I maybe wrong but I have a feeling that it is a tad more expensive than £35 pa. I think Nukes posted the costs once but can't find them. Maybe on old site. Probably due to dedicated service, amount of bandwidth which is costly and what appears to he a continuous supply of new hard drives.Dishmop said:
Subscriptions are now up and running
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Can I add my twopenneth, speaking as a relative newbie.
I found this site by accident (no I wasn't browsing on my laptop whilst driving)
And read some of the threads, took an interest, signed up and joined in.
I've since, met a few members at the midlands rally, and ordered a pennent.
I like the site, I like being able to put my point of view, I like being able to help others if I can and I like having a banter with members in the chat room.
If I had been required to SUBSCRIBE TO THE SITE IN THE FIRST PLACE, i WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN CONSIDERED IT.
Like so many other sites that require subscription, I would have moved on.
However since I have been there, done that and found it enjoyable. (I'm still talking about MHF) I may CONSIDER subscription.
But I am in a financial position where I have to say, WHATS IN IT FOR ME?, Value for money is what I want.
The site in its present form is in its infancy, and although I'm aware of all the work and costs involved in getting this site back up and running. Is that level of funding required for the day to day running of the site?.
and what will the members get for their money in future months?
I think I would subscribe, but new visitors need to be able to browse and take part in and be welcomed to the site BEFORE BEING ASKED FOR THEIR HARD EARNED CASH. Otherwise you'll frighten them off, then the site will struggle for members.
Difficult innit.
I found this site by accident (no I wasn't browsing on my laptop whilst driving)
And read some of the threads, took an interest, signed up and joined in.
I've since, met a few members at the midlands rally, and ordered a pennent.
I like the site, I like being able to put my point of view, I like being able to help others if I can and I like having a banter with members in the chat room.
If I had been required to SUBSCRIBE TO THE SITE IN THE FIRST PLACE, i WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN CONSIDERED IT.
Like so many other sites that require subscription, I would have moved on.
However since I have been there, done that and found it enjoyable. (I'm still talking about MHF) I may CONSIDER subscription.
But I am in a financial position where I have to say, WHATS IN IT FOR ME?, Value for money is what I want.
The site in its present form is in its infancy, and although I'm aware of all the work and costs involved in getting this site back up and running. Is that level of funding required for the day to day running of the site?.
and what will the members get for their money in future months?
I think I would subscribe, but new visitors need to be able to browse and take part in and be welcomed to the site BEFORE BEING ASKED FOR THEIR HARD EARNED CASH. Otherwise you'll frighten them off, then the site will struggle for members.
Difficult innit.
Joined
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8,670 Posts
Hi
It is really difficult to write anything that will not be seen as critical of the subscriptions plan but I do agree with Barryand Sue. There is a point where folks who do not know the site will be immediatly put off by the suggestion of a subscription. There may even be current contributors who will be upset by a £15 sub, the only problem is they will not tell you in this thread they will just slip away.
It is a strange world, the world of motorhoming.... where many folk who have spent loads of money on a van and then bitch at paying anything over £5 a night for a pitch to stay on.
Many many years ago I needed a particular bit of software and found it on the newly created World Wide Web, the Internet as we now know it. This bit of software was being freely distributed by a German computer whiz who only asked for any user to put a dollar note in an envelope and post it to him, but he also said that if you could not or did not want to pay then just send him a postcard from your home town so that he could get some feedback. I did keep tabs on him for a while and it seems he recieved so much money in one dollar bills that he was able to set up his own software company, he also recieved thousands of Picture Postcards :lol:
I am not sure if there is a moral here that relates to this site but if the subscribers only benefit is to just be "a subscriber" and have a "Gold Crown" then they may just become an "elite" group within the Forum and that will not be good for any of us. The spanners caused quite a bit of emotion so the Crown symbol against a members name will mark him or her out as "one of the clique" something I am sure that none of us want. Maybe you should drop the Crown idea and just let the subscribers have the satisfaction of knowing that they are a subscriber.
If the main intent is to fund the running costs then I do honestly think that a properly organised donations scheme would have been the first route to have tried. Or maybe to have sold a selection of Promotional Items (I do realise though that this is a difficult operation to set up). You may say that this has been tried but IMHO it was only available to those who would use PayPal.
