# New ehMac Premium Memberships coming very soon



## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

*[Edit ehMax - Moving this thread to "Everything Else" for awhile for more exposure. Please read first 2 pages before replying as some changes were made from first post]* 

The ehMac online community forum is partly sponsored by a mix of advertisers, large and small. ehMac will very soon be offering two new "Premium Memberships" that offer an enhanced membership experience as an additional source of revenue that will help pay for our bandwidth, server maintenance, site upgrades and the like.

The enhanced premium memberships will offer things like increased storage / attachment / PM space, having all ads disabled, a premium support section, access to exclusive Mac related deals and promotions etc... Full details and pricing will be released at launch and will be completely optional. The system is automatic and will be tied into the automatic payment system of Paypal. There may be other payment methods at a later date. 

The standard "Free" membership will be basically the same as before except with the following exceptions:
- There will be an additional Ad Unit under the first post of each thread (This is already enabled) 
- HTML / Web links will not be allowed in signatures in free membership. (Links will be allowed in both premium memberships)

Even for members who don't purchase premium membership options, your continued involvement and participation will be just as appreciated and this won't be about "tiered classes" on ehMac, just another way to support that ads a few extra benefits.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2009)

I understand the advertising/no advertising options for membership, but revoking the ability to have links in your signature unless you pay for it? I think that's a bit over the top Mr Mayor. 

Successful business models generally give subscribers value added features, they don't take away options from existing members if you don't ante up. In the retail world, which I know you're familiar with, they would call that Bait and Switch, no?


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## Carter (Sep 8, 2009)

I don't mind donating but to remove links from the sig. unless you pay doesn't feel right. This is a big turn off to me with a lot of other forums.

The sig links was the first thing that came to mind when I read the "New ehMac Premium Memberships coming very soon" title that I hope these are not removed.


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## ertman (Jan 15, 2008)

Ok, I get it. I am fine with the links in the signatures deal, but I am a little disapointed with the new ad bar after the first posts. I get that the economic climate, increased resource requirements and the such, I find this poor deal for us basic members.

Now you also claim their wouldn't be any membership class discrimination, but I can't help but wonder if the paying class will be treated more kindly than basics because they bring more to the table. Would there be any issues regarding conflict between the classes etc? I am not stating that this is a certainty, or you wont make a concerted for equality, but I am concerned.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

mguertin said:


> they would call that Bait and Switch, no?


Even though I don't even use the sig links, I still agree. The telecos would be proud of such a move.


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## Carter (Sep 8, 2009)

How about a "Lifetime Membership". A lot of other forums offer this and I think I would be willing to pay for such a membership over yearly as long as there good benefits.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

mguertin said:


> I understand the advertising/no advertising options for membership, but revoking the ability to have links in your signature unless you pay for it?





ertman said:


> Ok, I get it. I am fine with the links in the signatures deal, but I am a little disapointed with the new ad bar after the first posts.


My apologies... I know fully well that when I implement this, not everyone is going to be necessarily happy about these 2 changes and some members also won't really care about one or the other or both.

Trust me when I say this: I have thought long and hard about the implementation of this, have spoken with many other forum admins, and I do have my reasons.

Before that, I'll say that I have learned something in meeting several other forum publishers this year. I've met several publishers who do successfully make a living running their own forum and are able to devout their full time to their passion. The idea of this has always kind of been a goal, but recently I've been a little more excited at the possibility... I'll let you read between the lines on that. 

So.. as to specific reasons for the two changes above:

*No links in signatures for free members:*

1. Out of almost 30,000 registered users on ehMac, are several thousand users who have links in their signatures. Scattered in these registered users are quite a few dormant accounts from spammers who have put spam in their signatures. It is a very methodical, tedious process trying to review these old accounts for spam. It's also tedious to constantly have to review new registrations for spam links in their sig. There are technical ways to combat this, and many have been implemented, but quite frankly I'd rather spend my time and resources on better things. Spam links on a site are REALLY bad for search engine rankings on sites like Google. Which takes me to my next point...

