DPittman
Ultra Member
Likewise
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We're Going to Try Some Banner Ads for Guest (Not Logged In) Users
- Thread starter Jwest7788
- Start date
Sorry folks, had an errant code impacting logged in users.
The ad network has this dumb "feature" "auto optimize" which adds popups and crap.
Should be cleaned up for folks, please confirm.
Still working on the ungodly high volume of ads for unregistered folks. Update coming as ready.
The ad network has this dumb "feature" "auto optimize" which adds popups and crap.
Should be cleaned up for folks, please confirm.
Still working on the ungodly high volume of ads for unregistered folks. Update coming as ready.
Former Member
Guest
Seems to better, don't you love the "We know better feature"
I'm thrilled! Thanks @Jwest7788. You guys are the best!
The question about ads scaring away potential new members might be worth a thread addressed only to new users to find out how they found us and why they joined.
The question about ads scaring away potential new members might be worth a thread addressed only to new users to find out how they found us and why they joined.
calgaryguy
Chris
No ads here today.
I added a bold banner for non-logged in folk explaining the whole "Sign up for an account and have an ad-free experience" thing.
In the meantime, I've been watching the analytics, and there isn't an appreciable change in how the site is being used by non-registered folks, so that's good.
Yep, bug hunting is the name of the game. While I have the ability to set up a test environment, I don't have the time or energy. haha
Man, when big players like Rogers run into the same troubles at scale, it sure makes me feel better about the process. haha
UPDATE
There is a good chance that I am going to move towards pulling the plug on the 'ads for non-logged in' users concept, but I want to let it run its course for a while longer (weeks, maybe a few months), to gather some more data first.
--> This is the slowest period of the year, so using a small snapshot of data from late July isn't very representative.
Not 100% sure of that yet, but I suspect that removing ads from the site will be the direction we head. It adds more admin work, and just sorta sucks.
As such, I am continuing to look at other ways we can increase our revenue enough, and consistently enough, that we can logically pay to incorporate, deal with year-end filings, get directors' insurance, and likely hire a lawyer who has expertise in the charitable space, etc.
In the vein of getting our finances in order, and in preparation for pulling the plug on ads, I made some tweaks to the different Account Upgrades:
I removed the "donate what you want" button
- This donation method was poorly integrated into the forum software, requiring manual intervention to apply the upgrade to individual users.
- This manual intervention could essentially only be done by myself, at this time, so nudging things towards a slightly more rigid standard is easier to upkeep.
I simplified the Upgrade Durations, to only monthly or annually
- This removes quarterly and bi-annual upgrade durations, which weren't really being used much.
- This makes planning for the future easier, and more consistent
I added additional levels for monthly and annual upgrades
- Bronze, Silver, Gold, Gold+
- This gives a pathway for those able and willing to leverage it
- There is a simple style change to the "Premium Member" banners, which is a visible way we can recognize contributions at different levels.
I added the handling of changing Account Upgrade levels
- Members with an ongoing monthly level are able to make one-off contributions through the use of the one-time annual levels.
- One-off (Annual) contributions will only ever increase member tiers (Bronze -> Gold, etc.; they are not mutually exclusive, but only the highest tier will display.)
- Members can subscribe to lower tiers, to downgrade their membership. (Monthly tiers will not stack; they are mutually exclusive)
- Some of these are on the expensive side of things, don't be alarmed, I simply wanted to increase the upper limits.
--- No one is going to see any reduction in functionality by sticking with the smaller contribution levels
--- Higher tiers won't benefit from new functionality or anything like that, at this time
--- The higher limit is just to ensure folks who want to can contribute more, and otherwise end the hunt for more revenue, a hunt which leads to stuff like experimentation around ads, etc.
Based on the time so far, the ad revenue potential of the site is likely fairly close to what was predicted, around the $1000/month range.
This gives us a quasi-goal equivalent to aim for, but that goal and the removal of ads are not dependent on one another.
--> Again, it is the extra work and the reduction in the quality of the user experience, which are the primary drivers for me.
Either way, check out the Account Upgrades and let me know your thoughts.
For discussion:
The forum's use of funds will be significantly easier to predict if we forced the use of monthly subscriptions, instead of annual plans.
Annual plans have a higher likelihood of never being renewed
Monthly Plans at a minimum, give a monthly reminder to participate in the community.
Should we drop the annual plans altogether?
Should they just be a means to contribute, but not be tied to the Premium Member benefits?
There is a good chance that I am going to move towards pulling the plug on the 'ads for non-logged in' users concept, but I want to let it run its course for a while longer (weeks, maybe a few months), to gather some more data first.
