My Apologies - Ideas for the future!

[Muck]

Also, what do we do if someone on the boards decides to create the gifs for free??

 

[FinHeavenAJ]

Well, building off this idea is that we can easily have avatars JUST for one category. Granted, this goes back to what Muck was saying... someone can just right click and save. But, if I were viewing a thread... saw an avatar that I KNEW was in that category and looked and didn't see a little "Premium Member" icon below (of which is coming soon and CANNOT be duplicated by another member) then I could just take down that avatar.

Also, I can control the Post Icon feature. This is what is displayed next to the thread/post title. With this, I mean... I could have a standard set for everyone then an extended set for Premium Members.

Please remember: In no way do I want to make it seem that users HAVE to be a Premium Member to enjoy the site. Instead, I want to make it seem that if you want to enjoy the entire experience of the site, it's recommended that you become a Premium Member. While the features will be the same, they will be limited.

 

[FinHeavenAJ]

Be like Wal-Mart and run them out of town! Just kidding...

 

[ZOD]

Also, what do we do if someone on the boards decides to create the gifs for free??

I've thought about that. That's why my thought was to attempt to link the cost to hosting. Is there some sort of software that would protect the site possessions a little easier? It might be a worthy investment. I guess sometimes it's better for one that does not have the knowledge to brainstorm as I don't know the limitations.

I think photopost was donated by a member. What did the site do for him?

Althought the cost suggested as the charge for the creation of animated gifs is minimal, I do think it falls in the "shock" category. The site really hasn't charged for anything before. It's like TT refered to ESPN Motion. Some people are just waiting for the doom of being charged for something and that seems to be the last thing anyone wants around here. I guarantee it will become a topic on the board and rather than drive members away it might be best just to have another "premium member drive".

That's why I attempted to link it with the cost of "hosting". It's a reasonable explaination to those that have been here forever and never encurred a charge here before. As for the youth that cannot afford the premium membership, if they are smart enough they can host their own. Some of our more "honory" youth possess the skill and most isp's give you space for free. So nobody is actually locked out from using the animations except for stupid adults like me. :)

Forgive me for the next statement as I don't know the details involved in hotlinking but someone once carried a wise saying in their signature around here. I can't remember it exactly but to paraphrase, "anything worth doing is worth doing well".

Let the difficult tasks begin.

 

[ZOD]

The tough part would be limiting access. People could easily just right-click and save the gifs to their hard drives. Or they could just right-click, copy the image location, and simply do what they want from there. There are tons of sites out there that do just that. They use our images, avatars, gifs, everything. There are even a few football boards that link their smilies directly from our site. What I mean is, you know how you click on a smiley next to the box when you submit a new post?? Well, there are some sites that have the same thing (smiley boxes)....except the smiley files aren't residing on their server. They're still on ours. So what they're really doing is stealing our bandwidth and processing power. They get the smiley, while all the overhead stays with us. As A.J. knows, this drives me crazy.

This is why something has to be done.

There are ways to combat this (implementing hotlink protection). But it's very hard to do and still be able to allow others to be able to hotlink. We tried it once.....and it was a disaster for the site. So we stopped right there. In all honestly, we probably do not have the capability to do exactly what we would like to do with the software we have. But I'm sure we could do SOMETHING. And I'd love to give it another shot. We'd probably have to try this late at night though.

AJ has summer coming up!

If we were able to efficiently enable hotlink protection, the number of people saving the gifs to their hard drives really wouldn't hurt us much, because very few people have access to web space. And if people did so...and then uploaded them to the image gallery, it still wouldn't hurt us....because we would determine which sites are able to hotlink and which ones couldn't.

Everyone has access to space. ISP's give it away. That's what is so great about providing animated gifs for premium members. For the dumb (like me) they get a benefit that costs for site are minimal. It's like selling mud in a jar to old people with the promise that it will reduce their wrinkles. :D

As for the ill-funded that do not have the money for premium membership. "Hey! You are on the internet aren't you." Unless they are connecting to the site from the library someone has paid an ISP and that ISP has provided space for them.

"Make your own stuff and host it on your own." It's reasonable.

 

[FinHeavenAJ]

ZOD,

The hotlinking thing was put on the back burner. There are so many ideas that float through my head, that sometimes I forget the basic ones... that's where Muck comes in and cracks the whip...

But please keep in mind, that while I may have "summer" ahead... there are things that still limit me.

1. The site's financial state. I will start to sell shirts publicly as soon as I get the boxes I orderd for them. Additionally, I will open Premium Membership up. Lastly, Muck and I are going to give another push for hosting services. For just $10 a month and about $13 a year (almost $135 a year total) one can have their own website (http://www.whatever.com). We've had a few bites on this, but never came up with anything (except for BigBry's site...)

2. My own financial state... heck, I am looking for a good job. My major is Marketing, thus I want to get some internship with that. I'm trying to get something at USF for Sports Marketing... The more money I'm paid per hour, the less I have to work to get by. The less I have to work, the more I can be with the site...

