I booted up the laptop this morning to learn my photo web site would be shut down soon if I didn't pay for premium services. We are three years old with lots of dedicated members who rely on me for steady, friendly socializing.
I started http://DailyPics.ning.com on a whim after my Daily Pics discussion in the DG photo forum got too big to manage. It has always been a free site but our host Ning is phasing out free sites.
What to do, what to do? We have over 30k pics in the gallery alone not counting all the pics and other content in forums and blogs, then there are the videos.
My eyes are going crossed reading all the hoopla about the change, no info is coming in about the cost of keeping the site up. My members are in an uproar.
I searched for alternatives but nothing offeres anything near what we already have without a price.
I have a head ache.
Woe is me
sorry to hear of your problem - sound like the only solution is dealing with the realities and letting your members know what is going on - i would ask them for possible solutions to help solve the problem.
Wha, we are all involved. Our members have always been informed about changes. Votes are taken when new options come up.
We are considering migrating to to another site, they are checking it out as i type.
Andy P
Sorry to hear that Andy, ive been to your site and you have some lovely photos there. I hope you find a solution that makes everyone happy. Good Luck.
What about having all of the members kick in a little bit each for the cost of premium services?
Oh boy - sorry to hear, Andy. I know how much you've put into it. Can you take all the content with you?
Hope you find a solution.
Thanks, everyone.
I really don't want to ask the members to contribute even though some have offered.
Yes, I will have the option to move all the content to another site but there is too much for a free site.
Victor, I joined your Cubits site to see how it works. It looks pretty good but it's missing some features we are used to.
We have a few more weeks before we get the new price/option list. We need that to make any decision.
We'll see.
Andy P
Good luck whichever way you go.
I have not been on Cubits for some time now! I set it up as a 'Plan B' in case DG went down the tubes with the new owners. So far so good, so I have kind of forgotten about it. Not good at checking two sites of this type regularly.
I gotta tell ya, Daily Pics has some mighty fine members.
We have been debating our options for days, many have offered to help support a paid site so that's what we will do. Donations will be voluntary because I know some are as broke as I am, lol. I'm sure we can raise the $30 or so a month to stay up.
I sent a message to all members this morning about our decision. They can indicate they wish to stay, leave or get booted if they don't reply in 10 days. I'm a mean old Andy but we have to slim down.
We will be removing all deadbeat/inactive members who don't leave on their own with all their content, most videos and old photo laden threads will also be deleted to reduce storage requirements.
This will make us a leaner, more vibrant community that will be easier to manage and support. It will add some accounting duties but it's better than the alternatives.
So, Daily Pics lives.
good luck andy!
Sorry to hear this happened Sarahskeeper. Hope it works out.