A change in policy: Forum funding

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Folks,

DD has been shelling out about USD $60 per month to maintain the message base at its present size. As you might understand, at more than $700 per year, this is becoming an expense she wouldn't mind sharing. And without some assistance, we're going to have to start pruning the oldest messages to bring the monthly Forum costs down.

If you'd like to avoid having to have all those precious messages pruned, please use the ChipIn widget that's been installed in the Forums to contribute something. The more months' payments we can pile up, the more messages we can keep. And DD will thank you.

It's up to you guys now! Let's see what you do.

[Fox]

Well I think its about time we started helping out, some of us talked about it for a long time so come on everyone stick your hands in your pockets and scrape together some funds Be nice if we had a rota so maybe you chip in every couple of months. DD i was wondering (being very cheeky now) but on some websites if you chip in you get access to 'extra stuff' (maybe for one payment you get access for 2 months) sort of like a limited VIP section, it would be an assentive (sorry cant spell that) for people to contribute. Anyway just a thought.

[Stormwind]

I really wish I had the money at the moment, but as I get to where I have a better job with a more stable income, I will start doing my best to support this. I have a birthday later this month so hope to get WOW for it, but if not I will be buying it!
If there is any other way I can help, please let me know.

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Originally posted by Fox:
Well I think its about time we started helping out, some of us talked about it for a long time so come on everyone stick your hands in your pockets and scrape together some funds Be nice if we had a rota so maybe you chip in every couple of months. DD i was wondering (being very cheeky now) but on some websites if you chip in you get access to 'extra stuff' (maybe for one payment you get access for 2 months) sort of like a limited VIP section, it would be an assentive (sorry cant spell that) for people to contribute. Anyway just a thought.

DD is indeed considering this very thing (though it may happen over at YW.com instead of here, as such "added-value" areas are easier to set up using the Drupal software platform). For those willing to ante up a little more, they would have access to YW short stories, early chapter release from new books, etc.

[EricG1793]

I'm a tad confused; so from now on it's entirely up to me and fellow members to keep the older posts here? For example if we put together a total of fifty dollars, ten dollars would be lost towards the cost, and we'd lose some of the older posts that month?

And also if I saved up for a while and then put in all the money I had saved at once in, which could be over the sixty dollars, would it pay for the month bill, and then roll over towards the next month's bill? Or would it limit my contribution to whatever's left of that month, and won't let anyone pitch in until the next month?

I definitely want to pitch in some time soon, when it's not 11:20 PM and we're in a hotel two hours from home.

[Fox]

As far as I can tell EricG1793, that DD has been footing the costs for the forum but as the site has increased in size and more posts have been added then the more it costs to save all those old posts. Around 2 years ago alot of posts were prunned (mainly ones that had not been viewed for a while) to try and get the costs down. Anyway DD is just asking for a little help, so your right in a way when you say its up to us to keep the older posts but i dont think DD would get rid of them if all the money was not raised, she just wants a little help.
I was thinking, even if only 1/3 of the users on this site paid $1 a year that would cover a years costs. A most people have $1 to spare (around 55p), the only problem being those users that are younger and would have to ask parents to use their paypal accounts.

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Right now the plan is fairly simple. Each month we need to collect $60 to cover present database management costs. Each month that we manage to collect $60, the database remains as it is.

However, starting this month, in any month that we don't raise $60, we must prune the current messages down to the point where that month's costs will match whatever amount of money *has* been collected.

I admit that this solution isn't necessarily going to feel ideal to a lot of people: especially as the first few months are likely to see a lot of culling, until people get the idea that it really does depend on them whether old messages stay or go.

There is also another possibility we're investigating (especially as it also may cost DD something to implement, but may pay off in the long run). We are considering establishing archive forums where the oldest messages will be housed -- but *only* those members who are willing to pay a small fee will be able to access them. That way the onus (and price) of keeping old messages here would fall on the people who say they want them.

Anyway, those are the options open to us at the moment. DD receives the Forum billing on the 27th of each month: so we must know by August 20 if there will be enough to pay for it. If we don't, Option 1 will start to be implemented during the week following to begin bringing the forums down to the point where no "extra" payment is necessary. Option 2 is still under investigation.

Incidentally, we're also going to be going "open to the public" for a couple of weeks in August/September to help bring in more people who might be willing to donate. There'll be a separate message about this shortly as soon as we get the dates sorted out.

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Originally posted by EricG1793:
And also if I saved up for a while and then put in all the money I had saved at once in, which could be over the sixty dollars, would it pay for the month bill, and then roll over towards the next month's bill?

That's absolutely the plan. Once a given month's goal is raised, that "appeal" closes and the next month's begins, with any excess from the previous month rolling over into that one.

[EricG1793]

I'm really sorry for asking so many questions about all of this new stuff going on, but....

So, the older threads are going in to archive, which costs less to maintain. In fact, the members who want to look at the archives pay to keep them up. So what about the "ChipIn" widget to pay for the active threads? Theoretically it would be less, because the older threads that were accounting for the monthly $60 were being archived and payed for separately.

Or will the donations to be able to see the archived threads increase the funding for the month? So say I payed the $15 to see the archived forums. With this second theory I have the status on the "ChipIn" widget would go up, right?

I'm sorry for burdening you with so many questions, but this is the last one I have (at least for the time being ) and thanks very much for responding so quickly to my other questions.

[Lee Enfield-Burke]

Originally posted by EricG1793:
So what about the "ChipIn" widget to pay for the active threads?

At the moment, the $60 that will (theoretically) be raised by the widget will only cover the extra database/storage fees for the month of August. If the subscription model works correctly, we won't need it past then: if more than three people subscribe to the archives, we're set for the next three months. And so on.

Or will the donations to be able to see the archived threads increase the funding for the month? So say I payed the $15 to see the archived forums. With this second theory I have the status on the "ChipIn" widget would go up, right?

No. As I said, the in-Forum widget is now only for this month. If the subscription model works, subscriptions will cover the cost of keeping the messages around. But they will remain archived: in separate areas/forums, they can be managed (compressed) in ways that will reduce other Forum costs, so that everything will balance out.

Again, very few people read messages that are more than a year old. We're trying to strike a cost-effective balance here between throwing out everything more than two years old -- which DD would rather not do if it can be avoided -- or keeping everything live and online, which (if it keeps on going unchecked) may drive up costs so far that DD is unwilling to continue to pay them, at which point the Forums would close (and we don't really want that either).

We're trying to get the people who say they want access to the oldest messages to step up to the plate and pay for the privilege. If they won't do it, then -- regretfully, but inevitably -- those messages will be deleted.

On the other hand, if we can get the Forums to the point where they support themselves via user subscriptions, then we might be able to review the archiving policy. But at the moment, it's time to get people who say they want to keep old messages viewable to actually do something about it, rather than just assuming that DD will continue to give them a free ride.