2. Much of the traffic from ehMac comes from Google search engine referrals. Therefore, much of the banner ad revenue also comes from visitors from search engines. How much traffic comes from search engines depends on a lot of things and there is a whole science behind SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Google assigns value or page ranks to website. The higher the value, the more search engine referrals. There's a lot to it, but one of the factors is how many links are pointing in and out of a site. The more quality links (From high ranking sites) the better for the sites page rank. Conversely, outgoing links take away from your site (And in essence, pass along some some of the sites page rank) 

3. The idea of allowing links in signatures was so that members could point to their personal sites and other sites of interest. However, quite often these links are pointing to commercial related sites... sites that host advertising, sell products or services etc.. This is not what links in signatures was intended for and is against T's & C's of ehMac. 

So, I decided that links in signatures will be a "premium" feature. 

*Ad below first post*

- There are still a lot of other forums and sites out there with way more obtrusive advertising. (Some with less too) Some 3rd party advertisers who approached ehMac in the past, only want to advertise if they can have their ads show up within the content, not just above the fold as they say. In the end, I don't think its too bad, it fits the format, and there aren't sky scraper ads on ehMac.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

MazterCBlazter said:


> For pennies a day, you are getting exposure to many potential customers with your signature. Five years ago, it was much smaller.


There will still be some guidelines for signatures and links in signatures will still be intended for personal websites, not commercial advertising. 

There will be a more specific ehMac advertising page setup for businesses wishing to advertise on ehMac.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

bsenka said:


> Even though I don't even use the sig links, I still agree. The telecos would be proud of such a move.


I believe some people need to look up what the term "bait and switch" means.  

I must of "baited" people onto ehMac advertising that they'd be using a forum on a single 7,200 RPM Serial ATA drive and then "switched" them by upgrading to have the forum run on a level 5 RAID of three 15,000 RPM SCSI drives with nightly offsite backups. :heybaby:

Last time I looked into it... offering a service for free, then doing a minor change to the free service (While also doing some enhancements to the free service) was not considered the fraudulent sales practice of baiting and switching.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

Carter said:


> How about a "Lifetime Membership". A lot of other forums offer this and I think I would be willing to pay for such a membership over yearly as long as there good benefits.


Very interesting. Can you PM me a couple of examples of forums that do this?


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2009)

I didn't intend to make it sound fraudulent that you're taking away non-paying member's ability to have links in the signature. The bait and switch was just meant as a reference to "well you used to have this, and if you want to keep being able to do this ante up your $$." Not a moral statement.

I understand and respect your decision to do this, if it's the way it has to be then it's the way it has to be ... was just stating my opinion that in all of the successful web stuff I've worked with that the value-added approach always works better. Not the "ok if you want to go back to the way it used to be pay me." One particular forum stands out in my mind that had a HUGE amount of traffic (several hundred users at a time at the slow periods of the day) -- they went to a pay to get back the features approach and within 3 months there were about 30 users on at a time on the busiest days.

Again no disrespect intended.

Are you sure that losing hundreds of thousands (at the very least) of outbound links is not going to affect your page rank?


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

mguertin said:


> I didn't intend to make it sound fraudulent that you're taking away non-paying member's ability to have links in the signature. The bait and switch was just meant as a reference to "well you used to have this, and if you want to keep being able to do this ante up your $$." Not a moral statement.
> 
> I understand and respect your decision to do this, if it's the way it has to be then it's the way it has to be ... was just stating my opinion that in all of the successful web stuff I've worked with that the value-added approach always works better. Not the "ok if you want to go back to the way it used to be pay me." One particular forum stands out in my mind that had a HUGE amount of traffic (several hundred users at a time at the slow periods of the day) -- they went to a pay to get back the features approach and within 3 months there were about 30 users on at a time on the busiest days.
> 
> ...


Yes, but I'm not taking away a single feature for the sake of taking away a feature in order to pay for it. Even before I was thinking of memberships, I have been debating removing links in signatures for spam related reasons. For example, just doing a bit of searching there is http://www.ehmac.ca/members/acocddy.html this user (Whom I'll soon remove) He registered in 2007, made one post. And then a few months later, ads the spam signature (In his profile, look at his signature). So there his spam now sits on ehMac in a thread, undetected. 

I've been pain-stakenly going through accounts. Looking at tech options. I've implemented tons... so many spam attempts get filtered. But all of it is a pain in the arse, and it costs money. 

