Just a friendly suggestion!

[Dv8oR]

I belong to a Forum like almost exactly like this at Michigan-sportsman.com

They master admin takes donations to help with site upkeep and maintenance.

In return we can actually put up a custom title-1st Fret area.
You get more Private Message space and the ability to post pics (limited size of course) right with your posts.

You'd be suprised at the people that would donate. I would.

Oh yea, and a Sponsoring Member avatar type title with your screen name and original avatar.

Plan on sticking around here. So far So Cool!

[SevenPMS]

Hey yeah I totally agree!!! You guys should definitly accept donations I am with you all the way...that would be nifty as crap!! :cry: ha ha i like that smily I shall call him fred.

[BrandyCreekG]

Hey yeah I totally agree!!! You guys should definitly accept donations I am with you all the way...that would be nifty as crap!! :cry: ha ha i like that smily I shall call him fred.
you know that smily is crying right?

that IS a good idea, i'm just not sure what the tax issues would be, and/or how those would be handled... i wonder if a mod would now... *ponderously ponders*

[Trey]

you know that smily is crying right?

that IS a good idea, i'm just not sure what the tax issues would be, and/or how those would be handled... i wonder if a mod would now... *ponderously ponders*

Nope, this is one of those times where Shawn is on his own :p And the fact that he hasn't replied speaks volumes..

[popmusic_sux]

We've had suggestions like this before. Shawn considered making cyberfret.com merchandise, but that's so far down on his list of things to do that it'll probably never get done, there are more important matters that require his attention.

[cyberfret]

I think that you over estimate the number of people who would be interested in paying for a special membership status. But I will consider this, and people can continue to give their opinions about the subject.

michigan-sportsman.com actually has a pretty active forum. There where 150 people there at 11PM EST.

--Shawn

[Dv8oR]

I'm not trying to change the world or anything, but I must admit I've chatted with more cooler people here faster.

Maybe its just guitars vs fishing, or I don't know but the help I've gotten already, and being a new member, I took a liking to this site faster.

Not all those people you seen were members I'm sure.

This forum was actually kinda weird for me to find so obviously with exposure, word of mouth, links, etc. It'll get huge soon.....are ya ready???

And for me its not just the title "sponsoring member" I like the ability to post pics with the posts, more pm and picture space is a bonus too!!!!

[BrandyCreekG]

I think that you over estimate the number of people who would be interested in paying for a special membership status. But I will consider this, and people can continue to give their opinions about the subject.

michigan-sportsman.com actually has a pretty active forum. There where 150 people there at 11PM EST.

--Shawn
well, i don't know about paying for status, but i'd definitely pay for the upkeep of the site and for additional things within it. heck, i've made donations to the local NPR and i don't even like them. so, liking this site so much, as well as the people within, i'd be more than happy to do my share.

also, i'm with Hawk: the merchandise is a must :D i'd sport my GuitarLodge stuff at gigs... think of it. a GuitarLodge flannel, maybe with some big brown Wolverine boots... get it? 'cause it's a "lodge"? no? too far? ok.

[Dv8oR]

i'd sport my GuitarLodge stuff at gigs... think of it. a GuitarLodge flannel, maybe with some big brown Wolverine boots... get it? 'cause it's a "lodge"? no? too far? ok.



:D Thats friggin great!!!! I wan't one and I don't even gig.....lol....

[popmusic_sux]

This forum was actually kinda weird for me to find so obviously with exposure, word of mouth, links, etc. It'll get huge soon.....are ya ready???

Though they may not all be active members, we've got around 6,200 members here, so I'd say it's already gotten pretty big.

[muchavo]

I like not not have pictures on the forums, the pages load 10 x faster

[Dv8oR]

I can see its a good sized forum. My point is its only going to get bigger!

And as for the one that commented about pictures/pages loading faster.
A. Not everybody has dialup.....
B. There limited to like 49k or something mini like that so its not going to hurt anyones performance.....

