Paid Membership Benefits?

[Tecnico]

One question: other than supporting operation of the forum, what are the benefits to a forum member of signing up for one of the Account Upgrades?

I saw mention buried in a post of being able to edit posts in the future rather than what appears to be a limited time at present. Anything else?

I'm asking as one who believes supporting the forum is worthwhile but would like to understand what else may be behind that curtain.

Thanks,

D

 

[RobinHood]

You can also include pictures if you PM someone. Without the upgrade, it was not possible. Good to have if you are trying to sell something and a member wants additional details of the item in question.

 

[Jwest7788]

@Tecnico ,

We grew the forum in an atypical way, instead of adding paid membership levels and reducing functionality from existing users ("gating" existing tools) or hiding functionality for later use with a subscription, we've always given all registered users basically all the "bells and whistles" from the beginning.

As such, when it came time for us to create paid member levels, we had to pick between:
1) Take away tools or techniques that everyone already has, to hide them behind a paywall.
2) Offer membership levels with very few perks.

We went the second route. The member levels have some very minor benefits, the items we hadn't already given everyone by default when we set up the forum, but functionally their primary purpose is to support the group.

Not a strong sales pitch, I know, but that's where we're at. haha

 

[Former Member]

I took a paid membership for a simple reason, it lets me support the site I find overall is very supportive of all its members. For that reason alone it deserves support.

 

[Dusty]

Premium membership: over the past three and a half years I've been nursing a lame right knee and leg amongst a long list of infection related issues.

For me I contribute to the forum where I can including photos, the least I can do even through none of that comes easy.

The forum, the numerous members, their diversified interests, and humor helps me keep my sanity daily. Thanking everyone for that.

So should you find an old buzzard (somewhat like me) sitting on the corner with tin cup and cane gift him coin. LOL

 

[Tecnico]

@Tecnico ,

We grew the forum in an atypical way, instead of adding paid membership levels and reducing functionality from existing users ("gating" existing tools) or hiding functionality for later use with a subscription, we've always given all registered users basically all the "bells and whistles" from the beginning.

As such, when it came time for us to create paid member levels, we had to pick between:
1) Take away tools or techniques that everyone already has, to hide them behind a paywall.
2) Offer membership levels with very few perks.

We went the second route. The member levels have some very minor benefits, the items we hadn't already given everyone by default when we set up the forum, but functionally their primary purpose is to support the group.

Not a strong sales pitch, I know, but that's where we're at. haha

Hi Joshua

First off, thanks for building this community!

What prompted me to ask specifically was a comment in a post that suggested that paid members were able to edit posts for an unlimited time period while non-paid members were able to edit for only a short period of time.

Being able to edit old posts would be useful for correcting/updating info in things like project threads.

@RobinHood mentioned attachment of images to PMs.

I'm not expert in the privileges permitted members of the specific forum software used here so I do not know what I am missing (if anything) until I sign up for one of the paid memberships so having that outlined somewhere such as a FAQ would be informative.

Thanks!

D

 

[Susquatch]

Hi Joshua

First off, thanks for building this community!

What prompted me to ask specifically was a comment in a post that suggested that paid members were able to edit posts for an unlimited time period while non-paid members were able to edit for only a short period of time.

Being able to edit old posts would be useful for correcting/updating info in things like project threads.

@RobinHood mentioned attachment of images to PMs.

I'm not expert in the privileges permitted members of the specific forum software used here so I do not know what I am missing (if anything) until I sign up for one of the paid memberships so having that outlined somewhere such as a FAQ would be informative.

Thanks!

D

I think that's a GREAT idea @Tecnico. I still don't know what's in the tent and not. I don't really care cuz I'm in the tent, but it would be good to know to be able to tell others about it and/or to explain different experiences they might have.

I agree with @Degen though. I didn't get a premium membership to get any features or benefits. I actually signed up very very early just based on how much I loved being a member of such an awesome community. At the time, I didn't even know that there were a few benefits!

I also have the somewhat unique experience of having created and maintained forums before so I have a really good idea of how much work it is (and how much it costs) to maintain a forum by volunteers like @Jwest7788 and the other admins. It was (and still is) a privilege to be able to help out a bit. Volunteering to be a moderator was just a very logical next step in that thinking. I have the experience and I'm here anyway, so why not help.

 

[Tecnico]

My motivation is also to support the community. Being a different forum software from my experience I'd like to know what other neat tricks it can do, therefore the questions.

D

 

[jcdammeyer]

I'm curious. Of the 1821 members how many have paid a subscription amount?