|
www.africa-overland.net
Anybody know why The Africa Overland Network has stopped updating their site? I used to spent many enjoyable hours reading up on travellers diaries etc. The information I got from it saved me dearly in the preparation for my trip into Africa.
|
Not sure I tried to add our site to it but my emails bounced back to me. I'll try again and also try a different contact for Martin and let you know what I can find out.
Bruce onewaysouth.com |
same here
|
I spoke with Martin yesterday. He has become a born again Hindu and moved to Kashmir I believe.
Either that or it will be a little while before his next trip and it's just too depressing to read about others who are about to set off so the site is sitting on the back burner for a while. Also his wife has been in training for the triathlon world champs (she did well) so that takes some time up as well... Perhaps if we all voice our appreciation for his site here (which he reads) it might spur him back into action. How many posts can we get on here to spur him on.........:clap::thumbup1: |
Without Doubt
Africa Overland was the VERY first website I came across when my trip was not even an idea in my own head! Without it I would not be doing what I am today (well next year !!)......
I love it ....... It also sends about 5 people a day to my website which is nice ..... I know how hard it is being dedicated to a website, so I understand why it may be a bit behind. perhaps overs could help? Or someone could design a widget that would mean all Martin would have to do would be to assign a username/password and then the newbie could upload their own details? Just ideas .......... Anyway, before I end, a big thank you to Martin for helping me realise a dream! |
Ditto
Just like to mention my appreciation of the site too. I spent weeks linking to sites in the planning stage, it takes much of the fear factor away to read others accounts.
While I understand the amount of time required to keep this going, it'll be a great shame if it disappears. Hope a solution can be found for the future travellers ( probably not me for a year or two) JT |
Indeed it is good reading.
following everyone elses trips is very much encouraging me to get my arse into gear and finish my 110! Keep the updates coming Martin!!!! |
www.africa-overland.net
You are not the only one missing the journals, diaries, and the galleries on The Africa Overland Network. It would be nice if it can be kept going.
|
Spur him on
..."Perhaps if we all voice our appreciation for his site here (which he reads) it might spur him back into action.
How many posts can we get on here to spur him on.........":clap::thumbup1:[/QUOTE] I think that is a great idea. Come on then... words of encouragement? |
The Africa Overland site is THE place to start your research, reading about the routes that people have done, vehicles that they have used etc.. It has also, for me, been a great place to make contact with people who are at a similar stage of preperation to you. We have made many friends through finding their websites and getting in touch. Come on Martin!! I have a site that is just chomping at the bit to be uploaded!
Bruce onewaysouth.com |
africa-overland.net
I have been thinking of setting up a new site to replace it. What do you think?
It took us 9 months to get listed so I understand the problem. Also I hugely miss the site reading of others trips like ours back in 2005/6. I have previously asked Martin a few times about updating it and I dont think he will. I think he has lost interest? I suggested he handed over the reins but he didnt seem interested in that either. |
Humbled...
Hi Everyone... I feel extremely embarrassed and humbled by the appreciation that the site has gathered. Plenty of excuses from my side as to why the site has become dormant - however I won't bore you with them.
Moving forward, I have asked a company to re-create the site so that it becomes a little my dynamic and as such, will allow for administrators to help out. That way I can pass on the content side to someone else... My enthusiasm for overland travel is still high - esp after the last good trip. More plans are brewing for the next one... but first to get the site sorted. Thanks again for the comments... All the best, Martin ps - PM me if you are a techie with webskills and are willing to donate some time... |
the future.....
So, Martin, what is the real plan....?
I know you realise that this is just so important for the overland community and needs action? I realise you have done so very much for overlanders over many years but what you have done is simply essential, there is no equal. It must continue. ... I am sorry to lay it on the line like this but it must be done. If you dont want to do it then please find someone who will.... |
africa overland
it was reading africa overland quite by chance that gave me the bug!!! it must be wonderful to have created something that had such a profound impact on so many people..so many of the hits on my web site came from Africa overland
heartfelt thanks!!! jeffwatts Gone wandering |
Hi Martin, Mario here from southing.
send me an e/mail if you need any help with the site. I'm using wordpress now which is free and very easy to maintain/update and it's completely changeable for any layout you want (see my new blog for an example) cheers mario |
www.africaoverland.net
Martin,
Your current website is static content and hence you need to amend the webpage for each new overlander entry. What you need are dynamic pages where the page content comes from a database behind the scenes on the web server. Overlanders wanting a listing on the site then fill in a form on a webpage which updates the database directly which then includes them on the website using a call on the database. PM me for more details and recomendations. |
alternate info page
Quote:
|
Martin - you should go with a Wordpress or Blogger.com blog, as someone else here has suggested. No need for web development, get up and running in minutes, and grant admin access to others to post/maintain their own pages. Very simple, and free. You can also transfer your domain very easily.
