IMPORTANT PLEASE READ: It's Time To Start Sharing The Burden...

[TheChosenOne]

Gaz - if the site does go down, what will have happen with all the stuff we have collated over the years (the research, articles, documents, etc)?

[NatureCriminal7896]

We probably made need to get rid of some of things off this site if we can't paid for all of them. for example the groups award. there's no reason to make groups so that would be one of the best things to remove from the site.

somethings need to be remove from this site especially no need for them or just sitting there for no reason. make some room. this site doesn't have to be the bestest but at least good enough for MJ news and fans can talk to each other. not forget mods to look after people and rules etc.

a site can't keep going without good mods or owner there's something else we need too as well.

[NatureCriminal7896]

the chat room too. people use it but not much. we need to down size this place.

[ScreenOrigami]

I am more than willing to keep the hosting going and as and when needed to sort any technical issues (when I have the time) But I'm really sorry to say that I am not willing to pay for it anymore, at least all on my own.

Gaz, could you give a quick status update about the donations? Is January covered now?

And what do you think about starting a Patreon to your name to collect our donations automatically going forward? I believe, this would solve the financial problem for good. If 20 people pledge to give $5 per month, for example, you’d have a steady $100 coming in each month. Patreon donations can start with as little as $1 per month. We’ll surely find enough people to join.

How much are you currently paying for this site (domain, hosting …) per month? It would be helpful for us to know how much money we need to raise.

[NatureCriminal7896]

Gaz. since you the owner how much you pay for this site with other members involved?

[ScreenOrigami]

I just learned on Twitter that the amount we need to raise per month is $146, and they’re now looking into ways to organize the funding via Patreon and/or GoFundMe. Keep donating via PayPal for now. Every little bit helps!

[Electro]

I agree this place could be downsized a bit. Though things like chat, blogs, news site etc can't be that much extra data.

I don't get how this place costs $146 a month. What kind of ultra expensive hosting is that? A fully dedicated server? If so, with the kind of traffic that the forum has these days, this could be downsized to a way cheaper V-Server for sure.

[ScreenOrigami]

I agree this place could be downsized a bit. Though things like chat, blogs, news site etc can't be that much extra data.

I don't get how this place costs $146 a month. What kind of ultra expensive hosting is that? A fully dedicated server?
A V-Server with more space and free traffic than a forum would ever need, costs about 30 euro a month over here.

You don’t want to host a forum like this in Germany though, with all the GDPR regulations we now have in place.

[Electro]

You don’t want to host a forum like this in Germany though, with all the GDPR regulations we now have in place.

True, though I managed to ignore all that while running a small forum so far.

But just saying, there should be way cheaper hosting options also in the USA.

[ScreenOrigami]

True, though I managed to ignore all that while running a small forum so far.

But just saying, there should be way cheaper hosting options also in the USA.

Yep, I hope they’ll find something. For now, let’s try to keep it funded as it is, while people come up with ideas for a new hosting plan.

Actually, I have also asked around a bit, and someone who knows a thing or two about hosting plans went “Oooof!” when I told him we’re looking at a forum with almost 3 million posts and over 110,000 members. That person told me $100 or more is absolutely reasonable for that large a database. But that’s only what I was told. I’m sure among those 110,000 members there are people who know more about this. Like Herrie a few posts earlier, for example.

[ScreenOrigami]

The Patreon is up. We only need 30 people to donate $5 a month to help Gaz pay for the current hosting solution. Easy!

https://www.patreon.com/mjjcommunity

[KOPV]

Would it be worth putting together a poll of the top 5 things people enjoy/use here (MJJC) to evaluate what are the key driving areas to keep, review for change, and possibly cut back on?

An idea

[ScreenOrigami]

Would it be worth putting together a poll of the top 5 things people enjoy/use here (MJJC) to evaluate what are the key driving areas to keep, review for change, and possibly cut back on?

An idea

I suggest we keep the focus in this thread on the funding and hosting solutions only, and discuss other changes in the other thread.

[Gaz]

The MJJC cpanel account is 262GB in size, 95% of that is the forum due to the amount of posts and members spanning almost 2 decades, removing the chats and a few other bits will not have any impact as they are only around a 100MB total in size, to put it into perspective my present supplier's (who are very competative) highest VPS has only 240GB SSD storage, then they go onto dedicated which is what we are on now, it's a dilema that has me stuck, the only way I can move back to a cheaper vps is by getting rid of the forum, which we know is closure as nothing else is being used.

Anyways, for now I have set up a Patreon for MJJC https://www.patreon.com/mjjcommunity please share and stuff, I will also set up a go fund me, but this is simple, all monies that go into the MJJC account are purely to pay this anything more carries over to the next month anything less I have to personally pick up which I have been doing for almost 20 years now. But I'm really sorry to say that its now the time we as a collective start sharing this if we want this to continue, Oh and I'm more than happy to continue supporting the site technically as my time costs nothing and of course paying my own monthly small amount like anyone else that does.

[PoP]

If ya ask me, I agree with setting up Patreon for this, several artists I knew used it very often for commissions.