Did you know this topic was posted yesterday?  You should have used th-
oh, wait, never mind [BD]

Well a lot of memberships have been purchased recently because of the loss of the search feature for non paying members.  It would be completely unfair to them to reinstate it since it was the reason they laid out their money to begin with.

Now I can understand why a first time visitor might not want to plunk down $20 to get that ability... but for those who have been here for awhile, if you want to search than [b] pay the less than 6 cents a day to be a team member. [/b]

Aug is right, a complete and thorough FAQ would alleviate the need for many multiple posts and a search feature to answer basic questions.

I [b] WOULD [/b] mind if search is given back for free.  That's all I have to say about that.

We got those repeated threads even WITH the search feature.  We would get them with a FAQ, no matter how complete it was - though I do think a well organized FAQ is a good idea.

My Topics is also a good idea - at least if a member starts a thread he can find it again easily.

[img]http://photos.ar15.com/WS_Content/ImageGallery/IG_LoadImage.asp?iImageUnq=3659[/img]

Pay up or shut up![:D]

we all know the noobs never used the search anyway. Thus the reposting of all those topics. I am sure GB would have loved to have kept everything free. The fact is this site costs money to run. he never required anyone to pay. he is offering more functionality for helping the site.

I fully understand not wanting to pay. Heck it goes against everything the net is based on. But you have to decide if you want to help support a place you spend a lot of time on. I mean i piss away far more than 20.00 a year on crap i don't need. considering how slow the sight is at peak times i don't think it's much to ask for. To be honest i am surprised it has lasted this long for free. Most similar sites that are not commercially funded die within a year.

mike

Maybe an idea that can be explored down the road is allowing a certain number of posts with full site functionality before you are forced to pay...  of course I'm guessing that number would be far below 3,000 or even 1,200 for that matter.

and a [b]FLY[/b] picture it is!! [:D]

Tailgate the answer is not to increase the advertising rates.  That argument might fly with broadcast television in whicj Neilson ratings and market share determine what can be charged.  For the broadcasters, the airwaves are free.  Yes they need to pay other overhead, but use of the airwaves costs them nothing.

GB on the other hand has to pay for his bandwidth, servers, maintenance, software...  In theory we could put that whole burden on the advertisers, but I'm guessing you'd lose quite a few of them.  For example, I got the gunshop I work with to advertise here.  They are supporting the site to the tune of $1,200 a year plus donations to the site such as commissions per gun sold through the site, raffle give aways for Bike4Tykes, etc.  Just how much money do you think a lot of the advertisers here have to blow?  By and large they are small operations.

Think of it like TV.  You get the major netowrks for free.  If you want cable you pay for that.  You want premium channels you pay even more.  Nothing in life is free, somebody has to pay.  If you are not willing to pay than you need to accept the fact that there might be a few services withheld, but for the most part the site functions for you just as it functions for me.  The difference is I've paid for some extra services.

There needed to be a compromise, and this one is fair.  You can still use the site as much as you want, no limit on posts, no limit on how much time you can spend here...  Anyway, if you really step back and look at it I think you'll see its really an equitable answer to a very real problem... balancing services and funds available.

ilikelegs isn't happy unless he is photoshopping these days.  He did include a smiley on his post...  We all know a thick skin is sometimes required around here [:)]

I didn't think I was belittling or insulting.  I voiced similar concerns before this came about, though my concerns were geared more toward attracting new members - paying or not.  I think all members here are important to the continuing growth of this site.

The 30 day search function for new members is a good idea.  I don't know how we could keep people from simply registering a new user name though so it might be imposssible to implement.

There is an old addage which comes to mind... I think it applies here.

In life you get what you pay for...

With this site, for those that aren't Team members, you are getting far [b] MORE [/b] than you pay for!  If you have a free moment between making a few thousand free posts maybe you could take a minute or two and write to Juan and tell him what a great site this is and how much you appreciate being able to hang out here and post for free and enjoy people's company.  I know it would mean a lot to him!

You are correct.

Search will be reinstated in the Equipment Exchange.  The thing is, Goatboy writes the code for every inch of this site so changes take time.


Reinstating it for the troubleshooting forum may be a good idea too, but that is his call.

Maybe the owners of this [b]private[/b] site will see fit to release this [b]private[/b] information.
Of course, it would be helpful, and a good example for [b]you[/b] to release [b]your[/b] private financial info also, so that we can assess [b]your[/b] financial decisions as well.

what good would the financials do? GB has a full time job developing and running this place. plus trying to make a living for his family. I doubt the board will make enough to pay all the expenses plus a 60k+ per year salary for him.

I'd like to see things free as well. But i also hope juan makes a fortune off this place.

Tailgate,

I wasn't going to post to this. But your last post kind of made me mad.

