Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas!

and a Happy New Year!

Happy holidays, Rich!

But I'm still going to contribute. I need that darn edit button, don't ya know?!

Someone asked me a question about this that I suppose I need to elaborate on.

No, I am not terminating the Contributor level memberships at all. I am only lifting the paid membership requirement for members to post in the classifieds section. Posting classified ads here is now *free* to all members. All other perks will remain the same for that membership level. Maybe, if need be, I will look into adding a few more perks to make it more attractive to some people.

Truth be known, the paid memberships have to remain in place. And hopefully I won't find out that most Contributor level members were only paying the yearly fee JUST to post in the classifieds. Otherwise if this site starts operating in the red, well, some hard choices would have to be made concerning it. I don't have my SerpenCo business income like I used to in order to make ends meet.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Someone asked me a question about this that I suppose I need to elaborate on.

No, I am not terminating the Contributor level memberships at all. I am only lifting the paid membership requirement for members to post in the classifieds section. Posting classified ads here is now *free* to all members. All other perks will remain the same for that membership level. Maybe, if need be, I will look into adding a few more perks to make it more attractive to some people.

Truth be known, the paid memberships have to remain in place. And hopefully I won't find out that most Contributor level members were only paying the yearly fee JUST to post in the classifieds. Otherwise if this site starts operating in the red, well, some hard choices would have to be made concerning it. I don't have my SerpenCo business income like I used to in order to make ends meet.

I was curious on that aspect too. Is there any chance of forwarding the contributor status perks of fauna to here for classifieds posting? I'll admit that I've yet to open the wallet for a fauna contributor status (holding onto my cash right now since I need it for moving), but I do agree with what's in place there. I think that would also give incentive to become/maintain contributor here. Otherwise, short of just paying it forward for a great resource, I was actually somewhat questioning why I paid to just simply have the ability to post classifieds here or have an edit button. I mean that last statement as politely and professionally as possible, and without any intention to step on toes.

Sorry, but FC and this site are completely separate and use their own databases completely independent of the other. The only way to share any info between the two sites is if I were to do it completely manually. Which, I am afraid, would be a whole lot more work than I am willing to put into it. Of course, custom programming could likely do it, but that is money out of my pocket, and I would have to ask myself what I am gaining for that kind of expenditure.

But out of curiosity, what sort of perks are you referring to from FC?

As for the "why" of having any perks for a paid membership, it is simply a method of trying to encourage members to become paying members. Many will do so simply to help support a site and keep it afloat. But some seem to feel that they need to get something extra in return for that payment.

Originally Posted by HerpsOfNM

I was curious on that aspect too. Is there any chance of forwarding the contributor status perks of fauna to here for classifieds posting? I'll admit that I've yet to open the wallet for a fauna contributor status (holding onto my cash right now since I need it for moving), but I do agree with what's in place there. I think that would also give incentive to become/maintain contributor here. Otherwise, short of just paying it forward for a great resource, I was actually somewhat questioning why I paid to just simply have the ability to post classifieds here or have an edit button. I mean that last statement as politely and professionally as possible, and without any intention to step on toes.

Originally Posted by Rich Z

But out of curiosity, what sort of perks are you referring to from FC?

The different contributor levels one can pay for, highlighted ad posts, bumping abilities, ability to reply or post within classified ads, etc.

Stuff like that...

Originally Posted by Rich Z

Many will do so simply to help support a site and keep it afloat. But some seem to feel that they need to get something extra in return for that payment.

I look at it this way; paid membership is $25 a year, which is roughly 50 cents a week. Personally, the advice, feeling of camaraderie, and entertainment I get from this site is worth much more than 50 cents a week. You can't even buy a cup of coffee for 50 cents anymore!

I've been a member here for 6 years, and feel guilty that I only became a contributing member earlier this year. Like many others, I did it to place a classified ad. (The snake was offered for free).

As far as paying to get something extra, I think people have been conditioned to expect perks to come with any kind of paid membership. I don't think that's unreasonable, but supporting a site such as this isn't the same as paying your Costco membership to get access to their cheaper products and services. I look at it more like a passing-the-collection-plate kind of thing. It's not mandatory, of course, but overhead and expenses still have to be paid.

Geez, I'm a long way off from the original topic - sorry!

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to all!

Kathy

Originally Posted by HerpsOfNM

The different contributor levels one can pay for, highlighted ad posts, bumping abilities, ability to reply or post within classified ads, etc.

Stuff like that...

All of those could be implemented here if I feel they are warranted the expense of the custom programming some will require. For instance, the classifieds control panel on FC is all custom coded, as are the bump and highlighting features in that control panel.

As for multiple membership levels, I just never thought that would fly here at all. I consider FC as being more of a commercially oriented site, whereas this one appears to be more slanted towards casual conversations, and not so much engaging in commercial concerns. So I just don't foresee members here springing for more expensive membership levels.

Some things will apparently work on FC but not here, and some things will work here and not on FC. For instance, I tried the personal (or commercial) forums over on FC and it just flopped completely. But forum sponsorships are working in some of the forums on FC, and I don't think that would work here on this site at all. At least I have not had a single solitary request for that feature here in all the years this site has existed.

But of course, if changes are desired, I am willing to listen to suggestions and consider them. That is as long as no one will take it personally if I feel that such suggested changes are not in the best interests of this site, or worth any out of pocket expenses it would take to implement them.

All the ins and outs and rules and perks and colors and bumps and membership levels etc. make Fauna pretty confusing and unappealing to me. JMO.