# One month later-a follow up on SDMB progress **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 27, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095 "2008-04-27T15:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/1 "2008-04-27T15:34:50Z")
Back on 3.24.08, **Ed Zotti** identified things to be done under the thread title [‘Improving the SDMB’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=461088). Let’s review and see how much has been accomplished since March 24th. > [@](#): > > How soon will you be installing the new server? > > Barring disaster, within the next couple months. In addition to purchasing and installing new hardware, there’s a lot of back-end reconfiguration that needs to be done - for one thing, we’ll be serving up Straight Dope column pages off a database, as opposed to the static HTML pages we use now. With no firm commitment, it’s hard to say if anything has been done or not. > [@](#): > > Will subscriptions be eliminated simultaneously with the installation of the server? > > That hasn’t been decided. They’ll probably occur reasonably close together but not on the same day. This is where the groundwork for the two-step is being laid. > [@](#): > > I’m a charter member and my subscription expires April 30. I definitely don’t want to see ads. When my subscription comes up for renewal, what should I do? > > Renew as you’ve done in the past. You won’t see ads for another year. But of course! > [@](#): > > 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. Ah! That would be the ethical thing to do. Unfortunately, [**Ed** dropped by the other day to deliver this bit of news](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=463405): > [@](#): > > 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. Sorry, but I call bullshit. Back in the ‘Improving the SDMB’ thread you said: > [@](#): > > Now that the online ad market is developing, the potential revenue we can pull in from banner sales far exceeds what we derive from subscriptions. Once we revert to free posting, we expect the previous steady traffic growth to resume. You’ve got the revenue stream established, and there’s no reason to shake down the existing customer base with a twelve month fee for a benefit they may only need for two or three months. Other than the 400-600% margin, that is. Stop with the obfuscation, will ya? Admit that you’ve screwed the pooch and need to cover the service gap on your dime. Either that or change the motto to “Hosing subscribers since 1973-it’s becoming easier than we thought.” ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/2 "2008-04-27T19:35:38Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] You’ve got the revenue stream established, and there’s no reason to shake down the existing customer base with a twelve month fee for a benefit they may only need for two or three months. Other than the 400-600% margin, that is. Stop with the obfuscation, will ya? Admit that you’ve screwed the pooch and need to cover the service gap on your dime. Either that or change the motto to “Hosing subscribers since 1973-it’s becoming easier than we thought.” [/QUOTE] I think you’re right about the margin. You almost can’t blame them: flip the switch on May 10, get no extra money. Delay it a couple of months, and get an extra few thousand bucks. Makes sense to me. But it sucks for the subscribers. My subscription doesn’t run out for a while anyway (I’ve let it lapse a couple times), so I should be in the clear. But if it did expire on May 10 I’d just wait it out. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/3 "2008-04-27T19:49:35Z")
Well, for Charter Members, we’re talking about $7.50 per year or 62 cents per month. I really don’t see what the big deal is. [1] Admittedly, for some every penny counts. But then again, waiting a couple of months doesn’t seem like a big deal to me. And if it is, there’s always the sponsorship option. The War on Ignorance doesn’t come cheap, Private: buck up! 😃 [1] Ya, ya, it’s $7.48 for 1-2 months of posting, plus 12 months of .gif ad evasion. It’s still cheap. Heck, I think that $14.95 is also a good deal, though for some reason I always balk at shelling out dough online. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/4 "2008-04-27T19:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Stop with the obfuscation, will ya? Admit that you’ve screwed the pooch and need to cover the service gap on your dime. Either that or change the motto to “Hosing subscribers since 1973-it’s becoming easier than we thought.” [/QUOTE] Technically, there weren’t any “subscribers” until 2004, when members were first asked to pay. Also, I repeat what so many others have posted in various threads since 2004: No one is forcing people to pay; if you don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth, don’t pay. And if $15 (or $7.50 if you’re a Charter Member) is such a financial hardship, there are members who are willing to subsidize you. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/5 "2008-04-28T03:53:00Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] Stop with the obfuscation, will ya? Admit that you’ve screwed the pooch and need to cover the service gap on your dime. Either that or change the motto to “Hosing subscribers since 1973-it’s becoming easier than we thought.” [/QUOTE] Just want to let you know that I agree with you 100%. I knew this crap would happen. My subscription is about to expire, so I’ll end up paying, and then a month or two later it will go to free posting… and instead of paying $.62 a month, It will actually end up costing $3.75/month to post, and that’s A LOT more than I would have been willing to pay per month… You’re right, they’re just trying to squeeze the last few drops of blood from us before they switch over. That’s bullshit. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/6 "2008-04-28T04:10:16Z")
