Donation Status Bar on Forum Homepage

[Robbie]

Fellow mappers,

If I may direct your attention to the forum home page, I have placed a Donation Goal indicator. There was no way to set it up for a specific time frame, so I've set it up for the current year.

We've reached a turning point in the guild here, and its going to require some more software changes and very possibly (almost assuredly) a host change. This is not going to be a free thing, and the site currently makes just enough money to sustain itself. But if we're going to push beyond and upgrade the site into a MUCH more organized and content-centric website we're going to have to turn to you, our user base to chip in. We're looking at renewing our vBulletin license as well as upgrading to the CMS suite. Also, the cost of changing hosts, and the overhead involved as well will need to come from somewhere.

I've set a goal for 300 dollars, and that is for the year according to the status bar. But as things stand now, the sooner we reach this goal, the better. When we reach this goal we'll be able to begin the transition. At a minimum, we need to reach the goal by July, since that is when our software license is up for renewal.

This goal is based on my initial budgeting calculations, and doesn't account for any overhead costs or additional costs that may pop up. If anything more comes up, I'll definitely keep you all posted on it, and adjust the goal accordingly.

I don't like asking for money, and I've always intended for this site to be a free resource for everyone here...but as it grows, the cost of operation grows, and I'd rather turn to those who can afford to contribute instead of requiring a payment for participation here. In the near future, there may end up being some more revenue oriented things added to the site, but for now, we continue to operate on your donations.

Also, the donation system has just been installed, and there's a possibility it may not be working correctly. I definitely want to hear from you if you have any trouble with the donation system, and I'm also looking to see if anyone would be willing to try the subscription system. PM me BEFORE you donate if you are interested.

If you have any questions or anything, please let me know.

[torstan]

I just wanted to say congratulations and thanks to all the generous people here on the donations. It's great to see that we hit the goal so fast.

[Jaxilon]

Here, here. What was that like 3 days or something? Awesome!

Plus, no rest for you now Arcana

[Diamond]

Yeah, it was crazy! I made a donation when the bar was at 27%, and the next day we're at like 94%! (Not that I contributed that 70%, more like 3% )

[Coyotemax]

That's one of the things I love about this site - it feels like a *real* guild

[Robbie]

Yes, you guys have been absolutely awesome on the donation front. I was planning on doing the host move today, but every other hosting option has come up short on something that will cause us problems similar to what we've already faced in a matter of time. Unfortunately, it appears the only option may be to move up to a larger form of hosting. If we're going to do that, it may be very difficult to maintain the site off of donations alone. I'm going to use this run of donations to upgrade the software, and then we'll have to see what other options we have for hosting.

Just to give you guys an idea of what we're facing though...Our current hosting costs 6.99 a month. The next reasonable level of hosting may cost about 45 dollars a month. Don't freak out though...I'm still investigating options.

[Ascension]

Oh that's not bad. $360 a year, we can do that. Well, we should be able to do it. Hitting 4 digits per year might be pushing it, but even then I think we could do that. I'm not saying let's just jump in but you know what I mean.

[Robbie]

Ok, I think I have something, but we're not going to be able to do it today. RobA and I will probably begin the move later this week if everything pans out fully. I want to thank you all so much for meeting the short-term goal. Now I'm going to change the goal to 500 USD for the year. This is NOT a rapid push for money. If we meet the 500 per year goal on donations alone, I'll be able to sustain everything as it is for now with some room for growth, and I am hoping to be able to put some of that money back into the community in the form of prizes and what-not. I'll be putting together a bit more of a financial plan over the coming months, but for now, lets shoot for 500 dollars a year. Donate as you wish, but we've met the short-term goal, so the begging is over lol.

Again, thank you all so much for the support. Things will be settling down a bit over the next week I hope once we get all the move and its bugs out of the way.

[mearrin69]

I was slow to put up a donation the first time around but I'll definitely throw some more your way soon. I enjoy this site very much and benefit from it in more ways than I can count. Really appreciate you guys putting your time and resources into it.
M

[Antheon]

I do have a question or a favor to ask about the donation and it could give someone goose bumps: Can someone tell me how to make use of this 'paypal' thing? I think I've heard of it as part of ebay or something like that. I really like this site and I'd gladly donate but I really don't know what to do as I have no connection to the internet but the Guild and my beloved writing forum and that thing I sometimes call homepage. Maybe there is someone out there who pities me and is willing to explain this stuff to me ... : (


Antheon
feeling very old now