[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]

ZRoadster.org is a car community and so much more

This particular website is very close to me as I personally built it from scratch and have actively run it since December 2011. It was initially founded as a discussion forum, it has grown in to a vibrant and popular community with consistent growth.

The community extends much further than just the website, and reaches out over most popular social media sites.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”2_3″ last=”no” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

The site has been actively maintained and developed since it first launched.  Initially just a discussion forum running free software called phpBB, which is still incredibly popular today.  Shortly after launch a front end website was designed using WordPress to give new visitors a nice visual landing page. We chose WordPress at the time for it’s flexibility and features that could not be provided by our choice of forum software.

Pages were added to the site to give technical details on the car models, a technical wiki covering upgrading and repairing and a blog to publish news to the members.  WordPress also allowed us to carry out much needed Search Engine Optimisation on this content, to draw new visitors to the site by focusing on the keywords they were likely to be searching for.

[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_3″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_position=”all” border_size=”1px” border_color=”#0f6187″ border_style=”solid” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_checklist icon=”fa-check” iconcolor=”#0f6187″ circle=”no” circlecolor=”” size=”medium” class=”” id=””][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-youtube-square”]YouTube[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-facebook-square”]Facebook[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-twitter-square”]Twitter[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-google-plus”]Google+[/fusion_li_item][fusion_li_item icon=”fa-linkedin-square”]LinkedIn[/fusion_li_item][/fusion_checklist][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_text]

As the site grew it was clear that phpBB was not going to give us the functionality we wanted, and was also starting to look a bit dated visually.

After researching all the viable alternatives on the market, including both free and paid, we decided on a system called XenForo.  XenForo was a relatively new company on the market, but the development was rapid and the team behind it were producing a really nice set of features.  Importing data from phpBB was supported by the software, so there was little more consideration to be made.

The migration was carried out back in April 2013 and the new software has allowed us to remove the inital home page solution.  We now have all the functionality provided by the XenForo system, and a few additional 3rd party software extensions.  The system is fully understands Search Engine Optimisation out of the box, so we don’t have to worry so much about it.

ZRoadster.org has over 13,000 pages indexed by Google, and is regularly returned as the top result for most of our relevant targeted keywords.  The website (and community) is expanding rapidly at the moment, and is looking to become the most active forum of it’s type in the world.

[/fusion_text][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”yes” lightbox_image=”” style_type=”none” hover_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”center” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ animation_offset=”” hide_on_mobile=”no” class=”” id=””] [/fusion_imageframe][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]