3. Emotional state... I want to have a time where I can get away, and I don't mean Miami. For the past long time (except for Christmas hell in Seattle), my only time away was going down to my father's house to be with him. Granted, I love and cherish that time very much... will be unforgetable and I will never regret spending that time. However, I want to not go to Miami for one of my vacations. I have a very good friend, and his dad invited me to go out to Cali (and not worry about the plane ticket). I hope to get this done early summer...

4. Other damn people! LOL... I'm sick of relying on other people to finish their uncompleted projects. This site was supposed to have a commentary section, but the person building it is taking his sweet time. I even offered to pay $70 when he wanted $35... but noooooo. :angry: I'm working on this issue... as I really want to see this improved...

 

[ZOD]

2. My own financial state... heck, I am looking for a good job. My major is Marketing, thus I want to get some internship with that. I'm trying to get something at USF for Sports Marketing... The more money I'm paid per hour, the less I have to work to get by. The less I have to work, the more I can be with the site...

You graduated?

Thanks for the ammo! Now your jobless state can be the joke of the board instead of Muck.

:vault:

 

[FinHeavenAJ]

Nah, I haven't graduated... heck, I only have my AA degree and will be transfering to USF this Fall. However, they suggest that I get a job in my field while there...

Jobless state? Depends on what you call jobless... I mean, if you call getting paid under the table a job... then I have TONS of those

 

[ZOD]

Jobless state? Depends on what you call jobless... I mean, if you call getting paid under the table a job... then I have TONS of those

I think computer techs have taken over the "under the table" lead from the construction worker.

My brother makes more cash on the side with computers than he does controlling billions of gallons of natural gas flowing up and down the east coast underground.

 

[TerryTate]

Transferring to USF???

What a vile institution.

 

[Muck]

I think computer techs have taken over the "under the table" lead from the construction worker.

My brother makes more cash on the side with computers than he does controlling billions of gallons of natural gas flowing up and down the east coast underground.

I haven't shown the government an income in 12 months. And I work 60-70 hours a week in a real repair shop. Then there's my side work.....:tongue:

Seriously, you can make lots of cash just doing side jobs. I charge $60 just for showing up. $75 if it's "far" or you're well off.

 

[ZOD]

One other thing AJ.

Since I work at UPS I've seen this scam run before.

If someone works at an office that has a UPS or Fedex account ask your driver for some Fedex or UPS next day air boxes. Tell them you need them for the air or premium services.

Free boxes! :wizard:

Then ship the shirts out however you want (usps, ups, fedex).

It's not like anyone is checking behind you.

 

[ZOD]

As a matter of fact.....

Just raid your local Drop box for some letter envelopes.

Shirts will fit in there.

 

[xiidaen]

Haven't posted on here for a while, but I think my premium membership is due soon, you can count on my renewal.

Other ideas, hmmm:

I would suggest finding ways to making premium membership more attractive. Are there rewards available to top of the line posters that are not available to a new, or rarely posting (like me) Premium user? For example, I have not looked at what you can do with the point system, but maybe Premium Membership gets you XXXXX points? I think a premium user should be automatically eligible for the name bells and whistles, for example. Bonus here is that is should cost you/the site nothing.

Tee shirts are not a bad thing to offer, though they DO cost money and therefore limit the benefit of premium membership dollars.

If you have a graphics person who can create signatures, etc for premium members to use on the board (similar to the animated GIF issue) that would be great. If you're giving away that much space to free users, I would suggest limiting the space -- look at how much is being used and find an average point, perhaps.

I don't know how many people here have tickets and go to the games (I had hoped to see a home game this year, but they're on the road the week I'll be in FL) but looking to organize tailgating events, etc for members and non members alike is something that should be done -- helps build the sense of community.

Finally, I believe you ARE working on whatever the techinical issues affecting performance lately, but things like that do taint the positive impressions somewhat.

Semi-related: have you considered ways to combine resources with other online sites? I came here from phins.com, and that's still where I go for news, I think Curt has a fabulous news wire. You have great commentary and a great message board. Have you explored mergers and similar possibilities with some of the other dedicated Dolphin webmasters out there?

 

[FinHeavenAJ]

ZOD: I will keep that in mind; however, I already bot 100 boxes off of eBay for just $25. This will save the site a ton of money, seeing how I was sending out boxes that used to cost me $0.75 each. Basically saving the site $50 for the container. In addition, these are air padded envelopes which weigh less than boxes... so it's more money in the bank right!

xiidaen, as you thought, your premium membership does run out on 5/4. Thank you very much for your continued support of the site... every bit helps!

Anyway, as for points... that died away very quickly. There were only so many items one could get with points... and once everyone posted enough, they had it. However, I could always make perks such as a "glowing" username available for JUST Permium Members.

As for the tailgating party - that will be begin planning very soon. I've done it for two years straight now... and it gets better and better... so I'm looking forward to it this year.

Finally, about merging sites... I've talked to Curt before as he would be the only one I would be interested in. However, I would like to avoid merging sites as that means partnerships and all that bad stuff. Our newswire is lacking, yes... but it is a news wire nonetheless. However, my eyes are always open for an improved system... and I'm still talking to Curt to see if we can work on an agreement focued on that.

Thank you all for your input! I think this is the most input I've received from the Premium Members in a long time... and this is definitely what I want to hear!