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Post by spinno on Dec 6, 2023 17:49:23 GMT
If you want exposure it would be cheaper for you to just sit outside in your y-fronts during this cold weather. Move along, nothing to see... |
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Post by peterob on Dec 6, 2023 18:18:29 GMT
You miss the point. You can give Martin as much as you like as a present and in whatever form you like. That is a private matter for you. Giving him (to him personally) as reward for providing the website service is getting into different territory, especially if it multiplies to involve dozens of people, because it morphs from being a gift to a payment. I'm just playing devils advocate here. It is probably best to treat it as a commercial enterprise and keep it tidy or outsource it to some company who can deal with the admin. Ok. In my mind money is money. The Amazon gift was a way of sending payment without him having to do anything, pass me his bank details or me set up a standing order. I took all of this as donations rather than payment. If he was to spend on Amazon the way I do I, then it is no different to me sending him £20 or whatever to his bank. But as I say , it was a suggestion and nothing more. As for outsourcing or creating a commercial enterprise seems a bit extreme for a forum such as this with a few regular posters. I stand to be corrected by Martin though. I guess I’m looking at it if I’d have done what Martin has. Commercial was the wrong word. I was just being devils advocate. Money isn't just money. If you receive money for providing a service then that's "income". OK it's completely trivial in this case, but there is always need for caution. There are really only a handful of us who are active but a moment ago there were 415 guests online. It would be risky to set something up in an adhoc way without controls. Anyway the proposal made (while I was composing my previous post) seems eminently sensible to me. |
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Post by Chester PB on Dec 7, 2023 22:44:27 GMT
Well not quite. I created this board on 9/12/22. In this year we've averaged over 3,000 posts, and well over 80,000 page views per month. It has cost me about £150 for the year to keep things ad-free and enable direct uploads. Sadly I've just been notified that were approaching our current upload limit which gives me 3 options: A) pay for more storage, which takes me above the cost I was prepared to underwrite. 2) delete a load of images off the servers, which means they'll be gone. iii) remove the option to direct upload and you'll all have to host your images with a third-party like Flickr. The choice is yours. If you want option A then your going to have to dip into your own pockets to assist with the running costs. Removing the ad-free status isn't an option because it would allow Proboards to commercially use your email addresses. I don't use Flickr or any similar websites, but perhaps any threads and images therein could be automatically deleted after a specified time following the last post made in them. I suggest one year, since any threads about topical subjects wither anyway and threads about other subjects will probably have outlived their appeal too.
If you had to go with option A/1 because people want everything available forever, what might each member's annual contribution be? I use the site a few times a week for perhaps half an hour or a full hour and upload some pictures, so a small annual fee would be fine, but get the impression that others use it virtually 24/7 and add far more posts than I do so far more of the storage needed arises from them. However, I accept that payment directly related to usage would be an unwelcome administrative burden, or probably impossible. |
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Post by Chester PB on Dec 8, 2023 0:30:54 GMT
This is a classic example of why things designed by committee never work  Here's what I intend to do; direct uploads are going to be deleted after 6 months. If you don't want your pictures removed start using third party hosting. This will keep the forum overheads at the current level. It's always been my intention that the forum won't be a commercial entity and I'm happy to underwrite the costs as they stand. The costs once divided up between everyone is so miniscule that its not worth the hassle of a formal arrangement If you wish to show your appreciation you're more than welcome to send me a gift, or a small cash donation (PayPal or BACS transfer). Just pm me if require any details. I missed this post when replying earlier to your original post. By 'direct uploads' to you mean images? If so, I assume we will still have the threads they were originally part of, so it might also be worth considering deleting a thread if there have been no posts made in the last 6 months, to reduce the risk of discussions about images still being available when the images are not.
Thank you for explaining the cost of running the website. If this is a problem again I suggest an appeal for contributions using your bank details supplied by private message. However, I assume you'll be very careful to whom you supply this information - long-standing members only (like me) and not somebody who has just joined. I've never paid anybody other than a retailer by PayPal, but if it was possible to pay you this way I would happily make a contribution if requested. One retailer sent me a PayPal invoice by email after a telephone conversation, so could you use this process? |
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Post by MJB on Dec 8, 2023 18:31:17 GMT
Thanks to two very generous members, the costs have been covered for the next 8 months. You know who you are, and it is truly appreciated.
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Post by willien on Dec 8, 2023 18:37:37 GMT
Thanks to two very generous members, the costs have been covered for the next 8 months. You know who you are, and it is truly appreciated. Sent you a message via the boards message system but no reply. send me the address details and the amount and I will cover the other third of the next year. Best wishes and thanks
W
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Post by Kath on Dec 8, 2023 18:47:06 GMT
Happy to bung you some ad hoc cash to keep the squirrels fed if you send me BACS details.
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Post by MJB on Dec 8, 2023 19:01:39 GMT
The next 12 months forum costs are covered. Thank you very much.
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Post by lesleysm2 on Dec 8, 2023 23:08:07 GMT
I'll happily chip in send details at the moment it'll only be a few quid but between us I am sure it will only be a few quid each anyway
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Post by JohnY on Dec 9, 2023 16:47:40 GMT
The next 12 months forum costs are covered. Thank you very much. Very good. Perhaps next year different people get a chance to contribute. |
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