A note on site ads

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

I recently started running some advertising on MLP Forums, so in the interest of transparency, I just wanted to take a moment to point out what kind of advertising there is, where you see it, and why it's there.

First of all, MLP Forums is not-for-profit. So any kind of advertising I run around here is only there to help cover our expenses. Any surplus money earned will go directly towards making the site better through server upgrades, new software like IP.Gallery, or other things we'll all benefit from. You may not be aware that this site took about $200 just to launch, and is currently the most resource-intensive site on my server.

With that out of the way, I currently have two programs in place that try to earn money. One of them is Google AdSense, which displays your typical banner ads. AdSense ads are only shown to guests, and disappear the second you log in or register. Not much more to really say about those.

The other program that's running isn't exactly an advertising solution so much as it is a content monetization scheme, but I grouped it into this post because it's still a method of earning money from the site that you deserve to know about. It's called SkimLinks, and it's enabled for both guests and registered users. Every time anyone posts a link to an online store, it will be turned into an affiliate link. What this means is that if you buy something through a link to Amazon someone posts, I'll earn a small commission from it. It won't affect how much you pay for the item or how much the item's seller receives (if we're talking eBay). SkimLinks works with about 17,000 online stores and its presence is completely transparent, so you won't notice anything different whether it's there or not. But I believe you all have the right to know about it.

Even with those two services in place, I still cover most of our expenses out-of-pocket, so we're looking into other ways of not only covering those, but possibly even saving up for site improvements. Donations are definitely on our list of considerations, but I don't know how many of you would really be willing to donate to the site, especially since it's still so new.

Update: Since I started accepting donations, they have been able to cover most of our expenses handily. Please keep it up!

[Tiaaaaa 176]

Wish this had happened sooner. I just bought a bunch of stuff off of amazon and would have loved for some of that money to go here. D :

[LyraHeartstrings 482]

I would totally be willing to donate. If it means helping this site get better, than sure, I'd love to! I would suggest a small link on the bottom of the page (near the "mark community read" and "help" links) that says "Donate or something!

[Zoop 8,384]

Donations would be a good idea, and one I could get behind, I think - though if you went that route I'd recommend outlining how exactly they'd be used (ie monthly costs associated, forum modules, etc). I'm typically much more inclined to shoot out donations to places that provide those sorts of details.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

Wish this had happened sooner. I just bought a bunch of stuff off of amazon and would have loved for some of that money to go here. D :

 

SkimLinks has been active here since a day or two after we launched, so if you clicked any link to Amazon from here, it probably went through the affiliate program. You don't necessarily need to buy the thing you clicked through to - Amazon sets a cookie on your computer so that literally anything you buy from there would be credited to me. Any link to amazon.com (including this one) will do the trick.

 

I would totally be willing to donate. If it means helping this site get better, than sure, I'd love to! I would suggest a small link on the bottom of the page (near the "mark community read" and "help" links) that says "Donate or something!

 

Really glad to hear you'd support donations, Lyra. That's exactly where I was thinking of putting a donation link, though there are also a couple of full-on donation apps and trackers for IP.Board.

 

Donations would be a good idea, and one I could get behind, I think - though if you went that route I'd recommend outlining how exactly they'd be used (ie monthly costs associated, forum modules, etc). I'm typically much more inclined to shoot out donations to places that provide those sorts of details.

 

I have absolutely no problem being 100% transparent about the site's costs. I can put together a spreadsheet of them if you'd like.

[Tiaaaaa 176]

My thought process:

 

SkimLinks has been active here since a day or two after we launched,

Oh, awesome, maybe it did it anyway!

 

 

so if you clicked any link to Amazon from here, it probably went through the affiliate program.

Oh, wait, I didn't buy them from a link on this site.

 

 

You don't necessarily need to buy the thing you clicked through to - Amazon sets a cookie on your computer so that literally anything you buy from there would be credited to me.

Oh, cookie! Yay! It must have gone through after all.

 

 

Any link to amazon.com (including this one) will do the trick.

Oh, wait, I've never followed a link to amazon from here.

