Server Outage

[Lemming]

We had a bit of a technical problem yesterday. Apparently the server software has to be upgraded every year, as decreed by the makers, and the upgrade broke everything. “Slimline” has been working like crazy to get it back and, as you can see, it’s functioning again now.

Talking of Slimline, he tells me nobody has responded to the “Support the forum” appeal. Come on people, don’t you think he deserves some reward for his dedication in providing a server for our forum?

[Puffin13]

We had a bit of a technical problem yesterday. Apparently the server software has to be upgraded every year, as decreed by the makers, and the upgrade broke everything. “Slimline” has been working like crazy to get it back and, as you can see, it’s functioning again now.

Talking of Slimline, he tells me nobody has responded to the “Support the forum” appeal. Come on people, don’t you think he deserves some reward for his dedication in providing a server for our forum?

Nice to see that the server is up and running again. Thank you so much, Slimline! He definitely does deserve our support! We really do appreciate all you do for this board Slimline and Lemming! RESPECT!

[Ash333]

We had a bit of a technical problem yesterday. Apparently the server software has to be upgraded every year, as decreed by the makers, and the upgrade broke everything. “Slimline” has been working like crazy to get it back and, as you can see, it’s functioning again now.

Talking of Slimline, he tells me nobody has responded to the “Support the forum” appeal. Come on people, don’t you think he deserves some reward for his dedication in providing a server for our forum?

We all appreciate Slimline's work. However, shouldnt the site be self supporting? You have some advertising on the front page, does this not generate enough revenue?

[Tall Guy]

We all appreciate Slimline's work. However, shouldnt the site be self supporting? You have some advertising on the front page, does this not generate enough revenue?

Agreed. Us regulars contribute plenty in our posts already , it's the pre-trip research people who don't sign up and share their knowledge who should be coughing up! Having said that, Lem and Slimline do a great job, and if I was a bit more cash-rich I would help out.

[Ash333]

We all appreciate Slimline's work. However, shouldnt the site be self supporting? You have some advertising on the front page, does this not generate enough revenue?

Agreed. Us regulars contribute plenty in our posts already , it's the pre-trip research people who don't sign up and share their knowledge who should be coughing up! Having said that, Lem and Slimline do a great job, and if I was a bit more cash-rich I would help out.

It doesnt seem fair for this site to personally cost Lem or slimline money.

I think a possible solution would be to set up an EDIT refferal link at http://www.everyonedoesit.co.uk/about_EDIT/affiliates/

they will pay 10% commision on sales, and I probably spend £50 a year with them. Thats £5. I expect that a lot of forum members use EDIT already. I do, and they work great.

Peace love etc...

[Boner]

We all appreciate Slimline's work. However, shouldnt the site be self supporting? You have some advertising on the front page, does this not generate enough revenue?

Agreed. Us regulars contribute plenty in our posts already , it's the pre-trip research people who don't sign up and share their knowledge who should be coughing up! Having said that, Lem and Slimline do a great job, and if I was a bit more cash-rich I would help out.

It doesnt seem fair for this site to personally cost Lem or slimline money.

I think a possible solution would be to set up an EDIT refferal link at http://www.everyonedoesit.co.uk/about_EDIT/affiliates/

they will pay 10% commision on sales, and I probably spend £50 a year with them. Thats £5. I expect that a lot of forum members use EDIT already. I do, and they work great.

Peace love etc...

Affiliates are a good idea, plenty of places do it.

[Lemming]

The “regulars” may be the ones that put the most into it but you’re also the ones that get the most out of it.

We’ve all (me included) got used to everything on the Internet being free. I bought several copies of Kip’s wonderful Mellow Pages long before I created the ACD. I even bought a copy of Smokers Guide once (although I did feel a bit ripped off by the amount of adverts I was buying). If the ACD was a book then it wouldn’t be free. In fact, with regular updates, it would be like a magazine costing a monthly subscription. The time and effort to publish a website is exactly the same as for a book or magazine. It’s only the printing and paper costs that are saved.

Unfortunately most affiliate programs are a con, they just lure people in to giving them free advertising. Most websites, for instance those linked to daily newspapers, are run at a loss as a way of promoting an associated product or service. Only the very biggest sites like Google and eBay actually make any money from the web alone.

I didn’t start the ACD as a money-making venture. It’s just a hobby that got out of hand. The financial overheads of the main site are very low and are covered by the hotel bookings. The huge amounts of time I put into it are given for free. Like I say, it’s a hobby and it’s my choice to do it.

The forum, on the other hand, has no income whatsoever and its overheads are more significant. There are sites that will host forums for free but they are covered in adverts (sometimes even within the posts themselves), they cannot be customised or backed up and it’s not possible to upload an existing forum to them. In fact, moving a forum to a different URL is a nightmare because all of the internal linking breaks down.

Slimline provides us with an amazing service. If 1000 members donated 1 dollar per year it would cover Slimline’s costs without anyone noticing the loss. Sadly that won’t happen because everyone will have the rather disappointing attitude reflected in the posts above and thinks that someone else should pay for the service that they clearly enjoy.

[NirvanaEJ]

im pretty much a broke artist, but i can afford a buck!

[Boner]

Lemmings right, we can all aford a few dollars/pounds/euros, I'll donate a few quid later.

Anyone else thought the title of the thread was server outrage, I wondered who'd done what to it.

[hulldj]

Hiya Lemming,

Google ads bring me a decent amount of income from my site, due to the amount of page hits we get, Im sure you would be able to implement them in your new header or as a footer to every page across the ACD site.

Every 3 months I'm getting around £110 which has helped towards my server costs. There may be some terms and conditions with google ads relating to the content of this site but there will be a way round setting up an account.

[axeman9]

I'll chip in a few quid, although i dont have a debit or credit card, or a paypal account for that matter, im pretty shit. But i know of a couple of mates who have p-pal.

It wont be till i get back from dam next week mind...

After all, i am here between 5-8 times per day 5-6 days a week, i love seeing new posts and shit....

Axeman

[Lemming]

Sadly Google ads won't deal with cannabis sites.

Slimline tells me someone from USA has made a donation so much thanks to whoever that was. Any more will be gratefully received.

[courtjester]

I don't know how to do the quote thing, but this is the best quote in this thread:

"It’s just a hobby that got out of hand."

God bless you for it, sir.

[slimline]

Oops sorry for the outage, If anybody has experienced problems with the Plesk control panel You'll know sleep was a little scarce last night.

When I have time to sit and watch TV, nothing irritates me more than having to spend my time watching adverts. Adverts slows things down. !!

I think Lem and I carry a vote on this. The forum should stay advert free.

Thanks for the donation David ( you know who you are ).
All donations will be used for improving the server.

Cheers all.

[hulldj]

Have the ads registered with a legit site, even just a one pager and then place the ad code into ACD pages.

Just an idea to look into, someone on here must know the inner workings of the ads system. Such a shame if you couldnt pull it off as I guess you get quite a few page hits per month.