The Furry Forums
TFF Central => Announcements => Topic started by: Tweak on November 02, 2011, 10:36:07 PM
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As many of you are aware the forums are facing what many could deem as an undetermined future.
For the last 4 years that I have been operating the forums completely I have been footing the costs of the forums and associated services from my own pocket, this equals to over $12,000 in total, that even with the generous donations has never been matched.
As a number of you will be aware for the last 4 years I have been a student and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in 2010 and then went on to study teaching. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete this course due to some issues with my college. Earlier this year I got married and will be within the next couple of months emigrating from the United Kingdom to the United States.
The loss of income - no longer a student, and not current employed as well as the impending move meant that for the foreseeable future I'd be unable to afford to continue to foot the bills here.
I have been through many options from downsizing to seeking outside funding but none of these have proved fruitful.
However, this does not mean what you are now all thinking.
As previously mentioned I was unable to complete my year of study due to my college. This has led to a long and arduous appeal claim against my college in relation to the fact they broke their regulations. I was fortunate enough to be offered a small amount of compensation. Although nowhere near what I feel it was worth it is enough to cover the server costs for a year.
After working with my server administrators a deal was made to provide a discounted rate for the year.
This secures the server for the next year of service. Please note however, that donations are still very much appreciated as I have spent my own compensatory money on securing the service for you. All donator perks will be retained and further perks will be added over time.
Many thanks to all the donators last month and in the future for helping to support the service as much as you can.
Expect some big updates to be announced in the next month now that the forums are here to stay.
And please, please, please continue to donate without your help, I cannot guarantee the future beyond 2012.
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Maybe I should start practising more so the PFP badges become more desirable...
Anyhow, it's great news. Not the best, as it's incredibly stupid to not give you a full refund. But it's something.
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Hm, Mixed news here.
We're really gonna have to work together these next couple of months to keep the forums up and running.
I know we can pull it off. :)
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Time to start donating.
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Depending on how successful the future is for me, I wouldn't mind fronting some of that bill if I make it in time.
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THANK YOU, TWEAK.
<3
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^ +1
I will be donating that money I said I would very soon, within a few days.
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thank you tweak, ill try to give what and when i can.
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$12,000.00??? whoa! I'm not sure of the proper way to ask this without sounding rude so I will just say it out right in hopes that it is not displayed elsewhere less I look even more the fool lol, but what amount roughly (or exactly) do you need. I am still very new to this forum and have only viewed possiblye 3 % of it, but love it here and the people are awesome and very friendly and welcoming. This has made me greatly consider helping with your funds if/when I can and I would love to learn more so that I can help out in whatever ways that I can. I have seen little so far but love what I have viewed as of yet and would love to help out if I can.
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The donation amount shown monthly on our donation meter is what is required to cover costs in general. It varies at times but gives an idea at least.
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wow o.o :o That motivates me even more to get a job to be able to donate more often :D Thanks Tweak, you're a pawesome dwagon and we wuv you tight ^-^ Keep the good job and we'll try to keep the moneh coming in to help you :3
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Time to get a prepaid credit card and donate some to TFF. i want to donate a ton but i don't seem to have the money, yet, as in when i do get a prepaid card, ill send some to TFF
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well since i can HONESTLY say that about %90 of my commission customers comes from TFF, i think i can afford to give a bit more than my monthly $5 to this site
its done so much for me, and i wanna repay it.
yall are the ones that helps me pay my bills and feed me!
*hugs and runs off to donate more money*
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Checked the donation page, paypal only? Crap, prepaid cards can't go to paypal, prepaid cards can't go to tff....
Any way to donate? Can't use bank for paypal.....
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At this point we only accept donations through PayPal.
We are investigating other ways but so far have not found many.
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can prepayed cards be sent TO a paypal account??
if so then, just send the money to a trusted friend and have him/her donate it for you
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they cant
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I have like until mid next year to us it but by then I would probably used it all up...