 

Anyway, have now! Will keep this in mind for future online purchasing.

[Zoop 8,384]

I have absolutely no problem being 100% transparent about the site's costs. I can put together a spreadsheet of them if you'd like.

Well, that's that's probably a bit more involved than I had in mind, but that works.

 

I was mostly just thinking that if you list out all the fancy stuff you could add to the site using donation money it'd make people more apt to toss in for.

[Apple Bloom 2,931]

I've actually been meaning to ask about donations. I think it would be a great way to give you something back for the awesome site you gave us. My income kinda sucks so I can't give much but I know every little bit helps.

[TwilightSparkle 224]

I have an adblocker turned on by default, but if you're using a little advertising to help keep the forum running I'm happy to disable my adblocker for this site. I might be willing to donate in the future too, provided I can manage to retain my current employment.

[Finesthour 7,287]

This is the only site I would ever donate to. Put up a donation link

[Grendo 174]

Heh, That's why I love Google chrome, Ad Block Plus

[Octavia2 83]

Yeah, I agree with pretty much all of the above. If you put up a donation link or something, I would most definitely donate any spare money I have on hand!

 

I'd love to help this site grow!

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

~snip~

Anyway, have now! Will keep this in mind for future online purchasing.

 

Thanks. ^^

 

Keep in mind that the cookie expires after a while. So I'd recommend you just pop back here and find a link to Amazon anytime you want to buy something from there.

 

Well, that's that's probably a bit more involved than I had in mind, but that works.

 

I was mostly just thinking that if you list out all the fancy stuff you could add to the site using donation money it'd make people more apt to toss in for.

 

Oh, you weren't looking for a full spreadsheet?

 

In that case, here's a quickie list of a few things donations could get us:

 

Content Delivery Network (CDN) - $30

A CDN will offload all of the site's images and other such resources to thousands of servers around the world. Whenever you view a page, all these resources (on some pages, there may be over 100 of them) will download from the CDN's server that is physically closest to you instead of my VPS on the East Coast. This means a faster site for you and a lower server load for me (as hundreds of files will be served by the CDN rather than directly).

 

IP.Gallery - $65

IP.Gallery is an IP.Board application that provides - you guessed it - a gallery. It's fully integrated into IPB, so it uses the same forum accounts and your albums and uploads will show up on your profile page. Gallery images can be embedded into forum posts using the My Media button and each image has its own comments section. Every member can have their own album that only they can upload to, and that they can organize however they please; but we can also set up "global" albums that anyone can upload to - this way, we could create a public GIF dumping ground, for example. You can check out what it looks like on IPS's website.

 

IP.Chat - $20

IP.Chat is IPS's chatroom solution. Just like IP.Gallery (or IP.anything), it's fully integrated into the forum (no need to figure out how to use IRC and register for it) and generally works very well. There's actually a free version, but it's limited to 5 users at a time - $20 will bring that limit up to 20 users, which should prevent any "chatroom full" errors.

 

Custom Skin - $400-$2000

I know a lot of you are really happy with the skin I created, but I'm not really a web designer. If we hired a professional designer, we could have a look as unique and awesome as Zelda Universe's. I wouldn't prioritize getting a professional custom skin over a CDN or a board add-on, though.

 

Server Upgrade - $30/month

The VPS I currently have is roomy enough for hosting websites, but it only has 2 GB of RAM. It's not an issue with the amount of traffic it serves, but an upgrade would be a good idea if we want to run one or more 24/7 game servers. Games tend to chew up a lot of RAM and CPU, and even the one Minecraft instance that I currently run for TheWiiU.com makes its presence very much known to me. For $30 more per month, I can upgrade to a server with 4 GB of RAM, 25 GB more disk space, and double the CPU power - probably useless for my websites, but would be very beneficial if there's a lot of interest here in multiplayer games.

 

I've actually been meaning to ask about donations. I think it would be a great way to give you something back for the awesome site you gave us. My income kinda sucks so I can't give much but I know every little bit helps.

