Posts by northerncyclist2

Jeffrey Bennett77 said:What if all the subscribers decide to stage a massive revolt because they feel like they’re being unfairly penalized while everyone else is getting handed cash? I mean, imagine the owner ends up completely broke because of it. It's a wild thought, I guess. Maybe that's just how it goes sometimes? 🙂

I mean, what am I even thinking here? I guess I just don't get why you can't penalize subscribers. Like, I still don't quite wrap my head around it... if you go to a Verizon lounge at Central Park and start throwing flares all over the place, you’re definitely getting kicked out, right? 🤷

It’s not even about paying just to avoid getting fined or anything like that. I guess what I was actually getting at is more about the perks... you know, like having a bigger inbox, not getting spammed with ads, having a larger avatar, or maybe an expanded signature. That kind of thing.

I guess the rule feels kind of silly as long as there’s still a thanks or like button on posts.

Because honestly, between

👍

and

I totally agree 👍

there isn't really much of a difference anyway.

Kimberly Perez19 said:And then you’d just end up with a total circus where people think they can act however they want because "they're the ones paying" 🙄

What circus? I mean, it's pretty obvious what happens there and nothing more. You're still just a regular user who has to follow the Terms of Service. It's not like you $333 paid enough for everyone to start kissing your butt.

It works perfectly fine on other forums, so I don't see why it would be an issue here 🤷

BTW, if anyone happens to have a better idea for a cash injection to grab a new server or upgrade to vB 4 or 5, please just let me know 👍

The current setup is obviously just funding through ads, but since so many people use adblockers, I guess it's no surprise the money isn't exactly flowing in...

rustydrifter10 said:That’s actually a pretty massive shift in how the whole site is set up. It feels like it would need a ton of fine-tuning and extra details, and I guess the biggest thing is just whether the owner actually wants to go that route. This place was always meant to be free for everyone, even if it’s been ages since it launched and things look way different now than they did a few years ago.

I mean, I don't think that would really mess with the core idea of the site, since it would still stay free for everyone else. Maybe just the folks who decide to "donate" to help keep the lights on could get some tiny little perks? That way, the regular users wouldn't feel like they're missing out on anything functional at all.

The only tricky part is figuring out the right amount to ask for. I guess it should probably work on a sliding scale where it gets cheaper the longer you commit. Like, maybe $3.25 for one month, $13 for 6 months, or $20 for a full year... and I suppose days spent under a ban shouldn't count toward that, and if someone gets perma-banned, maybe the remaining balance gets refunded?

Of course, the owner has total control here—I'm just throwing ideas out there, I guess.

rustydrifter10 said:He probably doesn't care, he just can't afford a new server right now, so he's avoiding anything that might put too much strain on it. I'm not really sure how much load this would actually cause, though... maybe there's some other reason entirely.

Okay, if that's the case. I mean, obviously any new script adds a little bit of extra work for the server, even if this one seems pretty lightweight, I guess.

If money is tight, maybe you guys could think about offering a premium membership for, like, a few dozen bucks a year? You could give them stuff like a 1,000-message inbox, fewer ads, a 120*120 avatar, and maybe a slightly larger signature. Just my 2 cents.

rustydrifter10 said:I think there was a thread somewhere about adding a thanks button; people were talking about it quite a bit. But I guess at the end of the day, it's up to the owner, and he hasn't really said anything about it yet.

I wonder if the owner actually cares about the site, or if this is basically turning into abandonware... like, maybe he's just waiting for enough ad revenue to roll in before he even thinks about an upgrade?🤔

rustydrifter10 said:There was an idea floating around, but they kind of moved away from it, at least for now. I guess we'll just have to see what happens down the road, but for the time being, that option isn't going to be rolled out across the site.

Thanks for getting back to me 👍

Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to look into some vBulletin script for liking or thanking posts, something like this: http://www.dragonbyte-tech.com/vbeco...=22&do=product

I mean, I totally get that integrating with Facebook is probably more profitable since using likes and shares on Facebook helps pull in more clicks, I suppose 🤣

On the Help Center subforum, I noticed every single post has a Facebook like button right next to it.

I was just wondering, is this some kind of test run for a new feature you guys might roll out across the whole site?

brightpuma said:That's being generous... ☕

Honestly, I’d probably just give them a discount on their Xanax 😁

slycrane94 said:I ended up purple because, honestly, nobody even remembers why I was made an admin in the first place. Plus, it’s probably easier to just let me be than to deal with all the extra work I'd cause if they tried to change things now.

I guess this sounds a bit like montipajtonovski 😁

slycrane94 said:Do you honestly think anyone actually asks me anything?

And you're just wearing purple for the hell of it, right?

Haha, I'm kidding. I mean, you don't really need to be a psychic to see what kind of shady business policies are running this whole forum, I guess.

slycrane94 said:It’s our way of helping kids socialize. At least nobody can blame us for encouraging antisocial behavior when they're out and about.

Or, looking at it another way... I guess it really just depends on what the forum software supports. Since we're using stuff from one of those massive, annoying corporate giants, they basically force you to upgrade to version 5 (we're still on 3) just to get mobile addons. And even then, we'd be talking about specific iOS and Android apps. So, yeah, it isn't quite as easy as it sounds, I suppose.

Maybe just switch over to IPboard instead? It's commercial too, obviously, but I feel like it's way more agile and modern. Plus, it actually has a native HTML version for mobile browsers.

The cost is $333, which isn't exactly a huge expense, 🙄

3... 2... 1... 🤣

Maybe sometime around 2036.

I mean, what can I even say? You guys should all just head down to the forum servers and stage a little protest by showing off... well, you know. Just don't forget to invite me along so I can, uhm, document the whole thing. Don't worry, I'll definitely show up—I'm only a few blocks away 😁

driftingbear29 said:😂😂😂😂

Since this isn't exactly a serious topic, I guess nobody's really taking it to heart...

Just make me the technical admin and I'll make all your wishes come true, 😁

The forum servers are basically right next door to my house anyway, so my ping is like 10 milliseconds.

I just hope they aren't actually located in this little shack, because that would definitely explain a few things... http://goo.gl/maps/g74t7 🤣

Honestly, I feel like this forum would probably run way smoother if it were just managed by bots 🤣

Anthony Jackson2 said:503 and 504 are just sitting there like loaded guns ☕

There's this legend that a sysadmin once let out a sneeze while messing with the settings—and suddenly the whole site was offline for a week. And yet here you are, trying to rearrange rows in a table 🙄😬

But hey, I'm a total pro. I mean, I did get a 5 in my Database Management class, so I think I can handle it.😬

driftingbear29 said:Vibrators aren't really our thing 😬 🥳 😍 Just let them vibrate off 😁

All we really want is just five more of those smileys 🙂 🙂 👋

And what’s the point of the poll? 🙂 As if the final decision actually depends on it... 😳

Alright fine, whatever, go ahead and stay thirsty—I'm also raising my hand for more smileys...

Anthony Jackson2 said:Look, any tinkering with the forum settings is basically putting the hamster at risk 🤣

Oh come on, it’s really just one little line in an SQL table, I don't see how much could actually go wrong 😁

Anthony Jackson2 said:Just kidding—doesn't really matter to me anyway. I don't have many... upbeat and energetic 🤣 users like you on my feed, so I'm not losing sleep over it. It's just... I'm worried our resident hamster wouldn't handle such an elementary shift in the entire forum's vibe. He'd probably have a heart attack 🙂

How does that even have anything to do with the server?

It feels like this place is crawling with people who don't know the first thing about tech, I swear ☕