Red Baron
06-16-2004, 08:43 PM
Ok, let me answer this one. Excellent questions Grambo. Same concerns I had/have.
Short answer: Spence has helpers: Dianna and my self right now, I'm sure others will help too.
Spence is paying for the server - we really should help him with that, and we need a little money for some commercial vendor forum software which is very similar to what Spence is using now, but easier and simpler to setup and maintain. (Detailed answers below)
So where are we? We have willing and able helpers to get the new site up and running. We have the server, we have identified the software which will make it much easier to run and maintain, and we have started to collect funds for it. As it stands right now, we need just $315 more dollars to make this work.
(Cost of the new server, cost of vBulletin: $40 for the server and $160 to buy the software, and $135 to have vBulletin install it (so no config issues like avatar uploads not working, email not working etc) . The software has built in functions which will make it much easier to set up to our liking and to maintain, with a lot less effort.
So total cost for first year (sans our time which we gladly donate to this group) would be $295 at a minimum, or better yet, $335 to reimburse Spence for the server. That is just $28 a month to provide the forum for everyone.)
If you were to contract out for Spences talents, what he as already given us for free is well over $10,000 in Technology services. I think the very least we can do to support him and his efforts to provide us with a superior forum, is to chip in a few $ to get us to the goal of $315. Any extra would be used for the recurring annual server and software maintenance fees.
The immediate goal, right now, is to raise this money so we can purchase the software and get this new forum running, ASAP, and reduce Spences maintenance load (as well as our reading loads).
Long term we are tossing out ideas of getting a selection of our favorite vendors to help pay for the web site, in return for access to the group in some way (perhaps posting their specials, maybe in a special forum, etc). The goal is to not have to have any recurring costs, and maybe, just maybe, be able to leverage access to the vendor forum into some good discounts for our members. <BG> Why not? The vendors pay a lot for advertising, we'd be asking for pennies by comparison for access to a 100% metric motorcycle pure target group. (What do you think it costs them to send out those catalogs?) (any good marketing people out there that can help us follow up on this idea?)
This WILL work, but we need everyone's help today. Now here is a chance for everyone to chip in and help give back to the group that has given us all so much help and saved us all money. I don't know about you all but I just saved over $30 on the purchase of my extended backrest, by using a vendor that this group recommended. I've saved way more than that, and so have a lot of us.
So please make a small donation to help us make a better forum for everyone. Consider it an investment in this forum that will, if it hasn't already, save you a lot more in the future.
Thank you.
I just made a $10 donation to this cause this morning. If just 32 people make a $10 donation, we are there. If just 64 of you make a $5 donation we are there. (any extra will be returned to the group in some way, e.g. purchasing of ride bells, donations to those in need, etc we can discuss after we meet our goal)
Please make a donation if you can to paypal, and use Spence's email address:
obageegee@hotmail.com
Or if you can't use paypal, you please send Spence a check. (but please email him so he knows it is coming and we can add it to the total)
Rob Spencer
16 White Oak Lane
Fairport, NY 14450
Thank You!
Chris (aka Red Baron)
Detailed Answers for those who want to read more ;-) :
- First the new server is hosted by a professional service that Spence is paying for out of his pocket.
- it isn't much, about $40 a year I think he said - Spence SMACK me if I got this wrong
Yes this is a concern.
- Secondly, the current forum software Spence is using is Freeware with regard to his cost in $ but not when it come to his time. Freeware can be excellent software, but also very time consuming to setup and maintain.
Yes this is a concern.
I called Spence and discussed these issues with him. He was looking at a commercial software package for the forum (vBulletin) but it costs $, not a lot but some. (I have posted info on this in the new forum). I have checked into vBulletin. It is considered one of the best, if not the best forum/ bulletin board software systems available. It comes with many powerful features that would enable us to have a much better organized bulletin board, and community. (Again I have posted some of the features on the new forum). The interface is very much like what you see on the new forum right now. (BTW, I'm not new to software or tools, I have over 20 years experience in software, 10 of it in new technology integration and support, including databases).