They were just comments/suggestions.......
And if I remember right the Admin stated there were suggestions like this in the past. Obviously I'm new to the sight and wanted to get some insight.

Lets go back to playing guitar now :D

[fizz]

I'd only pay for merchandise.

I dont think I'd ever pay for any sort of 'internet status'

[Jason9x19]

I'd only pay for merchandise.

I dont think I'd ever pay for any sort of 'internet status'

I hate to say it, but I agree. I don't know where I'd be able to part money between my mortgage and car payment for a coolguy avatar. I'd gladly pay "top dollar" for GL merchandise...something tangible, but I've done the "subscription" thing back in the dot-com peak, and I'm a little jaded with the whole concept.

I do realize that several people are on dial-up, but I also think it's a ridiculous argument to hold the form of the website back in that interest. There are a lot of people on here who pay $50 a month for broadband and the Internet has been moving that direction for years anyway. Keeping its form in the stone age isn't doing anyone any favors; that's like asking your city to stop adding streets because you don't have a car. However, if Shawn's primary argument (which it is, as far as I understand) for not allowing larger/cooler avatars/sigs is in the interest of HIS pocketbook, I wholly respect that. It's a free site, after all.

Just my two cents.

[muchavo]

i disagree, i think the pages are much more readable with out the pictures, especially in signitures,

i hate trying to read through a forum and every time username47a types a response i got to seee this huge picture of every piece of guitar equipment he owns or his biggest influence or what ever, now with 2000 posts that 1 huge image is apearing 2000 times and wasteing my time and screen space 2000 times, no you think of the 20 or so users who will use these huge signiture images and it gets annoying

now if it were possible to only show ligitment pictures relevent to the discussion at hand, i would be for it

[Jason9x19]

i disagree, i think the pages are much more readable with out the pictures, especially in signitures,

i hate trying to read through a forum and every time username47a types a response i got to seee this huge picture of every piece of guitar equipment he owns or his biggest influence or what ever, now with 2000 posts that 1 huge image is apearing 2000 times and wasteing my time and screen space 2000 times, no you think of the 20 or so users who will use these huge signiture images and it gets annoying

now if it were possible to only show ligitment pictures relevent to the discussion at hand, i would be for it

I do agree with you there, Muchavo. 300 pixel-thick sigs/mastheads get old rather quicky. But it doesn't have to be all or nothing with this. The key would be to keep it in moderation. Mods would be in charge of calling people out on that, or simply contain it using group policies.

I used to be on some IRC forums, and I do know what you're talking about. But on something well-modded, it can be pretty cool, too. It's all in how it's handled. Sean can set policies on the size of avatars now, and maybe even sigs. Same thing could apply, only with higher threshholds. It wouldn't have to turn into a headache for anyone. And if the merchandise thing took off, it might not even put a crunch on the Forum.

There are balances out there, and I am optimistic we (as a community [--or majority :D]) could find one on something like this.

Again, just my opinion.

[FastRedPonyCar]

Couple of suggestions that are changable on other fourms.

We need pictures to be displayed if users want. This is the only forum that I subscribe to that picutres don't show up. We need that. But users on dial up should be able to have them displayed as links if they wish.

Also, PLEASE can we increase the size/file size of avatars? 100X100 is the standard and a 20K file size is fine.

We need to split our gear forum to specifics such as Amps and guitars and effects sections. Just a small split like that would make a HUGE difference.

We need a help section. for instance: all those repitive posts on guys having trouble with their floyd roses or strat bridges pivoting upwards after changing strings needing help. We NEED a section for that sort of stuff where guy can go to get quick specific techinal help on that and wiring pickups and chaning tubes or stuff like that. Ask the luthier was a good start but a tech help section would be much more usable in my opinion.

Classifieds. We need this as well. Too many young players can't afford new gear and there are quite a few of us who are buying gear and finding that it's not for us and trying to sell. Some of them aren't confident buying on ebay from strangers and would much rather get it from somone here who has built up a solid reputation.