Many forum owners, who make a living off their forum like the folks at Tribe.ca, simply have removed signatures... period. I'm still allowing signatures, just not allowing live links for free membership. 

Regarding removing many outbound links... I will look into is a little further.


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2009)

Page rank can be a real voodoo art, but I imagine that removing that many outbound links is bound to do something to it. For example just the outbound link count would go down 12123 links just from my own user account not having signatures in it. I would tend to lean towards thinking that outbound links to quality/high page ranked sites help your SEO -- not sure how much they weight into the whole equation though. I'd be surprised if a very small amount of outbound links to spam sites would hurt the SEO at all though. The bigger you get the more spam you attract and google understands that.

Let me know if you find out anything, I'm interested in SEO stuff as well and it would be good to know. I know that for something like Alexa it's sure to have an effect .. google, who knows? 

That single spam link, while annoying, is pretty trivial in a forum with this many posts in the grand scheme of things, especially if it's buried in older content. Kind of like a sledge hammer to kill the mosquito  I completely sympathize with the spam stuff though, and it's painful and time consuming on a high volume forum -- been there, done that (and still do on a daily basis). The tech solutions don't stop it, and as growth happens it will only get worse 

It's your decision at the end of the day and we'll deal with it however it rolls, just putting in my 2c.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

mguertin said:


> One particular forum stands out in my mind that had a HUGE amount of traffic (several hundred users at a time at the slow periods of the day) -- they went to a pay to get back the features approach and within 3 months there were about 30 users on at a time on the busiest days.


I've seen this very thing on a number of forums. Going premium simply killed off the community, most of them just went elsewhere.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

^^^
The Mayor had not said that EhMac is going "premium", as in pay only. He is not retracting any usefulness or access on the site at all. No one is being banished, or forced to pay hefty fees to continue using the Forums.

As for links in the signatures - I wish they were entirely banned, since they add nothing at all to the Forums, either in content or style, and they are a waste of bandwidth, since most people simply ignore them over and over again. I do not see that this is a problem at all, in fact, it will help reduce the amount of spam users that try to sucker people into fake web sites...


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

I'll be buying a premium membership.

When I weigh the amount of revenue generated by me clicking on ads against the cost savings in free advice, it's a no brainer.

Examples that I can remember:


I posted that my camera was broken and someone pointed out that there was a recall. Got the camera fixed for free. 
Needed new battery for my iBook, somone posted an "atta boy" about a place where I could get an after market battery for 1/3 the price of an Apple one.
The screen on my son's MacBook Pro went black, someone here mentioned a recall even after warranty and he got it fixed for free.
I was attempting to help some neighbours with their Windows computers, the folks here offered good advice and saved me a lot of grey hair.
I was able to sell, give away and also receive items through posts to ehMac.ca.

Add that all up and then try to calculate the value of friends I've acquired as a result of membership here, not to mention the lifeline available through this forum when I was too ill to seek 3D companionship.

The Mayor has done an amazing job so far. Let's support his efforts into the future.

Margaret


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

Thanks for all the extremely valuable feedback. (And thanks for keeping me up until 3:00 am and pacing a hole in my living room floor as I contemplate  )

I'm probably going to come up with something a little different.

*Links in sigs:*
- Pretty much all active "real" members with links in sigs will be able to keep their sigs the way they are. 
- It will be kindly _requested_ that if you link to a site under your control, that you reciprocate a link back to ehMac in kind. (If you point to another forum you are involved in, please add ehMac link in your sig)
- Blatant commercial links will be removed at my sole discretion.
- There will be a certain level of involvement / time registered on site needed to have links in signatures, similar to requirements to post in the classifieds. 

*Life Long Membership option:*
- There will be an option for a Life Long, membership. It will contain all the benefits of the Gold Membership, but be a one time fee that never expires or has to renew. It will also include a special exclusive ehMac gift. (Something ehMac branded, that will be really useful over a long time and of really good quality - made in Canada) The life long membership which will include the free gift will be $91.25, which is a Quarter a day for a year and will "pay itself off" in 2.5 years.


