Read me! Donations, donor tags, and member input
 

This is an announcement.

Donor tags are coming back, but not in the same way they used to be. Yes, they will be a happy little marker under your name that lets everyone know that you are a contributing member. However, your previous donor status will be cleared off. If you donated in the past and had received a permissions boost because of it, that will disappear. All access will now be determined by actual board contribution.

Furthermore, I need donations. I have received two donations in the past 3 months. I don't really have a job.. I go to school.. I can't afford this. Please help me out. Click on the "Donate" option at the top of the forum and send me whatever you feel like sending. If you only have 5 bucks, its ok. If you feel like paying for my college tuition, thats also ok. I just need something so I can stop worrying if the hosting company is gonna cause me to overdraft.

So to wrap it all up, I'd like to get input from my members on what they'd like to see from the TFP. I'm talking about features, sections, events, interaction, periodicals, games.. whatever you can think of. I wanna hear it.

It takes a lot of time to run anything board related, but if I feel its worth the effort, I'll do my best. I think the TFP has been on the upswing lately. Activity has increased and contribution has gained in quality. Its like a real community again. I'm hoping to ride this little wave and do what I can to make it even more enjoyable for you all. Its very hard to compete with the new age of internet communication, with sites like YouTube, MySpace, and all those other hyper-social services availabile... you just cant get the same kind of touch with a message board. However, the one thing TFP has over all of them is the culture of mutual respect and maturity. Lets keep it up and make it better.

I also wanted to add one more thing. Refer this site to your friends. I know there is a lot of touchy subjects going on here and a lot of you treat this as your best kept secret, but this board thrives on communication. Post with honesty and conviction, and never be ashamed to share what you read and write with your friends and family. Show them the TFP as a little Christmas present.


Edit: For those of you who asked, the address for snail mail is:
Andrew Gonsalves
140 W 238th Street, Apt B52
Bronx, NY 10463

I would like to see a literature forum, basically, what are you reading. I saw the lit. forum is for putting in your own lit. I'm just a book discussion kid at heart.

Otherwise...I don't really know what else I would want. Besides an avatar (sp)

id love the aussie forum to be brought to life. ive kinda lost touch with the few aussies here.

as for donations, the aussie dollar is only worth 3/4 of what the US dollar is, so dont expect anything huge!

I knew there was something I had been meaning to do. This wasn't it, but it's a cheap substitute until my memory kicks in.

if we're all friends and love each other a lot in the Members Only section, can we trade music/files with each other? The copyright infringement doesn't apply for personal copies, or single copies for friends, does it? I'd love to be able to use TFP to swap stuff, the way you can can drink underage if you're at private party...or something like that.

:lol: Hilarious!

However, the file swapping thing would be a nice bonus...

You're free to arrange stuff.. like if you have a music swapping program, DCC or even instant messenger.. but i can't use the board's bandwidth and disk space for this.. we just dont have that capacity. As long as its not warez.

Once I get all my Christmas presents purchased, I'll definitely be looking at the budget to see what I can scratch up for the TFP.

Thanks for the reminder on donating... it's so easy to take something like a website for granted and forget that it's run on your time and money.

Hrm. I can't think of anything that I'd like to see extra on TFP... at least not at the moment. There might be something though, so I'll sleep on it!

Done and done. I'll think if I can come up with extras that would be cool. This could be considered a shameless bump, too, I suppose.

what ever happened to tfp cams?

that was a cool feature back in the day.

oh, and I just donated 15 bucks. As much as a poor student could give at the moment.

Donation is good.

I donated previously, but apparently it hasn't gotten through (no donor tag for me :( ).

When the donor tags are again fully functional I'll work on getting this sorted, and a new donation will be forthcoming. Hell, the only reason I got a paypal account is for the TFP :)

$50 coming atcha.

Thanks for the reminder. I've donated several times, but it's been quite a while.

Silvy, your donation was received, but at the time, Donor tags had been disabled. Now this new movement is starting all over.

hal, do the tags have any noticeable affect on donation rates?

At the end of the shipping season, I usually (and do now) end up with some American $$$ in my wallet from old taxi fares and etc. I'd be glad to send it on to you, but I'm leery of Paypal. Any chance you could pm me a snail mail address?

me too.....paypal and I don't get along for some reason,I had an adress in NY but I can't find it.....get us a regular way to donate please...xoxoxoo :icare:

Ask and ye shall receive... $50 en route.

The only thing I'd kind of like to see is the return of the "Regional" topics. I know they seem to have been low traffic, but I'd use it. Maybe there could be something that would spark more face-to-face meetings as a result?

I added snail mail address to the original post.

pigglet, I think tags have a subtle effect on donations. People always like to be recognized, so I'm happy to bring the tags back. I think seeing "Donor" under everyones name is sorta subliminal, dont you think?

Coaster, the regional forums may come back, but I need to see overall activity on the board increase. This means I need everyone's help in bringing new people to the TFP.

$20 on its way.

$30 sent. Thanks Hal.

I get paid Thursday, I'll send a money order then. Sorry it's taken so long to donate again, things have been tight at my household.

yeah, i wasn't sure if it spurred a community feeling of wanting to "be a donor," or if it made people think they didn't need to donate because there's so many donors around, etc. i think it probably helps out the mods a bit too, as it seems to set up a hierarchial structure a bit for some of the self-moderation across the boards.

Ah, good, so the paypal thing is working for me then. I wasn't sure, and I wouldn't want to keep sending money to the wrong address..

I'll sent another such donation your way.

Thanks for keeping this site running.

Also, thanks to all other donators and contributors. Each and every one of you makes this a community for real!

