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Britmodeller getting too big? Should it be pruned?


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47 minutes ago, John R said:

I was just concerned for the future of BM. It's a great site and I wouldn't want anything to happen to it. There have been requests for donations in the past and I wondered if there were ways of reducing costs. The site continues to grow and I thought that it might be possible to contain it by removing obsolete posts but according to Mike that's not a problem.

The thing is, if Mike isn't showing any signs of worrying, then I don't see the point in any of us doing so. Making a bid for donations every so often is fine. You have to look at this way. If you are a member of this site, and you enjoy participating in various subjects, then you have to take on board that there are costs involved, and it's only fair and proper that we the users, should contribute in whatever way we can. It happens on many other sites that I visit occasionally. This is the only one that I contribute to financially. If it keeps b****y adverts off of the site, it's got to be a good thing. Hopefully, the site will continue to grow, and that the newer members will recognise that it's worth contributing to and keeping Mike in the luxury that he's become accustomed to and supporting the day to day running. I look at it this way. I used to have subscriptions with some magazines. I don't anymore, but if I was willing to part with money for those, why not here. Besides, I get more out of this site than I did the mags.

 

John.

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2 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

The thing is, if Mike isn't showing any signs of worrying, then I don't see the point in any of us doing so. Making a bid for donations every so often is fine. You have to look at this way. If you are a member of this site, and you enjoy participating in various subjects, then you have to take on board that there are costs involved, and it's only fair and proper that we the users, should contribute in whatever way we can. It happens on many other sites that I visit occasionally. This is the only one that I contribute to financially. If it keeps b****y adverts off of the site, it's got to be a good thing. Hopefully, the site will continue to grow, and that the newer members will recognise that it's worth contributing to and keeping Mike in the luxury that he's become accustomed to and supporting the day to day running. I look at it this way. I used to have subscriptions with some magazines. I don't anymore, but if I was willing to part with money for those, why not here. Besides, I get more out of this site than I did the mags.

 

John.

 

Exactly!

 

 

Chris

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On 27/08/2020 at 07:41, Bullbasket said:

Good grief!! Reading what Mike and some others have posted on here, I think that we should have a whole new section started, and call it "Swahili for beginners".

 

 

I understand none of it as well John, hence why Mike lets me no where near the techy bits !

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On 27/08/2020 at 10:40, John R said:

Going back to my original post here is an example that I came across last night. I am starting a Pro-Resin Avro 707A and remembered that there was a post from long ago about building one.

I found it was full of blank Photobucket pictures and the reference to the WIP doe not work

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/70273-avro-707a-wd280-early/

 

The WIP at :http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=64440&hl=rpaddy+707

 

John

 

The WIP thread is just missing the 's' after http

 

Still has no pics though, but the text may still be useful in explaining issues encountered...

 

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On 8/26/2020 at 3:41 PM, Mike said:

If we could afford to have a mirrored server with load balancing and 10gbps connection I'd be in a state of total server nirvana, but as that would cost us over double what we're paying now, so we'll make do with one that's backed up on the regular.

All of the computer stuff just floated over my head which perhaps is a good thing.

As a matter of interest what does it cost for the current server and would there be any benefit of going upmarket?

If so is it worth doing some fundraising?

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Comments from a new member...

There's a forum that I'm a member of (specifically related to narrow gauge railway modelling) that has a 'donate' button on its front page linked to Paypal, so that members can top up the funds as and when. If the pot gets too big then it could simply be turned off. Donations are of course anonymous. Another forum that I used to frequent would pass the cap around when needed, unfortunately some of those that threw in said cap thought that made them somehow more important. That forum is now commercial, full of adverts with a Gold level of membership for those willing to pay (there are benefits, but not any that I would want). 

 

The best contribution that any member can make is through their posts, either sharing their work or by helping others. Which reminds me, I must build something to show!

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BM has a 'donate' button in the top right corner.

2 hours ago, Scimitar said:

As a matter of interest what does it cost for the current server ?

That's something I would love to know. Mike would probably say that it is not in the public interest but isn't it funny that phrase is always used to describe something in which the public is very interested.

We can only hope that our donations are not going to fund that super PC that Mike described earlier😜

John

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2 hours ago, Scimitar said:

If so is it worth doing some fundraising?

What!! You want me to pay again?? Wasn't the 10/- note enough? You want me to send another one? That means that I'll have to take some more empties back to the off licence.

 

John (carefully hiding his widow's mite).

 

PS. Any "youngsters" who don't know what a 10/- note is, ask your Dad.....better still, ask your Granddad. Same applies to taking empties back to the off licence.

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11 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

What!! You want me to pay again?? Wasn't the 10/- note enough? You want me to send another one? That means that I'll have to take some more empties back to the off licence.

 

John (carefully hiding his widow's mite).

I'm still waiting for me change!!!!

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I have no idea how this black magic works. I think my brain would melt if someone tried to explain.
 

So wearing my ‘utter ignoramus’ hat and badge, how many dormant members do we have - accounts created and no posts, or no posts in x years? Would deleting their profiles (after a couple of warning DM’s) create any worthwhile space?

 

I’m very happy here on BM and am grateful to Mike and the Mechanics for all the time (and money) spent to allow us to potter around and use the site. More than happy do dob in a contribution to help the cogs running smoothly too.

