I will answer in sections to help de-fuze the issues.

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I am not looking for an argument, just stating my views on it all. You say that you are going to stop new members joining unless they donate to the site first. Would you seriously give money to a website which you have never accessed before and have no idea what the content is like behind the "login" section? I know for a fact i wouldn't - for all i know i could give a few quid as a new member and then find out there are only 3 people who post on the site for example? you are going to alienate new posters for a start.



Maybe not... but if someones recommended it to me then yes.

I'd just like to point out two things here really.

1. I bet you a cadburys white chocolate finger (and believe me I like these)... that the content on this site has probably saved you quite a bit of money in the years you've been a member of this site. So untimatley, joining has benefitted you personally financially.

2. The reason for locking the site down is to reduce traffic, reduce threads/posts and new user accounts so I can implement things smoother without causing too much issues to data. (for example the corruption that happened over night)

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2nd, i am not trying to make this into a fordfiestast.co.uk vs other websites but other websites allow you to access certain forums and the members can access other "private" forums. This is how you should work this and not bar the whole site.



This is exactly how we currently work. There is a members section that you cannot view unless you donate. The site is completely free apart from that area. The lockdown will only be for a month or a little over to try and get things moderised.

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in terms of your own personal outgoings why not get google ad's on the bottom of the page? I read a few forums and they started to do this due to money issues and its not like you get annoying pop ups irritating you they just are placed at the top and bottom of the page and you can click if you want. Like most websites - advertising is what brings in the money. Or is it that this site doesnt attract enough visitors to go down this route?



I hateeeeeeeeeeeee google ad bars and adverts... they drive me insane. I log onto my hotmail and it drives me mad. I use my personal site e-mail more now due to this. I have said from day one of this site... I will not put members through such horror. Many might well agree... it's more than irritating.

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Yes i have been coming here for 3 years for "free" as you put it, but that is generally what the internet is, free. I used to read articles from the times online but since they started charging then i just use other sites which provide the same service for free. So yes i have accessed it for free, but if you dont provide it for free then another site is more than happy to.



You are quite right... but another site will 'probably' not be as friendly as this one... have such good control of content and also have 6 years worth of threads, pictures etc... as well as a wealth of knowledge.

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Great that you buy all this stuff for your shows but i dont ever attend these anyway so for me personally it is no benefit.

As i say i am not wanting to start an argument, but do feel there are other ways you could bring in money and that you will alienate new posters.



That is your choice not to attend shows. Many don't but still donate to help. I keep the donations seperate to site hosting costs... purely because I am in a financial position to uphold these costs and use the other monies to impact things in a 'real' way.

Maybe you've really missed the point and gone into a little too depth with this whole thing... was it really worth your effort to write all this when you could have simply just accepted it or gave a small donation?
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