Ads or subscriptions?

As many of you will know, M@x has been working hard to eradicate a malware bug from the site. This seems to have been introduced by an advert added by a third party. These ads pay for the running of the site, but clearly we do not want ads which are a risk to our computers.

I think the site should set up a PayPal account...  and some of us.. those who really care about getting rid of those goddamn ads... will work behind to scenes to see what we can do.

The Advertisements do not bother me either, because I do not personally see them, but I know lots of others do see them and they annoy them something chronic, so it would be nice to maybe replace the adverts with a voluntary donation service.

I wouldn't suggest making it compulsary though, because it will stop newcomers coming here.  As The Doctor said, us regulars will most likely be happy to donate annual fees to keep the site up and running and malware free.

There is a degree of ownership inherrent in a donation site - this obviously has an up-side and a down-side. The up-side is implicit in the way many people treat the site already - since they are responsible for content then they generally take pride in the site and behave accordingly. The down-side is that if we pay to be a member of a club we expect to be able to have a say in its running, either directly (voting?) or by the selection of committee members ... in the case of this site that would be SCs and Admins. Either way it will mean that people will become even more vocal in the more contentious additions to the site. Donations also raise the issue of accountability, how much is raised, what is it for, how is it spent etc.

darqdean wrote: There is a degree of ownership inherrent in a donation site - this obviously has an up-side and a down-side. The up-side is implicit in the way many people treat the site already - since they are responsible for content then they generally take pride in the site and behave accordingly. The down-side is that if we pay to be a member of a club we expect to be able to have a say in its running, either directly (voting?) or by the selection of committee members ... in the case of this site that would be SCs and Admins. Either way it will mean that people will become even more vocal in the more contentious additions to the site. Donations also raise the issue of accountability, how much is raised, what is it for, how is it spent etc.   On the internet, pay-sites are generally "take" sites - sites where you take information away (and before anyone starts sniggering, many professional IT information/answer sites are pay-sites). The casual visitor is not going to donate anything to read a review of an obscure album - ie the "takers", the only people who would donate are regular visitors and active forum members - those that actively add bands/albums and contribute reviews ie the "givers". A site where you pay to contribute information is (to say the least) unusual.   So, the question I would have to ask myself is how much pleasure do I get from the site and what is that worth to me? The real cost of the site on my bank balance is actually already quite high - the reviews and recommendations rarely stop me from buying an album, but do lead me to buy a lot of stuff I probably wouldn't have bought if I hadn't been visiting the site. Therefore what I would really be paying for would be all the other stuff - the "community" and "fraternity" side of the site.   So, rather than paying to be friends with you bunch of miscreant prog-deviants I would prefer something tangible in return. There are plenty of ways of raising funds - Prog Archives compilation CDs, T-shirts, keyrings, mugs, pens, etc - or a real tie-in with Amazon or cdBaby where PA gets paid a percentage of each CD we buy through them. (let's face it, the total value of CDs that forum members buy in a month is probably greater than the GNP of the Ascension Islands)   my 2 beer tokens worth.

you hit the nail on the head Dean.... for one... yes .. it probably would change the dynamics here.. and that should be carefully considered here.  Putting money into an already volatile mix of egos... differing opinions ...and differing visions could... really exasperate already potential or latent problems here.  I think it should be made clear that if you expect to 'get' something for your donation... don't donate.    What we would be paying for ... is for a site... and in the end for people and  a community that some of us value and ....yes.. .cheerish.  I don't suspect many will contribute...  but those that will... for there a good number of us that  have invested a lot of ourselves in this site.. and in our relationships on this site... hopefully that might offset the costs of the site.


there are other options though....  but not enough of a web or computer expert to really discuss.... that is trimming down the costs to M@X of the forum... the bandwidth in particular  I think I have heard it referred to.  Eliminate old topics past  a certain time frame say.. 3 or so months inactive...  I've heard that cuts the cost of maintaining a site significantly.  

no no no.....  it would be voluntary....  donations.... not to pay to become a member and post.  I think they would rather see the site die a slow death of viruses and disgruntled members than a quicker death of making people pay just to be a member.  M@X isn't  stupid.  They would never make this a mandatory pay site.

I think the idea of voluntary donations is an excellent one, and probably the best way (though I also like Dean's suggestion) to rid the site of the problem of unwanted ads. Let's face it, guys, PA's credibilty has taken a major blow from the malware affair - being called peddlers of dubious stuff on another forum is never good publicity, and some of the comments on PE were quite strong.

There are people here who work a lot for free in order to make this site a valuable resource for lovers of prog, and seeing all our efforts go to waste because of something like the malware thing is not an encouragement to do more work. I understand the downside of such a move - especially regarding some of the egos involved - but I'm afraid in life nothing is either simple or risk-free.

Exactly, Angelo - transparency should be the name of the game, otherwise we'll have a mess on our hands with people questioning where their money goes.

Anyway, if one of us is a member of any association (as I have been and still am), we do pay for membership, and in many cases try to find sources of funding for said association, so that its activity can flourish. I think we can view PA like a sort of association, though in this particular case membership would be on a strictly voluntary basis, and no one would be excluded from participating to the site's activities if, for some reason or another, they decide not to contribute in a financial sense.

well as Hugues has pointed out.....  the system is already in place for accepting donations.


Not going to run on this on my own... not without knowing what the interests, priorities are of M@X... and exactly what kind of funds we need to raise so we can make proportionate contributions...

donations would be neato. if I wasn't basically transient I'd volunteer a few pence... ;P