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## bhil (Oct 30, 2004)

Mr Mayor, how about making this thread a sticky in the other sections as well? I'm not sure how many people come into the Info Center on a regular basis (I know I don't). I almost missed this except for a link in a different thread.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

I will move it to the Everything Else forum for awhile.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

ehMax said:


> Thanks for all the extremely valuable feedback. (And thanks for keeping me up until 3:00 am and pacing a hole in my living room floor as I contemplate  )
> 
> I'm probably going to come up with something a little different.
> 
> ...


I am glad to see that you have re-evaluated this issue Mr. Mayor. I understand the SPAM issue that you very well explained and in that regard the sig link removal for non-paying members made sense.

The difficulty that I saw in this however is that the sig link would then identity you as a paid member and I think this could then lead to a certain hierarchy being established amongst members.

As I said in the thread that I started regarding the banner add placement under the first post in a thread, I really hope that "Sponsoring Member" will no longer be an identifier in people's profiles as this could lead to ghettoziation and elitism amongst members. We should all just appear as either New Neighbour, Full Citizen or Honourable Citizen and nothing else. These designations make sense because they indicate your level of involvement here and I think that is appropriate, IMHO.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

I'd like to add, on many of the auto forums I frequent, retailers help sponsor the site somehow. I know a few retailers here who would probably like to sponsor the forum in exchange for being able to promote their business, where so far they've been restraining themselves from promoting their own businesses and rather relying on the regular users of the forums to refer people to them. Since some of the retailers are regional, you can get one certain retailer to handle the Ontario area, one retailer to do the west or BC area, it's up to them. If they wish to be exclusive to the area they will pay the premium rate, but if they don't mind other retailers coming in as well for some healthy competition then why not. Two certain Ontario retailers which I will not name have very different business models even though they sell the same thing. One sells products, the other sells solutions. You can even give retailers the option to buy time in the space normally reserved for Google Ads. It doesn't have to be Mac related either, the Everything Else Eh is bustling with topics from autos to homes to gardening to whatever. Just ask that no political or religious ads sneak onto this forum.

Example (Mayor, you may edit this out after you've taken a look):
9thgencorolla.com


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

If you want an example of how a small start up forum turned into an extremely profitable organisation, look no further than Pinkbike. 

Pinkbike.com: Latest biking news, photos, videos, events and more! 

I think you might find the "Product" section in the top bar very interesting. I use it frequently when I am planning on buying a new part for my bike.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

ehMax said:


> - It will be kindly _requested_ that if you link to a site under your control, that you reciprocate a link back to ehMac in kind.


Been doing that for quite a while now:


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

SINC said:


> Been doing that for quite a while now:


 :clap:


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## Guest (Oct 8, 2009)

Thanks for re-evaluating Mr Mayor!  Sorry to keep you up pacing! Thought that all the link stuff re: SEO was worth considering as well though.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

ehMax said:


> I believe some people need to look up what the term "bait and switch" means.


Seriously agreed -- and I'm a person who will be affected by these changes if I choose to remain a "free" member.

This is not to say that the complaint is INVALID, only that the charge is INACCURATE.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

screature said:


> I am glad to see that you have re-evaluated this issue Mr. Mayor.


This is part of WHY we all think so highly of this forum and its admin, and it's a lesson a LOT of forum admins and admins-to-be should consider: really listening to your "clients," particularly those who disagree (but are able to do so civilly and articulately) with your decisions. Be willing to reconsider. Avoid trying to favour only those who agree with your views, and be willing to view those who disagree politely as just as community-minded as you are.



> The difficulty that I saw in this however is that the sig link would then identity you as a paid member and I think this could then lead to a certain hierarchy being established amongst members.


It hasn't so far ... nor has the lack of access to the classifieds for new members created a "ghetto." I'm inclined to think this concern is far-fetched.



> I really hope that "Sponsoring Member" will no longer be an identifier in people's profiles as this could lead to ghettoziation and elitism amongst members. We should all just appear as either New Neighbour, Full Citizen or Honourable Citizen and nothing else.


No no no!!! I want MORE titles, not less! Silver memberships should be referred to as "High Llamas," Gold Memberships should be called "Exalted Grand Poobahs" and Lifetime memberships should be "Hey Big Spender!!" :lmao:

Oh, by the way, can we get designations like "Shell Answer Man," "Hopeless Nerd" and "Gruff but Lovable Troll"? That would be awesome


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

How about this...  
Gold Members can pick there own titles.
The rest I can randomly assign at my whim. 