So,here goes,
I've never seen any man whine as much as you have about this whole thing. I mean who cares as long as everyone that comes here has a great time. I wouldn't even be here or a Mod in the Womenz Forum if it weren't for a few friends and my hubby who has been a member here for a while. $20.00's isn't much to ask for. I mean you'd pay more on a Porn Site and look at what all you get. Friendships,Valuable Information for whatever type of gun you shoot. I mean come on now. I think that this thread is a waste of time and a new better topic be started. Like,How Can We Help Goatboy Keep The Site Up. You must not like this place as much as some. Or you'd be really supportive on whatever decisions Goatboy makes. Pay the $20.00's and get off of your soapbox.

And another thing,when I send an IM Message through AR15.com,my computer doesn't get hacked into like it has with AOL IM,Yahoo IM and all those others. And some poeple here don't like to give out their Email Addy's. And it's a much better way to contact someone if you need a quick answer. Rather than waiting a day or 2 for one.

Okay,I said my peace!
Mona
p.s. a womanz point of view!

 

OSA, I won't flame you for that...  However, while I would gladly pay another $20 if Goat asked, right now I'm focusing on buying bronze memberships for others to give people a vested interest in the site.  I don't care how that extra $20 goes to Goat, but I will make sure he gets it.

Cutting the number of forums doesn't do jack squat for BW usage. (Guys, this isn't top secret information, people here with experience know how the net works and can offer quality solutions and ideas. These are one's I have considered as well.) What eats up BW is the amount of traffic and specifically the amount of information sent to users. Every page you read generates about 50k of transfers. Now multiply that over an average of 800 users many with multiple windows opening a page ever 5 seconds and the number grows significantly.

The more BW we throw at the site (two years ago it ran on a SINGLE T1!!!) the more people become regulars and the higher our user count is. We went from averaging 250 to about 750 now. We've peaked at over 1800 users a number of times.

It's easy to also ask for new sites to go up, but then those people would be responsible for upkeep, admin, and covering expenses. Not to mention software, hardware, etc. It's not bad when you start out and have a hundred or two on at once, that's relatively easy to manage. Try 1000 and see what happens. [;)]

What helps us now is having the diversity. This also is going to play a big part in our future as sites continue to close. We're also able to seek advertising and support from not just AR businesses, but from others. (Expect to see more of that this year!)



Yeah this would cut back on some of the DB resource use, but that's why each user is limited in how many messages they can have before their IM is full. (Reminds me I need to code a better meter!) I think this is one of those features which is essential for guys to communicate quickly. I'm all for removing this if it's desired! [=)]



Actually you're wrong here. Only pictures hosted by the site waste BW. The ones on other sites or services eat up THEIR BW. This is why places that offer photo sharing and free websites do not let you link pictures offsite. As for the "quote" issue, that was fixed long ago. Pictures that are quoted are turned into URLs. [=D]



Working on that! [=)] The problem is, as someone mentioned, many companies are moving AWAY from online advertising right now as money is tight. Last year we lost a hefty chunk of it and felt the burden of the site. It's an up and down market where you never know what to expect. It's a lot easier to deal with when you're not a startup, business, or concerned with milking advertisers.



We already charge DEALER accounts for businesses/individuals who sell often. We're also working on replacing the forum with an engine and charging a small per/listing fee.



I hope I helped answer the questions you posed about fixes and tweaks. If you noticed, last night I updated the site to allow all the images (and subsequent BW) to be moved elsewhere. I expect to have at least one or two members helping to host that and share the BW.

I have been focused, for over a year, on cutting back on BW use and keeping resource use as tight as possible as well. The best thing I can do now is REBUILD the site in a newer technology which will accomplish the resource management better. That's just life... but finding the time isn't so easy! [=)]

The final solution in keeping our costs down is either to make the site PAY ONLY, which I swore I would not do, or go back to limiting the number of users allowed at once which seems to just piss people off.

Scattered responses:

I will revert back to the old autologin if that's what it takes to fix it. If you haven't already tried clearing out your cookies, please do that now. [=)]

We're moving away from the current spellcheck service. I grow tired of monthly bills piling up. I talked with a company who has a product I will help code and be free to use. (Partnerships like that help keep costs down, just makes me more busy... [=(]) This should help with problems people are seeing with spellcheck.

We've shared what the site runs on, how many lines locally, how many lines at the secondary location, software costs, etc. It hasn't been a secret. I don't mind the question, but do you mind if I ask you to post your salary, how often you spend time here, and what you do with your free time? Again, you shouldn't be offended, but it's not really my business to know every minor detail on how you live your life. In running this site I also try to help businesses that are starting out, guys who are small AND big. I try to handle the giant balancing act you guys take for granted. Every bit of this, development, admin, etc. takes a toll on my free time and personal life.

No search sucks, I know this, I don't want you guys to miss it, but right now I have to do what needs to be done. If you think about it, $20/year is $1.67 a month. You can find that much on the street, in your car, of in beer bottle exchanges! (Get your carts ready! [;)])

Take a little ownership in something you enjoy and take some of the burden off my back. If not, that's fine too, but don't rip into me because of it. I'm doing the best I can FOR YOU. [=)]