Thanks for the reminder. I just re-subscribed. I think the ability to post for free is a wonderful thing, I hope it brings in some fresh [del]meat[/del] viewpoints. But if I can avoid the ads for a few bucks, it’s worth it to me. Has anyone asked about pro-rated memberships? If what **Ed** has told us is true (and who could doubt it?), then you’re worth more to Creative Loafing as an ad-viewing non-subscriber. So if you could pay $1.50 per month\* until free posting (re)appears, it would be a win-win, no? \*Yes, it adds up to more than $15 per year. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/7 "2008-04-28T04:13:02Z")
> [@](#): > > 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. That’s really funny. That means this place is going to be a complete wasteland during the interim. There will be about 100 members yakking to each other. Who plans this stuff? That’s the kind of dive in activity that has killed other message boards. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/8 "2008-04-28T04:33:50Z")
[QUOTE=Rhubarb] Thanks for the reminder. I just re-subscribed. I think the ability to post for free is a wonderful thing, I hope it brings in some fresh [del]meat[/del] viewpoints. But if I can avoid the ads for a few bucks, it’s worth it to me. Has anyone asked about pro-rated memberships? If what **Ed** has told us is true (and who could doubt it?), then you’re worth more to Creative Loafing as an ad-viewing non-subscriber. So if you could pay $1.50 per month\* until free posting (re)appears, it would be a win-win, no? [/QUOTE] Yeah, they’ll get the code for that installed in about August or so. ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/9 "2008-04-28T04:40:14Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Yeah, they’ll get the code for that installed in about August or so. [/QUOTE] I seem to detect a faint whiff of skepticism in your post.😃 ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/10 "2008-04-28T04:52:09Z")
[QUOTE=Blank Slate] That’s really funny. That means this place is going to be a complete wasteland during the interim. There will be about 100 members yakking to each other. [/QUOTE] I hope this is true. I’ve already paid up and I can’t WAIT until I’m just one of a hundred and everyone has to pay attention to meeeeee! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/11 "2008-04-28T08:03:26Z")
[QUOTE=danceswithcats] You’ve got the revenue stream established, and there’s no reason to shake down the existing customer base with a twelve month fee for a benefit they may only need for two or three months. Other than the 400-600% margin, that is. [/QUOTE] You may be right, or not, but the pieces you quoted don’t conclusively demonstrate it. Saying that “the potential revenue we can pull in from banner sales far exceeds what we derive from subscriptions” is not the same as saying the revenue stream is established. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/12 "2008-04-28T08:18:25Z")
C’mon, you didn’t _believe_ that “things are going to get better real soon, great things are in the works, you just need to be patient a bit longer and we’ll update you when they happen, but don’t stop coughing up the dough anytime soon” bit, did you? They’ve gone to the well with that “great changes are afoot” line a few times too many. I’ll probably pay to renew when my time is up, assuming service doesn’t significantly worsen, because I still feel what I pay for is worth the money, grievous faults and all. But do I expect Creative Loofahs to wave a wand and institute a business plan which will see revenue streams brimming their banks and washing up a shiny new board in the process? No; the board will fumble and struggle and stutter its way along as it always has, with the odd mumbled promise about “things taking longer than expected.” ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/13 "2008-04-28T08:27:15Z")
What you grouchy complainers don’t understand is that it’s such a little amount of money per person that it [post=9728906]doesn’t matter[/post] if they screw you. I mean, come on… the [post=9734462]ethics of the company you’re dealing with don’t matter[/post]. How darn un-enlightened y’all are. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/14 "2008-04-28T08:45:53Z")
[QUOTE=CarnalK] What you grouchy complainers don’t understand is that it’s such a little amount of money per person that it [post=9728906]doesn’t matter[/post] if they screw you. I mean, come on… the [post=9734462]ethics of the company you’re dealing with don’t matter[/post]. How darn un-enlightened y’all are. [/QUOTE] What is it that you disapprove of here? The sentiments in the linked posts, or the moral depravity of the site’s owners, glossed over by the linked posts? ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/15 "2008-04-28T08:52:34Z")
Same old, same old. If ads were really more lucrative than subscribers, it would already be done. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/16 "2008-04-28T12:51:20Z")
Will any of you be flabbergasted in a year when the server still freezes up all the time, and free posting is still absent? I won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/17 "2008-04-28T12:55:20Z")
If we can still search then, I may bring up this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/18 "2008-04-28T13:02:14Z")
[QUOTE=Tamex] If we can still search then, I may bring up this thread. [/QUOTE] Make that search count; by then it’ll be one search per year. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/19 "2008-04-28T13:03:16Z")
Given the numerous outages etc., the gracious thing to do would be to extend everyone’s subscription by a couple months to close the gap. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2008, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095/20 "2008-04-28T13:03:52Z")
[QUOTE=Harmonious Discord] Will any of you be flabbergasted in a year when the server still freezes up all the time, and free posting is still absent? I won’t. [/QUOTE] Neither will I. But this place is still worth $7.48 a year. Hell, I can think of particular threads that were worth that much by themselves. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-month-later-a-follow-up-on-sdmb-progress/447095.md?page=2)