Asking for Donations! And whats going to happen to SW for the future.

lovelylady

sarNie Egg
Before anyone start reading I want to say that nobody is obligated to donate. I don't want to give people a guilt trip (except to those I know well).

I was told to keep the post "short" so I'm making a Short Version and a Extra Info Version of my post.
Here's the SHORT VERSION:

First of all there are some good news and bad news. The bad news is that at our current expense, it is not sustainable to continue paying our server bill. The good news is that there are some nice options available. BUT it would require an investment by sarn, me and hopefully some of you. At my new workplace I'm allowed to plug in a server into the network. This would mean that hosting the forum and other things will cost zero dollars (as long as I keep the job there) and it also means that SW and other sites it hosts will be around for years to come (thats cause I plan to work at the same place for a few years).

So what does this come to? Well it would require a good chunk amount of money. Currently we rent the server which is cheaper then building your own server but in the long run it is expensive. Right now sarn pays 250 dollars a month which equals to 3000 dollars a year. For a while it was doable because the money from google Ad was generating enough money to cover for the cost but recently it isn't doing so well. So what is a good price to get a decent server up and running? At this point I'm looking at around 1000 dollars. Yes I know thats alot of money to ask for! But I'll just keep this up for a while to see how much we can gather and then fill in the gap somehow.

As for a new project thats coming up, I've worked on it this weekend to see how "doable" it is and how hard to was to install. Its basically a youtube clone. And NO we're not competing against youtube. That isn't the intention. Some people have told me that this is a good idea but initially I was against it because there are some complications involved in it like bandwidth. But if we can get a server up at my workplace and then rent a cheap server just to host the videos, it is definately doable. Also we won't have restrictions on the videos so we could post full episodes up. But obviously there will be limitations like only members able to watch the videos. I've setup a test site like I said.


CLICK HERE (don't laugh at the domain name!)




There's 4 videos (3 Music videos and one lakorn episode). Yes I know there are some video quality problems there but thats fixable. I just post it up there for an example. Check it out!! I think its definately hot :) Only downside is that the script will cost 200 dollars :(

So thats pretty much it for the donation request. I'll post a special provision on the other thread to see how far along we're going in this attempt. Just give what you think is appropriate. Also for those who don't have Paypal, you can send me cash. Just PM me for my address and let me know if you want to remain anon or credited. Also DON'T BE SHY ABOUT PMING ME to find if there are other ways! :)

I'll give alot more details in the more Detail version for those who loves to read. :)
Here's the Extra INFO Version:


I'll give alot more details on the financials of SW. First of all the server rent price has been going up as we keep moving. Its partly my fault as I want more "juice" to play with by getting stronger machine. Like I said before currently the bill cost around 250. Last month the ads made only 100 dollars which mean sarn will have to pay 150$ out of her own pocket. Initially I helped out but since the recent move she has volunteered and plus I was pretty damn broke. Well thats the kind of dedication we got for you peps. I have to say that there is very few things I found more rewarding then working on the server. Even though I worked for free, it has taught me alot of stuff which makes it easy for me to get a job in the field I want. Its a win/win situation for me and everyone.

The idea of having 2 servers came around when I started working. Now some of you may wonder why we want to have 2 servers. The major reason is that the main one I want to plug into my work network needs to be under the bandwidth radar. Also having 2 servers is a good idea in the sense that if the video hosting one gets shutdown or something weird happens, the forum will not be affected. I intend to host only forums on the main server that we'll be building from the donation.

So now what can we get for the other server? Well right now I'm thinking it'll be around 100 - 150 dollars. This is something me and sarn can handle. As for the server itself, it'll be a weak server with a huge amount of Bandwidth and big harddrive space. I'm looking at one with 500 gigs. Using rough calculations, lets say a lakorn episode of an hour and a half is 200 megs. Lets say its 15 episodes. So its around 23 hours for the full series and 3 gigs per series. That is around 150 full episode series we can host! I say thats quite alot of videos we can put up. The videos should reflect the interests that the members have. Remember that this tube thing is only for members and I will try to integrate it with the forum accounts. That way you can login using the forum account (registration will be disabled on the video site). From what I can see, we'll get 1500gigs with the server. Thats a huge amount of BW so we'll see how long we'll do with that much. There are some really cheap european servers that offers up to 3000gigs. Maybe we'll try one of those since they're generally cheaper and also more "safe" from shutdowns. Only problem is that I'm not too familiar with european companies and there might be some communication problems not to mention the connection problems that might arise. Alot of decisions to make and its something that will DEFINATELY happen once the donations are hit.

The video project will only be done after we raise money and buy the server. Yea I know.. I put it up there as an incentive!!!! Remember that everyone will be sharing in this. I know I should have some kind of reward system setup but I don't know. Everyone should do it for the love of it anyway right?? :)

As I said above, I'm going to split the donation thread with info on the status when the dough starts rolling in. Just give what you think is appropriate. Also for those who don't have Paypal, you can send me cash. Just PM me for my address and let me know if you want to remain anon or credited :)

Post your comments below! Give me some ideas or thoughts on this :)
$250 a month to host this forum? What is the name of your hosting company?
 

lovelylady

sarNie Egg
Before anyone start reading I want to say that nobody is obligated to donate. I don't want to give people a guilt trip (except to those I know well).