 

Every little bit will help, trust me. I really like Zoop's idea of choosing a specific goal to raise money for, then for me to buy and add it to the community. Even a buck or two would get us closer to reaching the goal.

 

I have an adblocker turned on by default, but if you're using a little advertising to help keep the forum running I'm happy to disable my adblocker for this site. I might be willing to donate in the future too, provided I can manage to retain my current employment.

 

Did you read the OP? There are no ads for registered users. But that said, using an ad blocker on sites that do show ads to everyone shows disrespect for the owner of the site who typically relies on ads to keep it running (unless there's an absolutely obnoxious amount of advertising, in which case I don't blame you). http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

 

This is the only site I would ever donate to. Put up a donation link

 

Aww, thanks. Since several of you have already asked for a donation link, I'll put it up.

 

Heh, That's why I love Google chrome, Ad Block Plus

 

Please read what I said to TwilightSparkle in regards to ad blockers.

 

Yeah, I agree with pretty much all of the above. If you put up a donation link or something, I would most definitely donate any spare money I have on hand!

 

I'd love to help this site grow!

 

Thank you, Bon Bon.

 

I really wasn't expecting this many people to be openly willing to donate. But I'd still like it if we picked a single donation goal to work towards. Take a look at the options I listed and let me know if any one of them really catches your eye.

[TwilightSparkle 224]

Did you read the OP? There are no ads for registered users. But that said, using an ad blocker on sites that do show ads to everyone shows disrespect for the owner of the site who typically relies on ads to keep it running (unless there's an absolutely obnoxious amount of advertising, in which case I don't blame you). http://mlpforums.com/public/style_emoticons/default/dry.png

Oh, I thought an adblocker might affect those SkimLinks you mentioned. I find an adblocker extremely useful for general browsing, but I always turn it off for sites I visit frequently that rely on ads.

[LyraHeartstrings 482]

IP.Chat - $20

IP.Chat is IPS's chatroom solution. Just like IP.Gallery (or IP.anything), it's fully integrated into the forum (no need to figure out how to use IRC and register for it) and generally works very well. There's actually a free version, but it's limited to 5 users at a time - $20 will bring that limit up to 20 users, which should prevent any "chatroom full" errors.

 

If we get more then $20, would the limit go higher? Like $40= 40 users?

[Zoop 8,384]

Just to throw my two bits in...

 

I think the gallery module might be a good starting point. The CDN option sounds useful (even moreso if it's just a one-time charge, and not a recurring fee), but the gallery functionality would be something that would be immediately visible and able to be directly utilized by the community.

 

Normally I'd suggest going with the chat module, but that's probably best saved for when the site has had a chance to grow a bit so as to mitigate the chances of it cutting into the forum's activity. The server upgrade could be cool, but it'd probably be a good idea to see if there's much interest in having (and more importantly, using) a game server or two for the site... covering an extra thirty/month via donations would be difficult, though I suppose if you solicited donations from the other communities you operate(?) it might be more viable. Custom skin sounds sexy, but dayamn. That's a decent chunk of change.

 

Also, you might consider an opt-in option for registered users to be served advertisements. Despite the general hatred across the entire internet for advertising, I typically find Google ads - when used in a way that isn't obnoxious - to be fairly unoffensive.

[Tiaaaaa 176]

Personally I'd like to see the chat client, although Zoop brings up an excellent point. But, I post and chat on IRC at the same time (heck, I'm doing it right now) so maybe it wouldn't be such an issue.

 

After that personally I would say the CDN. Speed isn't really an issue for me, but less server load is always a good thing.

 

Zoop also brings up a good point about the gallery in that it's something visible, which is good because then people actually see the effect of donations. Still, what with free image-uploading sites (and the fact I have my own space) this isn't really a big draw for me.

 

A custom skin would be nice, but I honestly like the one we have now. It can be lived with at the very least. Actually, speaking of which, has it disappeared for anyone else? It's suddenly the default for me and I can't seem to change it back.

 

An upgrade to run multiplayer games doesn't really interest me at all, personally. But it could be a good idea if people are interested in it. Good for running the MC server you have as well, I suppose.

