Finance the Fool

[robbelg]

I noticed a post by stooz? that mentioned ads. I looked around and thought ads what ads?

Then I remembered that I have an ad blocker.
I have now turned it off for Lemon Fool, and would suggest that everyone else does too.
They are not obtrusive and I think it is the very least we can do to support this wonderful site.


Rob

[melonfool]

Good point - done.

Mel

[grimer]

Personally, I'd be happy to chip in a few quid to help cover costs and receive a 'contributor' symbol next to my username.

What are the estimated costs for the year?

[kiloran]

Then I remembered that I have an ad blocker.
I have now turned it off for Lemon Fool, and would suggest that everyone else does too.
They are not obtrusive and I think it is the very least we can do to support this wonderful site.

I may be wrong, but I think displaying ads contributes nothing to the site. It's only clicking on an ad that can generate revenue. Since I have a habit of completely ignoring ads anywhere (internet, telly, newspapers, etc) and there is no way I would click on one anywhere, I hope that my use of an ad-blocker is not detrimental to LemonFool

I honestly think we need a wikipedia-like model where we can voluntarily contribute funds to support Stooz et al

--kiloran

[staffordian]

I honestly think we need a wikipedia-like model where we can voluntarily contribute funds to support Stooz et al

--kiloran

I agree.

This funding model is used on a railway forum I visit from time to time.

Each year, the total needed for the year is posted and there is a way to make a contribution via PayPal (and possibly debit/credit card though I'm not certain about cards).

A running total is visible and posters who contribute have extra privileges, though I can't recall what they are; I give a bit because I find the forum useful rather than for any extra benefits.

It always seems to raise whats needed quite easily as the figures are modest.

[tieresias]

I switched off my ad blocker for this site and the first advert I saw was, in fact, relevant enough for me to click it (a renewable energy bond offering 7-9.25% fixed income. I will probably not be following through with it, though.) The next ad (International Expeditions, an eco-travel operator) was also worth a click. I hope I'm doing my bit to support Lemon Fool!

[GetFrodo]

I may be wrong, but I think displaying ads contributes nothing to the site. It's only clicking on an ad that can generate revenue.
--kiloran

It depends on the business model. Some are pay-per-click as you suggest, but some are pay-per-impression which would indeed generate revenue merely for displaying ads.

[UncleEbenezer]

Reading this thread, I just tried turning off adblock.

Got an ad about property investment. Acceptable, in that it didn't move or try to hijack the browser. So in principle, happy to cooperate there. And much rather that kind of ad than the kind of nonsense that trashes many sites.

Sadly I then started to see the animated gifs that infect this site, that I had adblocked out. So I turned adblock back on.

In firefox I can fix that with image.animation_mode=none in about:config (which is always a Good Idea for general browsing). So it's manageable, but would make it easier to enable ads if the gratuitous animations were replaced with something sensible.

[stooz]

I will try and sort several options like a small payment that removes ads, and provides extra hidden discussion rooms for example.
The ads shall remain un intrusive.
Or incentivesres for moderators too?

[Tortoise1000]

I'd really like for the whole thing to be free, not have paid for parts, and then ask for voluntary contributions like Wikipedia does. There is so much goodwill towards things that are voluntary, and its in the spirit of TMF. One thing about Fools, surely, is that they tend to be solvent - that's the point! I am sure if you asked for contributions right now you'd be overwhelmed with support. I value this community and am happy to chip in, and I am sure many others feel the same. Don't waste your time working out subscriptions models, you are already giving us so much. Just ask for some money to get started and then try to voluntary subs from time to time, and see how it goes.

T

[kiloran]

I am sure if you asked for contributions right now you'd be overwhelmed with support. I value this community and am happy to chip in, and I am sure many others feel the same. Don't waste your time working out subscriptions models, you are already giving us so much. Just ask for some money to get started and then try to voluntary subs from time to time, and see how it goes.
T

100% agree

--kiloran

[uspaul666]

+1
I'm happy to contribute, say, £50 or £100 a year at least for the next few years. That should pay for quite a bit of hosting. I've made far more than that due to the help, advice and examples of posters on the fool so I'm happy to give back. Perhaps the founders of the site should set up a tip jar or similar account now while everyone's full of good will
I'm also a programmer and may be able to help with the site features at some point. php is a language I've managed to avoid thus far, I have some skills with JS, html and css, but my core skills are UNIX, Java and proprietary front-office software.

