Contributors forum [?]

January 11th, 2010, 4:59 pm

Please do not post just an x and asterisk as a post. If you have a question, please write it out in full sentences so that I can answer it. Thanks!

NameRemoved · Post by **NameRemoved** » January 12th, 2010, 11:13 am

yeah.. apologies Scott I realised what it means after I asked is all..how much needs to be contributed/donated to join the forum?

January 12th, 2010, 2:30 pm

There is no minimum. Any contribution is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Scott

wanabe · Post by **wanabe** » January 12th, 2010, 6:42 pm

Is there a maximum Scott? Would you feel guilty if you received 1 million dollars for your web site; perhaps selling it to some person who doesn't care as you do? You would feel no obligation to do what that person requests regardless if they buy the site or not? would you ever ban this person?

Is their a way to make an anonymous donation(well, that you prefer)?

And if their is no minimum, and "time is money", as is clicking on adds...

lifegazer · Post by **lifegazer** » January 12th, 2010, 8:52 pm

Scott, please explain the expense of hosting a site such as this. I really have no idea what it costs and I'm sure that most of us don't.
Also, how would we actually contribute? Paypal? Cheque?
I can appreciate that this is a 'touchy' subject for you, but I think you should spell out that you're not a millionaire and that there is a cost to having a forum such as this, etc.. I'm sure more people would then help.

January 13th, 2010, 2:54 am

I suppose there is no maximum.

One can contribute via PayPal by clicking the button in the footer of the forums that says "Donate." (I suppose one could create a new alternate PayPal account to make an anonymous donation, but I don't encourage it.)

I spend $60 a month on hosting but that's for all of my websites not just this one--though this one is one of the two most active by far. I also spend a lot on advertising but I balance that out with the amount I receive from ads that are displayed on the site (which are not shown to contributors when logged in).

Yes, I'm not a millionaire. I work as a waiter at a restaurant. But I'm also not poor. I don't need any monetary gifts. I see the time and money I put into this site as an investment for myself. And it's one which I can afford. If I wanted to charge money to let people join the forums, I could. I prefer to provide this website as a free service. When people contribute some money, I take it as a great compliment that they feel the service this site provides is worth the payment. In return, I created the contributors group which does not see most of the ads. The private contributors forum really is not active. Maybe I'll get rid of it. I meant it to be another way to give something back to people who voluntarily pay for using these forums when I do not charge, but the contributors forum is not of much use and seems to just bother the other members.

wanabe wrote:And if their is no minimum, and "time is money", as is clicking on adds...

It is very, very important that you do not click on the ads as a way to donate to me. It is click fraud. And Google is very, very good at automatically spotting it and they err on the side of banning accounts that have suspicious activity. Even mentioning it could put me in jeopardy.