View Full Version : Suggestion For Forum Funding
Not sure what anybody else thinks of this idea.
The idea is to set up paid subscriptions on the forum, so users can say pay a small fixed fee via paypal to get a lil extra things like bigger avatar limits for example, at the same time the money received from the paid subscriptions can be used to keep the forum running for paying fees such as domain name, web hosting, and for the vBulletin license renewal.
That way poor old Peter doesnt have to pay for it all himself and we can all then contribute towards the running of the forum.
I agree. I'd pay if there was the option.
jewels
12-09-2007, 06:16 PM
Nice idea jobe, however when the forum was re-started a few of us did offer to help fund the forum/server etc, Peter declined, also although I wasn't here from day 1, I do know a few members (thankyou to those members) did make donations to get the forum up and running.
wild cherry
12-09-2007, 08:39 PM
Nice idea jobe, however when the forum was re-started a few of us did offer to help fund the forum/server etc, Peter declined, also although I wasn't here from day 1, I do know a few members (thankyou to those members) did make donations to get the forum up and running.
Yes jewels your right a few very lovely people did in fact make donations to the forum, bless em.:razz:
Nateman
27-10-2007, 06:58 AM
iSketch is a free game. it would be nice to keep it that way. it would also be nice to make it easy to donate money. one of the greatest features of iSketch is that anyone anywhere can play absolutely free and have a blast. ive never actually thought of donating money before but now it sounds pretty appealing.
NoHints
27-10-2007, 10:23 AM
They're talking about this forum, not the game.
Nateman
27-10-2007, 10:57 PM
this forum i think might have something to do with the game and the overall atmosphere.....
correct me if i am wrong
El_Nino
22-07-2008, 01:05 PM
By asking players to pay for registering on the site would deter people from joining.
Also, those under the age of 16 would not have the opportunity of joining since they would not have a credit/debit card and would need to ask their parents to pay for it, which I think they'll feel most uncomfortable with doing.
Also, PayPal is a terrible company to pay by. They charge too much of a commision and fraudsters thrive on it, although these occur mainly on sites like ebay. But I would never trust PayPal 100%.
I see like on average, 75-90 people logging on every 24 hrs and that number would be crippled if registration fees were introduced.
My opinion is explained here in an earlier post on another thread
http://www.isketchforum.net/showpost.php?p=132642&postcount=3
People don't have to pay to join the forum but I think there should be an option "would you like to donate to the running of this forum?" or maybe even a separate section of the forum where people could give money. There could be a "target" for each year/month or whatever and people can see how much more money the forum needs. That way it also prevents giving too much to the forum otherwise people might feel like they're being ripped off or something, like "the forum's got too much money now, why do they need all that?" or something.. ya know?
Re: Paypal not being 100% trustworthy... I think it's a risk some people are willing to take and so long as Peter doesn't want us to send the money to Nigeria cos that's where he claims to live, I think it's all good :biggrin:
That Nigeria comment was in no way supposed to come across as being racist or ignorant, simply because paypal and eBay members usually find that scams happen when people trade from Nigeria. In fact, I know a person irl who does a similar thing and has tried pinching my dad's details for his own use, anyway, lets not go too off topic here :)
By asking players to pay for registering on the site would deter people from joining.
Also, those under the age of 16 would not have the opportunity of joining since they would not have a credit/debit card and would need to ask their parents to pay for it, which I think they'll feel most uncomfortable with doing.
Also, PayPal is a terrible company to pay by. They charge too much of a commision and fraudsters thrive on it, although these occur mainly on sites like ebay. But I would never trust PayPal 100%.
I see like on average, 75-90 people logging on every 24 hrs and that number would be crippled if registration fees were introduced.
My opinion is explained here in an earlier post on another thread
http://www.isketchforum.net/showpost.php?p=132642&postcount=3
The idea wasn't registration fees. It was to donate a small sum AFTER registering for additional/enhanced features such as higher limits on things like avatars, signatures and/or PM inbox size.
Registration would still be free and what you get now you would still get, but those who then buy the additional subscription would get a lil extra as a reward for donating to the forum if that makes sense.
El_Nino
22-07-2008, 02:19 PM
How much in funds, annually do you think it'll take to keep up the maintenance?