[Clariman]

Many thanks everyone. As you can imagine, it has all moved very quickly so far. Stooz and I need time to have a discussion about how we fund and manage this. We plan to have a chat on Sunday morning and take it from there. Stooz tells me that the Ads have already made some contribution. Our costs have not been high so far but will mount with increased traffic.

Voluntary donations or crowd-funding might be options, but I wouldn't want to over-promise what we can deliver and maintain. I'll discuss with Stooz tomorrow ..... but how would people feel about a voluntary donation on the basis of "Thanks for what you have done so far" without necessarily getting a commitment for a forever future with it growing like topsy?

Don't get me wrong. Stooz and I have NOT done this for one weekend of personal glory (LOL) - we would love it to become a long term solution, but we need to take things one step at a time.

Thanks again and please bear with us.

Clariman

[GN100]

Stooz and Clariman have done so much so quickly and I am certain that any funding scheme they come up with will be fair. I've turned off my adblocker and hope that helps in the meantime.

GN

[staffordian]

. . . but how would people feel about a voluntary donation on the basis of "Thanks for what you have done so far" without necessarily getting a commitment for a forever future with it growing like topsy?. . .

Absolutely.

I'd suggest estimating the likely costs for the next 12 months and asking for donations towards that figure.

I've no idea what the costs are, but say they are £1000 and we have 500 users.

If only a quarter wish to contribute that's £8 each. Surely a tenner or so for all this is little to ask?

[Slarti]

I noticed a post by stooz? that mentioned ads. I looked around and thought ads what ads?

Then I remembered that I have an ad blocker.
I have now turned it off for Lemon Fool, and would suggest that everyone else does too.
They are not obtrusive and I think it is the very least we can do to support this wonderful site.


Rob

Can't agree with that as, unless all the adds are hosted here and pre-inspected, there is too great a security risk.

My only 2 security problems in the last 12 months have been from a customer's site where they got infected from malvertising and an attempted infection from a site I couldn't see with add blocking turned on.


Tooo wrisky!


But I will happily make a donation or pay for access.

[Tortoise1000]

how would people feel about a voluntary donation on the basis of "Thanks for what you have done so far" without necessarily getting a commitment for a forever future with it growing like topsy?

We are certainly grateful for what you have done so far. You mean we might put a few bob into it, and then our investment might not prosper? No worries! You are talking to a bunch of share investors here, Clariman. We have practised this

T

[UncleEbenezer]

I will try and sort several options like a small payment that removes ads, and provides extra hidden discussion rooms for example.
The ads shall remain un intrusive.
Or incentivesres for moderators too?

I guess it's far too early to say whether the ads as they are will meet all your costs. Well, if the costs are just hosting you'll be quids in, but if you have to employ paid manpower it's a different story. Glad to hear the ads will remain unobtrusive.

I suspect you site owners are at least somewhat familiar with how free software works, and probably with communities. The speed and efficiency with which this site appeared would be quite astonishing if you weren't. So my comments below are aimed not at you but at some of the other suggestions being floated. I may be a freeloader at this site (as at many), but I've contributed much more than most Fools by virtue of my unpaid work as a leading developer of two of the free software products that power this site.

I think any compulsory payment would be totally counterproductive (TMF's nagging was bad enough)! The value in this site is its community, and any payment becomes an obstacle to healthy growth. The goodwill amongst TMF refugees isn't going to extend to new prospective members!

Paid premium content is not a problem per se but could become horribly obtrusive if chunks of the free content start to look like teasers. Anything that leads to an "us and them" situation, like having some discussion boards behind a paywall, also tends to be problematic.

On the subject of moderators, Usenet moderators were always volunteers. They'd do a stint because they enjoyed it, and if they got tired of it or too busy they'd find a replacement. If a site were to adopt a paid staff model, would they not need to go through a proper contracting (or even employment) process?

[Clariman]

Thanks Uncle. I'm not a fan of paid premium content nor compulsory subscription fees. Have you been a contributor to the forum software development itself or some other area of code?

[grimer]

I agree with Uncle. I don't think that any content should be behind a paywall. It just won't work.

I'd recommend setting up either a 'Just giving' or 'crowd funding' site and letting users contribute towards a target. If you reward paying contributors with a symbol next to their names it would encourage (guilt) regular users into paying.

I'll happily pay for these forums, but I'd resent a 'subscription' .