Right, daughter to bed, wife to bed, work done - time to read and re-read. Only managed to read some of the responses on my phone today hence the quietness. (anyone want to swap jobs?)
Some very interesting and impassioned responses and very valid points for quite a few. My main aim is to keep this forum going and growing and to invest in it from a functionality point of view. I don't expect anything back from it financially. As I've said, there are a number of things I would like to do to improve it but either stall at the "meh, not going to pay for that plugin even if it is only £20" or the "meh, it a free forum, let me see what's on TV". Do I want to make money out of it, buy my yacht and retire? I can't see a forum making you financially independent.
I can't reply to each point made but have (I think) read them all (and you're still bloody replying as I type this. Can't keep up)
So we have a number of options:
- Sponsorship
- Adverts
- Free hosting
- Subs (or more friendly named, annual contributions)
- Ad-Donations
Sponsorship
This is an option if we can get it. I'll have a chat with Simon to see if they can help towards it. I know Chris has sent an email to Milners (thanks BTW!) along the same lines. Anyone else know of someone else? A while back I approached known people in two companies, who knew of us and trade they got because of us and referrals, and neither had the courtesy to reply. One was not on the east coast of the UK, the other was slightly north of here. I think companies are happy to part with money for adverts but had an interesting response to sponsorship. I'm happy to entertain this and see how it goes.
Adverts
I had a look at mud and some other forums and their adverts. They're peppered in among the posts. Personally, I don't like adverts on sites but if that works then we can look at that. As with a lot of things I subscribe to, you can opt to have them turned off. A guy sitting next to me enjoys free music at work and does not mind the adverts. I happily pay my £6.99 a month to have no adverts. Both options are there.
Free hosting
Thanks for all the offers. The site currently uses about 12GB of storage and about 50GB a month on traffic. As part of the move and upgrade, I signed up to a better (more expensive) server. When we started having more trouble with that I upgraded again. This time to a bigger, standalone server. This has been flawless since. The deal I struck with the provider binds me in a termed contract.
The caution I have at jumping at the free hosting offers, and this is only a musing, is that the forum cannot be passed around to the whomever wants to host it this month. A slight exaggeration but free always has downsides.
Subs
Been having a think about this. I didn't assume for a minute that value would be an issue. I was wondering though about the "well, it used to be free and you're saying it's not". Likewise, the "feel" and the "community" is not in the technical sections (well, with the exception of the LJ70 build thread
).
The two-tiered type of users - would that be an issue? I mused over the membership "on the other sight". A lot of people were happy to pay that. I did not think it created an us-and-them feel? I was not one of the paid up people. I was not a member for long enough to think about it. While there were no explicit restrictions to what paid vs. non-paid could do, there was, and still is, an issue with those who don't pay for his food. Classifieds were ok so long as there were not to many of them then you were ponced upon as you were profiting from it all.
If there is some small contribution made then I am also obliged, by my own morals, to keep improving the site, adding to it and investing in it.
We're 3 versions behind the current software. There are some good features (collective eye-rolling going on
) in the new software which would improve how you use it.
Ad-hoc Donations
As I've said before, the donations to cover the cost of the upgrade and anti-spam thing were great. I can't see a donation model working as it would always be the same few people dipping their hand to help out.
First and foremost, this is a community. It's nothing without the users - both takers and givers. To fracture that would be daft. The whole idea was indeed to start something that the users could have a say on. I think I've done pretty well on that front and not exactly gone against that ethos? I'm not about to start dictating not "just barging ahead" - that would be pointless. I floated an idea, which, on re-reading, seemed pretty definite in how I wrote it but happy to look at it from all angles.
The two tiered system is already in place. Only after a certain amount of posts can you download the manuals or edit your posts or join the Pub etc. Shortly after putting the download section up a user, newly registered with zero posts sent me a PM, no salutation, no signature - "Why can I not download the manuals? I only registered to download a manual for a 70 series"
When I replied that they're available once you have a certain amount of posts and therefore an active member, I got a reply "well, what's the point of having them there if I cannot download them?"
I decided not to reply. Does he feel there is a two-tiered membership?
I'm not tired of the site, I am not bored of it. I don't have the black LC any more so don't ask many questions about creaking or groaning but still very much enjoy the social side of it.
I do't want it to stagnate from an interface PoV. "The other site" is stagnant from a software PoV and has no investment. We moved up from the free stuff to the, arguably, very best forum software. I would like to keep that going.
I
think that is all I can say for now. (my brain hurts and the redbull is wearing off)
In a nutshell -
- sponsorship is an option I am willing to look into. If it covers costs and has change for upgrades and bits and pieces, I'm all ears.
- adverts are an option. There can be an option to have them turned off.
- free hosting is very much appreciated but I'm committed (financially with the provider and to improving on the site) to this setup as it is.
- subs / annual donation / "ad turning off" fees will go towards covering the costs and a bit of investment in the forum.
- ad-hoc donations will get tedious for the members and won't be sustainable.
Cheers,
Crispin
now that would spell the beginning of the end 
