Your input is requested!

[John G]

According to the member list there are 50 members - £50 doesn't go a long way and certainly doesn't cover the cost of buying a domain name, hosting, broadband, website upkeep, advertising, google ads etc.

Yes I would be interested in paying a fee, not £100, thats just being greedy - but a membership fee that would let me view certain levels of the forum and gain valuable info/swap files with other fee paying members.

Cheers John

Just noticed an extra page on the members list - still 70 odd quid doesn't go far.

[Paul]

yep. I agree. it does not go far. but if there is more people like you who is more then happy to pay for mambership then why not give donation. how many members we already got you think will be happy to pay for membership??

[JSR]

thought that might stir things up a little. That's what's great about forums, everyones got there own opinions - and are entitled to them too.

That's true. The more we discuss the options, the more everyone will know the reasons behind the eventual decision. More transparency.

Why would people sue if they didn't get the right answers after paying to be members its a forum for likeminded people not a paid for answering service. You get this kind of info with your inks and subli supplies - that you pay for.

I've seen people join forums in the past because they have a problem and, within two hours of not getting an answer, they put on a right stroppy post. A moderator then comes in to try and calm them down, pointing out that it's not a paid-for service and that members reply if they have an answer at a time that suits them. That's fine if the forum is free, but if that member has just paid in order to post their question, they're not going to be placated so easily.

The new member will have paid their money, but no one here is being paid to solve their problem, so they may not get the help that they believed they just paid for. Immediately, the forum and the site gets a bad reputation with the member telling everyone and anyone that "DSF is a rip-off. They take your money, then refuse to help. Stay away from that bunch of shysters!"

A small donation of £1 wouldn't even pay for the hosting never mind the upgrades in software/hardware over the years and the running costs involved with keeping a successful forum up on the internet.

This is why I suggested there should be a "target" and "amount raised" page so that everyone knows if the tally is falling short. Admittedly, we would all have to trust the forum owner to post the correct figures but it would be better than nothing. If we know the target up-front, we'd have a better understanding of how much to donate.

If all 74 members pay £10, making £740 in total, and the cost is only £120, I'd feel like we're being ripped off. But if 74 members pay £1 and the tally falls short by £50, then I'd be more than happy to pay another quid or two. Until we know what the costs are, everyone will assume that enough people have already paid. For me, I'm happy to put in a fiver and it won't bother me if the next guy puts in just a quid.

Personally, I'm not 100% against a "paid-for membership" system but, as I've posted, there are just wayyy too many negatives to make it work well. It'd be on a downward spiral from day one. A donation system means that the future of the forum is in the hands of the members, while a paid-for membership scheme means that the future of the forum is in the hands of one person.

[Paul]

If all 74 members pay £10, making £740 in total, and the cost is only £120, I'd feel like we're being ripped off. But if 74 members pay £1 and the tally falls short by £50, then I'd be more than happy to pay another quid or two. Until we know what the costs are, everyone will assume that enough people have already paid. For me, I'm happy to put in a fiver and it won't bother me if the next guy puts in just a quid.

Personally, I'm not 100% against a "paid-for membership" system but, as I've posted, there are just wayyy too many negatives to make it work well. It'd be on a downward spiral from day one. A donation system means that the future of the forum is in the hands of the members, while a paid-for membership scheme means that the future of the forum is in the hands of one person.

thats what I was talking about. You all can not forget forum is for all! not only for admins. so If you think wee need few £££ and buy new script etc... donate then. or contact admin or mods.

[John G]

I don't think anybody is going to join and pay for a forum membership to get one question answered - thats why I said different membership levels with free joining.

Questions regarding times/temps are answered for free when you buy your inks/subli supplies - other answers can be found for free on google. This forum has helped me as a newbie but i have contributed info on other subject freely too.

There are 74 members - 18 have never posted yet 29 have under 10 posts - add these together you have 47 potential members that, after getting their question answered might never come back to the forum. That is well over half of your member list that might not exist after a month or so.

I'm not saying all 47 members are like this, but if they are, what - if anything, do they contribute to this forum.

Cheers John

[JSR]

I don't think anybody is going to join and pay for a forum membership to get one question answered - thats why I said different membership levels with free joining.

Questions regarding times/temps are answered for free when you buy your inks/subli supplies - other answers can be found for free on google. This forum has helped me as a newbie but i have contributed info on other subject freely too.

There are 74 members - 18 have never posted yet 29 have under 10 posts - add these together you have 47 potential members that, after getting their question answered might never come back to the forum. That is well over half of your member list that might not exist after a month or so.

I'm not saying all 47 members are like this, but if they are, what - if anything, do they contribute to this forum.

Cheers John

Well if, out of 74 members, only 29 are posting, then clearly the bandwidth and web-space demands aren't that high - so the costs associated to the forum won't be that high either. Domain name costs £5 a year, a bit of cheap web-space for £30 a year. Job done for less than £40.

I'm interested in your idea of "different membership levels". How do you envisage that working? Some kind of "value-added" service that paid-for members get? If so, what kind of things did you have in mind?

[Justin]

Some good feedback here guys and differing opinions.

Firstly, I have no intention of running the forum for any profit. Every penny raised would be used to run and enhance the forum. I run the forum for pleasure and have no intention of running it as a business.

My personal thoughts are that I don't want members to have to pay anything towards the running if at all possible. That said, we do need to find a way to make sure folk don't join up and never contribute. If i can raise funding other ways I will but membership may well be a must, we'll see

The forum works perfectly well as it is for the time being but as we attract more members and start new sections of information etc. we will need to change things.

I will sit down and work out the possible associated costs, any help you can give on this please PM me.

I will start a poll so that members can quickly show their opinions.

Justin

[JSR]

I will sit down and work out the possible associated costs, any help you can give on this please PM me.

What kind of help do you need?

[Justin]

Any ideas on the best platforms etc. I have a good idea but open to advice. Any other associated costs.

Suggested PM so that we can keep this thread for others to voice opinions.

Cheers,
Justin

[John G]

JSR, don't think you can host a members forum for £30.00 per year - it costs that for a basic website.

Regarding different membership levels:
1st level - Registering for free - allows access to forum/chit chat/printpress info, question/answer. No member profiles or pm's

2nd level - As above but with tutorials given by paid members + pm's

3rd level - As above but with file swapping, design help and member profiles.

All above now irrevalent as its going to be free to all.