I never worked on web design so have no idea about the figures involved to help pay for the running of websites.
There are over 3000 members registered but the average is below a 100 users daily, although members who don't have the time to log on will also have the opportunity to contribute.
Maybe both funding from other players and sponsorship will be the way forward.
I don't think it will do any harm in doing a trial period of sponsorship and see it both parties are satisfied with the results
Chris_uk
22-07-2008, 02:20 PM
It would be perfectly safe for people to make donations through Paypal. Also this was so my idea in the other thread -_-. There would easily be enough people willing to make optional donations to run the forum, in my opinion.
How much in funds annually do you think it'll take to keep up the maintenance?
I never worked on web design so have no ideas about the figures
Well for the domain name, they're fairly cheap, at around $10 (£5) a year.
For the vBulletin license, that depends on which license Peter has. If he has an owned license then he only has to renew the updates at $40 (£22) a year. If he has a leased license he has to renew the whole license at $100 ($55) a year.
As for web hosting, the host is http://www.bluehost.com/ (which the suspended pages might have shown you) so you can see the prices there.
So it all adds up and currently is all coming out of Peters own pocket (and possibly the funds generated by the google adds)
El_Nino
22-07-2008, 02:34 PM
Ahh ok
Not as bad as I first thought, but it would be better that Peter didn't pay for all of the costs.
On the point of PayPal, I personally wouldn't pay by that method. But everyone has differing opinions on that, all that I know is that I'd rather pay in person than use PayPal :biggrin:
Also, I tend not to notice the google ads :eek:
But as long as it's bringing in revenue, then that's all that matters :biggrin:
On the point of PayPal, I personally wouldn't pay by that method. But everyone has differing opinions on that, all that I know is that I'd rather pay in person than use PayPal :biggrin:
vBulletin does support other methods for payment too but each has to be set up individually. The suggestion for PayPal was just because it's the easiest to setup.
The list of supported methods (which aren't setup by default) are Paypal, NOCHEX, Worldpay, Authorize.Net 2Checkout Moneybookers and CCBill
El_Nino
22-07-2008, 02:42 PM
Tyty
I'll do some checkups on those credit sites, used two of those sites and I guess every site has it's own flaws in some ways , but some are better than others.
Thank you for that list :biggrin:
Cuddle
22-07-2008, 04:31 PM
Only just joined but anything worth belonging to is worth a small fee.
How much and where do I pay.
Donation will be unfair and will not work probably not work.
Someone will through it in your face one day that they donated.
hey here's an idea,
- free membership with no perks
- Silver membership with some perks (1 yr)
- gold memberhsip with more perks (2yr)
- platinum lifetime membership with awesome perks
The perk thing doesn't work. I thought this was mainly about paying for the forum to be kept up and running? Isn't the issue that more bandwidth is needed so donations can be made for that purpose? If the perk thing's put in place doesn't that just mean you extra goodies for your account only? How is that going to help the forum overall? I.e the bandwidth problem.
The perk thing doesn't work. I thought this was mainly about paying for the forum to be kept up and running? Isn't the issue that more bandwidth is needed so donations can be made for that purpose? If the perk thing's put in place doesn't that just mean you extra goodies for your account only? How is that going to help the forum overall? I.e the bandwidth problem.
The perks act as an incentive to donate to the forum. You donate, and you get something back as a thank you for the donation.
Oooh! I see now, thanks :)
Cuddle
23-07-2008, 11:56 PM
Sounds like a plan, what sort of perks !!!!!
In other fora i participate in perks means signature rights (no money=no sig or no images in sig), pm box size (from 10 messages for non paying to 500 for premium memberships), avatar rights (no money means no avatar or generic avatar), access to vip private boards not available to non paying members and so on. Takes a bit of structuring but it's possible.
LazyPanda
24-07-2008, 03:27 AM
So if any of this were actually established... someone like myself that couldn't pay by paypal if I wanted to or any other method seeing as I don't have a credit card and I don't use a bank yet, would just be inconvenienced?
Saffron
24-07-2008, 03:40 AM
So if any of this were actually established... someone like myself that couldn't pay by paypal if I wanted to or any other method seeing as I don't have a credit card and I don't use a bank yet, would just be ...