Other users wouldn't know whether the tag was selected or mayorly assigned.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

In a way it says a lot that so many feel that they have a personal interest in the site.

As for me I really have no problem with the title bit. 

The anti-SPAM argument makes a lot of sense to me. I have one box that has been hit by every phishing scam on the net and I waste too much time making sure that the handful which I don't know are SPAM can be safely deleted. BTW congratulations on the job you and the moderators have been doing on keeping the site relatively SPAM free.

The ads I really don't notice at all. Thank you Camino.

Don't know what your payment options are going to be but they should include some sort of cash or MO mail in as not everyone is comfortable with or even willing to use PayPal or credit cards.


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## bsenka (Jan 27, 2009)

EvanPitts said:


> ^^^
> The Mayor had not said that EhMac is going "premium", as in pay only. He is not retracting any usefulness or access on the site at all. No one is being banished, or forced to pay hefty fees to continue using the Forums..


The delicate part is if certain features are available to premium members only. If you click on something and it tells you "sorry premium members only", or you can't see what everyone is talking about, people just leave and they don't come back. It's especially efficient at chasing away new visitors.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

Sign me up for Lifetime.


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## Corbeau (Apr 25, 2008)

Mr. Mayor, I agree with the proposed changes.

A line of ads after the first post doesn't bother me, while your new view of the links in sig lines makes sense.

As for if I'll sign up for a silver or gold membership, I'll wait until you release the pricing schedule and then figure out the cost/benefit analysis...

Thanks for listening to us!


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Corbeau said:


> As for if I'll sign up for a silver or gold membership, I'll wait until you release the pricing schedule and then figure out the cost/benefit analysis...


The mayor has already released the pricing schedule:

There will be 2 levels Premium membership levels.

Silver Membership - $18.25 a year (Nickel a day)
Gold Membership - $36.50 a year (Dime a day)

Life Long Membership option:
- There will be an option for a Life Long, membership. It will contain all the benefits of the Gold Membership, but be a one time fee that never expires or has to renew. It will also include a special exclusive ehMac gift. (Something ehMac branded, that will be really useful over a long time and of really good quality - made in Canada) The life long membership which will include the free gift will be $91.25, which is a Quarter a day for a year and will "pay itself off" in 2.5 years.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

This site has been maintained by John for many years, is consistent, popular, informative and effective. It has improved over time and has taken a very open-minded view of many topics (with relatively few bannings and even fewer controversies). The proposed changes will assist in supporting the site which will ensure its continued stability and usefulness. If you take a look at the whole web, broadcast and print media system, its in chaos due to decreasing ad revenues and changing models. The changes will not revolutionize ehMac, they simply evolve it in a gentle and thoughtful way.

I do have a couple of suggestions to deal with the link thang. Membership is a privilege and options should be earned. Some sites do not allow you to post links in the text until a certain number of posts (to address the spam issue). Members could access additional privileges but these should be on top of the standard properties. Ad blocking is clearly of value to many so this is a good example of value-add. I seem to remember an experiment with ranking/stars in the past but that is too open to abuse (as exemplified on many web sites). However, quality links are important to the site. So what is the best way to encourage this behaviour? Would it be possible to gain feedback for link evaluation? Ask whether enclosed links were thought by readers to be useful (or not). In other words, in posts with at least one link, include an option for readers to click "useful link(s)". After say five votes the post could be highlighted in some way (background colour?). This might encourage the practice and promote better page-rankings.

Lastly, add some lines at the bottom of the index pages: Ways to Support ehMac and include an inobtrusive PayPal donate link. It might capture more spontaneous support.


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## winwintoo (Nov 9, 2004)

used to be jwoodget said:


> Lastly, add some lines at the bottom of the index pages: Ways to Support ehMac and include an inobtrusive PayPal donate link. It might capture more spontaneous support.


This is a good idea. Could the donation link be in the menu bar (usercp, faq, member list, etc)?

Some forums put the donation link on the UserCP page.

Margaret


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

It sounds good to me. Ehmax has done a fantastic job for the most part and my free membership here is of great value to me. I can not say enough about what a great site ehMac is because of how it's run and its great members. I hope through the thoughtful changes listed here John can realize his dream of running the site full time and making his living from it. 