I was told to keep the post "short" so I'm making a Short Version and a Extra Info Version of my post.
Here's the SHORT VERSION:

First of all there are some good news and bad news. The bad news is that at our current expense, it is not sustainable to continue paying our server bill. The good news is that there are some nice options available. BUT it would require an investment by sarn, me and hopefully some of you. At my new workplace I'm allowed to plug in a server into the network. This would mean that hosting the forum and other things will cost zero dollars (as long as I keep the job there) and it also means that SW and other sites it hosts will be around for years to come (thats cause I plan to work at the same place for a few years).

So what does this come to? Well it would require a good chunk amount of money. Currently we rent the server which is cheaper then building your own server but in the long run it is expensive. Right now sarn pays 250 dollars a month which equals to 3000 dollars a year. For a while it was doable because the money from google Ad was generating enough money to cover for the cost but recently it isn't doing so well. So what is a good price to get a decent server up and running? At this point I'm looking at around 1000 dollars. Yes I know thats alot of money to ask for! But I'll just keep this up for a while to see how much we can gather and then fill in the gap somehow.

As for a new project thats coming up, I've worked on it this weekend to see how "doable" it is and how hard to was to install. Its basically a youtube clone. And NO we're not competing against youtube. That isn't the intention. Some people have told me that this is a good idea but initially I was against it because there are some complications involved in it like bandwidth. But if we can get a server up at my workplace and then rent a cheap server just to host the videos, it is definately doable. Also we won't have restrictions on the videos so we could post full episodes up. But obviously there will be limitations like only members able to watch the videos. I've setup a test site like I said.


CLICK HERE (don't laugh at the domain name!)




There's 4 videos (3 Music videos and one lakorn episode). Yes I know there are some video quality problems there but thats fixable. I just post it up there for an example. Check it out!! I think its definately hot :) Only downside is that the script will cost 200 dollars :(

So thats pretty much it for the donation request. I'll post a special provision on the other thread to see how far along we're going in this attempt. Just give what you think is appropriate. Also for those who don't have Paypal, you can send me cash. Just PM me for my address and let me know if you want to remain anon or credited. Also DON'T BE SHY ABOUT PMING ME to find if there are other ways! :)

I'll give alot more details in the more Detail version for those who loves to read. :)
Here's the Extra INFO Version:


I'll give alot more details on the financials of SW. First of all the server rent price has been going up as we keep moving. Its partly my fault as I want more "juice" to play with by getting stronger machine. Like I said before currently the bill cost around 250. Last month the ads made only 100 dollars which mean sarn will have to pay 150$ out of her own pocket. Initially I helped out but since the recent move she has volunteered and plus I was pretty damn broke. Well thats the kind of dedication we got for you peps. I have to say that there is very few things I found more rewarding then working on the server. Even though I worked for free, it has taught me alot of stuff which makes it easy for me to get a job in the field I want. Its a win/win situation for me and everyone.

The idea of having 2 servers came around when I started working. Now some of you may wonder why we want to have 2 servers. The major reason is that the main one I want to plug into my work network needs to be under the bandwidth radar. Also having 2 servers is a good idea in the sense that if the video hosting one gets shutdown or something weird happens, the forum will not be affected. I intend to host only forums on the main server that we'll be building from the donation.

So now what can we get for the other server? Well right now I'm thinking it'll be around 100 - 150 dollars. This is something me and sarn can handle. As for the server itself, it'll be a weak server with a huge amount of Bandwidth and big harddrive space. I'm looking at one with 500 gigs. Using rough calculations, lets say a lakorn episode of an hour and a half is 200 megs. Lets say its 15 episodes. So its around 23 hours for the full series and 3 gigs per series. That is around 150 full episode series we can host! I say thats quite alot of videos we can put up. The videos should reflect the interests that the members have. Remember that this tube thing is only for members and I will try to integrate it with the forum accounts. That way you can login using the forum account (registration will be disabled on the video site). From what I can see, we'll get 1500gigs with the server. Thats a huge amount of BW so we'll see how long we'll do with that much. There are some really cheap european servers that offers up to 3000gigs. Maybe we'll try one of those since they're generally cheaper and also more "safe" from shutdowns. Only problem is that I'm not too familiar with european companies and there might be some communication problems not to mention the connection problems that might arise. Alot of decisions to make and its something that will DEFINATELY happen once the donations are hit.

The video project will only be done after we raise money and buy the server. Yea I know.. I put it up there as an incentive!!!! Remember that everyone will be sharing in this. I know I should have some kind of reward system setup but I don't know. Everyone should do it for the love of it anyway right?? :)

As I said above, I'm going to split the donation thread with info on the status when the dough starts rolling in. Just give what you think is appropriate. Also for those who don't have Paypal, you can send me cash. Just PM me for my address and let me know if you want to remain anon or credited :)

Post your comments below! Give me some ideas or thoughts on this :)
With over 7 thousand members I know Sarn or you make more than $100 with the ads.
 

noungning

Heartless
7k members with less than 3k being active isn't very helpful in making money. additionally, i don't think 2k of the 3k actually realizes there are even ads on the forum! :eek:

i'm pretty sure with copyright laws - iptv can do unexpected things.

it's another one of those big plans tim has. i wish u luck as i need some myself finding a job lol :p

sidenote: anan i still love ur dancing emocon... and u have very good points!
 

vina_lek

Guest
true. true. some members don't even notice the ads, b/c we're so used to seeing ads everywhere. :blink: Even if we did notice them, money comes from clicking on them, which I think many of us don't. -_-

Donate. Buy lakorns. Buy SW tees. The ninja is cute, man.
 
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