editor Posted August 31, 2006 Share Posted August 31, 2006 There has been a lot of discussion on HAIF lately about two related topics: Advertising, and our need to raise more money for a more robust server. There are people who really enjoy reading and interacting with others on HAIF, but would rather not see the graphical banner advertising on the web site. By and large, these are reasonable people who understand that it is the advertising that keeps HAIF afloat. But still, they wish there was an alternative.Now there is.Starting today, it is possible to get your daily/hourly/minutely HAIF fix and not see any banner advertisements. This is possible by purchasing a subscription to HAIF. When you subscribe, you get all the great things you love about HAIF, but with none of our advertising. This is not an attempt to force people into giving us extra money. The regular free HAIF still exists. But I want to give people an opportunity to experience pure, ad-free HAIF if they choose. A bonus of ad-free HAIF is that the pages load much faster than regular HAIF.There are three subscriptions available:1. Monthly: $10 gets you unlimited ad-free HAIF for a whole month.2. Semi-Annually: $50 gets you unlimited ad-free HAIF for six months. That's $10 off a month-to-month series of subscriptions. It's like getting one month for free.3. Annually: $100 gets you unlimited ad-free HAIF for a whole year. That's $20 off a pair of Semi-Annual subscriptions. It's like getting two months for free.Why do this? It's to help HAIF move to a more robust server. A server of our own. A server that will no longer kick users out in the middle of the day because there are too many people on at the same time. The fact is that HAIF is growing rapidly, but the advertising revenue isn't keeping up. I'm hoping that the subscriptions will enable us to deliver a more robust, more reliable HAIFing experience. And after paying the bills, money left over can go to adding new features and making an already terrific community even better.To sign up, click on the "My Controls" link near the top of the page.On the left-hand side about half way down click the option for "Purchase Paid Subscriptions."From there you can choose the plan you would like.Then select the PayPal payment option to continue. You don't have to have a PayPal account. You can use a Visa, Mastercard, American Express, or Discover card instead if you like.When your payment goes through, click the "Return to Merchant" link to return to HAIF.Once I have looked over your information (to prevent credit card fraud) I will twiddle a few bits, and magically the ads on HAIF will disappear for you. Ideally, I hope to make this happen within two to 24 hours after your payment, depending on the time of day and where in the world I am at the time you make your purchase.Please note: These plans do not auto-renew. I'm really mad at Vogue magazine for automatically renewing my wife's subscription without my consent, and I'm not going to do that to you. I may send an e-mail reminder when your subscription is about to run out, or if I don't you might just notice that the ads are back. I don't want anyone to have any unpleasant surprises show up on their credit card statements.So, think about it. Decide if HAIF is worth $10 to try ad-free for a month. Or sign up for a larger plan and save money. Either way, you're helping support one of the largest forums in Houston, and certainly one of the best communities on the internet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 isn't diet HAIF already ad free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 isn't diet HAIF already ad free?Diet HAIF is ad-free, but is feature-limited. There is no way to see the latest posts. There is no way to log in. There is no PM system and no way to reply to messages or post new messages.Most weeks nobody even bothers using Diet HAIF, so I've been thinking about disabling it since the search engine spiders tend to get stuck in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Diet HAIF is ad-free, but is feature-limited. There is no way to see the latest posts. There is no way to log in. There is no PM system and no way to reply to messages or post new messages.Most weeks nobody even bothers using Diet HAIF, so I've been thinking about disabling it since the search engine spiders tend to get stuck in it. damn those search spiders. they give me t e heebie jeebies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 6, 2006 Share Posted September 6, 2006 Most weeks nobody even bothers using Diet HAIF, so I've been thinking about disabling it since the search engine spiders tend to get stuck in it. Would that also save some money. I would just feel bad for the poor dial-up user though. Maybe we should start a "Save the DIET HAIF" fund for only 25 cents a day, we can feed the dial-up users need for HAIF! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 6, 2006 Author Share Posted September 6, 2006 Would that also save some money. I would just feel bad for the poor dial-up user though.Maybe we should start a "Save the DIET HAIF" fund for only 25 cents a day, we can feed the dial-up users need for HAIF! Actually, I've heard from a dial-up user who is on the ad-free HAIF subscription and says HAIF is now quite peppy, even on his/her slow connection. Of course, I'm not suggesting that dial-up users be required to subscribe. I'm just saying it's another option. I use Diet HAIF when I'm surfing through my phone in third-world countries. It's nice to see what's going on, but without all of the best features, it seems kind of pointless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 $10 a month seems a bit steep considering many other sites that offer subs offer more features for less money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 $10 a month seems a bit steep considering many other sites that offer subs offer more features for less money.Thanks for that feedback. That's helpful. I probably should have asked about price tolerance before I set the system up.I don't have much experience with subscription web sites. The only one I frequent that offers a paid subscription charges $20/month, so I thought I was being reasonable.The $10/month figure is broken down into two parts: The ammount it costs to serve pages to a single user over an entire month, and the ammount I need to collect to afford a new server so we can have a more reliable HAIF with more capacity. For those of you who are new around here, you should know that I don't get rich running HAIF. In fact, it's my other sites that help pay the bills for HAIF because HAIF doesn't make enough money to pay for itself. The primary reason for offering the subscription was to pay for a new server for HAIF. I was hoping that 30 or 40 people would sign up. That would be enough to get us to the new box. A lot of people have said they'd donate $10 out of their pockets for the project, but for some reason when you offer them an ad-free subscription in return, it turns out to all be talk and nothing else.If anyone has any suggestions for augmenting the HAIF subscription system to make it more appealing, please let me know.Two thoughts off the top of my head: 1: A "student" subscription for $5/month that would obviously have to include fewer features than the full $10/month subscription. Maybe students could access everything but the Other section?2: Adding more features to the $10 subscription level to make it more worthwhile. Features I can add include the ability for every HAIF member to have their own blog hosted here, or a chat system, or a gallery system where people can upload and show off their photos on our system.Again, please make suggestions. The primary goal of HAIF isn't to make money. It's to make a community. We have a great core of people right now, and more people are trying to join every day. I want to welcome as many people with an interest in Houston as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark F. Barnes Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 $10 a month seems a bit steep considering many other sites that offer subs offer more features for less money.Well if $10 a month is too much for you, buy the annual sub and get it for $8.33, and if that's too much for you, might stick to the cheaper sites. Jeez $100 a year come on, that's cheap entertainment and a very useful resource. Everybody wants something for nothing anymore. They'll pay $5 for a coffee at Starbucks but balk over $10 a month for this. Pitiful................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 ^ and the fact that this is optional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 7, 2006 Share Posted September 7, 2006 You could also just embrace the ads and give the owner of HAIF unique clicks to the advertisemnets. I am sure he gets a few pennies per unique click. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 7, 2006 Author Share Posted September 7, 2006 You could also just embrace the ads and give the owner of HAIF unique clicks to the advertisemnets. I am sure he gets a few pennies per unique click.Well... Yes, and no.No, I don't get any money when people click on the graphical banner ads. Though, it is good when people do because it helps us get higher-paying ads in the future.The Google ads are another matter that's a little more complicated and that I'd rather not discuss here. But let's just say that there's not much money in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Well if $10 a month is too much for you, buy the annual sub and get it for $8.33, and if that's too much for you, might stick to the cheaper sites. Jeez $100 a year come on, that's cheap entertainment and a very useful resource. Everybody wants something for nothing anymore. They'll pay $5 for a coffee at Starbucks but balk over $10 a month for this. Pitiful.................Has nothing to do with $10 being too much. it has to do with fair service for a fair price. Other sites offer more for less, that was simply the point. And no, I don't pay $5 for a cup of coffee @ starbucks. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 11, 2006 Author Share Posted September 11, 2006 Has nothing to do with $10 being too much. it has to do with fair service for a fair price. Other sites offer more for less, that was simply the point. And no, I don't pay $5 for a cup of coffee @ starbucks. lolI'm still waiting for someone to tell me what features they would like added to HAIF in order to make it a better value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 I think it's a good deal, All the info i get from this forum is priceless. I am getting a subscription next week. There should be a feature so you can change the blue background to colors like red, green, yellow, orange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 Has nothing to do with $10 being too much. it has to do with fair service for a fair price. Other sites offer more for less, that was simply the point. And no, I don't pay $5 for a cup of coffee @ starbucks. lolvalue of site content is highly subjective. i for one value information far beyond fancy doo-dads. and if money is a problem, it seems to me like the ads here are much less invasive than some other sites... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 11, 2006 Share Posted September 11, 2006 As of now with the temporary suspension of ads, the page loads much faster, even though I have cable modem, I still notice a HUGE difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gwilson Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 the ads in general I think are a detriment to the site simply because of the slow down in load time.As far as features, some sites offer some features like avatars, search capability, PM quotas and such as perks for paid members.In this case, perhaps access to a private, members only houston photo gallery, access to chat service, or even the ability to advertise in their signature/profile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 12, 2006 Author Share Posted September 12, 2006 the ads in general I think are a detriment to the site simply because of the slow down in load time.As far as features, some sites offer some features like avatars, search capability, PM quotas and such as perks for paid members.In this case, perhaps access to a private, members only houston photo gallery, access to chat service, or even the ability to advertise in their signature/profile.I find it interesting that some sites restrict people's access to avatars and search to paid users. I think that would just make me mad.When I added the paid feature, I promised myself I wouldn't take anything away from non-paying HAIFers. Since everyone gets avatars, search, PMs, and advertising in their signature and profile. I don't see any point in taking that away. It just seems greedy to me that other fora would charge for such basic features that help build a community.A Houston photo gallery could be done and added as a perk for subscribers. I've thought about chat, but I have yet to see a chat system that I like that's very secure. There used to be one available as a plug-in for this forum software, but it is no longer offered because of security problems. Still, I could always look at external solutions.Keep the suggestions coming! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 12, 2006 Share Posted September 12, 2006 You should introduce a recognition program for knowing stuff or doing stuff that shows up on profiles. See Bolt2 for ideas with badges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted September 24, 2006 Share Posted September 24, 2006 I'm still waiting for someone to tell me what features they would like added to HAIF in order to make it a better value.I wish there was a way you could make it that nobody has the same Avatar. But that sounds like a maintenance nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 In this case, perhaps access to a private, members only houston photo gallery, access to chat service, or even the ability to advertise in their signature/profile.Well it looks like I won't be posting photos unless I get a membership. Its not like very many people view my photos anyways, so why restrict the audience even more?What do people need to advertise in their signatures or profiles? If people were so interested in advertising to the members, they would probibly pay to place an ad, instead of subscribing to a membership. The most (if any) that anyone "advertises" in their signatures is a simple link to one website, such as mine, which only goes to my myspace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 Well it looks like I won't be posting photos unless I get a membership.Its not like very many people view my photos anyways, so why restrict the audience even more?I enjoy your photos. all that happens is the adds go away and it makes the page load faster. Don't worry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted September 25, 2006 Share Posted September 25, 2006 I think member 77017 should get the boot. He has no respect for this forum and his 300 posts has no reflection on this bulletin board. The End.I think that is why most of 77017 post are on Way Off Topic and Off Topic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
editor Posted September 25, 2006 Author Share Posted September 25, 2006 I think member 77017 should get the boot. He has no respect for this forum and his 300 posts has no reflection on this bulletin board. The End.This is not the proper place to discuss member conduct. If a particular member is vexing you, please contact a moderator. If it's a recurring or serious problem, then they will contact me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted March 30, 2007 Share Posted March 30, 2007 My semi annual/HAIF year subscription was neat. I know Firefox's browsers will block the ad's but i did it to contribute to the forum. but nobody joined but two people. btw: im still seeing adfree Haif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 btw: im still seeing adfree Haif Did the ads come back. Some of them are really long now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 Did the ads come back. Some of them are really long now! I always try to remember to click at least once a day on the ads. I think we should have a "click on an ad day" or: If your member number ends with an even number, you click on a Wednesday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumapayam Posted April 2, 2007 Share Posted April 2, 2007 If your member number ends with an even number, you click on a Wednesday. What the #^%$, I don't get it? And yes, I click on the ads, usually by accident though, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Marty Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 Did the ads come back. Some of them are really long now! I had a paid subscription to Ad Free HAIF for six mouths "semi annual subscriber" I sent a 50 dollar Post Office money order to editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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