We've mentioned in the past that there is an update to the site in progress. The update is a pretty major process and involves a complete rewrite of the code, in fact we are moving away from the current platform to a more stable and better supported platform from a different vendor.
Whilst there will be quite a few improvements in the operation of the site, one of the things we hope to acheive is to shift the focus of the site a little. In the past we have had forums, and then we disabled then, followed by re-enabling them and the bottom line is simply that they do not work. My guess is that there are simply too many other VW sites that people are used to using (VZI, TheSamba, Shoptalkforums etc) and getting people to use a forum that is low in traffic and interest is an impossible task at best. We originally tried to pique peoples interest by having a monthly competition and offering prizes to the biggest contributors in the hope that we could get half a dozen regulars to contribute, this would have hopefully kick started the site into action, but it was not to be.
So, for the update, several areas of the site will simply cease to exist, these include the forums, the directory, classifieds and groups sections. The focus will be shifted to blogs and the site focus will change.
As the site seems pretty slow at the moment, it is a perfect time to make the change. So if you see things dissappearing, or not working, it will no doubt be because of the update.
Fingers crossed.
:D