A band promotion section would be cool. There are probably lots of guys here from the same city that dont' know about each other. Letting others know about gigs and what not would be a really cool feature.

Product/vendor reviews - again, another idea that has big potential. I hate sifting through the same questions over and over asking how XXX guitar sounds or how XXX amp sounds. We need a section dedicated to our own thoughts and experiences and opinions of different instruments.

These are all features from guitaristworks.com forum that is still a rather young forum but those extra forums make the site MUCH more user friendly and easier to navigate and less confusing especially to noobs who don't know whwere to start.

[fretfire]

I'd only pay for merchandise.

I dont think I'd ever pay for any sort of 'internet status'

Liar, you gave me $100 to change your title to Porn Star over at Ratbit. Oh wait, that was just to impress Claire, wasn't it? :p ;)

[Tonkie]

lol, don't know what that was about Fretfire, but here here! Bring on the classified. Let's have a poll... please?

[cyberfret]

First understand this. This forum is operated at my expense. Whatever ads that you do see do not even pay for the cost of running this forum. I do appreciate all suggestions. But I look at everything according to cost, and content issues.

Couple of suggestions that are changable on other fourms.

We need pictures to be displayed if users want. This is the only forum that I subscribe to that picutres don't show up. We need that. But users on dial up should be able to have them displayed as links if they wish.

I am well aware of other forums use of graphics, which end up being mostly large obnoxious pictures that slow the forum down and server no real purpose. pictures are not allowed because.

1. They take server hard drive space.
2. They use more bandwidth which cost money
3. Often the pictures that are posted in other forums are in appropriate, including porn.


Also, PLEASE can we increase the size/file size of avatars? 100X100 is the standard and a 20K file size is fine.

No, see above.

We need to split our gear forum to specifics such as Amps and guitars and effects sections. Just a small split like that would make a HUGE difference.

I am not sure how this would make a difference??? I think that one gear forum is sufficient.


We need a help section. for instance: all those repitive posts on guys having trouble with their floyd roses or strat bridges pivoting upwards after changing strings needing help. We NEED a section for that sort of stuff where guy can go to get quick specific techinal help on that and wiring pickups and chaning tubes or stuff like that. Ask the luthier was a good start but a tech help section would be much more usable in my opinion.

Even with a FAQ section, people will still ask those questions. I have no problem with having more technical information for people to reference. But that means that someone has to write detailed tutorials on various subjects. Guitar-zan has graciously offered his time to answer questions. And I am sure over time there will be more tech oriented content available

Classifieds. We need this as well. Too many young players can't afford new gear and there are quite a few of us who are buying gear and finding that it's not for us and trying to sell. Some of them aren't confident buying on ebay from strangers and would much rather get it from somone here who has built up a solid reputation.

People should be more confident buying from ebay that a forum like this. Ebay has all kind of safeguards, and user rating systems etc. This forum does not. I will not take responsibility for deals that go bad etc. Use Ebay...

A band promotion section would be cool. There are probably lots of guys here from the same city that dont' know about each other. Letting others know about gigs and what not would be a really cool feature.

In general use of this forum for promotion is prohibited because that opens up the doors for all kinds of spam.

Product/vendor reviews - again, another idea that has big potential. I hate sifting through the same questions over and over asking how XXX guitar sounds or how XXX amp sounds. We need a section dedicated to our own thoughts and experiences and opinions of different instruments.

I don't have a gear review section because a good friend runs a site called MusicGearReview.com which I think takes care of that angle very nicely.

These are all features from guitaristworks.com forum that is still a rather young forum but those extra forums make the site MUCH more user friendly and easier to navigate and less confusing especially to noobs who don't know where to start.

--Shawn

[muchavo]

Shawn,

this may seem like beating a dead horse to you but...

I think that picitures in signitures and increased avatars are useless and a waste of space, but could you allow other images to be shown in topics that they relate too these would be used less and could be more easily moderated.

If it ever turned out to be a problem, couldnt you just revoke the privilage?

Thanks