On this practical point ..there is a lot of folks who will not want to go through Paypal to pay the subscription. I for one had not been able to donate to the fund in the past because of this, but give me an address to where I can send a tenner in an envelope to and it will be on its way. Many folk have online bank accounts and the transfer of funds from these to another account ( the MHF donation account) would be easy to set up for those who do not like the vagaries of PayPal
In case you do think I am being too critical please accept my apologies in advance...IMHO this site really is the best place on the internet to talk motorhoming and I do get a hell of a lot of pleasure from the site and will obviously join if, as it seems the subscriptions scheme is going to be "as is"....But I really do hope you have got it right and that the great "all for one and one for all" attitude that exists on here at the moment is not lost.
Time will tell...it always does :roll:
Mike
It is really difficult to write anything that will not be seen as critical of the subscriptions plan but I do agree with Barryand Sue. There is a point where folks who do not know the site will be immediatly put off by the suggestion of a subscription. There may even be current contributors who will be upset by a £15 sub, the only problem is they will not tell you in this thread they will just slip away.
It is a strange world, the world of motorhoming.... where many folk who have spent loads of money on a van and then bitch at paying anything over £5 a night for a pitch to stay on.
Many many years ago I needed a particular bit of software and found it on the newly created World Wide Web, the Internet as we now know it. This bit of software was being freely distributed by a German computer whiz who only asked for any user to put a dollar note in an envelope and post it to him, but he also said that if you could not or did not want to pay then just send him a postcard from your home town so that he could get some feedback. I did keep tabs on him for a while and it seems he recieved so much money in one dollar bills that he was able to set up his own software company, he also recieved thousands of Picture Postcards :lol:
I am not sure if there is a moral here that relates to this site but if the subscribers only benefit is to just be "a subscriber" and have a "Gold Crown" then they may just become an "elite" group within the Forum and that will not be good for any of us. The spanners caused quite a bit of emotion so the Crown symbol against a members name will mark him or her out as "one of the clique" something I am sure that none of us want. Maybe you should drop the Crown idea and just let the subscribers have the satisfaction of knowing that they are a subscriber.
If the main intent is to fund the running costs then I do honestly think that a properly organised donations scheme would have been the first route to have tried. Or maybe to have sold a selection of Promotional Items (I do realise though that this is a difficult operation to set up). You may say that this has been tried but IMHO it was only available to those who would use PayPal.
On this practical point ..there is a lot of folks who will not want to go through Paypal to pay the subscription. I for one had not been able to donate to the fund in the past because of this, but give me an address to where I can send a tenner in an envelope to and it will be on its way. Many folk have online bank accounts and the transfer of funds from these to another account ( the MHF donation account) would be easy to set up for those who do not like the vagaries of PayPal
In case you do think I am being too critical please accept my apologies in advance...IMHO this site really is the best place on the internet to talk motorhoming and I do get a hell of a lot of pleasure from the site and will obviously join if, as it seems the subscriptions scheme is going to be "as is"....But I really do hope you have got it right and that the great "all for one and one for all" attitude that exists on here at the moment is not lost.
Time will tell...it always does :roll:
Mike
Joined
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2,601 Posts
badger echos my own way on to this site. I found the site 3 to 4 weeks prior to the BIG CRASH. I found it to be helpful as well as being able help (debateable). I am a member of several sites around the World. None of which I have a subscription to join. I love the site, but like badger I may not have joined if I had to pay up front to join. However, nukeadmin has already mentioned that it may not be necessary to subscribe, only for members who wish to have extras. I don't think this site was originally intended to be profit making, but run to offer help and assistance to those who needed it. Just my twopennorth. :wink:Sorry I do realise I must be really thick :roll: :? I read Dave's post as meaning that subscription is as voluntary as donating is - do it if you want to, judge for yourself whether it is value-for-money for you as in individual, or something you just want to contribute to, and go with what you feel. Have I got that wrong?
I didn't understand there to be a *requirement* to subscribe to get into any of the site as it stands at the moment?
I can't see any newcomers being put off by there being some people who sub and some who don't.
But praps I'm misunderstanding :? Either way I'll be subbing as soon as payday comes round thanks Dave for all your hard work
-H
I didn't understand there to be a *requirement* to subscribe to get into any of the site as it stands at the moment?
I can't see any newcomers being put off by there being some people who sub and some who don't.
But praps I'm misunderstanding :? Either way I'll be subbing as soon as payday comes round
thanks Dave for all your hard work-H
After reading a few comments think I agree no 'badge' to show who has paid or not, but some value added perks for those who have, like site discounts or advertisers discounts, perhaps free for sale ads on the site and charge a small fee for anyone else who wants to sell on site.
