Board relocation failed! Now for plan B, or C, or something...

[Paulbot]

I think we're making do all right Griffin so there's no rush, but I can understand how frustrating it is for you. We'll get there!

[GoktimusPrime]

Would it help if you offered voluntary sponsorship from members? Back in ye Olde days before the Internet when I was logging onto local dial-up BBSes, I was a member of one Sydney based BBS (Active BBS) where members were given the option of making donations to the board to keep it running. Donors were given special privileges such as unlimited log-on hours (although that's irrelevant now w/ the internet) and access to certain sigs (Special Interest Groups) that non-paying members didn't have.

Perhaps donors here could have the privilege of having customised "ranks." So instead of just "Member" we could customise it to "Dark Lord of the Dance" or "Supreme Monorator" or something - anything we like (within reason - of course mods can still change them if they're offensive or something).

We could have real ranks (Administrator, Moderator) in red and/or italics to distinguish them from these "faux" donor ranks so that new members can keep track of which members are actually part of the board staff.

How does that sound?

I'd donate maybe $15 a year to this board for that privilege.

[Kyle]

Would it help if you offered voluntary sponsorship from members? Back in ye Olde days before the Internet when I was logging onto local dial-up BBSes, I was a member of one Sydney based BBS (Active BBS) where members were given the option of making donations to the board to keep it running. Donors were given special privileges such as unlimited log-on hours (although that's irrelevant now w/ the internet) and access to certain sigs (Special Interest Groups) that non-paying members didn't have.

Perhaps donors here could have the privilege of having customised "ranks." So instead of just "Member" we could customise it to "Dark Overlord" or "Monorator" or something - anything we like (within reason - of course mods can still change them if they're offensive or something).

How does that sound?

I'd happily donate $20 a year to this board for that privilege.

Great idea!

I'd happily donate too either through bank transfer or PayPal, but don't really need any privilege. This hosting thing seems to be not cheap.

[GoktimusPrime]

The privilege thing isn't utterly essential - like you I'd happily make a donation regardless. I just reckon it'd be a neat little token incentive/reward for those of us who are willing to help pay for the upkeep of this board.

[STL]

I'd happily donate too either through bank transfer or PayPal, but don't really need any privilege. This hosting thing seems to be not cheap.

+1!

[Bartrim]

oo would be willing to contribute to prevent the place filling up with ads my queen

(Sorry couldn't help myself after the boss bot reference)

[griffin]

I apreciate the support guys. If a donation system was instigated, I would have to make sure something fair was in place, and if necessary, maybe some toy related sponsorship in the future as well - but it would remain minimal and tasteful.
I have a few ideas with the donation concept, but will deal with that later when things have been sorted out first.

[GoktimusPrime]

My suggestion for a donation system is to have a set minimum amount for people to donate, e.g.: $15 - in return for some token reward, like a custom board rank or maybe just the word "donor" appearing somewhere (like maybe alongside where it has Join Date, Location, Posts)... just as a form of recognition.

Maybe we should change the rank "Member" to be exclusive to donors, and non-paying users can be just known as "users." i.e.: the idea of paying an annual membership fee to help pay the upkeep of this board. As an added incentive, maybe we could have competitions that are only open to members - I'd be willing to donate prizes for such comps, and I'm sure there'd be others who'd be willing to do the same.

We could also do some fund-raising activities. If someone went ahead with making OzFormers T-shirts or jumpers, then perhaps a certain part of proceeds could go to the board. I'm sure most of us wouldn't mind paying an extra $5-10 for a shirt if that money was going to help fund this board. Maybe we someone could even buy a box of fund-raising chocolates or lollies and sell them at conventions like SupaNova, Animania, Manifest etc. - not as in getting a stall or booth, but just walking around the convention and offering them to people? I still have left over stocks of our convention comics - I'd be happy to sell them for maybe $2 a pop and give the proceeds to the board.

[kup]

Would it help if you offered voluntary sponsorship from members? Back in ye Olde days before the Internet when I was logging onto local dial-up BBSes, I was a member of one Sydney based BBS (Active BBS) where members were given the option of making donations to the board to keep it running. Donors were given special privileges such as unlimited log-on hours (although that's irrelevant now w/ the internet) and access to certain sigs (Special Interest Groups) that non-paying members didn't have.

Perhaps donors here could have the privilege of having customised "ranks." So instead of just "Member" we could customise it to "Dark Lord of the Dance" or "Supreme Monorator" or something - anything we like (within reason - of course mods can still change them if they're offensive or something).

We could have real ranks (Administrator, Moderator) in red and/or italics to distinguish them from these "faux" donor ranks so that new members can keep track of which members are actually part of the board staff.

How does that sound?

I'd donate maybe $15 a year to this board for that privilege.

I would be happy to contribute too. I also don't expect anything in return, I would be satisfied just by knowing that I am helping out the community in some way.

[griffin]

The idea has merit, and the incentive is good. It will be something I was going to look into after I settle the hosting situation and get full access back to all of the members and guests.
I was also thinking of a user-based system, maybe with something like google ads at the bottom of the board pages. But was going to have a poll before doing something like that, because I would still like to see no or limited advertising here. I just hate those fan forums that are crowded by advertising.