--> This is the slowest period of the year, so using a small snapshot of data from late July isn't very representative.
Not 100% sure of that yet, but I suspect that removing ads from the site will be the direction we head. It adds more admin work, and just sorta sucks.
As such, I am continuing to look at other ways we can increase our revenue enough, and consistently enough, that we can logically pay to incorporate, deal with year-end filings, get directors' insurance, and likely hire a lawyer who has expertise in the charitable space, etc.
In the vein of getting our finances in order, and in preparation for pulling the plug on ads, I made some tweaks to the different Account Upgrades:
I removed the "donate what you want" button
- This donation method was poorly integrated into the forum software, requiring manual intervention to apply the upgrade to individual users.
- This manual intervention could essentially only be done by myself, at this time, so nudging things towards a slightly more rigid standard is easier to upkeep.
I simplified the Upgrade Durations, to only monthly or annually
- This removes quarterly and bi-annual upgrade durations, which weren't really being used much.
- This makes planning for the future easier, and more consistent
I added additional levels for monthly and annual upgrades
- Bronze, Silver, Gold, Gold+
- This gives a pathway for those able and willing to leverage it
- There is a simple style change to the "Premium Member" banners, which is a visible way we can recognize contributions at different levels.
I added the handling of changing Account Upgrade levels
- Members with an ongoing monthly level are able to make one-off contributions through the use of the one-time annual levels.
- One-off (Annual) contributions will only ever increase member tiers (Bronze -> Gold, etc.; they are not mutually exclusive, but only the highest tier will display.)
- Members can subscribe to lower tiers, to downgrade their membership. (Monthly tiers will not stack; they are mutually exclusive)
- Some of these are on the expensive side of things, don't be alarmed, I simply wanted to increase the upper limits.
--- No one is going to see any reduction in functionality by sticking with the smaller contribution levels
--- Higher tiers won't benefit from new functionality or anything like that, at this time
--- The higher limit is just to ensure folks who want to can contribute more, and otherwise end the hunt for more revenue, a hunt which leads to stuff like experimentation around ads, etc.
Based on the time so far, the ad revenue potential of the site is likely fairly close to what was predicted, around the $1000/month range.
This gives us a quasi-goal equivalent to aim for, but that goal and the removal of ads are not dependent on one another.
--> Again, it is the extra work and the reduction in the quality of the user experience, which are the primary drivers for me.
Either way, check out the Account Upgrades and let me know your thoughts.
For discussion:
The forum's use of funds will be significantly easier to predict if we forced the use of monthly subscriptions, instead of annual plans.
Annual plans have a higher likelihood of never being renewed
Monthly Plans at a minimum, give a monthly reminder to participate in the community.
Should we drop the annual plans altogether?
Should they just be a means to contribute, but not be tied to the Premium Member benefits?
Last edited:
I can afford $60/yr BUT I wouldn't want to achieve that through 12 reoccurring renewals.
What perks/privilege's do the tiers buy you?
test with Ad Blocker switched off. This one makes it through to this thread. With Adblocker ON I can still post to the other forums.
I prefer to pay $60 per year which I did this first time when I thought the group had value. Not because I wanted to avoid advertisements.
It doesn't take long before that $5 per site adds up to hundreds of dollars just to avoid being inundated with advertising.
I've passed on this group as useful to a number of people. I don't know if they've seen the advertisements. I'll ask. However, I tend to not subscribe or visit sites that require me to pay to avoid advertising.
I prefer to pay $60 per year which I did this first time when I thought the group had value. Not because I wanted to avoid advertisements.
It doesn't take long before that $5 per site adds up to hundreds of dollars just to avoid being inundated with advertising.
I've passed on this group as useful to a number of people. I don't know if they've seen the advertisements. I'll ask. However, I tend to not subscribe or visit sites that require me to pay to avoid advertising.
I pay monthly $5 through pay pal connected to my credit card. It just shows up on my credit card as a line item. Now before people fly off the handle here about companies storing credit card info - I’d rather pay pal have it and then I can pay for stuff without sharing my credit card even more with all kinds of outfits. So for me at least this works. $5 a month to support the forum. Cheap.
The real problem is that they are pop-ups. If they were simply links across the banner or along the side that might be tolerable.
I understand $5 per month is cheap until you have 40 different forums each pulling $5/month. I'm currently trying to lower cable TV bill for the same reason. A channel here, a channel there is a bit extra so why not take this package which gives you those plus lots more except I don't watch all but 3 and 3 is more than the package. It's a never ending rabbit hole.