 

So, there's my two cents. Don't spend them both in one place.

[Zoop 8,384]

After that personally I would say the CDN. Speed isn't really an issue for me, but less server load is always a good thing.

Derp. Completely spaced the fact that the CDN would reduce server load in addition to improving speed and such. Depending on how much wiggle room there is in terms of performance on the current server, it might not be a bad idea to go with before the others.

 

The Pony theme is currently ill. I hear Nurse Redheart is seeing to it as we speak.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

Oh, I thought an adblocker might affect those SkimLinks you mentioned. I find an adblocker extremely useful for general browsing, but I always turn it off for sites I visit frequently that rely on ads.

 

I don't think it would... but you might want to double-check anyway. SkimLinks adds a JS script to every page of the forum, and I suppose it's possible it may have been blocked. Either way, whitelisting MLP Forums won't hurt, since registered users don't get any ads, anyway.

 

If we get more then $20, would the limit go higher? Like $40= 40 users?

 

See IP.Chat's pricing for yourself. $30 would get us 50 users, $80 would get us 250 users, and they offer custom plans if we need anything beyond that.

 

But honestly, TheWiiU.com has the 20-user plan right now and rarely ever comes near it. Typically, there are 4-10 people in the chat there at any one time, and I think the two communities are comparable in activity. I'd much rather spend surplus money from an IP.Chat fundraiser on something else, because I don't realistically see us running into the 20-user limit too soon.

 

Just to throw my two bits in...

 

I think the gallery module might be a good starting point. The CDN option sounds useful (even moreso if it's just a one-time charge, and not a recurring fee), but the gallery functionality would be something that would be immediately visible and able to be directly utilized by the community.

 

Normally I'd suggest going with the chat module, but that's probably best saved for when the site has had a chance to grow a bit so as to mitigate the chances of it cutting into the forum's activity. The server upgrade could be cool, but it'd probably be a good idea to see if there's much interest in having (and more importantly, using) a game server or two for the site... covering an extra thirty/month via donations would be difficult, though I suppose if you solicited donations from the other communities you operate(?) it might be more viable. Custom skin sounds sexy, but dayamn. That's a decent chunk of change.

 

Also, you might consider an opt-in option for registered users to be served advertisements. Despite the general hatred across the entire internet for advertising, I typically find Google ads - when used in a way that isn't obnoxious - to be fairly unoffensive.

 

Thanks for all your thoughts, Zoop.

 

The gallery is my first choice, personally, too. I just feel it would be an amazing addition to the community that could really get a lot of mileage. I should note that there is a recurring fee for it of $10/6 months for support and updates, but that's not as big a deal as the $65 for the initial purchase.

 

The CDN isn't a one-time charge - $30 will buy me 1 TB of bandwidth that's good for 12 months. Beyond that 1 TB (or the 12 months), it will then cost 7 cents per GB. But I think the initial TB will last us for a while.

 

I have IP.Chat uploaded and all ready to go here with the free 5-user plan. I could activate it with a single click in the ACP, but I feel that having a chatroom this early on could be very dangerous to our activity level. I think we could safely add it once we have 500-600 registered users, or as many as 100 online at the same time (currently, we have about 30-40).

 

I only operate one other community, and soliciting donations from there is a little trickier as it's a bona fide for-profit site. But if you're all open to sharing a game server with them, it could be easier. Relying purely on donations for $30 is a bit risky, though... I'd feel much more comfortable if ads could cover the server costs.

 

I'll think about opt-in ads - it's really nice of you to even suggest that. I understand the hate for ads, but honestly, how else is a webmaster supposed to cover his expenses? Especially a 16-year-old one who's a full-time student?

 

Personally I'd like to see the chat client, although Zoop brings up an excellent point. But, I post and chat on IRC at the same time (heck, I'm doing it right now) so maybe it wouldn't be such an issue.

 

After that personally I would say the CDN. Speed isn't really an issue for me, but less server load is always a good thing.

