My intention at this time is to start banner ads on the forum. This would likely consist of a small ad top and bottom of each page. Personally I hate any type of advert on a forum so I'm being very careful to ensure this doesn't interfere too much with your enjoyment of browsing the forum.
The banners will only be directly related to the industry and wherever possible will be advertising member discounts/new products etc. Therefore every member will have an interest in seeing them, they won't simply be an annoyance. I've started to invite suppliers to do this and there is interest but I intend to limit the number and placement of ads.
I've long hoped that the forum would be funded by ongoing small donations from members but this simply doesn't happen. Donations are only received when I beg for them and I have no intention of doing this any more. I would like to draw members attention to the poll that has been in place since 19th September 2011 here... http://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum...do=showresults. This clearly shows a couple of things. Firstly, only 49 members took the time to vote, not a massive indicator but still has to be listened to. Secondly, out of this number the most popular way of raising funds is through advertising/sponsorship.
When the DSF was formed a couple of years ago it was the intention that it would remain independent from any particular supplier. I have had to compromise with these banner ads and I'm not particularly happy at having to do so. The fact remains that the forum need regular money coming in, not just to cover hosting but to look at future developments, security and so on.
I do feel that it's becoming more and more necessary to treat this forum as part of my business but have avoided doing so until now. It's important to me that members opinions are always listened to but that's up to you to tell me what you want and how we're going to pay for it!
I am more than happy to discuss this matter within this thread.