column.

Last, but not least, we have brought back the Forums! If you haven't already, stop by and say hi to everyone. We're all friends here and would like to see and hear from you there.

Warm regards,

Alex

Parts for sale update

We've update the "Parts For Sale" section

You can now upload a photo when listing a part for sale. To list a part for sale, simply click on "For Sale" on the top navigation bar, then click on "Parts for sale." Next click on "Sell your Parts," and from there you can upload a photo, description and price of the part(s) you are selling.

Sweet 16 update

We will be continuing to update the Sweet 16:

1 - The Hot Rod category will be dropped (for now.) Just like other categories if we see a demand for it we can always bring it back.

2 - We will be working on some general rules/description of each category so all people will have an understanding of what vehicles are valid for that category.

We have already made some improvements to the Sweet 16 and I'm sure some of you have noticed. For instance, the motorcycle category just has motorcycles in it, the "AutoLogged Girls" category just has girls in it now and we are continuing to clean out the rest of the categories.

I also want to thank everyone who has been flagging vehicles that are in the wrong category. This has been working out great. Once a vehicle has received enough flags and the staff at TheAutoLog agrees that the vehicle does not belong in that category - we permanently exclude that vehicle from that category. Because of this, I don't see the need (currently) to ban people from voting for there own vehicle. I guess I also feel that your vote for your own vehicle is just as good as someone else's vote for your vehicle.

We will continue to work on the Sweet 16 so it stays a fun and prestigious feature of TheAutoLog.com :)

We've updated the Business Browser!

It is now much easier to search through all of the AutoLogged Business Profiles. If you haven't already, make sure to tell your favorite Automotive Businesses to create a FREE profile on TheAutoLog.com! Better yet, ask for a small discount on your next purchase with them in return for setting them up with a Business profile! ;)

SWEET 16 UPDATE

We have all noticed that certain vehicles in the Sweet 16 do not belong in certain categories. For instance, cars in the motorcycle category. Now, when you look through the "Top 50" of a certain category you can click on "Flag" if you feel the vehicle does not belong there. After a certain number of people have flagged the vehicle, TheAutoLog will review the vehicle in question and either remove it or keep it there. This way no ones loses their ranking out of spite of another user.

Hopefully this will help clean up the Sweet 16!

Today's Announcements

Poll results are in and it looks like the demand was in for a Car Show Events Section! We'll start working on that.

We have put in the final touches for the Challenges. You can now leave comments for each challenge - it's a great way to explain why you think you should win or to ask questions when voting. You can also copy and paste code from your challenges to myspace and elsewhere to get the word out about your challenge. Lastly, we have put together your challenge record so you can look back and see where you've won, lost and tied. You can access this by going to your profile or at the main Challenge page.

TheAutoLog Challenges have launched!

We've launched Challenges!

You can now challenge a vehicle on TheAutoLog.com to what ever you would like. For instance, your challenges could be:
Which is better?
Which would you rather own?
Which is more likely to win a car show award?
Domestic vs Import?
Old School vs New School?

You can request a challenge by going to a vehicle profile and clicking "challenge" located under the main profile picture. There were over 100 challenges within the first 2 days and over 12500 votes have been cast since!

Discounts on products for making business profiles?

I've found that if I need tires or other work done to my car, I've asked shops and business if they would give me a discount in exchange for making them a business profile and recommending them here on TheAutoLog.com. Some say no but others say yes. Has anyone else had any experience with this?

TheAutoLog launches blogs!

So we've finally launched the blogs!  You can now create and maintain a blog.  We'll be displaying recent blogs on the front page in the near future.

To post your first blog, click on "Blogs" located on the top navigation bar, then click "Post a new Blog."  If you'd like to view your blogs just click on "Blogs" located on the top navigation bar, then click "View my Blogs."  Your most recent blogs will show up on your vehicle profile too.

You can make each blog post either public or private.  If your blog post is private only your "Friends" can view them.  If your blog post is public anyone can view it.

Since this is the first launch there's a couple things not ready yet.  For instance, customizing the look of your blogs.  If you have any other suggestions (besides that one) please let me know and we'll put it on the list.

As always let me know if you have any questions or need help with something.

Warm regards,

Alex