The ad-free option would be useful and I'll buy a membership just for that alone.

[Edit] I also want the ability to name myself "Aspiring Left-Wing Crank"


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## Adrian. (Nov 28, 2007)

I'd probably get a membership. I've gotten more than $1000 worth of advice from this place. 

I think ehMac really has a great opportunity to develop a cool business model.

If ehMac ever opened a mac repair shop that took AppleCare, I would run through them forsure. If there was ever a Mac store (online) here, I would buy through it.

With 30,000 members, there is a lot of legitimacy here. That counts for a lot.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Adrian. said:


> With 30,000 members, there is a lot of legitimacy here. That counts for a lot.


29,999 if you remove acocddy (post count 1, 0.001 posts per day).

An interesting thread stat:

SINC 30,299 posts 9.6 posts per day
chas_m 9,541 14.1
EvanPitts 6,307 6.67
Vexel 5,087 3.0
dona83 4,881 3.12
used to be jwoodget 4,814 1.85
GratuitousApplesauce 4,080 1.96
winwintoo 4,067 2.26
mguertin 4,049 2.5
screature 3,809 4.3
eMacMan 3,511 3.35
Adrian. 3,352 4.92
MazterCBlazter 1,895 4.84
bhil 1,572 0.87
Carter 382 12
bsenka 546 2.1
ertman 504 0.8
Corbeau 147 0.3

Bottomline, many "persistent" posters are expressing opinions. This is to be expected, but is good to see (where's Dr.G?).


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

^^^
There are lots that have zero posts. Many of them are probably some spam style things, or people that ended up here because they were Googling for a solution to something. Only a small handful ever bother to post anything at all - which is par for the course in the world of the Internet.

MazterCBlaster would have a higher post count if one counted his previous life here...


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

used to be jwoodget said:


> 29,999 if you remove acocddy (post count 1, 0.001 posts per day).
> 
> An interesting thread stat:
> 
> ...


I'm still here in St.John's.


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Your ears must have been itching!! 

Dr. G. 45,029 posts, 15 posts per day.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

More interesting stats...

Users with 1 or more posts - 9001

Users with more than 50 - 1302

Users with more than 500 - 297

Users with more than 5000 - 22

Users with more than 10,000 - 7

Users with more than 25,000 - 3

Users with more than 45,000 - 1 

Banned users - 423 (99.9% of these are spammers. There profiles are kept around for records of IP address, email and there posts)


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## used to be jwoodget (Aug 22, 2002)

Looks like for every member on the board at any given time, there are 10 guests. Not sure there are that many members without any posts though. What's the point of registering? But as the Mayor indicates, there's a long tail of "low" posters.

There are quite a few people who have been re-animated/re-incarnated on the board - a testament to it having been around for 10 years or so. When did ehMac first enter the world? Did I miss the 10th birthday party?



EvanPitts said:


> There are lots that have zero posts. Many of them are probably some spam style things, or people that ended up here because they were Googling for a solution to something. Only a small handful ever bother to post anything at all - which is par for the course in the world of the Internet.
> 
> MazterCBlaster would have a higher post count if one counted his previous life here...


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

ehMax said:


> More interesting stats...
> 
> Users with 1 or more posts - 9001
> 
> ...


So about 4% of those that sign up are spammers.  Always said about 5% of the populace are bottom of the barrel low life scum. That last stat would tend to reinforce that opinion.


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## Vexel (Jan 30, 2005)

I would like to include that, one of the reasons ehMac is such a great place.. is because its owner actually gets involved. It's one of the few places where you'll actually come across someone who genuinely listens to people. Most sites out there would have changed things without even asking users. Props to you, John! It's a pleasure coming here and thanks for listening!


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

used to be jwoodget said:


> 29,999 if you remove acocddy (post count 1, 0.001 posts per day).
> 
> An interesting thread stat:
> 
> chas_m 9,541 (#of posts) 14.1 (per day avg)


I'm very embarrassed by this. Maybe if I give up going outside and having a life entirely, I can get that up to 20 posts per day!


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## Reboot (Sep 27, 2008)

ehMax said:


> More interesting stats...
> Banned users - 423 (99.9% of these are spammers. There profiles are kept around for records of IP address, email and there posts)


If you would delete their posts then the posts wouldn't get indexed by search engines. The way you do it now they are still getting free advertising. Can't see any need in keeping the posts if you have email and IP.

