As I said waaay back in this discussion where do I send my money? 
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CLOSED: Our Crossroads - Another Summary / Next Steps
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I'm late to this party. Been a member for a few years now, but input and involvement has fluctuated over the years.
I think the inability to post pictures directly on CR has stifled growth, engagement and interaction when compared to other forums like the H.A.M.B. or Facebook. I know (and have mentioned in the past) that the inability to post pictures directly has steered me away from contributing more here. I'm simply not interested in creating an account to host my pictures elsewhere (such as photo bucket), then uploading them there and linking them to a build thread here. I just share my build threads elsewhere.
I think I saw on an earlier post that a $20 yearly membership cost was mutually agreed upon, and that a membership would give certain perks such as photo uploading. I'm all for that. Would happily pay $20 a year and would contribute more if that were the case.
I'd still like all users to be able to see classifieds as that widens the buyer audience considerably, but agree that maybe only paid members are able to post to classifieds. Photo posting alone is perk enough for me to cough up my beer money.
Will go back through and see how to send my sheckles in.
I think the inability to post pictures directly on CR has stifled growth, engagement and interaction when compared to other forums like the H.A.M.B. or Facebook. I know (and have mentioned in the past) that the inability to post pictures directly has steered me away from contributing more here. I'm simply not interested in creating an account to host my pictures elsewhere (such as photo bucket), then uploading them there and linking them to a build thread here. I just share my build threads elsewhere.
I think I saw on an earlier post that a $20 yearly membership cost was mutually agreed upon, and that a membership would give certain perks such as photo uploading. I'm all for that. Would happily pay $20 a year and would contribute more if that were the case.
I'd still like all users to be able to see classifieds as that widens the buyer audience considerably, but agree that maybe only paid members are able to post to classifieds. Photo posting alone is perk enough for me to cough up my beer money.
Will go back through and see how to send my sheckles in.
I agree 100%. Lets not make this thing into something that becomes an administration nightmare. Frank and Judy have put countless hours and money into supporting this hobby over the years and I for one don't want to make this any more difficult for them than it has to be. If that means it costs me a few bucks a year to enjoy the forum so be it I don't need any perks. If others choose not to contribute any dollars that's up to them. As someone else mentioned in any volunteer group it's always a few that carry the ball for the rest and in my opinion you ain't never going to change that.
Hi again. My last post in the previous thread read:
Quote:
It appears that things have more or less wrapped up on this particular thread. There has been only been one additional contributor today, none yesterday and only one the day before that.
Whether we have enough support to make a change is not clear to me as some may have backed out.
I will summarize this thread comments in a new thread. If anyone additional people have anything to contribute, they can do it there.
So, here we are and thanks for reading.
While I am tempted to simply buy a software license and hope that reimbursement will follow, I said I wouldn’t and have to stick to that decision.
I am going to summarize, yet again, where we are.
First, everyone who responded in the previous thread (A Crossroads" - Summary / Comments) agrees with “Option 3”. That is, move on to new commercial software and convert the existing database to preserve the history.
Second, most, if not all, agreed with a tiered usergroup system based upon a financial contribution to support the one-time licensing and ongoing yearly fees.
For the purposes of discussion, I am going to use the following tiered usergroup names:
- Supporter ($)
- Member (no $)
Differentiating Between These Usergroups
The consensus, between those that commented so far, appears to be that a Supporter would have the following privileges:
1. Being identified as a “Supporter” with a badge of sorts. While some say they don’t like this, others said they do and I personally think it’s appropriate that there is a differentiation. It could look like something as simple as this:
2. Photo attachments. That is, being able to upload directly from your computer, laptop, etc.
3. Messaging (Called Conversations in the new software). The designers decided not to use “private”. Any old PMs in the database will not be converted so it will be a start-from-scratch scenario.
4. Posting of Classified Ads (does this belong here or in the “in contention” list below?). This implies that Members cannot place ads BUT can reply to ads placed by Supporters.
5. Thank You Gifts. Would depend on reserve $ if any.
Other Permissions in Contention (taken from your responses)
1. Whether Members can view the photos that Supporters have posted in a thread or post. There was no conclusive agreement on this. It goes beyond this though. There could be two variations:
a) Guests (not logged in obviously) could or could not have permission to view photos.
b) Members logged in could or could not have permission to view photos.