All the suggestions that have been offered are to do with increased priviliges for payment (or limited priviliges without payment if you want to look at it that way).
There is nothing that would prevent any registered user posting, or being involved in the forum discussions (with the exception of the VIP boards that 2.0 mentioned)
So anyone in that situation would still be able to participate.
Those are hypothetical perks taken from 3 or 4 boards that had the system like that from the start. It would take a lot of discussion if anything were to be implemented, because you have some basic perks right now and you don't pay for them now. The ones i mention would mostly take away or greatly diminish most of what you have right now.
Other ideas for perks (that mean losing some privs you have now) include for example images in signatures. Where as a regular member you couldn't have images in your sig but as a VIP/Donator/Whatever you could.
2.0 said that already :p
Re: the forum needing structuring for the purpose of adding perks isn't that long winded and more work for the admins to do? Also, doesn't that mess around with the bandwidth too?
Not buying .com domains would also be a nice way to save money ;)
Nay, but then not buying them means someone else can buy them and then use the maliciously.
*AJ*, The only extra work for Admin's would be checking issues in the subscription system if any, and the initial setup. Other then that it's all automated.
Fender
24-07-2008, 05:40 PM
A .com domain isn't that expensive, certainly not as dear as they used to be. We're paying around £10 a year for ours and I'd be more than happy to bung a few quid Pete's way to put towards the running costs of this forum to ensure its survival, as I'm sure others would.
I think, given the current situation, that introducing tiered membership with perks and so forth may be a bad move. I would suggest that donations be requested on a purely philanthropic basis rather than for anything that other fora might then offer free.
storm
24-07-2008, 06:57 PM
If it's not too rude to ask, how much does the cost of running a forum come up to? From reading the other posts the cost seems to be £5 (.net), £55 (if leased licence), £10 (.com) = £70 (total). (I had no idea where to start looking on bluehost's website for hosting costs...) Also, are some of these costs one-off or do they all need annual payments?
And, does Peter get any revenue from that little ad at the top? Does he get revenue based on the click through rate or...would we have to buy/register on their website? If it's just a matter of clicking...I don't mind. I'm with those who support getting ads placed to help with costs. It's just more stable, more neutral, and automatic.
LazyPanda
25-07-2008, 01:39 AM
All the suggestions that have been offered are to do with increased priviliges for payment (or limited priviliges without payment if you want to look at it that way).
There is nothing that would prevent any registered user posting, or being involved in the forum discussions (with the exception of the VIP boards that 2.0 mentioned)
So anyone in that situation would still be able to participate.
I wouldn't stick around if I weren't able to fully customize my EVERYTHING. I'm very big on that, actually. If I were stripped of the ability to customize my avatar, sig, page, etc... and the only way to get them was to donate - and I had no feasable way of doing so? Frankly I'd tell the board where to go and how to get there.
I wouldn't stick around if I weren't able to fully customize my EVERYTHING. I'm very big on that, actually. If I were stripped of the ability to customize my avatar, sig, page, etc... and the only way to get them was to donate - and I had no feasable way of doing so? Frankly I'd tell the board where to go and how to get there.
It wasnt really a case of not being able to, was more of a case of being able to do more if you donated, as in more then you already can.
Like another popular perk is the ability to close or even delete your own threads.
Like another popular perk is the ability to close or even delete your own threads.
That would open up the question of thread ownership.
That would open up the question of thread ownership.
That's a debate of it's own :eek:
That would open up the question of thread ownership.
That can be addressed in the rules. And is also useful for example for "Help" threads where the user being helped may not want any more replies after the problem has been solved.
Nay, but then not buying them means someone else can buy them and then use the maliciously.
I laughed. We're no corporation here, and I'm sure the 50 people that post here at a given moment in time could get over some mockery by an individual who spends money on giving us a bad name (which is no loss to the community, I'd say)
Anyway, what I was trying to say with that statement is that if Peter lacked resources to keep this place running, he wouldn't have bought a .com domain.
From my point of view, .com domains aren't that expensive. From network solutions, which is a pretty standard registrar in the marker, it's $9.95US a month for a 1 year contract, or $89US for a multi year contract. We're not talking thousands here.