My site (Hilton's 4WDTraveller.com) runs on Blogger with a Google-hosted domain ($10/year) for example. Cheap, almost no web design required, leaving me to focus on content (which I should get back to). Best of all I can update it from almost anywhere--cell phone, inet cafe etc... |
I would happily offer help on the website but am running out of time before our planned departure date. Which is early April. Touring Africa is our site, and would really like to see it appear on africa-overland.net. And anyone elses that is going at around the same time.
|
Experience
I am very keen to start a African website. In fact we have started with some prep. All overlanding goodies with plenty trip reports. We are trying to incorporate retellers and links to people who have exp.
So if you want and people dont mind we will start with uploading in a months time. Let me know what everyone thinks. We are tring to get funding through advertisers so no cost will be incurred |
Expand HU to add more 4wd?
I'm interested to see the interest people have in an "overlanding" website, particularly for Africa.
I've been watching the growth in 4wd traffic on HU, and have for some time been contemplating more for the 4wders on HU. I've been very busy with a massive upgrade to the backend of HU, and it's almost there, much of it in use now, so perhaps it's about time we started with a 4wd expansion of facilities and pages? Perhaps a dedicated sub-site - e.g. HorizonsUnlimited.com/overland or perhaps: HorizonsUnlimited.com/4wd and trip reports etc from there. Votes on which? We are adding in all new blogging facilities and page creation for all users, so anyone who wants to do a blog is welcome - and it's free, as it always has been for bikes. New page creation will be a great way to add tech information too, to help answer all those pesky tires and pump and winch questions. To those who think advertising will support your site - we've been at it for ten years and are nowhere near there yet! :( The addition of some 4wd advertisers might just push us over the top though, so yes I am definitely interested in significantly expanding the 4wd stuff. The synergy between 4wd overlanding and bike travel is obvious - or you wouldn't all be here, so rather than reinvent the wheel with a whole new site which won't have either the traffic or anywhere near the content, why don't we try to expand on what's already here? If anyone wants to be involved let me know! I'm interested to hear your thoughts and ideas! |
Rsa
We have plenty resellers and are willing to pay a minimal fee for the site hosting.
We also got 2 magazines interested in having a dedicated page. perhaps we can link up through you or vice versa. i think there is definitely a market for a slick africaworld overland site |
As a lot of overlanders have their own website I propose the HUBB creates a linkpage like the sleeping africa-overland.net Personally I do not think it is necessary to distinguish between bikers and 4WDers, the travel experiences are most interesting irrespective of mode of transport. Specifics to the kind of transport are already covered very well in the fora/forums.
For those who do not have/wish their own website a blog on the HUBB would be very good of course. On the mentioned link page(s) one could link to these HUBB blogs as well. My preference would be a page per continent. One can just replicate a link for those travelling on more then one continent. Cheers Henk |
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
thanks for the feedback! :thumbup1: |
Quote:
|
Hi Grant,
What you're proposing for 4 wheelers is what I'm building with my 4WD site right now. It's currently a 4wd site/blog with reader comments, but it's expanding to include links, free blogs, and forums as well. HU has the motorcycle adventure market pretty much cornered, so I figured I'd try to carve out a 4WD niche...;-) As a revenue source for HU, have you considered Google ads? With your traffic I imagine you could bring in hundreds overnight... |
Africa Overland
Hi There,
My two pennies worth..... Whoever wants to take over the role of Africa Overland should remember/work out what it was about that site that was so neat. To me, it had a beauty about it, in that you have a little picture and summary of each trip, so you could get a real feel for each blog. And these were provded by the web site owners themsleves. Also the fact that you had new blogs arrivving all the time it was worth coming back. My ideal preference would be for Africa Overland to continue, but I know how much work that would be. If Martin wanted me to, I would take it over for a year, but I would only be able to commit to perhaps monthly updates. But, I say that only because I love the site, and not because of any desire to become Overlord of the Overlanders! If someone else wanted to do it I would much prefer them to do it, but would also help out there too. Oh, and don't forget that 4wd'er don't just travel to Africa, and although Africa Overlands name was a slight misnomer, any new entity should perhaps not follow that naming convention. well if you want to appeal to all. Good luck to whoever ends up running it, I really hope it lives on somehow. Cheers Ollie |
I second that Ollie!!!
You are right there is something great about why the format The Africa Overland Network works so well - not to mention that this site has linked to the HUBB as the forum for years. It would be a shame to see it consigned to history but if Martin has lost interest maybe the time has come to start a new one.
One of the great things about it was the absence of advertising. Good point about the limitations of the name. Grant - I like your idea of upgrading the HUBB to give more links to 4wd howver I think most of the information on the Horizons Unlimited the website and HUBB serves both communities already. For this reason it would make sense to completely overhaul your site to promote both. Why be a biking site with links to waliking/4x4/cycling when you can be the authority on all overland modes of transport. This would mean changing the overall image of Horizons Unlimited - start with simple things like changings the picture on the top left of the site to that including a Land Rover etc. Well that's my opinion anyway. Richard |
I've launched an "Overlander's 4WD Lounge" and anyone can add their 4WD website or blog. It doesn't compare to Africa-overland, but it is free, always updated, and the site does get fairly significant visitor traffic (but there are text ads in 3 places).
