You can now become a contributing member of LinuxQuestions.org
 

Based on the feedback I received in this thread I am going to implement the contributing member idea. For $35 a year you will receive the following:
- Contributing Member will be added to your user title
- You will have the ability to turn the 468x60 banner ads on and off
- Private messaging will be enabled
- Most importantly you will get the warm and fuzzy feeling from knowing that you have helped what I hope you consider a great cause

There was some concern that adding contributing member to the users title may negatively impact the community spirit that we have achieved. If this becomes the case I will remove it. For now I think it is important to acknowledge those that have helped.

I would also like to reiterate a few things.
- Becoming a contributing member will in NO WAY entitle you to priority support.
- Anything you were able to do for free before this was implement you can still do for free!
- The majority of development on this site will remain focused on all users. Some additional contributing members only benefits may be added, but most new features will be for all.

I hope I have avoided the pitfalls that other sites have hit. As always your suggestions and opinions are not only welcome, they are encouraged. Let us know what you think - this is your site.

All that being said you can contribute via Credit Card or PayPal here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/linux/member.html

Thanks again!
--jeremy

Oh, one more thing. :o

If you appear on the donations page you will be made a contributing member regardless of how much you donated. These members donated and expected absolutely nothing in return. I really appreciate that!

--jeremy

Having made a donation last year, I guess that meansI'm a contributing member. Am feeling warm and fuzzy already!

Money order please?
 

Please I would be glad to donate if I could send a money order!

At this time I do not have any plans to accept money orders. You will soon be able to pay using your checking number however. I will look into other forms of payment.

--jeremy

:p
Hi all, I think this site is very helpful in finding answers or some sort of direction to problems we all post. I think is our duty to become a contributing member. For $35/year we can get a lot of our issues resolved. That is nothing compare to firms charging 100s of dollars per day for providing support. I challenge everyone of us to do our part so this site never goes away.

Thank you all and keep on posting.

:D

Thanks abrakadabra!

BTW, you can now pay by using you checking account.

--jeremy

I slightly interested in giving a donation but I would prefer a money order. I don't believe in cheques.

no, i'm sorry, cheques definitely do exist! Not a unicorn / pixie / tooth fairy kind thing :D

I do not have any near term plans to add the ability to pay via money order as it would just be too difficult to keep track of and administer. Right now you can pay via Credit Card, pay out of your checking account or use PayPal. I am still open to other suggestions.

--jeremy

Just wanted to update everyone and let you know I added a new perk for the Contributing Members. You will get special Contributing Member only updates and early access to new features. To get the updates you need to have "Allow LinuxQuestions.org To Send You Email Notices?" set to yes in your profile. As always feedback is encouraged. Thanks.

http://www.linuxquestions.org/member/

--jeremy

My 2 cents...
 

Please don't get me wrong... but I find "selling" the ability to send private messages just a bit offensive... I think private messages of all things should be accessible to all members and could be very useful when resolving support issues one on one. A chatroom wouldn't hurt either (btw, if you want to start a chatroom, I know a nice, quiet IRC server and could even hook you up with an chatroom eggdrop bot if you want).

What would happen if the Linux documentation project started charging mandatory fees for HOWTO's in PDF format? Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it?

Again, don't get me wrong, I completely understand your situation, and I also understand that you've put a lot of effort into this web site, and that you need monetary support, but stripping this BBS of its features is just plain wrong... I just believe in the Open philosophy and volunteering, not "bait" to buy enhanced membership.

I think you need to rethink the whole membership system... That's just my two cents.

Re: My 2 cents...
 

Uh, erhm, None of the donation stuff is mandatory, nor is it really very hard pressed, unlike a lot of user sites I've visited in the past. This was just the only way Jeremy could come up with to replace the dying machine LQ lives on now.


It actually went the other way round, the features Jeremy added were after the fact for contributors, not taken away from non-contributors. Offhand, the PM stuff isn't all that useful. If it were needed to resolve a user's issue, Jeremy's one-way blind email system more than suffices. After that what extra do donators get? Rid of the ad-bar, another line of text under their name, whopdedo. The extra stuff isn't all that much, actually, its next to nothing, which is the way I prefer it too :P

Cheers,

Finegan

I just have several things to say on this matter, I am sure Jeremy will have some as well but here goes:

The contributions you make to have these extra services aren't really for the extra services. Its more of a contribution to the site since the main focus of the site is free. Anyone can sign up, post and answer others for free.

One reason there is no PM or Chat for mainstream helping of others is that we like to keep most or the majority of the questions on the forums as it serves as backup and can make it easier for members to search for answers that might already be answered with their specific problems they may have.

We wouldn't want everyone PM'ing each other to solve problems as it wouldn't be accessible to everyone else.
Chatroom, the machine can't handle one and again, then if everyone solved their problems that way, then the forums would be pointless, plus anyone can answer on the forums, even from days ago or years. With chat they could only answer if that person was online chatting in real time.

Plus, the contributing member is going to a good cause to help this site stay alive and its really not that much if you think about it. Some even donated money before the contribution option, just because they support the site and its cause.

I guess that is all I have to say.

finegan is 100% correct. I did not strip the board of anything. To be honest I don't think I would have enabled PM's any other way. They are a fairly big drain on the system and I fear that people may use them instead of posting in the forum - which I would prefer not happen. I want members to contribute because they think the site is worth supporting - the extra features should be icing on the cake. I was hoping the ability to turn off ads would entice more people, but it doesn't seem to have. I am still very open to suggestions. What feature/benefits would you like to see? How do you think the system could be improved? Thanks for the feedback.

--jeremy