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Rivertree View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 06:18
For the first moment it's hard to believe. You are working for this site many hours per week and then you are asked for donation.
I'm blocking the ads so personally they are no problem for me - but the costs for running this site are a fact on the other hand.
After some hours time to think about this it looks like a solution which is acceptable, but only with a clear policy

- donations are strictly voluntary
- anonymity and avoidance of any competition like this: 'I'm paying for the site - my words are more important ...'
- an easy and secure way to pay
- informations about the costs and the donations amount for the promotional side of the story

I would prefer to open a poll in the Collab area after some time of discussion ...




Edited by Rivertree - December 10 2007 at 06:27


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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 06:23
Originally posted by Rivertree Rivertree wrote:

For the first moment it's hard to believe. You are working for this site many hours per week and then you are asked for donation.
I'm blocking the ads so personally they are no problem for me - but the costs for running this site are a fact on the other hand.
After some hours time to think about this it looks like a solution which is acceptable, but only with a clear policy

- donations are strictly voluntary
- anonymity and avoidance of any competition like this: 'I'm paying for the site - my words are more important ...'
- an easy and secure way to pay
- informations about the costs and the donations amount for the promotional side of the story

I would prefer to open a poll in the SC area after some time of discussion ...




ClapClapClap

I second that motion. Please let's avoid ANY opportunity to increase the already existing levels of competition in the Collab ranks. What we all want is our site to prosper and get better and better, not to have any personal gain from this.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 06:28
If I'd had to pay to access PA when I first found it, I wouldn't be here now.
 
"The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar.... Now, that's my idea of a good time."
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 06:34
No one is suggesting to make PA a pay site. The contributions would be strictly on a VOLUNTARY basis, and no one would be prevented from participating to the site's life if they choose not to contribute. We don't want to see PA become an exclusive club - we just want to prevent problems that are interfering with people's enjoyment of the site, as well as giving it a bad reputation.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 07:45
Originally posted by micky micky wrote:

Originally posted by Tony R Tony R wrote:

I still say using Firefox and Adblock plus is the answer.

I never see any ads on ProgArchives, ever.




just my two cents Tony....  not everyone uses them... maybe they should.. maybe they shouldn't... but if you haven't already, check the thread in the collab area they deals with another problem related to this.  Removing the ads would... have other benefits LOLWink
 
 
Indeed, Micky's go a good point and so does ManOver.
 
 
Furthermore, I'm not sure Admins shouldn't unhook theseaddblocks once in a while to get a full picture of how the site looks to most unintiated  members.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

Two questions:

1. Are the profits from these "shady" ads really that big?
2. Is the server hosting really *that* expensive?

Maybe one other alternative would be to try to find a cheaper hosting service ... I don't know about Canada, but in Germany there are hosters like www.hetzner.de who don't charge any traffic fees (unlimited traffic at least with a 100MBit uplink).
 
 
This is of course very correct questions... I can see where thousands of housewives have homepages or sites sharing cleaning tricks and cooking tips and cannot imagine that they pay up a lot just to maintain the perfect housewive's vanity .
 
 
Ihave no idea how expensive it isin any countrey, but I gather than any site with the  .com suffix is not free either and certainly more the a .be or .de address
let's just stay above the moral melee
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 07:59
It is the server that costs money, ie the place where all the pages and databases for the site are stored and maintained. It's like renting apartment space..

As for unhooking the adblocks, not on my own computer no way! I got a virus from here once and it isnt going to happen again.

When I visit the gym I use the computer there and I can see all the ads.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 08:06
Originally posted by Tony R Tony R wrote:

It is the server that costs money, ie the place where all the pages and databases for the site are stored and maintained. It's like renting apartment space..
 
And I would imagine reserving a large bandwidth for quick loading is not exactly cheap either
 
 
Originally posted by Tony R Tony R wrote:



As for unhooking the adblocks, not on my own computer no way! I got a virus from here once and it isnt going to happen again.

When I visit the gym I use the computer there and I can see all the ads.
 
OK , fair enoughWinkEmbarrassed
 
 
 
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 08:34
^ Of course websites aren't free ... I was trying to explain that when you rent a server at www.hetzner.de all the traffic is free of charge. That's what I do with Ratingfreak.com, and it costs me about 50 EUR / month with no additional cost.

