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Rich... Forum space?

Kevin M

Kevin M

Corn Addict
Hey Rich. Maybe I'm too curious for my own good. But how much space does this forum take up?

I'm just curious because the forum is jumpin these days and I was hoping to be able to go back to previous threads for reference when needed. So i guess what I'm asking is when will posts be deleted? When they become too old based on a certain date? year? Or when space is needed? Or when system performance degrades?

-Kev
 
kevin,
thanks for asking. i was wondering about that too. seems to be quite a large forum here and the options for bringing up past posts is quite extensive. must be quite a large storage capacity....
 
Well, I can set the forum to expire messages whenever I want them to die. I think I have these all set to expire after 1 year. I can make it longer, if you all think people will bother to go back through more than a year's worth of messages.

I am leasing my own web server now, with an 18 gigabyte hard drive. I only have one other domain to transfer over to it (my SerpenCo.com site - which needs to have a SSL certificate - long story....). I don't think we are in any danger of running out of disk space anytime soon. But the data is all stored in a mySQL database, which may have limits, but darned if I know what they might be!

I took a look at vBulletin's message board (which is using this same message board that is here, of course), and they are showing the following stats:

Members: 15,610, Threads: 43,200, Posts: 260,360

I think we've got a long way to go before we need to worry much about our traffic. ;)

I'm thinking about offering banner ads to anyone whom is interested. Anyone got any gripes about me doing that? I would like this all to pay for itself somewhere down the line. I didn't get that web server for free.........
 
no complaints here...

better than you having to pay for it, rich. i'm real good at ignoring banners i'm not interested in. :)
 
Banner ADs.

Hey Rich,

I understand this is not free. I also understand that it is a service to us which you alone support financially and that it would be better to find a way for it to suppport itself.

But, (there's always a 'but')...

My two cents.

Are you talking about those ads that jump up in one's face everytime one changes a page and then one has to go through clicking a half dozen or so windows before one can read anything? God, I hate those!

I know the internet is becoming more and more commercial every day. It reminds me of when MTV came on for the first time. No Commercials! Now, there is barely any music!

I won't mind if it is tastefully done--whatever THAT means--but I really hope I don't get flooded with pop-up windows.
 
No popups....

Unless there is some sort of notice that I need to get everyone's attention with.

If you look at the FaunaClassifieds site, the ads will be similar to what is on there. On the main page of this forum, where I have my own banner, that spot may have other ads running in rotation there.

Nothing extravagant. I hate advertising as much as the next guy, and have certainly stopped frequenting sites where I couldn't find the meat because of all the ads obscuring it.

I'm not expecting to MAKE money off of this, but I would like to have some of the bill I have to pay for all of this not take such a big bite out of my wallet. Heck, I had to PAY for this message board we are all using here. It wasn't a freebie.
 
Hey Rich,

I went over to Fauna Classified and looked at the ADs over there. I haven't got a problem with those at all. I would say "Go for it." You're a nice guy and all, but why should you take on the total cost of doing us a favor?

I continue to visit the SerpenCo forum site, from time to time, but rarely post anything. I use to only rarely post anything on this forum, but since you changed the format, I've become an addict to this forum, I think, as much as I have become addicted to cornsnakes. I can't get a free moment from work that I'm not coming back to the computer to see what someone has said.

This is one great forum. I'd hate to see it disappear.
 
I agree with Gregg. I used to check the older forum once in a while but now I'm on here every day. I really love this site and it is way worth it to have a few ads if it means it is easier for you to keep this here for us.

Thanks so much!
 
Do what you must with the adds Rich. I rarely even look at the ads anyway. As long as you get done what you need to and the site isnt a burden on you, i say go for it.

I agree with gregg & elaphe. Since this forum has gone up Im visiting kingsnake.com, Fauna and the Serpenco site less and less. This message board is by far the best around.

-Kev
 
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Hey Rich,
In my opinion it makes perfect sense to have banner ads. I assume the ads would be targeted to herp lovers, in which case I would personally be clicking on them. I wouldn't be interested in general interest ads, such as credit card offers, casinos, travel agents, toe fungus cream, etc.
 
Hey Rich,

Go for it! As this will help with your financial situation. You are actually paying all these things for us, adding some ads on this site wouldn't bother most of us here. We are still going to come up and post whatever we need. So Go For IT!
 
