What's happening in 2010 on the DSF?

[JSR]

Great post JSR.
Justin

Wow Ill consider myself well n truly told off then. Sorry guys i thought you asked for ideas so i just pitched a couple in there i never said they were good ideas ill be a lot more careful with any more requests for ideas in the future


Brett

I know my post got pretty lengthy (I sometimes do that, sorry) but I didn't mean to cause offence or to be personal about it. I apologise if I did.

My intention was only to put across my view to answer your question of why some of us are "down" on adverts. That was all that was on my mind, honest.

I'm sure everyone would be happy to hear any opposing view of why adverts might be a good idea.

[chongsta]

Hi Justin,

Yes i agree, following up on non payers will take up time needed for other things. How about new members dont get in until theyve paid?

Ive seen some forums where access is restricted until money is paid. Im sure that paypal offer a subscription service. Ive paid to enter some forums on a subscription level. Maybe thats a better way to do it.

I know ive contradicted myself slightly but it wouldnt be on an 'elite' basis of entry, merely a 'pay XXX and you're allowed to see everything' type thing.

The bigger alternative is to allow free entry with a proviso of "if you like what you see then please leave a small donation. Even £1.00 is appreciated"

Its a tricky little nut to crack is the old cash one. Im sure theres a way though.

all i say is keep up the good work to one and all, theres a wealth of info here.

Cheers
dave.

[mrs maggot]

on one of our forums some of the pages are only available to members, ie forsale section (bargain hunters will always pay up) and the link to suppliers where there are disocunts available the rest of the site is free to view

[swimwivsquid]

Laura I think you might need to edit your post....

[John G]

There's me thinking this was a family friendly forum

[Justin]

Hi Justin,

Yes i agree, following up on non payers will take up time needed for other things. How about new members dont get in until theyve paid?

Ive seen some forums where access is restricted until money is paid. Im sure that paypal offer a subscription service. Ive paid to enter some forums on a subscription level. Maybe thats a better way to do it.

I know ive contradicted myself slightly but it wouldnt be on an 'elite' basis of entry, merely a 'pay XXX and you're allowed to see everything' type thing.

The bigger alternative is to allow free entry with a proviso of "if you like what you see then please leave a small donation. Even £1.00 is appreciated"

Its a tricky little nut to crack is the old cash one. Im sure theres a way though.

all i say is keep up the good work to one and all, theres a wealth of info here.

Cheers
dave.

It is a difficult balance. We don't really have the facility to only allow membership following subscription and at this early stage we don't want to put anyone off joining. The running fees are very low so Ithink we'll be fine for the foreseeable future. That is until i start to take a wage, LOL! It partly depends on what you all want from the forum in the future.

[Tris]

Hi Justin,

Yes i agree, following up on non payers will take up time needed for other things. How about new members dont get in until theyve paid?

Ive seen some forums where access is restricted until money is paid. Im sure that paypal offer a subscription service. Ive paid to enter some forums on a subscription level. Maybe thats a better way to do it.

I know ive contradicted myself slightly but it wouldnt be on an 'elite' basis of entry, merely a 'pay XXX and you're allowed to see everything' type thing.

The bigger alternative is to allow free entry with a proviso of "if you like what you see then please leave a small donation. Even £1.00 is appreciated"

Its a tricky little nut to crack is the old cash one. Im sure theres a way though.

all i say is keep up the good work to one and all, theres a wealth of info here.

Cheers
dave.

It is a difficult balance. We don't really have the facility to only allow membership following subscription and at this early stage we don't want to put anyone off joining. The running fees are very low so Ithink we'll be fine for the foreseeable future. That is until i start to take a wage, LOL! It partly depends on what you all want from the forum in the future.

Hia

I'm not sure a registration fee is a good idea to be honest as it would put people off joining to see the benefit which once they have got into it make them want to donate, you can be sure that if you get charged to join then you will not get many future donations. The last forum I built looked into sending a pm to new members with a welcome message and a donation request that that worked quite well and was only stopped because the costs were recovered (it was only costing £15 per year) one way that has worked is offering people a premium membership with perhaps access to an integrated live chat facility or a games arcade (easy to do on phpbb3) just out of interest what is what is the status on your hosting move? and have you checked to see if your current provider allows you to download the database? I had to turn down a nice order (for forum building) due to the customer not been able to move the database (I am not touting for business here and any help and advise I am willing to provide you for free)

[frizbee]

Hi,

Hows the fund raising going, whats your current target and balance, I have a really good developer who may be able to look to see what would be possible if you wanted to move and what could be done to save costs.

I could host for you at fasthosts for free if the space would be compatable for you, but couldn't provide much help with the sitre as I am really not website savvy, only back end technology savvy if you understand.

If we can help, giveus a shout.

David

[Justin]

Hi,

Hows the fund raising going, whats your current target and balance, I have a really good developer who may be able to look to see what would be possible if you wanted to move and what could be done to save costs.

I could host for you at fasthosts for free if the space would be compatable for you, but couldn't provide much help with the sitre as I am really not website savvy, only back end technology savvy if you understand.

If we can help, giveus a shout.

David

Hi Dave,

Current balance is £90 give or take a few pence. I've taken care of this years hosting etc. and I have a good ongoing deal with this which seems to be working out fine. No current target at this stage as I'm still working on exactly what we want/need from the forum. It's likely I'll install a portal, i.e. a front page to allow different areas to be accessed including the forum.
Any help with updating the curreng format etc. would be good. I have a good knowledge now of how this type of forum works but modifications are still a little of a black art

Appreciate the offer of help
Justin