 

Zoop also brings up a good point about the gallery in that it's something visible, which is good because then people actually see the effect of donations. Still, what with free image-uploading sites (and the fact I have my own space) this isn't really a big draw for me.

 

A custom skin would be nice, but I honestly like the one we have now. It can be lived with at the very least. Actually, speaking of which, has it disappeared for anyone else? It's suddenly the default for me and I can't seem to change it back.

 

An upgrade to run multiplayer games doesn't really interest me at all, personally. But it could be a good idea if people are interested in it. Good for running the MC server you have as well, I suppose.

 

So, there's my two cents. Don't spend them both in one place.

 

Speed hasn't been an issue at all since I moved from a shared server to a VPS a few months ago, but a CDN would boost our download speeds from 700-1500 Kbps to 2-3 Mbps and beyond. The site would literally just be lightning-fast then. The reduction in server load would be most noticeable if we're under extremely heavy traffic - the real reason to get a CDN is for the speed.

 

The big draw of the gallery isn't to upload images - our attachment system already provides that functionality. IP.Gallery would give us a full-featured gallery that's tightly integrated into the forum itself - working with it will be a much smoother experience than free image hosts, and images in it will be seen more as with the current setup, old art threads simply get pushed down in Octavia's Hall, never to be seen again. Doesn't that draw you?

 

My custom skin became corrupted when I tried to add a donation button to it. I'm really, really sorry, but IPS are working on it.

 

Derp. Completely spaced the fact that the CDN would reduce server load in addition to improving speed and such. Depending on how much wiggle room there is in terms of performance on the current server, it might not be a bad idea to go with before the others.

 

The Pony theme is currently ill. I hear Nurse Redheart is seeing to it as we speak.

 

There's quite a bit of wiggle room for performance as it stands right now. My server should be able to take 150 people online simultaneously with ease, and another 100 if I quit Minecraft. I expect I could realistically push it as far as 300 or even 400 users at the same time, though you'll probably be seeing a good bit of slowdown at that point. The main draw with the CDN really isn't the server load reduction - it's more about doubling or even tripling the speed of the site.

[Apple Bloom 2,931]

I donated $10!

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

I donated $10!

 

Wow, our first donation already, and we haven't even decided what to spend it on! Thank you! It'll go to good use.

 

Greedy old PayPal took 59 cents of it for themselves, but still, I'm overjoyed to see a donation already.

 

I forgot to add this to the list, but another thing we could put some donation money towards is advertising. I'm thinking of running an ad on ponycountdown.com later today - it's new episode night, so thousands of people would see it. To run an ad in all regions of the world, I expect it may cost anywhere from $5 to $15 for 24 hours. Here's the ad listing, if you want to follow it yourself.

[Apple Bloom 2,931]

Wow, our first donation already, and we haven't even decided what to spend it on! Thank you! It'll go to good use.

 

Greedy old PayPal took 59 cents of it for themselves, but still, I'm overjoyed to see a donation already.

 

I forgot to add this to the list, but another thing we could put some donation money towards is advertising. I'm thinking of running an ad on ponycountdown.com later today - it's new episode night, so thousands of people would see it. To run an ad in all regions of the world, I expect it may cost anywhere from $5 to $15 for 24 hours. Here's the ad listing, if you want to follow it yourself.

 

No problem! I'll donate more in the future too. I wanna see this site grow!

 

Btw, all those IP.board features, are they one time fees or monthly? (besides server cost, I know it's monthly)

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

No problem! I'll donate more in the future too. I wanna see this site grow!

 

Btw, all those IP.board features, are they one time fees or monthly? (besides server cost, I know it's monthly)

 

All the extra IP.Board stuff is one-time, plus a renewal fee charged every six months for everything but IP.Chat - IP.Chat is simply paid for by the year.

[Crazy Misty 653]

Theres ads now?

 

Sorry I have adblock plus.

 

 

Maybe I could donate something.

Edited October 14, 2011 by thomas1up

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,525]

Theres ads now? Sorry I have adblock plus. Maybe I could donate something.

They're for guests only, so there's nothing for you to block.

 

Also, we have our second donation! Thank you, Zoop!