Looking for some input

[jimbo01]

Mike,
I understand that this wasn't the intent for this thread. I'll support any direction you choose for the site as I stated before. I just question spending more money even though the amount may seem small, while the donations have been running a bit on the weak side as did you in the original post. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to spark some new interest since the "I'm just sayin'" thread pretty much petered out.

 

[bigfrank330]

Mike
Like jimbo says I will support you which ever way you go
However when you start talking this computer stuff my eyes start to roll back in my head
once in a while I get a headache from it
BUT
Thanks for asking for input
YOU DA MAN

 

[ram rod2]

Mike
As a new member here I may be speaking out of line but here goes. Being a causal user I was unaware of the funding issues that this great site was having. I believe in the old saying that if it aint broke dont fix it. I feel very strongly that the site is great so dont fix it. it seams to me that the real issue is funding and that should be addressed first. I have no idea how much is costs to fully fund this site so I may be way out of line here but it sounds to me like the sponsors (wintec,rpm,ect) are unable to fully fund the site,so how about looking for more sponsors? after all the sponsors are the ones that monetarily benefit from the site. we gain knowlege they gain money. Dont get me wroung I am not saying that the members should not help when needed. I for one will make effort to become a supporting member when able.This site is to valuable to loose!!

 

[409T]

Web site is just fine the way it is. Lets just work on donating first .

My thought as well.

 

[benT]

Agree with Dino and 409T

 

[HenrysT]

Current feature set is fine, but I.M.O. if your building one of these cars and are putting thousands of $ into huge motors and chrome( or not), then you should be able to afford a membership and/ or donate a small amount once a month. I.M.O.

I'm self employed and it seems it's either feast or famine, mostly famine lately. Right now my YEARLY budget will be used up on the Wilwood front brakes. I'm looking under the couch cushions so I can pay Uncle Sam. I would like to pay a one time, once a year ($60.00, if $5.00/person/month) when it's feast time and have full use of this site for the year, IF it comes down to pay to view. IMO this site is great how it is.

 

[Mike]

Don't fret about the site becoming pay-per-view, that is not going to happen. Full stop.

As the site grows with new features, some of those features might only be available to supporting members, but the actual discussion forums will remain open for everyone to use. No sense in hiding a lamp under a basket. That would run stick a fork into all of the countless hours of search engine optimization I have put into this site over the last 6.5 years.

It seems everyone is satisfied with the way we are presenting technical articles, so I will leave well enough alone. I continue to keep an ear to the ground on a photo gallery, but nothing is jumping out at anyone. The individual who developed our Donation Manager (and regularly pitches a hissy-fit when asked to provide support for it, by the way ) was taking donations from XenForo admins, to fund a gallery add-on. I've seen it and eternally thank Goodness I did not offer to help fund his project. I was aware of another gallery project that seems to have died a miserable death. Rumor has it a third project is underway, but that is just rumor. Seeing is believing.

My door is always open, so if anyone has a suggestion for something you would like to see, let me know your thoughts.

 

[Mike J]

Mike J Web site is just fine the way it is. Lets just work on donating first .

I agree, its fine the way it is. But I did say OR donate a small amount each month.

 

[Mike]

OK, now we're talkin'.

Xen Media Gallery

It is still an unfinished project, but it looks like it is what I've been hoping to find. A license is £40 (for a limited time), which comes to $60.92, at today's rate of exchange. Annual license renewals are going to cost £15 ($22.85), so renewal costs are going to be slightly less than $2 per month.

The developer is going to allow users to buy in at the £40 price, with full support and update access for 12 months, for a limited time only. Once he gets the Gallery fully fleshed out, a license will sell for £60, or $91.38.

I think I will pull the trigger on this one, as all of the updates will bring back all the features and functions we had in the old IP.Gallery. No sense in sitting back and waiting, only to spend an extra $30+.

The Gallery will be limited to the Supporting Member usergroup and forum staff, only.

 

[Mike]

As you can see in the original post, March 2013 was an astronomical month for us, with respect to the traffic we experience on this site. At about 4:00 AM, yesterday, we eclipsed that number. And yesterday was the 12th best traffic day of the month, to date.

I am in awe of how this site has grown over the years.

 

[Mike]

The traffic numbers for this place are astounding. As of 8:00 AM, this morning, we have already seen 49.66% of the total traffic number for 2012. And this is only 3 May?!?

Comparing April's traffic numbers to some months in 2012 is eye-opening. April 2013 showed a 113% increase in traffic over January 2012. Over double! It was an 83% increase over April 2012. And it was a 44% increase over October 2012, which was then the best month we had ever seen. To date, every month this year has been better than October 2012.

In the last 30 days, 51% of the site's total traffic has come from the search engines, which shows how well all of the on-site search engine optimization is working out.

Here are some numbers collected on visitors to the site -

Operating Systems

Windows - 69.51%
iOS - 12.09%
Android - 6.85%
Macintosh - 5.88%
Linux - 4.42%

Web Browsers

Internet Explorer - 38.07%
Firefox - 19.90%
Safari - 17.24%
Chrome - 12.93%
Android Browser - 5.90%

I guess it is time to start digging deeper into server configuration files, trying to better optimize things. I am beginning to wonder where all this ends. I just never imagined a T-Bucket discussion site could ever grow as this one has grown.