Advertisments on the forum~~~~~~:~

OK..My two cents. I kinda of like the idea of adds related to herp stuff. For all my lack of experience, All I know that Rich carries is snakes and the little deli cups. But I hate the idea of credit cards and all that junk.

Another idea... WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK. Would be membership fees. You know, join for a couple of bucks And for just an additional $20. get a Serpenco Tee shirt. Kids join free stuff like that... I know that there is a stong possibility that Iam crazy, but I was thinking a little about the problems it might have, and it seems the only way it would work might be if it was a choice, like you could join but you don't have to join to be able to use the forum. I think that people really count on the forum to get answers to serious problems fast. There could be a raffle for the NUMBER ONE or first member. It might be fun to say that I' m member number 99 in the cornsnake forum. Well, like I said just my two cents, not interested in ruffling any snake skin. Sam ~~~~~:~
 
Any ads accepted would ONLY be related to the reptile industry.

I would like to have the ads be of interest to the viewers of this message board as well as being a source of merchandise likely to be purchased by you all.

I do not like the strategy that some companies use by flooding EVERYONE with their ad in the hopes that a small percentage will find it of interest. I get so much spam mail that it is completely ridiculous. Sometimes I even see one or two things that I might be interested in, but refuse to even consider buying from them because of their spam tactics.
 
we could have a bake sale, pinky muffins and hopper pies mmm

I like the t-shirt idea, but I know that if this forum was charging for membership when I first found it I would not have joined. I think by charging you could be scaring prospective members away. Merchandise is always fun, but is a totaly different ballgame and who would want to coordinate that. (and has the time for it)
 
Yes I totally agree with MIssymonkey
Membership fees would definitely have scared me away esp. since most payment stuffon the internet is through credit cards and my mom and dad are always picky picky about creditcard use for things they don't absolutely need.
T-shirts would be better I guess since it's like a fun optional thing.
 
I have absolutely no intention of charging a membership fee for this site. Hopefully, paid advertisers will help pay the server tab along with the advertisers on my FaunaClassifieds site.

My main business is SerpenCo, so as long as that pays all the bills and leaves me enough money to dabble with things like free sites and all, then there is no sweat about all this. Of course, if things get tight and I have to start watching pennies, then anything that is nonessential and a significant drain on my finances would have to get the axe.
 
If things get tight we'll just donate some cash to you Rich. No sweat. :)

Personally as others have said, I dont mind Ad's at all as long as they relate to the content I'm currently browsing. In this case reptiles. Also, Popups are a big no no. There is nothing more annoying in the world than popups or window resizing java scripts.
 
my humble two cents....

I am a very new member here. So, take what I have to say for whatever it's worth...

When I found the site, I wouldn't have paid to become a member. There's definately a trust issue. However, if this site offered a member's only area, beyond the base area, I would have subscribed. (Of course, after I felt familiar with the quality of the members and the administrator's ability to control messages.)

Also, have you considered posting a small ad for paypal so that those of us who would like to donate to a nicely organized message board could do so? Here's an example:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/clubpa.php3

On the bottom of the club PA memebership page, there's an option to donate. Upon donating, they send a free wallpaper for joining. Personally, if a membership would be on a donation basis, I would join.

Just a thought...

Sky~
 
what banner ads?

Rich,

I have a well developed ability to ignore banner ads, so if you want to do that I would certainly have no complaints - besides, you might be less expensive than kingsnake.com and since I don't actually have any customers or product yet less expensive will be a deciding factor in weather I publish a banner ad for my own site at all this year.

PS - the '01 female butter motley is doing great! She is the most gentle yearling I've ever met!

^Curtis Brown
http://www.herphiles.com
 
I am charging $25 per 50,000 impressions for any banner ad on any of the sites I am maintaining. On this site, the vertical ad only shows up when you go to the forum main page. Sooner or later I'll get around to hacking into the code of this forum to get that ad space to show up alongside all of the messages as well, and will probably put in a horizontal space as well. Kind of what I have on FaunaClassifieds.

But it's not been real high on the priority list right now, as I am not getting inundated with requests to advertise on this particular site.

I have had requests from people whom wanted to offer donations, but I don't want to do that. I would like to offer the banner ads at a reasonable price so people can get something for the money they are spending on the ads. They get the recognition of helping to support the site, which may help bring some customers to their door.

Right now, the only paid advertiser on this site is Tony Cueto with his ad for the upcoming International Reptile Show in Tampa in September.

Thanks.
 
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