Hosting/Software Costs Going Up - Please Read

First off, thank you to everyone who has supported WATMM via a subscription or a donation - the site has been able to sustain itself since going to a subscription-only model in August 2013.

What that means is all new or renewing accounts on WATMM have been and are now subscription only, with a minimum of 3.00 USD/year requirement.

I'm posting this just to let everyone know that while our hosting costs are still 50.00/month for the foreseeable future, the cost of software (the forum software and its components) has risen to 220.00 USD a year, which comes out to an additional 20.00 USD a month increase. Prior to that, the occasional donations and subscriptions covered the annual software costs, but now the increase needs to be factored into the monthly expenses.

What does that mean to you?

If you've already donated or purchased a subscription (either by signing up as a new member, or upgrading from a non-paying account), then thank you - you've done your part (this is starting to sound like a Public Television pledge drive ). If you have not yet upgraded your account or donated, please consider doing so if you get any benefit out of the community.

For long-time members who have never subscribed but just donated occasionally, I appreciate the support, and in lieu of another donation, I strongly encourage you to purchase a subscription - not only will you get additional benefits on the forum, but it will be a visible sign of support to others that you are united in supporting the forum. Subscriptions are annual, and do not auto-renew. We are installing an upgrade to the existing subscription manager this weekend which may bring additional functionality; I will detail any changes in a separate post once the upgrade is done. This should not affect anyone's current subscriptions.

We've got a major forum upgrade that will be happening over the next several months, and will bring a lot of features and new functionality to an already great forum. We've got some big plans that will involve you, the WATMM community, and I think things are going to get even better from here.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to PM me, or if they are of a more general nature, please feel free to respond to this post below.

Again, thank you for the years of support - both in your patronage and involvement with the community.

Glad we could help Joyrex, even though my four years here seem like a short time in comparison to the length us other regulars have been here.

And I appreciate your making this site possible and keeping it alive, especially as a long-time Autechre fan.

Haven't you already gotten rich enough off this website?

Thanks for the head up Joy (/dat boi), for all the years ive enjoyed this site it feels good to give just a little bit back to keep things goin

Donated!

o shit waddup payup bois

sell the forum to notch

  On 5/7/2016 at 5:30 AM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

Haven't you already gotten rich enough off this website?

for real, how could an IDM discussion forum not be a lucrative business venture?

Ask Joyrex Anything

  On 5/7/2016 at 5:30 AM, AdieuErsatzEnnui said:

Haven't you already gotten rich enough off this website?

Sorry, I couldn't see your post over the stacks of cash in front of my monitor

*Scrooge McDucks the fuck out*

i feel like i'm contributing enough by ethnically diversifying the forum.

How much do I donate to become a moderator

The new commerce module I installed is very, very complicated (and not in a good way)... still working out the kinks.

Two money saving ideas:

1. Convert over to an open-source/free board software
2. Use a lite theme instead of the beast we currently have
3.  

  On 9/15/2016 at 1:13 PM, FinePrimitiveSounds said:

 

Two money saving ideas:

1. Convert over to an open-source/free board software
2. Use a lite theme instead of the beast we currently have
3.  

  On 5/7/2016 at 2:53 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

sell the forum to notch

 

 

1. Most of the open-source alternatives I feel are not adequate, and the community is used to this forum software - it will be a big change when we go to the new version soon, but to switch software would be a nightmare, not to mention the investment we've already made in time and effort on this one.

2. Not sure what the theme has to do with costs - and you do know we have other themes, right (look in the lower left corner at the bottom and click "Change Theme").

  On 9/15/2016 at 5:30 PM, Joyrex said:

 

  On 9/15/2016 at 1:13 PM, FinePrimitiveSounds said:

 

Two money saving ideas:

1. Convert over to an open-source/free board software
2. Use a lite theme instead of the beast we currently have
3.  

  On 5/7/2016 at 2:53 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

sell the forum to notch

 

 

1. Most of the open-source alternatives I feel are not adequate, and the community is used to this forum software - it will be a big change when we go to the new version soon, but to switch software would be a nightmare, not to mention the investment we've already made in time and effort on this one.

2. Not sure what the theme has to do with costs - and you do know we have other themes, right (look in the lower left corner at the bottom and click "Change Theme").

 

A lighter theme would use less bandwidth.

  On 9/19/2016 at 10:48 PM, FinePrimitiveSounds said:

 

  On 9/15/2016 at 5:30 PM, Joyrex said:

 

  On 9/15/2016 at 1:13 PM, FinePrimitiveSounds said:

 

Two money saving ideas:

1. Convert over to an open-source/free board software
2. Use a lite theme instead of the beast we currently have
3.  

  On 5/7/2016 at 2:53 PM, ThatSpanishGuy said:

sell the forum to notch

 

 

1. Most of the open-source alternatives I feel are not adequate, and the community is used to this forum software - it will be a big change when we go to the new version soon, but to switch software would be a nightmare, not to mention the investment we've already made in time and effort on this one.

2. Not sure what the theme has to do with costs - and you do know we have other themes, right (look in the lower left corner at the bottom and click "Change Theme").

 

A lighter theme would use less bandwidth.

 

Bandwidth is not a cost factor here (yet) - we haven't exceeded our allotted bandwidth (4TB) monthly so far.

Donated a little extra. Hope it helps!

  On 9/19/2016 at 11:25 PM, Squee said:

Donated a little extra. Hope it helps!

Much appreciated! Your contribution will probably go for that "Kitchen Sink" addon I've been eyeing for the new forum that will add all sorts of nice stuff...