Donations and some ideas

Jason Perry

Jason Perry

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Hey all!

Well, it has been suggested in the past that I have a place for folks to donate. I resisted that idea because I did not want to turn anyone off or make this into a commercial site.

I still think the same way, but as I look around at other advocacy/help sites, I see that they almost all accept donations. I got to thinking about this and it struck me that if I accept donations, I may be able to improve the site further- and thus help more folks.

That lead me to put up the donate button. The initial goal is to pay the overhead and licensing fees for the software. Past that, my hope is to eventually:

-Have individual pages for each service, with linked resources specific to each. This will require a programmer.

Continue to improve the software. There are several upgrades I would like to make and will be able to do so sooner with support from the community. This includes better "Library" section, blogs for users (public or private) and a robust timeline tool. Some of this is off the shelf, others I may have to get a programmer to help with.

Improve out marketing with banner ads, buttons, etc. to put on other sites.

Well, I am going to give this a spin. I didn't want my stuborness to stand in the way of making this a better place. However, I don't want any member to feel pressured into giving. This is a place for free information. If you give, it is greatly appreciated. But it is never expected.

As always, any feedback is welcome.
 
Jason, for some reason the icon in the donation box isn't loading, is it through PayPal?
 
It is an image .gif . I noticed it looks strange on my browser, too. Try hitting F5, because I have been working on it in the template. But I am looking for another image button. Thanks for the heads up!
 
guy congratulations on your pay increase!!!

you will no longer earn $00,000.00, for your great moderation work here. you can now add another zero for a grand total of: $000,000.00. congrats! don't spend it all in one place. forget about filing for IU now:D

honestly,
i think this is the right move for the site. it can only get better, even though that's hard to believe. and it's not like anyone is forced to do it.
 
jim h,

Thanks for the feedback!

As far as obvious, I put a donate link up in the navigation bar. Do you think I should move the donate box up higher? I didn't want to overtake the content in recent threads. Probably, also didn't want to make it too "in your face." (I may still have a little ambivalence about this :confused:)

As far as easier, any suggestions or specifics? There is another modification that created a "Donate" thread. Is that the type of thing you mean? Or is it PayPal that is the problem?
 
Hey rob,

Guy gets paid in avatars! Don't go promising extra money for him!

My hope is that by taking donations, I can make this place even better...hard to imagine, right?:p
 
robs42 said:
you will no longer earn $00,000.00, for your great moderation work here. you can now add another zero for a grand total of: $000,000.00. congrats! don't spend it all in one place. forget about filing for IU now:D
Click to expand...

Yes! With rising gas prices, I can still totally afford those free samples at Costco now! :D

Jason said:
Guy gets paid in avatars! Don't go promising extra money for him!
Click to expand...

I had to pimp myself out like a corporate whore for this last one. I mean just look at my post count! :p

PayPal can be very tricky about some credit cards or check cards working on their site, if you don't have a PayPal account. However, setting up a PayPal account is very simple, it's like setting up an online checking account and you transfer money from your real checking account into your PayPal account. It's simpler than I probably make it sound. However, don't forget your password or email that you used to set up your account. Don't ask me how I know. :o

This site's a rare gem indeed. The really cool thing about donating here is you know some committee isn't keeping 40% to fund their salaries, offices, and employees.
 
I think its a terrific idea. I donated, and will continue too do so, as I have found this site to be absolutely invaluable. There are very few places where you can find information like this, and none of them that include a group of people like this who will go out of their way to help so much. Keep up the great work!!!:)
 
I totally agree with Shamus and you guys, but also, if any of the members here donate their talents will be even better, "web and graphics designers, programers etc." All ideas to get this place number 1 on the web!!! Myself. I have already spreading the words around this place (Fort Gordon)at work and all the guys I will meet at the WTB this comming up monday.
 
Shamus and everyone else who has given, Thank you!

Jimmie Lugo, that is a very good point about there being all kinds of donations. I really appreciate anyone who spreads the word, be it to people they know, by linking us on another site, or using social bookmarking to post interesting links to digg, furl, etc.

I am confident that we will continue to grow. If we do, it will be mainly due to the collective efforts of our members. You guys are great!
 
Oh, I fixed the donate buttons, too!
 
I just wanted to let you all know, today I extended the license for the software for another year. It was paid for with the generous donations from several members here. Thank you to all those who donated, while I am very happy with our community and really enjoy helping others, it was nice to have some help with the expenses here!

My next "goal" is to raise $50 in order to install a blog function. This software will allow you to post your own blog, and to set it to who you would like to be able to read (from just you, to members of select user groups, to the whole world).

Here is more info on the blog:

Fast Start

vBulletin Blog makes it simple for community members to create their own space within the community. Getting started is as simple as posting the first message (using the same familiar vBulletin editor). There is no lengthy setup process - blog owners are free to personalise their blog at any time by defining a title and a description that will appear at the top of every blog post.
Fully Featured

It is a feature-rich blog application, with support for fully formatted WYSIWYG posts, attachments, comments, trackbacks and pingbacks, draft posts and categories, as well as seamless integration with the overall vBulletin system.
Blog Home Page

Available via a single click from any vBulletin page, the blog home page aggregates activity from all member blogs into a single page – with information about the most recent and highest rated blog posts, recent comments, a featured blog post (selected by the administrator or at random), full support for browsing posts by date and overall blogging statistics.
Syndication and Subscriptions

Site wide and per-blog RSS feeds allow syndication to external readers, and full support for vBulletin subscriptions enables users to join their favorite blogs and receive regular email updates.
Profile Support

Member blogs are integrated with the vBulletin profile system – profile information is displayed alongside blog posts, and existing profile pages are enhanced with information about blog activity.
Blog Control Panel

The Blog Control Panel empowers members to control every aspect of their blogs, from permission controls (who has access to view and comment on the blog), to full management of blog categories, draft posts, trackbacks/pingbacks and subscriptions. Blog owners also have the ability to moderate comments on their own blog.
Admin Features

  • <LI class=listfeature>Full Control
    Integration with the vBulletin usergroups permission system allows site owners to regulate which users are able to create blogs, and enhancements to the vBulletin admin control panel give administrators total control over the whole system. <LI class=listfeature>Painless Installation
    vBulletin Blog is a plug-in product that can be installed into your existing vBulletin installation within minutes. <LI class=listfeature>Fully Customisable
    Blog utilises the powerful vBulletin templating system, and will automatically inherit styles and color-schemes from the forums, for total out-the-box integration.
  • Anti-Spam
    Full support for the Akismet anti-spam service stamps out comment spam.
Anyway, I look forward to making more improvements to the site and thank all of you for being part of this great community!
 
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