 

Trevor

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I do like the way that a thread on 'trimming down' BM has now reached three pages - and counting!

 

'Isn't it ironic, dontcha think?' as Alanis once sang....?! 🤣

 

Keith (member since the early days in 2007 and amazed at how BM has grown. Tip of the hat to Mike and the gang for having the stamina to keep it going!)

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Monthly cost for the server and software? Well you wouldn’t get much change from the cost of a few 1/32 Tamiya kits. 
 

What’s hitting us at the moment is the poor rate of exchange against the dollar. In the beginning we self funded, we still pay in as mods. We don’t do the pop up adds either. Don’t want to if we can help it.

 

Why is it so high? Capacity and throughput. Peak times there are around 2,000+ users online concurrently. Just checked now and at past midnight 🇬🇧 time there are still around a thousand users on. Expand that out through the day and individual users are in the tens of thousands. 

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45 minutes ago, Greg B said:

What’s hitting us at the moment is the poor rate of exchange against the dollar. In the beginning we self funded, we still pay in as mods. We don’t do the pop up adds either. Don’t want to if we can help it.

Iirc, at the time of the recent bottle drive, someone, it might even be you @Greg B, suggested making our donations in dollars, but when I attempted to do so, I got no where, so you got squids instead. It may be worth making that more visible/ numpty friendly.

Steve 

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Not me chief, I think it was Mike. We lose a few % in changing from one to the other. However it’s swings and roundabouts, when the £ gets stronger we would be better with the kitty remaining in that currency.

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On 27/08/2020 at 10:40, John R said:

 

Going back to my original post here is an example that I came across last night. I am starting a Pro-Resin Avro 707A and remembered that there was a post from long ago about building one.

you wouldn't happen to want to donate the 707 kit to me? 😂

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2 hours ago, stevehnz said:

suggested making our donations in dollars, but when I attempted to do so, I got nowhere

I had the reverse - I was going to donate in pounds but the PayPal computer automatically made it USD - the right thing to do as it turned out.

I wonder if this thread should be pruned? Maybe it will get to >1,000 posts and will have to be locked?

It might be a good sociology Ph.D for someone to go through all the WIP threads that don't have an apparent conclusion and find out why not.  I know for a fact Ph.D's have been done on less worthy topics!

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4 hours ago, Ed Russell said:

It might be a good sociology Ph.D for someone to go through all the WIP threads that don't have an apparent conclusion and find out why not.

Probably because they are like some of mine.....thread started, build moving along until it runs out of steam for one reason or another. Usually, the build ends up amongst the other shelf queens, but IMO, they shouldn't be culled. One day, I will return to them one by one, and finish them. I've already done just that with one this year.

 

John.

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16 hours ago, Greg B said:

Monthly cost for the server and software? Well you wouldn’t get much change from the cost of a few 1/32 Tamiya kits. 

That means nothing to me as I never buy 1/32 scale , rarely Tamiya and waht is 'a few' so my original question remains unanswered.

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3 minutes ago, Richard E said:

This might help

Not really,but appreciate your work. This tells me that we start at around £100 and whatever permutation of 'a few' then gives us is the monthly running cost of the server.

Doesn't answer my question does it?

 

Why can't I just get a straight answer?

Surely it can't be secret as the membership is paying for it. (granted I haven't donated for a while but that is for reasons outwith this thread).

 

 

 

 

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I would agree with the above, companies have to keep records of their transactions so why not the website.

 

While I do appreciate the work that goes into maintaining it, in the words of most politicians it needs to be transparent.

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6 hours ago, camper1 said:

While I do appreciate the work that goes into maintaining it, in the words of most politicians it needs to be transparent.

My sentiments too.

Given that there was a recent push for donations and by all accounts it looked that that went very well, surely there must be more than three of us who are interested in the cost of the server?

 

Why the silence from the powers that be?

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Dear All,

 

Britmodeller is basically me, an individual, plus a couple of lovely willing helpers that assist when they can.  We're not a corporation, a limited company or any kind of official body.  We asked for help to keep the forum online because it has grown so much that it was costing a fortune to keep it running.  I'm not a rich man, neither are the others; so we put out the cap asking for assistance, that generous members have provided in spades, and for which we're eternally grateful and are mindful of what we have been entrusted with.
 

Thanks to those donations we've now got a healthy float and a reasonable amount coming in each month that helps towards covering the costs of the server and associated expenses such as domain names, SSL certificates etc.  The float is kept securely with two people responsible for making sure that everything is above board, records kept, and that's that. Unfortunately we have not been yet been able to justify spending the donations on:

  • Caribbean Holidays
  • Superfast PCs for the Mod Team
  • Supermodels (nope, not the Airfix type)

If we reach the size of Facebook, we may consider it. But only if Julien promises not to wear his budgie smugglers on the Caribbean beach as it frightens the Supermodels.....  Or we may of course really waste the money and engage Airfix to produce a 1/24 Scale Vulcan

 

However, this diatribe about transparency is sounding awfully familiar, and I can guess where it's coming from by both past history and by past and present company kept by those attempting to grind this particular axe. 

 

Anyway, if anyone isn't happy with the way the site is run, they can do one of two things. 

  1. Leave and never come back, or
  2. refrain from donating and accept the status quo

Trouble-making is not an option. We have patience, but that has its limits, just like welcomes. :shrug:

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