DISCUSSION - 2 tier membership system (paid members!).

[gmtalk]

I would be interested in this hack for another one of my forums that is going nuts.

If you are still taking signups WLuke then please count me in. BTW the info you sent fixed the prob I was having. Many thanks

[eva2000]

well waynes off at his bachelor's party or recovering from it

[gmtalk]

Lucky dog. I still remember mine. Hey got the video right here. Were is the wife.

Well congrats Wayne

[Castel]

Just bumping this up. I don't know if wluke is back in action yet after his honeymoon but I don't want this topic to fade away. I need this hack more than ever to keep my site alive.

I have tried to do something like this with my forum. But the forum got split up. I gave people that donated a special title and the rest of the members were pissed! They were mad because they think that just because others helped me out that they got something that they didn't! I kind of understood it and I kind of didn't.
My forum is pretty big, but I don't know if I could support this. I think this is a really good idea and I probably will try it out, but it has taken me awhile to get my site as big as it is and keep the forums from going chaotic.
What would you guys do. I know you don't know my entire situation, but hey just throe your opinion at me!

[Castel]

The way I see it, people that support the site deserve the extra perks. Whether the others will complain or not I don't care...they aren't paying the huge monthly hosting bills.

And if some of them happen to leave because of it, so be it. I'd hate to sound harse but if they leave that's less hosting money out of my pocket...it's not like page views are generating any revenue nowadays anyway.

[JackG]

Castel, I feel that way also.
I would like to offer perks to members who
donate or pay a small fee to help out with server
expenses.

joebob, I think it has to be a delicate transistion.
I plan on casually promoting this new user status, and advanced features. That might work. The web is still a new media, we got to gives things a shot, and sometimes another :-)

[ToraTora!]

I just want to throw in a objective opinon here. Please dont hate me for bringing this up, for Im just pointing out things that have made me much more aware to things on the internet, and members in general. It is nothing more than a opinion, and I am not directly pointing fingers here ok? Here it goes:

I can see the points and views on this, however have any of you been around EZ board lately?
Pop-ups on every link you hit, huge assed ads that plug the entire footer section, and a big advertising header under the banner that assures people that if they buy into thier services, the ads will disappear. This slows up loading times, generally makes the site look like a porn pay site, and is a automatic no show in my bookmark section.

To me, i dont even deal with looking at sites like that anymore. I have no tolerance for pop up ads, nor huge chunks of advertising as a whole.
People are interested in your site, not the ads that appear there, and they know that having those ads there, means you are making money. (we all know this is false due to the advertising slump, however the user does not know that)

Basically, what I am suggesting, is that if you go with the payment route for your site, make sure that people fully understand the whole spectrum of payment, and its benefits.
People do not want to donate to a site, when the site's administration is screaming that they cant afford it anymore, and the site will be shut down. Why give money to a site that is going to close?
Make it a must rite off the bat. If the ads are not paying for anything anyways, as everyone seems to be complaining about, get rid of them altogether, and make it a membership only board to begin with. Of course this varies from site to site, but for people that are giving computer information, or web page help, or any services that are from the administrator or the staff, there is no sense in giving it away period.

The whole thing with pop ads that i have seen from site owners, is that they do not pay.
If that is the case, than get rid of them, because there are a few sites i have seen, that the minute you hit a link, its pop-up, and not just one mind you, but 4-5. After a few clicks, and noticing that this is NOT a one time around ad window, I immediately leave.
This is a every link ad rotation. In a forum, every link is quite a few dont you think?

The bottom line is this. If you are going to have a program for people to pay for your site, make it reasonable. Dont get greedy.
I have seen a few sites owned by some of you here, and they are excellent sites. I think also that some are on the greedy end of things due to the amount of pop up ads i have seen on them.
It always seems to work in direct corrolation with the amount of members. The higher the membership, the more advertising pop ups. Of course, the argument is, there is more bandwidth used, with more members. True, however if pop-ups are not making anybody money, why have them? I mean, thats the biggest complaint i have heard, is that pop-ups generate nothing, however they are still there, annoying the piss out of every potential new member.

I see no reason in that other than greed. If money is a concern, just make it a pay site to begin with.
From what i have seen, i would definitley pay for a couple of your sites memberships without hesitation. The content is there, its not a self glorification project, and much of the site itself is informative. Also, the site itself, from a visual aspect is above normal as well. A good example would be the member here who has the motorcycle web site. Nice set-up. Very informative, and very well put together. He also added a image gallery, that costs a pretty penny as well. That is what i am driving at here. Offer something, to get something.
I cannot say that about some of the others i have seen though, and frankly, just as some slight business advice, think it over before some of you start hitting up members for money.
Its possible to loose one or two people, and not loose much sleep over it, but when one leaves, they will take more with them, because now they feel betrayed..and as such..will leave you holding the bag. When a site only has three to four hundered people on it, it WILL kill the site.
This will funnel, as members who formed a "bond" with others, will now leave to. It happens, all I am saying is make sure the price is fair, and that there is benefits to doing so. Stars by a members name wont cut it as a whole. Throw some drawings in there or something.

Im just offering some advice is all. Im not out to make enemies here..im just pointing out that the pop up ad argument is a worn out record, and if your site has the gusto to make it a pay site, than make it as a whole, and not as a part, by penalizing people with a pop up ad. I would rather have 10 members who are paying monthly, and contributing, than 4,000 members ducking membership because they are to cheap, and running up the costs.

[Cold Steel]

I would love a hack that would allow paid members to not see ads.

One possible way of doing this might be to set up a subdomain/directory such as adfree.forums.com and then use iBill, revecom or other such service to provide password management services.

Don't know how workable that is...

Anyway - any update on this?

[Cold Steel]

Would something like this be useful?

http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showt...threadid=18888