2. Whether a Supporter should be able to start a message “conversation” with a Member who can then reply. A Member couldn’t start a conversation however. I have an opinion but would like to hear what you have to say.
3. The actual $ amount to become a Supporter. My opinion: It has to be a reasonable minimum - e.g. $20 annually
NOTE: I was contacted by a few people asking if they could “donate” more than the minimum. Nice gesture but hopefully won’t be necessary. Having said that, I’m not holding my breath.
4. Mandatory introductions for new Members (after conversion). People have been razzed about not doing this in the past. If it isn’t mandatory then we should respect people that don’t wish to.
Summary
Given that we have agreed to go with the new software license, in theory, we don’t have to resolve everything now. However, we should continue “talking”.
Should we be able to gather the $ for the license, I could get the software and start testing. This is not going to be an overnight transition. We can continue to hash things out while I’m testing.
OK, your thoughts please.
Quote:
It appears that things have more or less wrapped up on this particular thread. There has been only been one additional contributor today, none yesterday and only one the day before that.
Whether we have enough support to make a change is not clear to me as some may have backed out.
I will summarize this thread comments in a new thread. If anyone additional people have anything to contribute, they can do it there.
So, here we are and thanks for reading.
While I am tempted to simply buy a software license and hope that reimbursement will follow, I said I wouldn’t and have to stick to that decision.
I am going to summarize, yet again, where we are.
First, everyone who responded in the previous thread (A Crossroads" - Summary / Comments) agrees with “Option 3”. That is, move on to new commercial software and convert the existing database to preserve the history.
Second, most, if not all, agreed with a tiered usergroup system based upon a financial contribution to support the one-time licensing and ongoing yearly fees.
For the purposes of discussion, I am going to use the following tiered usergroup names:
- Supporter ($)
- Member (no $)
Differentiating Between These Usergroups
The consensus, between those that commented so far, appears to be that a Supporter would have the following privileges:
1. Being identified as a “Supporter” with a badge of sorts. While some say they don’t like this, others said they do and I personally think it’s appropriate that there is a differentiation. It could look like something as simple as this:
2. Photo attachments. That is, being able to upload directly from your computer, laptop, etc.
3. Messaging (Called Conversations in the new software). The designers decided not to use “private”. Any old PMs in the database will not be converted so it will be a start-from-scratch scenario.
4. Posting of Classified Ads (does this belong here or in the “in contention” list below?). This implies that Members cannot place ads BUT can reply to ads placed by Supporters.
5. Thank You Gifts. Would depend on reserve $ if any.
Other Permissions in Contention (taken from your responses)
1. Whether Members can view the photos that Supporters have posted in a thread or post. There was no conclusive agreement on this. It goes beyond this though. There could be two variations:
a) Guests (not logged in obviously) could or could not have permission to view photos.
b) Members logged in could or could not have permission to view photos.
2. Whether a Supporter should be able to start a message “conversation” with a Member who can then reply. A Member couldn’t start a conversation however. I have an opinion but would like to hear what you have to say.
3. The actual $ amount to become a Supporter. My opinion: It has to be a reasonable minimum - e.g. $20 annually
NOTE: I was contacted by a few people asking if they could “donate” more than the minimum. Nice gesture but hopefully won’t be necessary. Having said that, I’m not holding my breath.
4. Mandatory introductions for new Members (after conversion). People have been razzed about not doing this in the past. If it isn’t mandatory then we should respect people that don’t wish to.
Summary
Given that we have agreed to go with the new software license, in theory, we don’t have to resolve everything now. However, we should continue “talking”.
Should we be able to gather the $ for the license, I could get the software and start testing. This is not going to be an overnight transition. We can continue to hash things out while I’m testing.
OK, your thoughts please.
The thread just above was originally the first post in this thread. The bizarre character issue that has arisen caused me to try to repost it but I can't get the characters to clean up.
This thread is closed anyway as I will be re-summarizing what we talked about regarding permissions after the migration to the new software.
This thread is closed anyway as I will be re-summarizing what we talked about regarding permissions after the migration to the new software.
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