If anyone is interested let me know and I'll send you the link and you can check it out for yourself. |
www.africa-overland.net
Well I have finally launched a site to take forward the baton as the Africa Overland site has been dormant for so long. It can be reached at Africa-Overland.Org.
It follows the ethos of the original site. It is independent and advertising free and allows you to enter a biography, site & trip details and a photo of your choice. I would like all you overlanders to come and register your sites here and any overlander resource site (equipment, parts, etc) that you have found useful. I found in testing that I couldn't have instant publishing onto the site (because of adverts entered into the forms - principally phamaceuticals of course) but I plan to review and release the new records daily. I hope with your help that we can get this vital research resource available for the community again. Any suggestions gratefully received. |
Brilliant that so many people are moving into this space, hopefully these will complement each other rather than end up splitting the data between multiple competing sites. Enjoyed looking at all the ones listed so far but for me, Wanderer999's effort above best fills the gap left by africa overland simply because it follows the same simple format. Aligning to Ollie's point, africa overland worked because its easy to navigate, you get to see a picture of the expedition, a brief description and a link which is what wanderer999's site delivers. Well done. Looks like you are getting some momentum with a decent number of sites on there, lets hope it keeps growing.
I'll qualify that, just looked at Nessie's offering which seems to achieve the same thing in the same way. Would be nice to see them combined in a positive way everybody remains keen to work on it. |
Indeed great to see new efforts being put into overland travel sites.
I agree it would be even better if the two new sites could combine. The main german language sahara website gave up a year or so ago, and two new ones came in its place, with very similar formats, but not too many posts as they are competing. Why not try and avoid that here! |
overlanding portals
great idea, but for me the idea of having expedition companies advertising on a overlanders portal is not on. It would suggest that this is the way to go- give your vehicle to a company and spend lots of money on BLING, which they believe you need and, because you have never gone out into the big wide world you think you need it to! most of the companies only go offroading at weekends and this is not real overlanding. there is a few companies that have experience in actual overland expeditions themselves and to check this out try the net and, while you are there, look for all the negative feed back for these companies from people who trusted them with their vehicle only to be on a world trip to find out it was set up wrong. the companies don't put links to the trips that have gone wrong!! the people we should be getting advice from is the people out on the road, its tried and tested. if a company is good it will travel by personal web pages or by mouth.
We are NOT competing with other overland portals, we are in this to help not to advertise, make money or otherwise. PS we have put our personal web page onto africa-overland.org- we're still waiting for his site!!!!!:thumbup1: home |
Well said Nessie.:clap:
|
overlanding portals
Whoa, whoa, whoa, Nessie calm down! I know you are named after a primeordial monster but really!
I feel sure we have the same basic philosophy and indeed the same passion for overlanding. There is no advertising on Africa-Overland.Org and there never will be. Simply the idea of publishing details of companies and resources to help overlanders find things they need without having to spend hours trawling the net. The exact same approach to publishing overlanders sites in one place. I set up a dynamic site to try and ensure longevity for the site by deliberately making it low maintanance and quite simply putting back into the community a research tool that was so important for me when I was researching our overland trip. I must confess a seflish motive too in that now I am stuck in Blighty as a 'wage-slave' saving for the next trip I want to continue reading of inspirational travels and great experiences and ideas! Safe (bling-free) travels! |
overland sites
OK- Nessie's on a chill pill!! We just don't understand why everyone is talking about competition between sites etc- what's the problem- surely the more information that's out there to help other travellers the better?
Obviously if LOTS of sites open up, the information may get lost in the crowd but 2 or 3 sites can only be good, everyone has their personal style and ideas as to what they like- so having a choice will appeal to a wider range of readers. The only thing we personally feel uncomfortable about is the advertising bit. There are a limited number of companies in the UK who can offer work, advice and parts for overlanders- if they're any good people tell you in their personal web pages- that should be advertisment enough. home:cool4: We should think about linking our sites together we have a few ideas :thumbup1: |
Overland sites
Hi Nessie,
I'm still a newbie here but from my personal point of view, if there is an Overland site with ads then great if it pays the bills, we need the info and wisdom of other Overanders. Most guys listen to vendors but then you go to forums like this one to seek advice from guys who have experience in the field. I am indifferent as to how many sites there are. Quote:
|
I agree dividing things up into multiple sites isn't really going to help overland travellers, and I'm not aiming to reinvent Africa-overland.net.
My goal with the Overlander's 4WD Lounge is to make a place where anyone can hang a shingle to direct traffic to their site, generate interest in their trip, promote their 4WD-travel related cause, and see what others are up to--all free and updated daily. We have ads on our site, but so does every other site that's been around a while (including Horizon's Unlimited). Like them or not, ads help ensure the sites you love will stick around. And as long as they're not obtrusive or deceptive, they can actually be helpful. PS: We've also just added three new members to our Overlander's 4WD Lounge: Pacific Northwest Backroad Adventures Jolly Follies Gone Wandering |
Its back!!
The Africa Overland Network appears to be alive and kicking again. Hoorah!
Lucie |
Yes indeed! very good. And my favorite book is in the booklist :thumbup1::clap:
|
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 01:46. |