Here are some example motorcycle sites that use vBulletin
http://www.33rpm.com/~motor/forumdisplay.php?s=7eb8afc44bdcde3e9e41bf428b0799a 2&f=1
http://harleydavidsonforum.com/forums/index.php?s=
Yahoo has served our community well up till now with a few problems now and then. But there are several problems, with the way the yahoo forum works that are growing:
- I don't know about you all, but I find it very hard to search for and locate information that I know I've read. So I have resorted to other means to capture and organize the data so I don't loose it. Despite what I and others have done to summarize some of the information and put it into the files section, the information is still difficult to find and that is one reason we get many repeat questions. I sometimes even have a hard time finding stuff I uploaded.:-(
-- vBulletin has much better searching capabilities
- We are growing fast, and it has become harder and harder for us all to keep up with the daily flood of messages, even though this is a great problem.. :-) We need a better and easier way to organize the data by topics, and to find it.
-- vBulletin will allow us to group discussions by topic (see the above examples as to how other sites have done it)
-- vBulletin has a built in FAQ (frequently asked questions) builder that will make it easier to come up with a good organized FAQ for this group.
I'm not going to bore you all and go into all the other benefits right now..Suffice it to say that vBulletin has many other features which if utilized can make the forum a much better and productive experience for everyone. Yes we can continue to have general chit chat and friendly community as we have with the yahoo forum.
Who is going to keep it going? - Spence has been taking the initiative on this. Thus far he has invested over 100 hours of his time. We can greatly reduce the effort needed by anyone to maintain the site by using the commercial software vBulletin. Dianna and I have both offered our help, as I am sure others will. (And like Dianna I will probably hang around in this Forum until the last one is out the door and headed to the new Forum) We will have the ability to set up topic areas and can have moderators for each area. Specialists if you will who will help organize the data for that area, etc.
Thank you for your time.
Red Baron
grambo462 wrote:
> I'm still not clear on how the lights will "stay on" at the new site.
> Who owns the server? Are they "giving" us the space? Or are they
> giving "you" the space? Are you their only contact?
> I guess what I'm asking is ... if you said "screw this" tomorrow,
> would the forum continue to function indefinitely, as Yahoo will?
> Don't mean this to sound cold, I just want to make sure the
> continuation of the Group, as it is, doesn't depend on an individual
>
> grambo
>
>
>
Short answer: Spence has helpers: Dianna and my self right now, I'm sure others will help too.
Spence is paying for the server - we really should help him with that, and we need a little money for some commercial vendor forum software which is very similar to what Spence is using now, but easier and simpler to setup and maintain. (Detailed answers below)
So where are we? We have willing and able helpers to get the new site up and running. We have the server, we have identified the software which will make it much easier to run and maintain, and we have started to collect funds for it. As it stands right now, we need just $315 more dollars to make this work.
(Cost of the new server, cost of vBulletin: $40 for the server and $160 to buy the software, and $135 to have vBulletin install it (so no config issues like avatar uploads not working, email not working etc) . The software has built in functions which will make it much easier to set up to our liking and to maintain, with a lot less effort.
So total cost for first year (sans our time which we gladly donate to this group) would be $295 at a minimum, or better yet, $335 to reimburse Spence for the server. That is just $28 a month to provide the forum for everyone.)
If you were to contract out for Spences talents, what he as already given us for free is well over $10,000 in Technology services. I think the very least we can do to support him and his efforts to provide us with a superior forum, is to chip in a few $ to get us to the goal of $315. Any extra would be used for the recurring annual server and software maintenance fees.
The immediate goal, right now, is to raise this money so we can purchase the software and get this new forum running, ASAP, and reduce Spences maintenance load (as well as our reading loads).
Long term we are tossing out ideas of getting a selection of our favorite vendors to help pay for the web site, in return for access to the group in some way (perhaps posting their specials, maybe in a special forum, etc). The goal is to not have to have any recurring costs, and maybe, just maybe, be able to leverage access to the vendor forum into some good discounts for our members. <BG> Why not? The vendors pay a lot for advertising, we'd be asking for pennies by comparison for access to a 100% metric motorcycle pure target group. (What do you think it costs them to send out those catalogs?) (any good marketing people out there that can help us follow up on this idea?)
