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Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2017 11:14 am
by pureredcordial
What about if you make the documentation forum only available to members who have donated?
Also other forums also have different "search" allowances based on membership. eg 1 search per minute for guests, 1 per 10 seconds for members.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2017 9:43 am
by Vampyr
Donation sent, wealth of knowledge and humour.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 10:51 am
by blazing928
Hi, just read this, I haven't been on the site for ages.
Rennlist.com has sections for members only.( I have a Porsche 928s4)
When you pay you become an 'active' member , so no advertisements & allows access to stuff that I don't really know what, as I've always been a member. 928's are like haflingers, only survive because of the huge user database that helps keep them on the road. Only costs about $20 a year, usually pay for 3 years at a time $50?
I don't think it's in any way unrealistic to ask for payment by users to keep the site going, or you can sell some adverts, but maybe not enough users?

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:04 pm
by heinkeljb
It's not unrealistic to charge for membership, but free is much better. Obviously it would be nice if people just donated something towards the running costs as some one has to pay for hosting at the end of the day.
The way I look at it is that the forum has helped me with keeping my Haflinger running, why shouldn't I pay something to keep the forum running as well?

I have seen lots of forums that have gone the "You must pay to view" route and all of them have lost membership numbers.

The cost of hosting when divided between several people is not that much and if everyone of the members put 10 Euros in, that would cover all the cost easily. 10 Euros is not even a night out at the Pub, or a takeaway meal.

This being the first year that members have been asked to pay anything, I think the ADMIN'S will run it and see what happens.

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Sat Mar 25, 2017 7:35 pm
by Czechsix
Chipped in again. Not much, but anything helps.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Sun Mar 26, 2017 3:03 am
by AustHaflinger
I agree with John that subscriptions are not the way to go. It does put people off and I for one, am not a member of any forums where I HAVE to pay. The way to do it as we have done here - call for donations - I guess the question is how to do it - whether a donate button on the site or just asking members to contribute when funds are needed or maybe some other way or a combination of them all.

I have noticed that each time someone posts up about this, it seems to prompt a fewdonations so maybe a post up here every 3 months or so may be enough to prompt responses.

As Czechsix said - "anything helps".

Garry

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:57 pm
by heinkeljb
Following the transfer of money from the Paypal account Markus originally setup to run the forum from, that account has now been closed. Until I have setup new "DONATION" buttons pointing to the new paypal account, the current buttons will not work.
If you wish to make a donation in the meantime, please send send money to the following PayPal account:-

[email protected]

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:44 pm
by heinkeljb
I have now made a replacement DONATIONS button which should now work correctly. I have tested myself, but that does not mean it works for everyone! So I need some donations to be made so I can check it works for everyone....

Apologises to anyone who was on the forum earlier this evening and made a post - please check to see if it is still there, it is possible it has been removed. I made a mistake and had to restore the forum to an earlier time.

Hopefully everything is now working correctly.

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:45 pm
by Czechsix
Just made a small test donation, looks like it went through.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:24 am
by heinkeljb
It did, thanks you!

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Wed Sep 27, 2017 3:55 pm
by heinkeljb
Hi guys,

Although renewal of the hosting fees etc is a little way off (Christmas time), I thought I would be brazen and ask people to please make a donation using the DONATE button at the bottom of each page to put a little more into the Paypal account so when I have to make a payment, my contribution isn't for a large proportion of it!

Please donate, even if it is only what you would spend on a drink whilst out and about....

Many thanks,

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 12:01 am
by AustHaflinger
Hi John - I have flicked you a tenner.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 7:06 am
by Julian B
Ditto

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:16 am
by AustHaflinger
garrycol wrote:Hi John - I have flicked you a tenner.
Well actually $17.83 of good ole aussie plastic money 8-)

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Thu Sep 28, 2017 8:53 am
by heinkeljb
It showed up on the account as £10 - so that's also a plastic note for us!

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 4:58 am
by ogdenenterprise
My bit done.

Dave

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Mon Oct 02, 2017 7:41 am
by heinkeljb
Many thanks for the donations - more are always welcome!

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Tue Oct 16, 2018 7:44 pm
by heinkeljb
Guess What?

The end of the year is approaching and I shall have to pay for hosting the site again, only this time they have decided that EU countries have to pay VAT on their accounts......

So that means another 20% on the bill when it arrives at the end of December.

Any more donations this year very welcome - the button is on every page!

Many thanks,

John

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:20 am
by Julian B
Have sent a donation. Thanks for organising this, John.

Re: The forum is not free to run BUT you access it for free!

Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2018 7:23 pm
by heinkeljb
Many thanks to those who have donated to the running costs of the forum.

Regards,

John