Hello all ... Gold community expires in a month. I was wondering if we wanted to maybe renew it for at least three months so we have time to really hash it all out once the show is over. We have $154.00 in the community chest. For three months it will cost $253 so we're almost there. A year is $760.00, but I don't know if anyone is interested in that. Same deal as before without gold community we lose the ability to sticky posts and use html, plus unless a member is an ezboard supporter, there are lots and lots and LOTS of ads and banners.
Sorry, I didn't put all the info out there like usual. Here it is:
To start with, for those who don't know, this is how ezboard works. Each board starts out with a 30-day Gold Community trial period or you can buy three months off the bat for about $9.95 and six months for $30.00. Once Gold Community expires, you lose:
- The html function (which we use a lot of on this board, the breakdowns/the birthday thread, etc.)
- The "Sticky Topics" function
Admittedly, for non-html users, this doesn't seem like much to lose. For html-users, it's a huge pain in the buttocks. However, that's just what we lose. It's what we gain that is the greater issue. Without Gold Community, we get:
- Pop-ups. Lots and lots and lots and did I mention? LOTS of pop-ups. Plenty lots.
- Text links all over that have nothing to do with Logan, Veronica or Veronica Mars.
- Banners. Big, ugly, really ugly, banners.
So, Gold Community keeps the board pretty, stickied, html-ed, non-VM-texted and free of plenty o' pop-ups. The catch? The price.
The cost of Gold Community is based on the activity of the board. High-activity boards run pretty high for renewal costs and this board is fairly high in activity. It's not ridiculously high -- one board I ran actually cost over $4,000 to renew for a year. We're nowhere near that. And with how the show has been recently, we've had much decreased board activity, so we're only looking at:
3 months Gold Community for $255
6 months Gold Community for $425
12 months Gold Community for $765
(Yes, it went up a bit because there's more activity at this time than there is at 8 in the morning.)
The way ezboard works is that 30 days before your current Gold Community expires, the admin (that's me) has the ability to lock the price down so that any further activity doesn't jack up that price.
How to donate:
There is a donation key on the front forum page next to the little community chest:
where you can make a donation through direct payment or accept offer which offers deals of some sort. It does seem like a lot, I know, but it really takes only 5-20 dollars per person (and oftentimes members who can afford it, donate more) to get it pretty quickly and members can start donating now.
It's up to you all what you want to do. The options are:
1. Go without Gold Community.
2. Start donating for Gold Community now and go for the 3 or 6-month plan.
3. Start donating for Gold Community now and go for the year-long plan.
Some may be wondering about moving to another board, here is why that isn't an option for me. I stick with ezboard because I love the way ezboards are run. I know it's a lot -- but it's only a lot when you have high activity and with high activity, you have a lot of members generally and thus it really does become only $5-20 a person to get it renewed.
I've tried those other boards and there are functions and features with ezboards that aren't available there. And then there is the content of this board. It would pretty much all be gone, lost. I just don't have the time to move over all of the posts; I just don't.
If anyone doesn't want to contribute because they don't agree, that's perfectly understandable, but I've been with ezboard since 1999 and I haven't found a board that has better overall features and options. The bottom-line is that it is every individual poster's choice. If you want to contribute, do so. If you don't want to contribute, you don't have to. And if we don't get the money (although in all of my years as an ezboard admin -- this is my 10th board, I've never NOT had the money raised), we lose a lot of features on this board.
The choice is yours.
Sorry, I didn't put all the info out there like usual. Here it is:
To start with, for those who don't know, this is how ezboard works. Each board starts out with a 30-day Gold Community trial period or you can buy three months off the bat for about $9.95 and six months for $30.00. Once Gold Community expires, you lose:
- The html function (which we use a lot of on this board, the breakdowns/the birthday thread, etc.)
- The "Sticky Topics" function
Admittedly, for non-html users, this doesn't seem like much to lose. For html-users, it's a huge pain in the buttocks. However, that's just what we lose. It's what we gain that is the greater issue. Without Gold Community, we get:
- Pop-ups. Lots and lots and lots and did I mention? LOTS of pop-ups. Plenty lots.
- Text links all over that have nothing to do with Logan, Veronica or Veronica Mars.
- Banners. Big, ugly, really ugly, banners.
So, Gold Community keeps the board pretty, stickied, html-ed, non-VM-texted and free of plenty o' pop-ups. The catch? The price.
The cost of Gold Community is based on the activity of the board. High-activity boards run pretty high for renewal costs and this board is fairly high in activity. It's not ridiculously high -- one board I ran actually cost over $4,000 to renew for a year. We're nowhere near that. And with how the show has been recently, we've had much decreased board activity, so we're only looking at:
3 months Gold Community for $255
6 months Gold Community for $425
12 months Gold Community for $765
(Yes, it went up a bit because there's more activity at this time than there is at 8 in the morning.)
The way ezboard works is that 30 days before your current Gold Community expires, the admin (that's me) has the ability to lock the price down so that any further activity doesn't jack up that price.
How to donate:
There is a donation key on the front forum page next to the little community chest:
where you can make a donation through direct payment or accept offer which offers deals of some sort. It does seem like a lot, I know, but it really takes only 5-20 dollars per person (and oftentimes members who can afford it, donate more) to get it pretty quickly and members can start donating now.
It's up to you all what you want to do. The options are:
1. Go without Gold Community.
2. Start donating for Gold Community now and go for the 3 or 6-month plan.
3. Start donating for Gold Community now and go for the year-long plan.
Some may be wondering about moving to another board, here is why that isn't an option for me. I stick with ezboard because I love the way ezboards are run. I know it's a lot -- but it's only a lot when you have high activity and with high activity, you have a lot of members generally and thus it really does become only $5-20 a person to get it renewed.
I've tried those other boards and there are functions and features with ezboards that aren't available there. And then there is the content of this board. It would pretty much all be gone, lost. I just don't have the time to move over all of the posts; I just don't.
If anyone doesn't want to contribute because they don't agree, that's perfectly understandable, but I've been with ezboard since 1999 and I haven't found a board that has better overall features and options. The bottom-line is that it is every individual poster's choice. If you want to contribute, do so. If you don't want to contribute, you don't have to. And if we don't get the money (although in all of my years as an ezboard admin -- this is my 10th board, I've never NOT had the money raised), we lose a lot of features on this board.
The choice is yours.