This WILL work, but we need everyone's help today. Now here is a chance for everyone to chip in and help give back to the group that has given us all so much help and saved us all money. I don't know about you all but I just saved over $30 on the purchase of my extended backrest, by using a vendor that this group recommended. I've saved way more than that, and so have a lot of us.
So please make a small donation to help us make a better forum for everyone. Consider it an investment in this forum that will, if it hasn't already, save you a lot more in the future.
Thank you.
I just made a $10 donation to this cause this morning. If just 32 people make a $10 donation, we are there. If just 64 of you make a $5 donation we are there. (any extra will be returned to the group in some way, e.g. purchasing of ride bells, donations to those in need, etc we can discuss after we meet our goal)
Please make a donation if you can to paypal, and use Spence's email address:
obageegee@hotmail.com
Or if you can't use paypal, you please send Spence a check. (but please email him so he knows it is coming and we can add it to the total)
Rob Spencer
16 White Oak Lane
Fairport, NY 14450
Thank You!
Chris (aka Red Baron)
Detailed Answers for those who want to read more ;-) :
- First the new server is hosted by a professional service that Spence is paying for out of his pocket.
- it isn't much, about $40 a year I think he said - Spence SMACK me if I got this wrong
Yes this is a concern.
- Secondly, the current forum software Spence is using is Freeware with regard to his cost in $ but not when it come to his time. Freeware can be excellent software, but also very time consuming to setup and maintain.
Yes this is a concern.
I called Spence and discussed these issues with him. He was looking at a commercial software package for the forum (vBulletin) but it costs $, not a lot but some. (I have posted info on this in the new forum). I have checked into vBulletin. It is considered one of the best, if not the best forum/ bulletin board software systems available. It comes with many powerful features that would enable us to have a much better organized bulletin board, and community. (Again I have posted some of the features on the new forum). The interface is very much like what you see on the new forum right now. (BTW, I'm not new to software or tools, I have over 20 years experience in software, 10 of it in new technology integration and support, including databases).
Here are some example motorcycle sites that use vBulletin
http://www.33rpm.com/~motor/forumdisplay.php?s=7eb8afc44bdcde3e9e41bf428b0799a 2&f=1
http://harleydavidsonforum.com/forums/index.php?s=
Yahoo has served our community well up till now with a few problems now and then. But there are several problems, with the way the yahoo forum works that are growing:
- I don't know about you all, but I find it very hard to search for and locate information that I know I've read. So I have resorted to other means to capture and organize the data so I don't loose it. Despite what I and others have done to summarize some of the information and put it into the files section, the information is still difficult to find and that is one reason we get many repeat questions. I sometimes even have a hard time finding stuff I uploaded.:-(
-- vBulletin has much better searching capabilities
- We are growing fast, and it has become harder and harder for us all to keep up with the daily flood of messages, even though this is a great problem.. :-) We need a better and easier way to organize the data by topics, and to find it.
-- vBulletin will allow us to group discussions by topic (see the above examples as to how other sites have done it)
-- vBulletin has a built in FAQ (frequently asked questions) builder that will make it easier to come up with a good organized FAQ for this group.
I'm not going to bore you all and go into all the other benefits right now..Suffice it to say that vBulletin has many other features which if utilized can make the forum a much better and productive experience for everyone. Yes we can continue to have general chit chat and friendly community as we have with the yahoo forum.
Who is going to keep it going? - Spence has been taking the initiative on this. Thus far he has invested over 100 hours of his time. We can greatly reduce the effort needed by anyone to maintain the site by using the commercial software vBulletin. Dianna and I have both offered our help, as I am sure others will. (And like Dianna I will probably hang around in this Forum until the last one is out the door and headed to the new Forum) We will have the ability to set up topic areas and can have moderators for each area. Specialists if you will who will help organize the data for that area, etc.
Thank you for your time.
Red Baron
grambo462 wrote:
> I'm still not clear on how the lights will "stay on" at the new site.
> Who owns the server? Are they "giving" us the space? Or are they
> giving "you" the space? Are you their only contact?
> I guess what I'm asking is ... if you said "screw this" tomorrow,
> would the forum continue to function indefinitely, as Yahoo will?
> Don't mean this to sound cold, I just want to make sure the
> continuation of the Group, as it is, doesn't depend on an individual
>
> grambo
>
>
>