Time has come

[dragonlover1]

I ran a busy forum which for years had more traffic than APS currently does, and the cash expenses were very low. The big expense was the time required to manage it. If you're paying for a technical guy to manage that side of things then yeah, it's going to cost a fortune, but if you have someone willing to do that work as a volunteer (which I had) and someone willing and able to manage the site structure, members, moderators, etc (which I did) the only costs are hosting and domain registration (which I paid, I can't remember how much it was but it was little enough that I just paid out of my own pocket and didn't accept or want donations). For a while I put ads up which every month paid multiples of the yearly cost, but I was using the forum as much as anyone and I don't like ads so I took them down. Maybe the economics of forums have changed in the last six years or maybe APS has some different issues I'm not seeing, but it seems to have an active enough community to be viable.

I really wouldn't like to see this forum close; it's the last online Australian herp chat group off Facebook and I think it's valuable to our community.

It's not quite the last but it is the last multi species forum. My forum is mainly beardies but we do talk about other reptiles. Check out Australianbeardies.net if you're interested.

 

[Pythonguy1]

I'v only been on this forum since september last year and really don't want to see it go. If it does I sure will miss the interesting conversations that I'v had over the months. I hope there's going to be another site or something that we can all stay connected on. If not I'll just have to try and find another forum, I have looked at some and honestly none have come close to this one.
[doublepost=1594201150,1594200880][/doublepost]My goal is to reach "well-known member" status before they close the site. See how I go...

 

[Susannah]

I'd be happy to donate both time and money to keep it going. This is a much more useful and informative place than Facebook!

 

[Allan]

So sad if APS can't be saved. Apart from the good day to day reading, it's also such a wealth of information available in old threads.

I think most of us would agree to an annual subscription fee, but from what Stuart wrote, time, or lack thereof is the main problem. Could the maintenance part be run externally?

 

[Stuart]

Well I have had a wealth of support come through from all over, looks like I might not need to close the forum and instead invest in a couple of add ones to provide transparency to costs and also bring in ideas on how to boost the forum

 

[Rob]

Well I have had a wealth of support come through from all over, looks like I might not need to close the forum and instead invest in a couple of add ones to provide transparency to costs and also bring in ideas on how to boost the forum

Good job. How about reintroducing the Donate button too?

 

[Herpetology]

We did it fellas and fellettes

 

[wally3218]

I’ve just recently joined the site and would like to know how to donate.

 

[Shire pythons]

Happy to contribute some $$$

 

[Shaughan]

Well, the site doesn't have to shut up shop but yeah, running costs aren't going away.

Back in the old days of Sponsors and Subscribers this wasn't an issue. How many members would be willing to donate say $25/year to keep the site running?

Happy to donate and subscribe I would of already but i can't find a link to

 

[Flaviemys purvisi]

Bring on financial supporter membership status!
[doublepost=1594271152,1594271019][/doublepost]Does APS accept Bitcoin?

 

[Sdaji]

I would prefer the site to remain free. Of course, there's no harm in accepting donations and good on anyone who makes one, but the internet repeatedly proves that requiring members to pay money results in the death of almost any type of forum, especially anything like this.

 

[-Adam-]

I would prefer the site to remain free. Of course, there's no harm in accepting donations and good on anyone who makes one, but the internet repeatedly proves that requiring members to pay money results in the death of almost any type of forum, especially anything like this.

Agreed. I'll happily donate money to the forum too - on the basis that it remains free access for those who can't afford or choose not to.

 

[Herpetology]

I would say there’s a huge difference to paying for access (terrible idea) and donating for perks and donating to support the forums, with no perks

In fact I would go so far as saying a forum that’s not for profit and keeps itself running is the healthiest kind of forum.

 

[dragonlover1]

Most forums don't need many subscribers or donors, hosting fees are bugger all. It's the time required and needing a tech bloke around to sort out bugs.
I know first hand as I run a bearded dragon forum that only has a handful of subscribers , I paid a few hundred bucks to take over when the previous owner retired but I do it for love not money

 

[Laikin]

does anyone know how to subscribe? i joined this forum not to long ago and it has been an amazing place to get information, the people on here are really nice and it would be really sad to see it go, so if anyone knows how i could help please share

 

[Susannah]

Most forums I know are not for profit - as in there are usually a few folks who donate, but in general, people don't have to pay for viewing or membership. The ones I'm involved in usually do an annual "fund raising" week where they remind folks to donate, rather than a monthly subscription. This is usually enough to cover the annual fees to run the site (as mentioned above, it's not usually the cost, it's the time involved).

I'm sure if there were a few members willing to contribute time into monitoring and moderating the forums, then this is a possible solution to keep it running. As I mentioned, I'm happy to put my time in (as I've done for other forums in the past).

 

[kankryb]

I will be happy to donate time and money if I can help in any way, this is a forum I would hate to see stop

 

[Stuart]

Thanks a million for the support everyone.
I am looking at a donate button with a level of transparency so people can see where we are at on a month by month basis.

The site will always remain free, I stand by my statement from years ago in that I am not here to make money from it

 

[Herpetology]

I am looking at a donate button with a level of transparency so people can see where we are at on a month by month basis.

something simple like this (but easier to read with a progress bar)