Donations & Custom Titles....Alert for anyone who has donated to the cause

[Jason]

To chime in... donations are very much appreciated. As Dan says, we're currently quite in the red. Our new monthly server costs now far exceed the income from banner sponsorship, and with our imminent move to a new software platform we've got a bunch of other purchases to make. So donations are really very necessary at the moment and without them we wouldn't be here. That's a fact. When we get to our new platform (hopefully within the month) things will be easier on a number of fronts and we will endeavor to find new ways to get non-invasive sponsorship while retaining the non-commercial feel.

Thank you to everyone who has made donations in the past.

[FastEddy]

" ... Our new monthly server costs now far exceed the income from banner sponsorship ..."

Since this is not DIYeCommerce.com, I won't offer our methodology as an alternate to these expenses (12 catalog sites spewing several terabytes / month, 30K customers over a decade, annual hosting/server costs < $2K ... on the main east/west backbone).

Not to worry, I will encourage "the boss" to see about some banner ad purchases ... just as soon as I can find the instructional pages here ...

( http://www.diyaudio.com/graphics/yourlogoweb.jpg = no link to info page ?)

[poynton]

Hi.

Thanks for the reminders.

You now have a donation.

Keep up the great site. It is invaluable.



Andy

[BWRX]

Thanks for the donation Andy! Time for me to make a little contribution as well

The new hardware definitely seems to support more users browsing the site at one time! Can't wait to see what the new software has in store.

[Variac]

Specifically because of the hardware and software transitions, things are a mite disorganized regarding advertising, requesting and making donations, and in the Marketplace area.

Given the choice between organizing commercial issues or doing what most helps our members, we have always gone with the members as best we can.

The new software will address these issues significantly, but we hate to put in time fixing the old software when it is to be abandoned soon.

The hardware transition is pretty much completed, along with a new service provider, thanks to Audiofreak and Jason. I agree, the response is a LOT snappier and there are few downtime incidents anymore. Some of those old hardrives were pretty flaky apparently.

The new software is apparently easier to work with by far, but it still requires a lot of modification to incorporate all the ideas and improvements that we mods and you members have suggested. Audiofreak is putting in as much time as he can, but it is a big job.

[FastEddy]

" ... the response is a LOT snappier and there are few downtime incidents anymore. ..."

Yes! ...keep up the good work.

[Jason]

FastEddy: The graphic says to email the webmaster, it's not actually clickable. Ok that doesn't gel with a "don't make me think" approach to user interface design but neither does, for example, our "about us" page We'll have a proper landing page for potential advertisers soon. Our ongoing costs aren't that much, the problem is a lack of advertisers and/or modern ad syndication technology. Soon to be addressed.

[FastEddy]

" ... that doesn't gel with a "don't make me think" approach to user interface design but neither does, for example, our "about us" page ..."

Sss' OK, labors of love don't have to be "user friendly". So exactly where is the "about page" anyway? Oops, there it is ...

(We never bothered making any either, figuring that most folks with that much time on their hands would find something better to read elsewhere ...)