tried to have a look but had to register and kept getting an annoying prize draw thing in Bulgarian (as I am in Bulgaria at the moment) so gave up.


Edited by Admin..

I have split this topic from here viewtopic.php?f=46&
t=6807 because it has now developed into a discussion about the blog site and the issues members are facing along with some ideas as to how to resolve the problem.

Edited by Chris..

Poll now added. Please help us by voting one way or another! Thanks

I think most people find it a fiddle, there are very few views.

It is a fiddle I'm afraid. We couldn't automate the log-ons from this forum to that one without a huge capital investment and a great deal of programming time. Nor could we keep the blogs over here as it costs Ash money to host the site and, the bigger the site (and believe me, it's getting pretty big here), the more 'web space' it needs and the more expensive the hosting.

We tried to seperate the blogs to keep the server space on this forum down a bit, but nobody seems happy with the situation, so we're looking at bringing a blog forum back on here, just that it costs Ash and me more money for the yearly hosting and these things have to be considered.

We don't have unlimited funds and we support this forum out of our own pockets. Any money we do raise (via the banners at the top of this page) goes directly to Bernadette's orphanage charity.

Unless of course every member wishes to donate a couple of euros to the cause!

I hope that you dont think that I was being critical, and i do appreciate everything that both you and Ash do for this forum, its just that this is the first time that I have tried to get on the blog site and gave up.

mike&tanya wrote:

I hope that you dont think that I was being critical

Not at all Mike. We (the Mods and Admin) were discussing only last week that it hadn't worked as well as hoped and this was probably due to the problems with having to re-register on that site and log on every time.

I suppose it all comes down to whether there are enough people interested in reading them really. I read a lot of ex-pat's blogs when we were researching life in Bulgaria, but wouldn't have bothered joining a site to do so, there are plenty of others out there. Rather than spending money on it is it possible for people to put a link on their signature to an outside site? I really don't know anything about how sites work, and I think it was a lovely idea to do a separate site, but as well as money it makes more work for you guys, for no return, not even an audience. I would be happy enough to donate a bit but I'm not sure there are many others who would.

Although I have written a couple of short stories about things here, I'm afraid I have to admit my blog is elsewhere, on a free blogging site. I find it is a bit disheartening to have hardly anyone look, and even less comment. We all need a bit of encouragement.

Sorry.

Sara

No need to be sorry you weren't to know the issues that go with the forum and the blog site, we will get it sorted shortly.

This is a very interesting thread..I am not even slightly interested in registering on another site each time I wanted to read something posted by another member, and never do so. I don't use Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and other sites of illrepute, so I suppose I miss out on things..but, each to their own. I would happily pay 40 or 50 leva to keep these posts on our forum.

Just my two bobs worth.

Chris wrote:

It is a fiddle I'm afraid. We couldn't automate the log-ons from this forum to that one without a huge capital investment and a great deal of programming time. Nor could we keep the blogs over here as it costs Ash money to host the site and, the bigger the site (and believe me, it's getting pretty big here), the more 'web space' it needs and the more expensive the hosting.

We tried to seperate the blogs to keep the server space on this forum down a bit, but nobody seems happy with the situation, so we're looking at bringing a blog forum back on here, just that it costs Ash and me more money for the yearly hosting and these things have to be considered.

We don't have unlimited funds and we support this forum out of our own pockets. Any money we do raise (via the banners at the top of this page) goes directly to Bernadette's orphanage charity.

Unless of course every member wishes to donate a couple of euros to the cause!

I do believe that you have the sincere backing of the members of the Forum with organising the site and the cost therewith. My knowledge of sites and how they work is rather limited, but if the problem is space because of the amount of postings saved on the archive, is it possible for the Mods to delete those that have no use to be saved. It's only a thought and I know it means that work has to be done to bring the site down to a more manageable size, but if it works it would be worth the effort. Like bgbazz, we would be more than willing to donate to the site.

for all of the enjoyment and knowledge gleaned from this site ,I also would be willing to pay a nominal fee to be a member, perhaps this may also reduce the large amount of people that join but never join in, with either questions or answers or even just observations..

Chris wrote:

Unless of course every member wishes to donate a couple of euros to the cause!

Equinus wrote:

I would be happy enough to donate a bit but I'm not sure there are many others who would.

bgbazz wrote:

I would happily pay 40 or 50 leva to keep these posts on our forum.

itchyfeet wrote:

Like bgbazz, we would be more than willing to donate to the site.

mike&tanya wrote:

for all of the enjoyment and knowledge gleaned from this site ,I also would be willing to pay a nominal fee to be a member

Thanks folks.

I seem to remember we (Admin and Mods) did mention a few years ago that members could be charged a nominal fee to support the site but it was instantly shot down in flames (in fact, some members got extremely angry about the suggestion).

We quite a few had members threatening to leave with the 'I can get everything on the internet for free, so why should I pay here?' attitude.

However, I personally think there could be some mileage in kicking this discussion around a bit more.

As a suggestion ... suppose we had a couple of 'hidden' sections of the forum that could only be seen by people that contributed in some way to the running of the forum? Within this section could be personal blogs (a lot bigger), bigger and better photo blogs, people wanting to get together, maybe put some of the sales and wants in there, etc.

This way, the people that donate a few euros to our running costs can then benefit from the extra features, and the people that don't want the extra features or aren't interested, get the rest of the forum free?

I'm not sure how easy this would be to implement (although it is certainly possible). To stop people posting blogs on the 'general' part of the forum, we could restrict their word count to a couple of hundred characters or words per post. For the folks in the 'member section' we can increase their post count to thousands of characters or words to enable them to blog and write stories of their experiences here?

I'll have a word with Ash and the other Mods and see if this is worth discussing any further and try to get them to add their twopenneth worth here as well.

I think that is a great idea Chris..worth exploring IMHO.

Annette uses Preloved and paid £5 to enable her to contact people to effect a purchase, this is an annual fee. It is free to browse on Preloved, but to purchase you have to contact the seller and thereby the buyer and the seller would need to subscribe to purchase or sell an item. Sales and Wants on the Forum would be an instant success I am sure.

we are willing to pay to the site too. We suggest a pay only site. memebers only then if their is any one that doesn't want to play nice then it is easily sorted. Please may i request a spell check too as since i have another new language in my head (Bulgarian) i can't spell properly in any language any more [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Love the new ideas kicked around so far hope it all goes through. We feel the site woud be more secure and trusted :Good luck:with it all and

This is a very ineresting topic and so glad that our members are participatig. We will also contribute to the forum should that the overall decision. However, I have a few questiions too and say I was a new wmember .

1) Would the general public actually want to subscribe to a forum that
they have to pay to view?
2) What exactly would they be paying for?
3) How would the fees be collected and at what cost?
4) How long would the contract be for ie yearly or a one off payment?
5) I assume this would be extra work for Admin &
Mods or would this be down
to the member to ensure they pay on the due date.
6) What specific benefits would our members get.

I am sure many of you have simular questions but unless you ask them, we as a fourm cannot provide all the info - So, like me, no matter how trival you think your questiions are please ask.

Thanks for participatiing.