Heh.. i forgot to specify.. I think the effect is positive. From the feedback I've gotten, I'd say it is a communal "join in" thing rather than "I don't need to donate if everyone else has already."

I donated earlier this year, but I guess that was during the Donor Blackout Era that Silvy was also stuck in. :)

So, I'm ponying up again with a lil' Xmas gift for the TFP... and a thank-you to Hal for all your work. :) Sorry it can't be as much as last time, but I hope it helps some. :thumbsup:

Actually, is it possible to ask how much it costs on a monthly/yearly basis to run the TFP? I am just curious as to what your needs are, if we are even coming close to meeting them...

Can I donate sperm?

Abaya, the site costs about $400-450 each month in co-location and bandwidth costs. Thats quite a last name you've got there.. :p

let's see...

yup, you should be good.

you'll go blind...

man.. i tried donating but the damn thing wont let me.. theres no state of new south wales there, and u cant pick your country, so i tried to fudge the damn thing by putting my postcode here in sydney but it just wont do. hlax can u forward me your bank details and ill deposit straight into there? i dont really wanna send anything in snail mail

Wow, damn, that's expensive. I'll try to donate more often, for sure!

As for my last name... umm, would that be the one starting with the letter near the beginning of the alphabet, or the end? (The end-of-the-alphabet one was my maiden name, and it should be changed on PayPal... the beginning one is my married & now legal name). I hope the payment goes through no matter if my name matches my bank account or not!

So what you're telling me is that your new last name is even harder to pronounce? The one I see starts with a letter that falls after the the 4th letter of the middle name of the 5th governor of the 18th state inducted into the Union.

I have a GREAT mental picture of some select TFPers googling through the state governers sites right now. HILARIOUS!

cant be as hard to pronounce as my last name

What did happen to them? I request they come back. :D

At least your last name follows english grammatical format. (hehe)

I hate pay pal... but do you really believe that if I send it through the regular mail it will get there all the way from here? Hmmm...suggestions would be useful!

I'm not sure whether there are many artists on TFP but I'd love a place where you could discuss art if you wanted to, not necessarily your own work. I also like the book discussion idea. What about cinema too?

Also I have tried to get the chat feature to work for me but have never succeeded-would like that to be a little more straight-forward, for idiots like me I mean! :p

I promise to tell my friends about the TFP...I have mentioned it to some before but somehow I feel a little possessive about the TFP...it's mine! Lol silly me :D

Well, in light of the fact that you and ktspktsp are both Lebanese, my new last name might be more like yours than anyone else's on this board. :)

But actually, my new last name is vastly easier to pronounce (there are regular vowels in between consonants, for one thing) than my old Icelandic one (where I had 4 consonants in a row). It also has things in common with a Volkswagen model, a dog breed, and a vacuum-cleaner brand. :lol: (That'll throw 'em off the governor track.)

/threadjack!!! Hal, you started it. :)

ok you win hands down. but no one ever pronounces mine properly. my mrs decided to keep her maiden name btw :D

soo...vacuum cleaner AND a volkswagen? arent they the same? haha jk..ive got a VW myself and they go alright!

soooo...oh yes...donations...anyone..anyone?

/throws out a hat and does a dance.

Aaaanyways... back to donations.. :)

Yes, how should I send money through snail mail, I'm kind of far away and I'm doubtful that it'll get there intact?

Haven't had a problem with money not arriving from out of town in the (nearly) 5 years I've been taking donations. I wouldn't worry too much.

It's not much, but it's all this out of work student can come up with at the moment. There will be more in February.

I just sent another donation. :thumbsup:

As far as new features to TFP...I like it the way it is. Although I don't know what my opinion is worth on this matter; what with my whopping .33 posts per day, or whatever it is.

I like the idea of basing access on board contribution, but I wonder what my "contributions" to the board will earn me? I think most of my posts are pretty decent, but I don't always have time to post. And sometimes I browse the forum, but don't have anything to add - thus no responses from me.

E-fundage is winging it's way through the ether to you.

I'd like to kick around the idea of a TFP map linked, maybe on top with the User CP/Journals/Search buttons. I know we have at least one map, but I'd have to remember who posted about it, seach through the posts, try to find the url...although thankfully Charlatan has it in his signature, yes?

But I think it'd be nice to have a directly linked map button or something like, so when we go afield, it's easier to see who's where, and set up get-togethers (my not-so-secret passion!).

sultana: i may be cwazy, but i've got the map link right at the top next to 'new posts' and all that jazz. are you talking about a different map?

Yes, I too, will be mailing a check this weekend. It's been great being part of this - our - community and I hope 2007 will be a wonderful year for all of us.

Halx, BTW - what are you studying in college? I think that you'd be fun to have as a classmate!! :)

Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Happy Kwanza, Ho Ho Ho and ALL the Rest to You & Yours,
hunnychile

I gave up and donated through pay-pal...on it's way. Hope it helps! :)

Hey donation sent

um one suggestion for the site would be let me have an avatar..

and what does "access" on board contribution mean? Is that like moderator or something? And is contribution like $ or like posts.

Read more about how we handle access and stuff in the newbie section of the forum.

Ah yea I remember reading that I just didn't remember that there was a specific number of posts before you get your avatar. I'm not really worried about it anyway. I just enjoy reading what the people here have to say about certain issues. It's nice to have a board with mature people that have intelligence.

With the rate I post I'll probably have my avatar in 2 years. OMG like I'm so excited!!!!11

Something I think would be a nice feature: A spell-check function.

Would it be possible to have the Forum Jump listbox at both the top and the bottom of the page? It'd just make it easier to switch between forums if you didn't have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page.

Paypal donation made. Thanks for all of your efforts, Halx, keeping the TFP alive!