For those of you who don't know, currently I fund this forum out of my own pocket which I can no longer afford to do. So I am going to be implementing some revenue generating changes to Spooks Forum.

All the money generated from these changes will go towards keeping this place open. Here is a breakdown of the changes that will be happening soon.

Subscriptions
I am going to offer members the chance to subscribe to the forum, these subscribers will be called "Spooks" and will get many privileges above those of a normal member. The cost of becoming a Spook will be 5 GBP per year, and it will be done through a Paypal subscription which will automatically renew each year.

These privileges will include:

* Access to 'The Grid', the private subscriber-only forum.
* NO ADS - Spooks do not see ANY ads on Spooks Forum.
* Ability to change your username & usertitle.
* More storage space for attachments.
* A special rank image.
* More storage space for PMs.

More privileges will be added as I think of them. If you can think of any additional things you would like, then please reply with some suggestions.

Ads
I will be placing ads in two places, one set of ads will be about where the blue message and another set will be after the first post of every thread. They will be Google ads, and the one where the blue message is will be big, and then one after the first post will be smaller.

Not all members will see all ads, here's who will see what:

Guests - Will see all ads.

Members - Will only see the the ads where the blue message is.

Spooks - Won't see any ads at all.

Staff - Won't see any ads at all.

Amazon Store
I have setup what's called an "aStore" which is where I can link to a customised Amazon store which sells only the products I choose and for each product that someone buys through this store I get a bit of money to go towards running the forum.

The store I have setup will sell Spooks DVDs, Books & Music, but you can also buy other things through it. The link to the store will be in the top navigation and all members can access it.

Rules
As a result of these changes, I will be adjusting the rules slightly. Here are the changes:

New Rule: Links to sites where you can download/view episodes of Spooks are not allowed. (The only exception to this rule is YouTube.)

Changed Rule: Members must activate their accounts within 1 week of registration or their account will be deleted.


These changes will happen sometime over the next 3 weeks. I want to give you until then to ask any questions, raise concerns etc. So please use this thread to ask those questions and raise those concerns, and I will do my best to answer them.

I hope that you will all continue to support Spooks Forum and help the growth and success of this community.

Regards,

Nitrus

Hey,

Respect for funding the forum with your own money I understand that it's getting more expensive as the forum gets busier..

The Grid, what's inside? Is it a part of the current forum, or something entirely new? And normal non-paying members, will they be able to see the parts of the forum that are now visible for everyone?

And can't you generate income by Google Ads? Or are you already using that method?

Coming from someone who's pretty damn broke, this all sounds very reasonable. Is it possible not to have it as an automatic deduction? Maybe we're alerted 2 weeks before expiry that our sub is to be renewed and if someone doesn't want to they contact you, otherwise it's billed?

Not that anyone would want to leave the forum, of course!

(06-11-2009 04:05 PM)Asjenw Wrote:  Hey,

Respect for funding the forum with your own money I understand that it's getting more expensive as the forum gets busier..

The Grid, what's inside? Is it a part of the current forum, or something entirely new? And normal non-paying members, will they be able to see the parts of the forum that are now visible for everyone?

And can't you generate income by Google Ads? Or are you already using that method?

I will be using Google Ads on the forum as part of these changes, there are currently NO ads at all. The Grid is private area of the forum, at the moment it is just one section, but that might change. For legal reasons I would prefer not to say anything about what will be in The Grid, but if you look at the new rule, you can pretty much put two and two together.

(06-11-2009 04:05 PM)JHyde Wrote:  Coming from someone who's pretty damn broke, this all sounds very reasonable. Is it possible not to have it as an automatic deduction? Maybe we're alerted 2 weeks before expiry that our sub is to be renewed and if someone doesn't want to they contact you, otherwise it's billed?

Not that anyone would want to leave the forum, of course!

I'm afraid it's not possible to have it as an automatic deduction, but YOU control how you are notified through Paypal, I really don't have control over notification of expiry.

I pretty much figured, and if what's on the Grid is what I think, that's totally worth 5 quid.

(06-11-2009 04:13 PM)JHyde Wrote:  I pretty much figured, and if what's on the Grid is what I think, that's totally worth 5 quid.

Please don't voice what you think it is. I am open to suggestions for other privileges that Spooks should get aswell.

Like the idea of the Amazon store, and £5.00 per year seems a very reasonable subscription. Can you just make the instructions to subscribing very VERY simple for those of us which are computer illiterate, please.

That's why I didn't specify! This is about a secret service, after all.

(06-11-2009 04:17 PM)HellsBells Wrote:  Like the idea of the Amazon store, and £5.00 per year seems a very reasonable subscription. Can you just make the instructions to subscribing very VERY simple for those of us which are computer illiterate, please.

There will be a link at the top of the site called "Become a Spook", that will take you to a page where it will explain the cost and priveleges, on that page there will be a button called "Subscribe" and that will take you to Paypal.

Once your at Paypal you will need to login to your Paypal account and then go through the payment process, once you have paid you will be brought back here (in theory) and you will be in the Spooks usergroup and have access to The Grid.

That's the best I can do to explain the process. You do need a verified Paypal account to become a subscriber.

Price is extremely reasonable, even in US dollars! I'm in.