What's with all of these Adverts?

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It should be easy and obvious to make donations of any amount. $25 per month is too much for me, my income is very erratic with highs and lows. However, there are times when I'm moderately well off that I could make the odd donation in Euro's of 5, 10 or sometimes more now and then - if it was clear and simple to do. Most sites have a prominent PayPal donate button that you can just click and enter any amount in any currency you want.

... I've just looked around the site again. It simply isn't possible to make any donations less than $25 per month. Cheques have to be in US dollars and mailed to America so Alex has eliminated payment from most countries of the world!! ! Frankly Alex just hasn't put the necessary features on this site to make it easy for people to donate. If someone gets the urge to donate an amount they should be able to do so there and then with no fuss before they change their mind; there certainly shouldn't be major obstacles to overcome to make a donation - it is basic selling techniques 101 - make it easy for people to part with their money!

we are talking over and under and around the only person that can give us any answers. I have asked Alex (over the telephone) about the efficiency of only asking for specific amounts starting at a large dollar amount ages ago and what you see on the "Support WrongPlanet Awareness" was the result. I have asked how does he want us to keep track of who has donated for the month and who has not, and got no answer. I have asked for a way to change the front page and got no answer. I have asked for a way to edit the advertising from the blogs and have not heard back from him.

So, I clean out perhaps 19 to 26 spam accounts a day, keep my PM box open for anyone that needs assistance and do what I can. It's been like this for as long as I have been a mod.

Then I guess it comes back to what roadracer said about alex wanting to kill the site? If there are people who would donate if it were easier, it's not the users who don't donate who are the source of that problem. Doesn't Paypal provide most of the setup for donation systems?

As I've said before.. Merle, you have the patience of a saint.

Well, if Alex is struggling to pay for site hosting frankly it sounds like his lack of action is largely to blame. I know from personal experience that a "PayPal Donate" button can be added to a website in minutes. I've done it myself on my own website. PayPal provide a few lines of code that you simply copy and paste into your site HTML and the job is done. I see no reason why Alex can't do the same or similar and put one at the head of the page listing the discussions forums. Everyone would see it. Anyone anywhere in the World could make ad-hoc donations of any amount in any currency. I just can't see why Alex is limiting donations to a handful of wealthy Americans who can afford to make regular monthly donations and who just happen to come across the page asking for donations. It is just not sound business sense.

It is like hanging around a dark alley where hardly anyone walks and holding out a collection tin asking for donations to charity - but refusing to accept anything less than $20 notes or higher! It isn't surprising that so few donations are made!

I remember making my small donations using PayPal. Has Alex removed that option?

You can still make small/one-off payments with Pay Pal, if you have a Pay Pal a/c; using the Send Money function and sending money to the merchant address that alex gives in the Support WP pages, ( [email protected] ), but it requires a certain amount of reckless or stubborn determination to contribute in the face of almost overwhelming odds ( which is how I was feeling when I last contributed, but not everyone will feel like that ) ! !! The way things currently are, as Tallyman etc have said, is definitely not calculated to increase site revenue.

But I think that the mods could do something about the problem without needing alex's permission, as I suggested on the last page. The following would be perfectly legit, and would help people who wanted to donate to do so, ( so long as they have a Pay Pal a/c anyway ).

PS. I totally agree with what Tallyman and Roadracer have said about the danger that so many, and such frequently unpleasant, ads will put people off using the site.

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There doesn't appear to be a PayPal donate button on the site unless it is in some obscure page. To have any effectiveness it should be prominent at the top of every page - say between the WrongPlanet.net logo and the Google custom search box. It needs to catch people's eye. That way, if someone is in a generous mood and sees the distinctive PayPal "Donate" button they are more likely to click it and a couple of clicks later they have made a donation while in the mood to do so. It isn't rocket science. I can't understand why it isn't already there. Even the most basic one man and a dog websites have PayPal donate buttons nowadays; it seems to be a major omission on WP. Another good place to position it would be in the section to the left above or below the online store.

No matter how generous the average non-American is they are unlikely to go to the trouble of going to the bank and raising some sort of money transfer order / cheque or whatever to be able to post an amount in dollars to America! It just won't happen.

You can donate small and/or one-off sums, ( without using a cheque and living in the USA ), if you have a Pay Pal a/c, as I explained above. ^^^ And that is why a sticky on here to that effect would be useful!
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So is possible then. Sort of. The best solution is to have visible PayPal donate buttons on the web pages - they are what people expect to see - they are a familiar icon on so many websites. I can't understand why WP doesn't make use of them. A poor second substitute would be a sticky as you suggest. If people are in a generous mood this doesn't extend into necessarily being in an inquisitive mood to research ways of how to part with some money. The two need to coexist. Feeling generous and having a visible "Donate to WP" image in front of their eye-balls at the same moment in time. Much more chance of a follow through that way.

Hehehe Our posts are leap frogging each other on this thread.

Yes!

I totally agree but, as sinsboldly and other mods have mentioned on a few occasions now, alex is not replying to messages/requests/suggestions about it, and has made no changes despite frequent pms from mods on the subject.

So we and/or the mods need to think of something that "we" can do to help, without relying on alex, and without doing something which might be against his wishes either. And I think a well-written, clear and explanatory and welcoming, sticky about the financial situation, and about the Support page but also about how to donate smaller one-off amounts by Pay Pal if have an a/c with them, would be a good idea.

Of course we don't "have" to help alex with the financial side of WP, and even if more people did contribute there is no guarantee that alex would reduce the ads anyway ...

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I fully agree. Perhaps a simple but grabbing subject line such as "Please DONATE to WP" with a well written post explaining clearly and simply how to make donations. Such a post should perhaps be a sticky in all the forums not just the discussion forum, because frankly I don't think this forum gets that much traffic.

Yes, that is a concern. I find it more of a concern that he doesn't seem to want to become involved in small steps that could substantially boost the finances for WP and himself. Perhaps the financial situation should just be viewed in pragmatic terms that as users of the WP site we want it to continue to exist and consequently it needs income, irrespective of the actions or otherwise of its "absentee" owner.

You all have gotten me to wonder if I could/should allow paypal donations on my free and adless Max Creek website, http://scoogy.com/maxcreek/

I'm hoping I can afford to pay for the site again this year, and there are expenses involved in the other part of my Max Creek work, putting old shows online for free download.

This is a diversion from the topic at hand. Please don't let me hijack this excellent topic, I can always split it off if necessary. I think your discussion has come up with some excellent ideas. Hopefully Alex reads them.

It is easy enough to do. If you've got a PayPal account just log into your account and go into the section for buttons. Tick a few boxes and it will generate the HTML code for a donate button. Just copy and paste the HTML text into your website. Job done. I think PayPal take a small percentage of any donations but I take the pragmatic view that I'd sooner have 90% of something than 100% of nothing.

Looking around at other sites..
Craftster.com has three levels of "supporters": $12, $24, and $36/year. (And access to a private "Friends of Craftster" board)

Allrecipes.com supporting memberships are 9.95 for 6 months, 17.50/year, and 22.95 for two years. (And have a bunch of extra features for that)

Heck, Second Life premium memberships are 9.95/month, 22.50/quarter or 72.00/year.

Just pointing out examples of more normal donation rates that sites charge for memberships or "supporter" status..