Joined
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12,382 Posts
No you are spot on, think there is a little confusion here, let me just re-iterate
"IT IS COMPLETELY OPTIONAL"
new members to the site wont be forced into paying, it iwll be exactly the same as is at present
The intention isnt to create a clique, but just to show who have subscribed and who havent, its not like the spanners as nothing to do with how many posts, time spent on site etc.
The amount of fee as laid down of £15 was estimated on turnover, in fact on a previous thread quite a few people suggested higher figures !! this figure is a figure based on the amount of uptake i think there will be, i.e. i estimate a very slow start with hardly any subscribers, and thats whats happened, but once we start adding more value to the package then more people will take it up. MHF is growing way beyond "a forum" and it now a full blown community and we should be using the power we weild more wisely, that was my intention with the committee being setup. Its simply got to be too much work for me alone to handle and also moving forward to the future we may even establish ourselves as a proper club in our own respect not unlike such organisations a the Motor caravanners club etc. Moving this way means we need to be much more organised and have framework in place for finances etc and not be just a drain on my resources and based on haphazard donations (Albeit very welcome ones)
If you want you can treat the subscriptions like the donations are treated except this way the generosity of the few wont subsidise the masses as this is a simple one off payment
I hope this wont put off any future joiners to the site as there is no difference really, we are still a welcoming community, but this way we are moving on to be a more "Organised" community
I'm a well know Dohhh brain/idiot so have probably missed the point by a mile. But as I see it: the site basicly stays the same...............so no one will get "scared off" by a subscription charge.
Pay a subscription and you get "extra benifits" as yet to be found/worked out/whatever. Subscribe and get them or don't subscribe and don't get them.
The benifits can be wide and varied..................I run a Mhome tour, hire, repair business in Spain (also with UK outlet), i.e. Dave asks me will I give a good discount to Members only. Yes, is the answer. As a contibutor/stand holder at many large UK shows I was able to get discounted entre tickets. Dave or whoever does the same for MHF Members. I aslo know a number of supply companies who will give discounts, again, available to subscribers................etc etc.
Good luck to Dave if he makes money. I dread to think of the many hours spent on the site over the last few week...............not to mention over the year+ setting it up. Bet there would be loud cries if, God forbid, it crashes agian and he walks away from it!
Ray
PS. I will pay subscription just to get spellcheck back!
Pay a subscription and you get "extra benifits" as yet to be found/worked out/whatever. Subscribe and get them or don't subscribe and don't get them.
The benifits can be wide and varied..................I run a Mhome tour, hire, repair business in Spain (also with UK outlet), i.e. Dave asks me will I give a good discount to Members only. Yes, is the answer. As a contibutor/stand holder at many large UK shows I was able to get discounted entre tickets. Dave or whoever does the same for MHF Members. I aslo know a number of supply companies who will give discounts, again, available to subscribers................etc etc.
Good luck to Dave if he makes money. I dread to think of the many hours spent on the site over the last few week...............not to mention over the year+ setting it up. Bet there would be loud cries if, God forbid, it crashes agian and he walks away from it!
Ray
PS. I will pay subscription just to get spellcheck back!
Joined
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8,670 Posts
Hi Nuke
How are the companies who offer any discounts going to know that I really am a subsciber to MHF and not just saying I am?
Up to now when dealing with any of your advertisers i have always mentioned MHF hoping it would do some good...not sure if they worried too much ..they just wanted the business I guess.
Mike
How are the companies who offer any discounts going to know that I really am a subsciber to MHF and not just saying I am?
Up to now when dealing with any of your advertisers i have always mentioned MHF hoping it would do some good...not sure if they worried too much ..they just wanted the business I guess.
Mike
discount
How about a full membership/discount card. Pay your subs and recieve by return a nice laminated card (suitably numbered and official looking.) that would entitle the holder to recieve the pre negotiated discounts. A list of the participating dealers or retailers being listed on the site.
How about a full membership/discount card. Pay your subs and recieve by return a nice laminated card (suitably numbered and official looking.) that would entitle the holder to recieve the pre negotiated discounts. A list of the participating dealers or retailers being listed on the site.
I am sure they are available, I will ask a few contacts (in the print trade) however a man of your calibre and techical wizardry, ought to be able to print something suitable using publisher or similar and use a cheapo laminating machine. (numbering may prove more difficult)
I will get some info.
I will get some info.
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