# Are we still operating under subscription? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 11, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916 "2008-05-11T13:55:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/1 "2008-05-11T13:55:20Z")
So what’s the deal with switching to free posting? I had to pay for a year of posting today before I could reply to a thread. In the past, there was always some notice about having to renew memberships-- did I miss it this time? All I see is a notice that we’re switching back to free membership, which is kinda confusing… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/2 "2008-05-11T13:57:37Z")
Color me **John Mace** too. I couldn’t search because my “guest subscription” had expired. WTF!!! ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/3 "2008-05-11T14:37:14Z")
And I just got an email telling me my subscription will expire soon and I must pony up another $7.48 to retain my posting privileges. True? I thought pay-to-post was going away. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/4 "2008-05-11T14:40:14Z")
IIRC, the free service won’t be up for a couple of months. FYI for the people in charge, I haven’t paid, but the board is still letting me post this. Might want to check that out. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/5 "2008-05-11T14:49:30Z")
I read somewhere that members (Charter Members?) were getting an extension. Being a lowly member I thought I couldn’t risk it, so I meekly paid up. I know my place. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/6 "2008-05-11T16:13:20Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] Color me **John Mace** too. I couldn’t search because my “guest subscription” had expired. WTF!!! [/QUOTE] I got the subscription expiration notice e-mail at 10:30 this morning. Came here to see what was up, saw this thread and tried to reply. Then got a page that said “Your guest membership has expired. Please fork over some cash if you know what’s good for you”. I’m paraphrasing that a little bit. But it did say that my _guest membership_ had expired. It would be nice if we could get the expiration warning a few days before the subscription expires, rather than afterwards. So anyway I renewed so I could post this earlier - about an hour ago. Just now coming back to this thread and don’t see my earlier post so here I am, typing it out once again. Hope it sticks this time. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/7 "2008-05-11T16:19:57Z")
[QUOTE=NineToTheSky] I read somewhere that members (Charter Members?) were getting an extension. Being a lowly member I thought I couldn’t risk it, so I meekly paid up. [/QUOTE] There was a ten-day extension from (for most people) the end of April through May 10 because of the board outages and search restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/8 "2008-05-11T16:55:29Z")
There is some confusion because Ed originally said this: > **[Improving the SDMB](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461088)** > > UPDATE AS OF 5/11/2008: As of now a subscription is still required to post. We’re not ready to switch to free posting yet - June or July is more like it. While dropping the fee is simply a matter of changing a software setting or two, we need to have... > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > I’m a charter member but ads don’t bug me. I’m going to let my subscription lapse. Will free posting begin by April 30? > > We can’t guarantee that. If it seems like we’re close, we’ll probably just extend everyone’s subscription a week or two. And then Ed said: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9717853&postcount=26](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=9717853&postcount=26) > [@Ed Zotti](#): > > I don’t have much to add to what I said earlier. As of now a subscription is still required to post, and most charter member subscriptions expire around May 10. It’s highly unlikely we’ll be ready to switch to free posting by then - June or July is more like it. While dropping the fee is simply a matter of changing a software setting or two, we need to have an alternative revenue stream in place before we do so, and getting that set up is proving to be more complicated than I thought. So if you wish to keep posting once your subscription expires, you need to re-up, knowing that free posting may start within a month or two. If you’d rather let your subscription lapse and wait for free posting, that’s up to you. I remind you that free posting means you’ll see display ads, whereas subscribing means you won’t. I’m sorry I can’t be more definite, but felt it was better to give you what little information I have than simply surprise you. So yes, for the time being – until they get the free posting window open – it’s still a subscription board. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/9 "2008-05-11T19:15:05Z")
OK. It was only $7 to re-up, so not a big deal. I was just more curious than anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/10 "2008-05-11T23:35:50Z")
OK, so I re-upped, just because I was kind of confused (oh, and I couldn’t post anyway). But had I not, would I have lost my username? ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-still-operating-under-subscription/448916/11 "2008-05-11T23:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=Leaper] But had I not, would I have lost my username? [/QUOTE] No.