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Wow, 12.000 dollars o.O , Guess i should donate some more ^_^ .
If you dont mind me asking, what kind of bandwidth usage has TFF on a monthly base?
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Wow, 12.000 dollars o.O , Guess i should donate some more ^_^ .
If you dont mind me asking, what kind of bandwidth usage has TFF on a monthly base?
Statistics are posted monthly, the latest being here: http://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=13052.msg799323#msg799323 (http://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=13052.msg799323#msg799323)
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And that's just the recorded bandwidth usage. I think the server is hitting 200GB a month pretty easily.
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That bandwidth is nothing when you compare it to other sites, getting several petabyes or more, per day.
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That bandwidth is nothing when you compare it to other sites, getting several petabyes or more, per day.
Other sites also have other budgets, incomes and agreements for payment costs.
TFF is very much dependent on donations.
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That bandwidth is nothing when you compare it to other sites, getting several petabyes or more, per day.
Sorry Artic, but when you say it like that, you come off as insensitive at best. :/
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Time to start donating.
Somehow, that made me think of Bear Grylls.
hope the forum can continue to run onwards after 2012, hopefully I'll have a job by then and I'll try to help out when I can :)
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That bandwidth is nothing when you compare it to other sites, getting several petabyes or more, per day.
Sorry Artic, but when you say it like that, you come off as insensitive at best. :/
Well its true, pointing out that this site is small compared to others you know :P
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Just a reminder, this isn't about determining the size of this site compared to others.
It's about the future of the forum.
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How else can I support the forum if I don't have any money? I'd like to help in any way that I can. :)
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so whats going to happen with tff then ?
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In regards to?
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if payments can not be meet. what will happen to the fourms?
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No idea
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While everyone is doing their best (I, too, will be donating as soon as my paycheck clears ^^) in case there is such an occurrence, there ARE free forum options out there, such as ZetaBoards and InvisionFree. They might not be as awesome, but the option is there to at least keep the community together in a worst-case scenario, until we can come up with something better.
I, myself, have run a forum in the past on InvisionFree, and found its admin interface to be quite useful, just like I hope this advice has been to you!
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I'm pretty sure that within a year something will have been sorted to continue supporting the forums.
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whenever i get it i will try and donate 100$ or so. I pretty sure that would help out a good bit and if it's more than enough keep it
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If I could do anything to help, I would. I do not want this forum to die, but I have no way of paying.
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Charity work. Encourage donations by giving away free things.
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Charity work. Encourage donations by giving away free things.
But I need a Checking account. I only have a Savings account. No Checking account.
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No actually, you don't.
All I need is proof that they have donated the sum needed to the website (listed on the front page or confirmed by Tweak) and I give them a PFP badge. The money goes straight to the forum via their donation service, I never touch it.
For instance: you can say that all that contacts you after donating $30 to the forum will receive a free drawing?
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NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I cannot live without this forum!
*whimpers*
:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
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Did I mention I make 80 dollars a paycheck? And that I normally use up that paycheck before I get my next one?
Most of my friends are here. I don't want to see this forum die, but I'm not sure how I can help. You say there's a way to pay with a savings account, but how?
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I just gave you a very good way to try and help without spending a single dime.
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Wow, people will earn a free drawing from me for donating 30 bucks? That's a great idea. ...Except one thing. Have you seen my drawings? I highly doubt people will spend 30$ on a drawing done by me. And if they do, they're either desperate or insane.
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Wow, people will earn a free drawing from me for donating 30 bucks? That's a great idea. ...Except one thing. Have you seen my drawings? I highly doubt people will spend 30$ on a drawing done by me. And if they do, they're either desperate or insane.
Really THAT BAD? OMGGGG! @.@
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Wow, people will earn a free drawing from me for donating 30 bucks? That's a great idea. ...Except one thing. Have you seen my drawings? I highly doubt people will spend 30$ on a drawing done by me. And if they do, they're either desperate or insane.
