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How much would you pay for this forum?

AprecheApreche
edited September 2013 in Forum Stuff
So. If you haven't noticed, this forum has some issues. I had to put it into invite only mode because the registration approval system was getting spammed, and the plugins that solve that ceased to function. The search doesn't work either. There are many updates to Vanilla that we simply do not have.

The only real solution to this is to pay for Vanilla to host this forum. The problem is that it is very expensive. The Linode that hosts the forum now is $20 a month. Vanilla will charge us $150 a month because of the very high volume of page views.

For me to continue paying $20 a month, we would need 130 people to commit to paying $1 a month. Do we have that many people who will setup recurring Paypal to me for $1 a month? Even if we do have that many people, will people cancel it? If too many people cancel or drop out as time goes on, it could get bad.

I could easily do something special for the people who pay the $1. Maybe some small and tasteful flair? I could also create a members only thread category, but I like to keep our content on the open web for all the lurkers, as they are actually the largest audience. Thoughts?
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Comments

  • MATATATMATATAT
    Yeah I'd do that for sure.
  • AprecheApreche
    Yeah I'd do that for sure.
    One down. One hundred and twenty nine to go.
  • ColdguyColdguy
    I'd buy that for a dollar! Maybe a few more depending on what cool bells and whistles come with it.

    Also in before "You should Kickstart this."
  • CremlianCremlian
    edited September 2013
    Man I'd sponsor a month Rubin for search freaking functions.
    Post edited by Cremlian on
  • AprecheApreche
    I'd buy that for a dollar! Maybe a few more depending on what cool bells and whistles come with it.

    Also in before "You should Kickstart this."
    Not Kickstartable.
    Man I'd sponsor a month Rubin for search freaking functions.
    12 people paying $130 a year works as well as 130 paying 12 a year.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Registration spamming is nothing new. I have a series of questions on my forum that require the registrant to answer Pokemon related questions and I still get tons of spam registrations. Couple that with the thousands of hack attempts every hour from China, South America and the Middle East.

    All that moving to vannilla hosting does is give you a false sense of security because you will not know when you are being hacked.
  • ChurbaChurba
    edited September 2013
    Question - Do we even have 130 regulars? That's the only people I could even imagine paying to use the forum, and even then, I doubt 100% of regulars would pay - because take a group that have something for free, and inevitably, you won't get 100% to pay for it, no matter how good or cashed up those people are.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • Drunken ButlerDrunken Butler
    I'd be willing to throw a few bucks a month out there to help keep the forum going. I have just one question: Would it be worth setting up a monthly payment system for what amounts to $12 bucks a year?
  • AprecheApreche
    Registration spamming is nothing new. I have a series of questions on my forum that require the registrant to answer Pokemon related questions and I still get tons of spam registrations. Couple that with the thousands of hack attempts every hour from China, South America and the Middle East.

    All that moving to vannilla hosting does is give you a false sense of security because you will not know when you are being hacked.
    It doesn't matter if I don't know I'm being hacked because it will be someone elses job to deal with it. That's what I'm paying for.
  • AprecheApreche
    edited September 2013
    I'd be willing to throw a few bucks a month out there to help keep the forum going. I have just one question: Would it be worth setting up a monthly payment system for what amounts to $12 bucks a year?
    I'd be more worried with an annual system as people would pay for the first year and then 12 months out we would be fucked when people don't re-up.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • pencepence
    Indiegogo will let you fund forum hosting. The other forum I post on just did it: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/it-s-time-for-talking-time
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Have you considered migrating to something other than vanilla?
  • TheWhaleSharkTheWhaleShark
    Ads?
  • AxelAxel
    I would throw $1 a month at the forum for sure.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Maybe you just need to get better at admining.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    Why would you need the members to pay? I thought both you and Rym have mega awesome jobs that pah mega awesome salaries? Hasn't Rym often said he would willingly pay more taxes? Why not just pay more for the hosting yourselves?

    Can you run ads if you host through vanilla? Do you lose a certain level of control?

    Why is it so expensive? This forum is practically text only. Most images are hosted elsewhere.
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    Have you done any shopping around for forum hosting besides Vanilla?
  • AprecheApreche
    Have you considered migrating to something other than vanilla?
    Like what that doesn't suck? Discourse is probably the only option, and is not good enough.
  • HMTKSteveHMTKSteve
    What is your main problem with vbulletin?
  • AprecheApreche
    edited September 2013
    What is your main problem with vbulletin?
    It's a piece of shit, looks like shit, and smells like shit.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • AndrewAndrew
    Get a private subreddit.
  • Josh BytesJosh Bytes
    Have you considered migrating to something other than vanilla?
    Like what that doesn't suck? Discourse is probably the only option, and is not good enough.
    Have you heard of moot.it?

    https://moot.it/upgrade/

    $20 per month
    Unlimited users. Unlimited traffic.
  • ProfPanglossProfPangloss
    Yeah, I can do $1 a month for the forum.
  • RochelleRochelle
    edited September 2013
    Man I'd sponsor a month Rubin for search freaking functions.
    THIS. FUCKING. THIS. Also everything I mentioned in the Vanilla thread.
    Post edited by Rochelle on
  • Anthony HemanAnthony Heman
    I'd do a dollar a month.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Great, we're up to like $5.
  • SailSail
    I'd be willing to pitch in but I feel like there must be a better solution.
  • NuriNuri
    If I had a job, I'd totally throw in $5 a month. But I don't. Until I do, I can't commit to paying for services that are ultimately a luxury.

    People suggesting ads... come on. Most of us use some form of Adblock. The income from ads would be trivial at best.

  • AprecheApreche
    I'd be willing to pitch in but I feel like there must be a better solution.
    Must be:

    1) Cheap
    2) Not suck
    3) Modern
    4) Mobile
    5) Not ugly as sin
    6) Minimal
    7) No spam
    8) Good search
    9) Can migrate current data to it
    10) Keep all current URLs alive
    11) No loss of data or features

    Not many choices out there.
  • SailSail
    Well Vanilla hosting doesn't even fit your requirement 1 so it doesn't seem like the way to go.
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