How much would increasing bandwidth on bluehost cost? I think it'd be reasonable to find that out before arguiing that anything is a waste of money.
I pay quite little for my own hosting. Okay, it's 250MB traffic a month, because I really don't need more (I'm not sure how much this forum would need, per month, but I doubt it's too much), and it's 100MB server space. I pay €30 (£24) a year. So even if a .com is £5 a month (=£60 a year), you could get 2.5 GB traffic a month with 100MB server space, with my host.
So, that was the position I was arguing from.
Fender
28-07-2008, 02:38 PM
I've just checked with the company we registered with, reg-123, and the pricing for domains is as follows:
.COM is £8.99 a year
.CO.UK is £2.79 a year
.NET is £8.99 a year
Prices exclude VAT @ 17.5% but, even so, it's certainly not expensive. That includes web and email forwarding, full DNS control and so on.
The main expense for a busy site would be bandwidth, but I thought Pete had a pretty good deal with his host anyway? I can't remember the details but I seem to recall the bandwidth allowance was fairly substantial.
According to the whois on the website "ATTN: isketchorum.net 1,500 GB storage and 15,000 monthly bandwidth".
It also says "1,500 GB Storage and 15,000 GB Monthly Bandwidth for ONLY $6.95 per month."
15,000 GB seems like quite a bit. And for seven bucks a month... that's mighty cheap.
If iSketchForum has 15000GB monthly bandwidth, then they're nowhere near reaching it when the forum gets suspended for resource use. Even if that figure was on MB making it 15GB, iSketchForum still doesn't come anywhere near that.
So that leaves only the hosts rather strict processor usage limits. Which with the number of times it's affected iSketchForum with such a low load seem way over the top.
Peter
13-01-2009, 11:31 PM
I'm flattered by the amount of people saying they are willing to donate but I'd feel a little guilty seeing as I do occasionally use the hosting for testing sites and I have a couple of other domains hosted on there (there's nothing on them though) lol.
This is a breakdown of the costs of running the site yearly:
$80 for hosting+domain (although it only costs $80 if you buy two years at a time)
$8.88 for the isketchgallery.net domain.
$10 for the isketchforum.com domain (I'd forgotten I'd even bought this - lol!)
$40 for the vBulletin license renewal.
$39 for the gallery license renewal (although I don't renew this yearly as it's not a massive part of the site).
So it's costing $140/year pretty much, or just under $180 if you choose to include the gallery software license.
I'm not a huge fan of the idea of giving people who donate special privileges cos it might create a bit of a divide which discriminates against people who can't/don't want to donate.
Someone has mentioned the ads (Jobe I think). The bring in hardly any pennies (I've attached the earnings report for the last 6 months so you can see for yourself). It's a .csv (Comma Separated Value) file that can be opened in most spreadsheet/database software. I hadn't checked the amounts in ages and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered I'd made $45 dollars in the last six months because I wasn't expecting anything at all, lol. All the same it is not a massive amount so if you see an ad that interests you (there's a lil ad box at the bottom of the forum homepage) I encourage you to click it. I'm not saying "click the ads" because that's not allowed.
Someone else mentioned bluehost and there was also some speculation of what they offer in another thread about downtime:
Bluehost offer 'unlimited' bandwidth. I use quotes cos basically we're on a shared server so if we got greedy their fair usage policy would kick in and the site would get suspended for a number of days. We only currently use 4-5GB/month which, imo, is well under the limit (whatever that may be). We also have unlimited disk space so there's no concern there as we're currently only using 2GB.
If or your friends ever need PHP web hosting I would definitely recommend them as I did my research and they are the best value for money - they offer a lot of features, amazing resources, very good support and even SSH access. Be sure to use my affiliate link (http://www.bluehost.com/track/peterdevoy/isketch) though and the proceeds will go towards the forum.
db1986
13-01-2009, 11:49 PM
I wouldn't mind making a small contribution. I think it's a good idea.
As for these "perks", I've seen VIP members on other fora who must get extra features "attached" to their profile, and other features like this.
I will still be helping Saff on the competition side of contributing too. That's as long as I don't run out of ideas :eek:
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