Long time lurker.


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

Reboot said:


> If you would delete their posts then the posts wouldn't get indexed by search engines. The way you do it now they are still getting free advertising. Can't see any need in keeping the posts if you have email and IP.
> 
> Long time lurker.


They are "Soft deleted", meaning members and search engines can't see them, but I as admin can.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

The mayor deserves credit for something else, that is maintaining a site that is quite usable by those of us with connection speeds that fall short of Star Wars standards.

Three years ago when I started visiting this site regularly it was one of a handful of sites that did not beachball my home dial-up connection. Today my slo-pitch cable continues to navigate this site with no delays.:clap::clap::clap:

Only exception was that brief flirtation with the youtube video ads.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

chas_m said:


> I'm very embarrassed by this. Maybe if I give up going outside and having a life entirely, I can get that up to 20 posts per day!


No use pretending. *Nobody* believes we ever go outside...


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

used to be jwoodget said:


> Your ears must have been itching!!
> 
> Dr. G. 45,029 posts, 15 posts per day.


HowEver, I go outside.


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

Dr.G. said:


> HowEver, I go outside.


Ditto and I have the frosted toes to prove it.


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

eMacMan said:


> Ditto and I have the frosted toes to prove it.


True, especially for the Prairies these days.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

I don't have time to post 10 times a day.


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## Reboot (Sep 27, 2008)

ehMax said:


> They are "Soft deleted", meaning members and search engines can't see them, but I as admin can.


Good info, thanks.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

.


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## mc3251 (Sep 28, 2007)

used to be jwoodget said:


> Your ears must have been itching!!
> 
> Dr. G. 45,029 posts, 15 posts per day.


....and me.....

...and for the record, I also go outside


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

Half the time I post - I am outside, thanks to the local HotSpot...


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## Dr.G. (Aug 4, 2001)

mc3251 said:


> ....and me.....
> 
> ...and for the record, I also go outside


Good for you, mc3251. Be sure to wear sunscreen. Paix, mon ami.


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## KC4 (Feb 2, 2009)

Anybody heard/seen the ETA for the new Membership system?


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

*waiting patiently*


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## Chealion (Jan 16, 2001)

I thought we just lived here. Some of us more quietly than others. ;-)


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

One day, it will happen. Until then, back to the regularly scheduled programming...


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

Should be by end of this week. Perhaps sooner.


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## Mckitrick (Dec 25, 2005)

I've been on here for years and years but haven't posted much. I was dormant for a long while.

I'll sign up for a lifetime membership anyway. Definitely worth it.

Suggestion - For Classified ads, allow paying members to add more "spice" to their ads. If that's at all possible.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

Mckitrick said:


> Suggestion - For Classified ads, allow paying members to add more "spice" to their ads. If that's at all possible.


I didn't know that posting Spice was against the current policies - or that there was even a sizable market in the Mac community for Spice??? beejacon


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

.


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## Mckitrick (Dec 25, 2005)

Not spice like the channels boys. I mean for example how Kijiji or eBay will let you "move to the top of the listings" or "bold your ad" etc. for an extra fee.

Include that sort of thing as a paid member perk.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Why not simply say what you mean? 

ie: added features.

When I read "spice" I immediately think of cumin, thyme or nutmeg and such.


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## MazterCBlazter (Sep 13, 2008)

.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

SINC said:


> Why not simply say what you mean?
> ie: added features.
> When I read "spice" I immediately think of cumin, thyme or nutmeg and such.


When I read Spice - I think about electrical and electronic simuations on computers.

Not sure if people would want to buy and sell used spices, even though oregano and cinnamon entirely have their place in everyone's kitchen?


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

MazterCBlazter said:


> Spicy Personal Ads?


I think they already have that over at POF - especially if one checks the "Activity Partner" box...


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## Bjornbro (Feb 19, 2000)

EvanPitts said:


> ...though oregano and cinnamon entirely have their place in everyone's kitchen?


Of course! You can't pull pranks like this without cinnamon...
(NSFW - LANGUAGE)




+
YouTube Video









ERROR: If you can see this, then YouTube is down or you don't have Flash installed.


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