I provide a free forum for about 1,700 users. The only way I can afford that is because of Google Ads, so I would like to request an Ad Management plugin for Wedge.
txcas
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- Bug Zapper
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Wanchope
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Seconded, it would be a nice plugin and the demand will soon rise.
Aaron Smith
- The mini menus on Thoughts... Damn Sexy!
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Thirded (is that a thing?). Yes a proper ad management plugin would be awesome.
Nao
- Dadman with a boy
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None of the original usual plugin authors are active anymore. They've all left to greener or browner pastures.
I could write such a plugin but it would take me some time. And since its goal is to make you money, it would make sense that I sell it. But then I'd feel obligated to make it an excellent plugin. And this would give me less time to work on Wedge.
That's a problem. For sure.
Plus I'll have to admit. I don't believe in Google ads. They don't make you a 1/10th of the money Google earns thanks to you.
I could write such a plugin but it would take me some time. And since its goal is to make you money, it would make sense that I sell it. But then I'd feel obligated to make it an excellent plugin. And this would give me less time to work on Wedge.
That's a problem. For sure.
Plus I'll have to admit. I don't believe in Google ads. They don't make you a 1/10th of the money Google earns thanks to you.
txcas
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- Bug Zapper
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Thanks Nao. The plugin does not make me any money, we use it to recover the costs of hosting the forum. If I wanted to make money I would activate paid subscriptions, but that is not what I am trying to do. I am just trying to provide a free forum for my users and so far ads are paying the bill. I am with you, I don't like Google Ads, but as bad as they are it is the best option out there. I will be willing to pay for a good ad management plugin just like I paid for Aeva Media.
Pandos
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- Living on the edge of Wedge
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Nao
- Dadman with a boy
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Pandos, are you suggesting I shouldn't write the plugin, and/or not sell it? :whistle:
(Well, I really suck at selling myself, don't I..?)Quote from txcas on January 23rd, 2014, 11:56 PM There's also a bill for Wedge... After 6.5 man-years of unpaid, full-time work, it's time to really consider my options. Not only did we not get paid, but we spent our personal money on Wedge. Hosting is okay because it's offered by alwaysdata. But even the domain name cost me a lot, because of its rarity. Add to that the fact that I stopped all other activities that could actually make me money. The only thing that ever made me money in the forum world was Aeva Media 2.x, and *even that* is given away for free in Wedge. (It's not even as an incentive to switch to Wedge... It's just that I don't see why I should make people pay for something I haven't worked much on for the last 3 years.)
So, yeah, I have to find a way to monetize Wedge, otherwise it won't be realistic for me to keep working on it forever. And I don't trust anyone to take the lead of development work.
For now, I'm leaning towards doing some kind of Paypal subscription, à la SMF, where you get a badge and other goodies. But even that will never bring enough money to sustain my family™. I guess we'll see how it unfolds. For now, I'm focused on releasing a stable 1.0. For free. :geek:
PS: if it's not too obvious, I took the day off from Wedge today. Still, I managed to make a couple of nice commits and improve the github import script.
(Well, I really suck at selling myself, don't I..?)
Thanks Nao. The plugin does not make me any money, we use it to recover the costs of hosting the forum. If I wanted to make money I would activate paid subscriptions, but that is not what I am trying to do. I am just trying to provide a free forum for my users and so far Ads are paying the bill. I am with you, I don't like Google Ads, but as bad as they are it is the best option out there.
So, yeah, I have to find a way to monetize Wedge, otherwise it won't be realistic for me to keep working on it forever. And I don't trust anyone to take the lead of development work.
For now, I'm leaning towards doing some kind of Paypal subscription, à la SMF, where you get a badge and other goodies. But even that will never bring enough money to sustain my family™. I guess we'll see how it unfolds. For now, I'm focused on releasing a stable 1.0. For free. :geek:
PS: if it's not too obvious, I took the day off from Wedge today. Still, I managed to make a couple of nice commits and improve the github import script.
Pandos
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- Living on the edge of Wedge
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Re: Plugin request - Ad Management
« Reply #7, on January 24th, 2014, 12:27 AM »Last edited on January 24th, 2014, 12:35 AM
Sorry Nao, wasn't my intention. But your answer sounds to me like that you're not want to make it. :angel:
It's up to you.
I really would suggest you to make this a paid plugin, because it's one of the most wanted features in communitys.
My plan was to make a simple and quick plugin to display advertisements inbetween topics and/or in sidebar.
It's up to you.
I really would suggest you to make this a paid plugin, because it's one of the most wanted features in communitys.
My plan was to make a simple and quick plugin to display advertisements inbetween topics and/or in sidebar.
Re: Plugin request - Ad Management
« Reply #8, on January 24th, 2014, 12:28 AM »Last edited on January 24th, 2014, 12:36 AM
BTW...
Google reavenue isn't so bad....
It's only the guys that are using Adblock ;)
Enjoy your day off :eheh:
Google reavenue isn't so bad....
It's only the guys that are using Adblock ;)
Enjoy your day off :eheh:
Norodo
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- Oh you Baidu, so randumb. (60 sites being indexed at once? Jeez)
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Make a paid advert module man. It seems like a good idea for everyone. :)
(That is, everyone except for people like me who would rather you work on Wedge, because we don't advertise on our forums.)