Really THAT BAD? OMGGGG! @.@
mugourth.deviantart.com
Is that bad enough for you?
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It was an example, not a request. Puncia was just explaining how you can sell the idea of donating to the forum.
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Perhaps you could have donator-only raffles?
As an example, for every five dollars you donate, you get one ticket, then ten for two, etc.
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That's already being done, BadW0lf.
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That's already being done, BadW0lf.
Oh, sorry. Didn't know that. I'm new :P
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shoot. its almost the end of the month and we only donated 36 bucks??
crapcrapcrapcrap..what happenes if we dont fill that bar by the 31st..??
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From the first post:
[snip]
After working with my server administrators a deal was made to provide a discounted rate for the year.
This secures the server for the next year of service. Please note however, that donations are still very much appreciated as I have spent my own compensatory money on securing the service for you. All donator perks will be retained and further perks will be added over time.
Many thanks to all the donators last month and in the future for helping to support the service as much as you can.
Expect some big updates to be announced in the next month now that the forums are here to stay.
And please, please, please continue to donate without your help, I cannot guarantee the future beyond 2012.
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I won't be able to make another big donation for a while, because I didn't get that 2nd job I was hoping to get and I'm going to be moving next year hopefully ... so I'm very tight on money ATM also trying to pay off my new computer and soon to be car ... v.v;;; Life is to expensive lol
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It's been said before, but there ARE free forum services out there. They may not look as snazzy but they're free and we won't need to bother with donations. ...Personally, I think 250 dollars a month isn't worth the window dressing.
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It's been said before, but there ARE free forum services out there. They may not look as snazzy but they're free and we won't need to bother with donations. ...Personally, I think 250 dollars a month isn't worth the window dressing.
There's a lot more than some nice themes (which we create) that are paid for. This gives us a dedicated platform. I'm sure you're aware that people are hostile towards furries, a free service could shut down the forums based on a complaint. It's free we'd have no guarantees of service nor could we migrate everything.
Whilst you may not feel the payments are worth it, be aware I operate other services from the server as well, not to mention IRC which a lot of users here make use of. I pay the money out of my own pocket and donations are just that - donations. I keep the service free and try to minimise adverts to bring everyone a good service. No-one needs to pay and that's how things will continue.
Moving to a free service removes the majority of control I have which is what makes the community so secure. You haven't seen the trolls, pedophiles and other unsavory characters that don't get in or are dealt with before being seen. If that threat was out of my control to manage then I would not be fulfilling my task as administrator.
Donations are voluntary, we will never charge for membership. Those who choose to donate help the service and we reward them for that but those who choose not to don't lose out, you can still post, upload attachments etc.
The forums survived for 5 years when I was only a student, my contract work now is spasmodic but better paying than most jobs and will hopefully continue in the US. Either way, donations help me to actually buy myself things over spending everything on here. It's just a nice gesture from people who make use of the forums, it never has and never will be expected.
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needs credit card donation support, since not everyone can use PayPal
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As far as I'm aware if you donate then PayPal will also accept a Credit Card directly, without needing to have an account.
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I`m Still vary new here. Since this been my frist day.
But reading the Threads and seeing how things are i`m willing to donate what i can when i can to help keep this forums up. Right now i am bit short on the money since i spent lot for christmas but hopping that once i get things payed off that i can start donating to help you out tweat
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since this is where i get almost all my commission buisness i will alwase donate every month.
this place has become my lifeline to surviving
if ever there is a time i can donate larger sums, i WILL. but for now my monthly 5 is what i can spare.
(if things go well, ill be getting a job that pays me around 3k a month. so if that goes right. by next year you should expect around 30-50 from me a month cause i love you all so damn much)
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I saw this and panicked - is this sill recent and/or relevant? Is TFF in any danger of late?
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Donations are always welcome, at this stage we don't have any major issues. That may always change though.