Private Messages/Conversations Issue

b.loree

b.loree

Administrator
Staff member
I received a reply from tech support yesterday. Joel has made changes that now allow members with “at least 15 posts and who have been registered for 2 weeks “ to privately contact others here on our forum. So hopefully, this problem has been solved but if there are any issues remaining, please contact me. Another reminder, that I will be monetizing the forum in the fall and a specific date will be announced here. There will be a yearly fee of $20US to have complete access to the forum ie. make comments, ask questions and post photos. There will be no change to the general internet public having the ability to read posts and look at the pictures. Joel our tech support, is looking into how this will be done. There will be lots of prior warning as to when this change will happen.
 
Another update from Joel. I found it very difficult to attach pictures in a conversation (other than hosting them somewhere and then using the link option) so asked Joel about it. He has now fixed it and the same Attach files option is there now.

Cheers.

Peter
 
Brian,
Is it possible to implement a five year payment?
I haven't made my donation for the year yet, and I don't really like the one year $20 payment idea.
Can we make one donation, $100, and get five years so we don't need to worry about it?
I make no bones about it --- I'm not a big fan of the new format.
I'm an old guy and I find that "new and improved", when it comes to computers, never is.
We no longer have good 'faces', imogi's I think they're called, and we have difficulty contacting and messaging each other.
I know that most, if not all, of this is to avoid SPAM, but still ---
If we can implement a five year plan please let us know.
I will make my donation as soon as I hear.

John
 
SkipperJohn said:
Brian,
Is it possible to implement a five year payment?
I haven't made my donation for the year yet, and I don't really like the one year $20 payment idea.
Can we make one donation, $100, and get five years so we don't need to worry about it?
I make no bones about it --- I'm not a big fan of the new format.
I'm an old guy and I find that "new and improved", when it comes to computers, never is.
We no longer have good 'faces', imogi's I think they're called, and we have difficulty contacting and messaging each other.
I know that most, if not all, of this is to avoid SPAM, but still ---
If we can implement a five year plan please let us know.
I will make my donation as soon as I hear.

John
Click to expand...
Brian,

I am very happy to pay $20 p.a., as I have been donating each year anyway.
On a separate note, there seems to have been a sudden influx of new members, which is great. I wonder if something sparked this, or if it‘s just a strange coincidence.

Patrick
 
I am happy to pay $20 a year to participate in this forum as well.
I do; however, question where does this money go and who does it benefit?
Apparently, unless I donate, I will no longer be able to post photographs, enter articles, or add commentary.
$20 a year is a minimal cost, but we have 4604 members. That is a total of $92,080 per year.
How much does it cost to operate this forum? I fear it is considerably less than $92,000 per year.
I am happy to donate, but I refuse to be prisoner.

John
 
I would be happy to pay the $20 per annum or, as John has suggested, $100 up front for a five year period - though I wonder if I will still be around at the end of that five years to renew. Either way, the site gets secured and we get to use all its facilities with confidence that it is professionally supported, result: I'm happy.
Steve
PS: out of 4604 'members', I have to wonder, just how many are really active ? I suspect a lot have not visited the site for a long time.
 
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Momma always told me that “it takes all kinds to make a world “ ! Any money collected will go to me to pay for the costs of the forum and my time and effort. The forum has been provided free for years. As far as donations go in every year there would never have been more than 10 if that. Go into the donations thread count the members that are thanked each year and do the math. I name and thank EVERYONE who contributes no matter if it be $5 or $100. So forget about $92 K get that out of your head. I personally have been covering the majority of expenses here as long as this forum has been on the net. The forum was created in 2005.
 
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b.loree said:
Momma always told me that “it takes all kinds to make a world “ ! Any money collected will go to me to pay for the costs of the forum and my time and effort. The forum has been provided free for years. As far as donations go in every year there would never have been more than 10 if that. Go into the donations thread count the members that are thanked each year and do the math. I name and thank EVERYONE who contributes no matter if it be $5 or $100. So forget about $92 K get that out of your head. I personally have been covering the majority of expenses here as long as this forum has been on the net.
Click to expand...
I understand that and that is why I have made donations.
It's MANDATORY donations that I have an issue with.

John
 
I’ve been on the forum for a number of years and find the expertise and guidance invaluable in a hobby where you can easily get burned for significantly more than $20 with some of the shysters out there.
I’ll happily pay an annual sub.
 
Helmmitspitze said:
How can i send message to other mebers ? can not find the option.
Click to expand...
If you click on their name you should see "start conversation." That is the new version of messages. Or click the envelope on the bar at the top and go to conversations and start one there. If you do it that way you need to know the members name but you can type it in if you know it.

Peter
 
pebceb said:
If you click on their name you should see "start conversation." That is the new version of messages. Or click the envelope on the bar at the top and go to conversations and start one there. If you do it that way you need to know the members name but you can type it in if you know it.

Peter
Click to expand...
Thank you, it works now !.
 
I will throw my two cents in, Brian has been running and paying for this site since 2006 I believe, was not until 5 or 6 years ago he started asking for donations, otherwise he has been flipping the whole bill. which includes paying for the website and someone to keep it running and fix problems etc. The forum makeover cost Brian a good chunk of money, and the new set up has been received well by most, with the ease of posting pictures a Huge plus to the forum.

Now yea there are a ton of members, but in seriousness their are less then 40 or so that actively participate. And to be honest those will probably be the ones that pay the new fee. Yes, the word mandatory sucks, but if he does not do this, it will be the same a few paying for everyone else to gain our knowledge etc. Most other militaria forums have yearly fees, some much more then this...

Fact of the matter is we need to help out to keep the forum running and keep the wonderful treasure trove of information.

Just my opinion

James
 
James
Well stated
count me in
but NOT a 5 year plan
George Burns said that at his age
he don't even buy green bananas
Steve
 
James,

Count me in too. In fact, I'd even be in if it was double, or triple those $20. But I think you are right, we have a lot of members, but active participators are a lot less.
I do not alway's post a lot, but visit the forum everyday. There is so much to see, and learn here!

Regards, Coert.
 
I appreciate all members comments above and hopefully, this will be my last post on the issue other than to inform everyone of the date where a yearly fee will be charged. There are several reasons for this change:
I hate asking people for money, that’s why I didn’t ask for donations for a decade.
We need to stop the spam problem and relieve Tony of deleting them everyday.
Monies collected will allow me to pay tech support and insure that problems are identified and fixed quickly. Naturally, there will also be an extra tech fee for monetization.
There is a yearly cost for this XenForo platform.
I have always felt that it was very unfair that we have 4K+ members and that the same “few” donated year after year.
Some additional costs.....I will have to open up a PayPal business account to collect the fee. PayPal is infamous for using every opportunity to grind out profit. Even though I will be happily surprised if even 20 members commit, I would assume that this amount has to be claimed on my personal income tax. So friends, I am not out to gouge anyone. Let’s get on with our hobby.
 
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