Of course Progarchives.com is a lot bigger than my website, but it's the same principle.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 11:04
Just out of curiosity: How much traffic are we talking about? If traffic fees are the main issue than much could be safed by replacing mp3 streaming songs with myspace links ... Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 18:48
I'm not quite sure if I'd "pay to play," as it were....
 
I might.Ermm
 
 
Just wondering, and as a non-techno type guy, how much bandwidth/computer space stuff those big pictures in every second poster's signatures eat up? I know that pages can take quite a while to load at work, and when I see what the reason for the delay is, it's a photo (or photos).
 
Would curtailing the use of sig photos help reduce operating costs? (I ask mainly because I don't know how to add one to my sigWink -- that, plus I get sick of looking at the same photos over and over!Thumbs%20Down)
 
 
 
 
 
How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL
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Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 19:02
Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

I'm not quite sure if I'd "pay to play," as it were....
 
I might.Ermm
 
 
Just wondering, and as a non-techno type guy, how much bandwidth/computer space stuff those big pictures in every second poster's signatures eat up?


Doesn't seem like it would be a tremendous bandwidth hog, and the sig images are links to other websites...no images are actually stored on the progarchives server.  Costs probably reflect the sheer number of visitors, and since it's a worldwide audience it's on a 24/7 basis (no real lulls).
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 10 2007 at 19:06
Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

 
How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL
First, you need a great big magnet... Geek
What?
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 00:03
Delete all the Velvet rooms and posts. That'll save a good $15,000/day. LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 00:28
Yeah its easy to get attacked by a virus on this site, but after a while you learn what to do and not to do.
Never go to the "silly story" via email notification, in fact going to anything via email notification is always risky. If I do get hit by a virus I move fast to shut it down, no big deal.
I think Darqdean's previous post hit on some truly "progressive" solutions.
The post on page 1 that is, not the "magnet solution" on page 3.

Edited by Easy Money - December 11 2007 at 00:32
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 05:58
Originally posted by darqdean darqdean wrote:

Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

 
How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL
First, you need a great big magnet... Geek
 
 
LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Originally posted by stonebeard stonebeard wrote:

Delete all the Velvet rooms and posts. That'll save a good $15,000/day. LOL
 
 
but then again,PA would not only lose its #83 place of most visted music sites, but drop out of the top 2000 with such a tuseless raffic lossLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 06:57
Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL


I guess we could try to replace the heavy metal with lighter materials like aluminum ... LOL
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 11:36
Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL


I guess we could try to replace the heavy metal with lighter materials like aluminum ... LOL
 
Problem is, then you could really only build a "Soft Machine".
 
BTW, isn't the donation option alrerady available?
 
 
 
 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 11:39
Originally posted by Tapfret Tapfret wrote:

Originally posted by MikeEnRegalia MikeEnRegalia wrote:

Originally posted by Peter Peter wrote:

How about removing all metal from the site? Evil%20Smile
Just KIDDING, Mike! LOL


I guess we could try to replace the heavy metal with lighter materials like aluminum ... LOL
 
Problem is, then you could really only build a "Soft Machine".
 
BTW, isn't the donation option alrerady available?
 
 
 
 
 
Micky had said so in page 1 or 2 of this thread.
let's just stay above the moral melee
prefer the sink to the gutter
keep our sand-castle virtues
content to be a doer
as well as a thinker,
prefer lifting our pen
rather than un-sheath our sword
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 14:38
Thanks for all the feedback folks, it has been very useful. At the moment, it looks like the site will continue to be funded by Ads, but the food for thought provided here may lead to some more inventive solutions in the future.
 
M@x has taken steps to eradicate the recent Malware incident which affected us. We were by no means the only major site to be affected, it was sophisticated attack on the Internet. More information on it can be found here:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/13/doubleclick_distributes_malware/ 
 
Please keep the thoughts on this subject coming, they are appreciated.
 
I think we should recognise M@x's commitment here to listening to the site membership. There are few websites of this size where the views of the memebrs are taken so seriously.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 11 2007 at 23:13
I applaud M@X for at  least listening ..again.. to our suggestions... and hope that sicking with these  ads doesn't bite the site in the ass in the long run.... if  this problem... in another form... comes back again.  Imagine how stupid the people that defended this site might feel.......   Donations would have worked...  but M@X knows best. and we move on to other issues.

Edited by micky - December 11 2007 at 23:15
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