Website Was Down

[peter]

When Animal Versus Animal (Yuku), where I was a mod, was hacked, I was done with forums. I seriously contemplated selling the computer and returning to paper. Than Sanjay came up with a proposal. I decided to give it one more try.

Never regretted it. I think we created a place of beauty. In this sanctuary, Sanjay is of crucial importance. Apart from being a specialist (a web developer), he's as honest as they come. That and very capable in all departments. Without him, the forum is gone. 

In spite of his effort, the thing we created is vulnarable. The internet is great, but vulnarable. I know it's possible we can lose everything we created. A terrible thing to consider, but possible. The only thing we can do to limit the chance is to find the best possible host.

Quality comes at a price. We make just enough money to pay the bills, but that's about it. If we want to protect what we have, we need a different host. As it's very difficult to increase revenues with ads only, we need to consider a different model to make a bit of money.

Newspapers cost about $1-2 a day and they offer zilch on the natural world. We do and 10 000 - 15 000 views a day from all over the world say there's a need. This is apart from quite many members and readers asking for professional advice.  

I've been thinking about a different model. One with subscribers paying a monthly fee. I'm not saying the entire forum will disappear behind the decoder, but some sections and threads will.

What's your opinion about a paid forum? And what about the fee? You now know we need to do something to get the best possible host in order to limit the chance it will disappear into thin air one day. An additional advantage of more income is we can buy access to good information (magazins) and pay those who invest a lot of time and knowledge into the forum.

Let us know what you think. Reply