But for you and the adverts gang, it's a win win!
(That is, everyone except for people like me who would rather you work on Wedge, because we don't advertise on our forums.)
But for you and the adverts gang, it's a win win!
txcas
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- Bug Zapper
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So, yeah, I have to find a way to monetize Wedge, otherwise it won't be realistic for me to keep working on it forever. And I don't trust anyone to take the lead of development work.
Nao
- Dadman with a boy
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Sorry Nao, wasn't my intention. But your answer sounds to me like that you're not want to make it. :angel:
I don't believe in non-custom advertisements on forums. Not only that, but I value the user's privacy, and I hate that Google has tracking cookies for their ads.
But I also think that the first person who should be making money over Wedge (or any parts related to Wedge) is me. Charity begins at home. Especially after all these years of working in the dark. I don't want someone coming in, discovering about Wedge, porting their commercial SMF mods in a day or two, and posting them here to sell. Not only will I remove these posts (unless I'm being notified of any commercial intentions prior to them being posted, in which case I'll consider the matter), but I'll be very upset.
Hmm, oh well, why not do this: I've enabled two subscriptions, 'Donation' and 'Patronage'. They differ in the $$ amount, mostly. If you feel like donating a little something, you can choose the amount by way of group duration. I'll see how it goes. Maybe it'll be enough.
You should be able to find the subscription links in your profiles.
It's up to you.
I really would suggest you to make this a paid plugin, because it's one of the most wanted features in communitys.
My plan was to make a simple and quick plugin to display advertisements inbetween topics and/or in sidebar.
Pandos
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- Living on the edge of Wedge
- Posts: 635
A silly question first.... Do you actually know how to build a plugin? Did you ever build one, at all..?
And also I've had enough time and I'm really involved to get to know the way Wedge works.
If I could'nt do so, I'd never shout out.
But I also think that the first person who should be making money over Wedge (or any parts related to Wedge) is me. Charity begins at home. Especially after all these years of working in the dark. I don't want someone coming in, discovering about Wedge, porting their commercial SMF mods in a day or two, and posting them here to sell. Not only will I remove these posts (unless I'm being notified of any commercial intentions prior to them being posted, in which case I'll consider the matter), but I'll be very upset.
For that see my last PM.. Think I'm ways ahead from you at marketing.
Hmm, oh well, why not do this: I've enabled two subscriptions, 'Donation' and 'Patronage'. They differ in the $$ amount, mostly. If you feel like donating a little something, you can choose the amount by way of group duration. I'll see how it goes. Maybe it'll be enough.
You should be able to find the subscription links in your profiles.
Perhaps you should integrate the donation request in the blurb.
Nao
- Dadman with a boy
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I don't underestimate your skills. To be specific, I underestimated your skills for a long time because you didn't show them off, but you've seen proved that you can be very dedicated to your current task (if anything, the German translation is nothing short of impressive -- you pulled it off from scratch in a couple of weeks, IIRC..?), I just wasn't aware until recently that you had programming skills. Just call it 'ignorance' from me, I think it's neither more nor less than that. ;)
As for the ad management plugin, perhaps we could both work on it, under the Wedge Team flag. (i.e., a 'wedge:ads' plugin.) Maintain it on Bitbucket together in a private repo, and then when we're happy with it, either release it for free, or do something related to member groups.
Re: your PMs, I'm just at a loss right now... :whistle: I need some time to answer them. (Plus all of the other outstanding PMs I have.)
As for the ad management plugin, perhaps we could both work on it, under the Wedge Team flag. (i.e., a 'wedge:ads' plugin.) Maintain it on Bitbucket together in a private repo, and then when we're happy with it, either release it for free, or do something related to member groups.
Re: your PMs, I'm just at a loss right now... :whistle: I need some time to answer them. (Plus all of the other outstanding PMs I have.)
Pandos
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- Living on the edge of Wedge
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I don't underestimate your skills. To be specific, I underestimated your skills for a long time because you didn't show them off, but you've seen proved that you can be very dedicated to your current task (if anything, the German translation is nothing short of impressive -- you pulled it off from scratch in a couple of weeks, IIRC..?), I just wasn't aware until recently that you had programming skills. Just call it 'ignorance' from me, I think it's neither more nor less than that. ;)
Ignorance... Hmm. Sometimes I felt
No problem at all, because my way to implement the index change wan't that well considering the update thingy.
Since you're the "ayatolla of coding guidelines" :lol: :lol: I've invested a lot of time to get familar with your code :)
And I can live with that fact, that perhaps my code will be changed by you.
As for the ad management plugin, perhaps we could both work on it, under the Wedge Team flag. (i.e., a 'wedge:ads' plugin.) Maintain it on Bitbucket together in a private repo, and then when we're happy with it, either release it for free, or do something related to member groups.
So for that I'm fine with that.
We should determine what exactly should be displayed. I would prefer three main sections:
Fullbanner (at the top of the page)
Skyscraper (on the right)
Medium Rectangle (in sidebar or inbetween topics).
Google allows only to display three banner at the same time. OK, if you're on DFP the limit is 4.
Must give it a talk to determine the way.
Re: your PMs, I'm just at a loss right now... :whistle: I need some time to answer them. (Plus all of the other outstanding PMs I have.)
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