Should Physics Forums Offer Premium Memberships?

[Greg Bernhardt]

Originally posted by Zero
Can you pay an extra $5 to have someone nag you to send in your money?

haha, hire a collector? I'll form a secret service to ruff up those who aren't supporting lol

 

[Mr. Robin Parsons]

Can you pay an extra $5 to have someone nag you to send in your money?

I'll do it for $3.99 US (taxes, and, transportation, extra{s}) or less, if someone else offers lower...

 

[The_Professional]

Premium Memberships

First of all, I like the new colors and the new logo on top. The site has a very clean and smooth feel to it. Very easy on the eyes.

I also think it's a bad idea to split the site into two sections, we'll just confuse people and certainly drive them away. As far as paying for a fee, I certainly don't want to, but I'm still kinda split, some more features have to be added if I'm going to pay for something. Perhaps, some java games, a private photo gallery where we can store our photos for everyone to see, and also the ability to either make this private or public viewing.

Another idea, is we can put some tiny stars under each paying Username. Like for example, a bunch of silver stars for premium members, a bunch of gold stars for the Super duper advanced paying member and a little recognition under the name saying premium member, platinum, gold star etc..
Unfortunately, the downside to this is people would unconsciously perceive that so and so's post matters most because of that tiny rank..and stars.

As far as reputation points go, I have quite a bit of experience on another forum where people are allowed to give positive and negative points based on posts and leave anonymous messages on why they like or don't like it. But like most system, people abused it. Some people would end up making two accounts and giving positive points to the new account. It also turned into a popularity contest.

So let's say User A just signed up and paid $225 for a lifetime membership with 0 posts. Would you be comfortable with this person giving you reputation points when he hasn't earned the respect of the community?

My 2 pesos, Cheers

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

First of all, I like the new colors and the new logo on top. The site has a very clean and smooth feel to it. Very easy on the eyes.

I also think it's a bad idea to split the site into two sections, we'll just confuse people and certainly drive them away. As far as paying for a fee, I certainly don't want to, but I'm still kinda split, some more features have to be added if I'm going to pay for something. Perhaps, some java games, a private photo gallery where we can store our photos for everyone to see, and also the ability to either make this private or public viewing.

Another idea, is we can put some tiny stars under each paying Username. Like for example, a bunch of silver stars for premium members, a bunch of gold stars for the Super highly advanced paying member and a little recognition under the name saying premium member, platinum, gold star etc..
Unfortunately, the downside to this is people would unconsciously perceive that so and so's post matters most because of that tiny rank..and stars.

As far as reputation points go, I have quite a bit of experience on another forum where people are allowed to give positive and negative points based on posts and leave anonymous messages on why they like or don't like it. But like most system, people abused it. Some people would end up making two accounts and giving positive points to the new account. It also turned it into a popularity contest.

So let's say User A just signed up and paid $225 for a lifetime membership with 0 posts. Would you be comfortable with this person giving you reputation points when he hasn't earned the respect of the community?

My 2 pesos, Cheers

There definitely will be some perks for being a contributing member, some added now and some added later. As for the reputation system I think I'm going to try it. However only enable positive feedback.

 

[Janitor]

I kinda like the gold stars idea, actually.

One of my senior co-workers was given a golden mop to pin on his lapel after he reached 30 years of service.

 

[The_Professional]

Greg, when you implement the reputation system you may also want to put some checks and balances such as User A can't give anymore reputation points to the same User B until after he assigns to 15-20 other users. And User A can't start handing out reputation points until after he has at least 100 posts.

And it would be cool if the less or more reputation then the more stars/symbols under the name

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Greg, when you implement the reputation system you may also want to put some checks and balances such as User A can't give anymore reputation points to the same User B until after he assigns to 15-20 other users. And User A can't start handing out reputation points until after he has at least 100 posts.

And it would be cool if the less or more reputation then the more stars/symbols under the name

Everything you just said can and will be done, plus more! Trust me it's a really nice and flexible system

 

[The_Professional]

Everything you just said can and will be done, plus more! Trust me it's a really nice and flexible system

YAY!

One thing I notice, I think the Quick reply post underneath is counter intuitive. It encourages people to be lazy..

"Hey, I can post a one line response wheeeeeeeee!.."

 

[ShawnD]

If you want the no ads thing to be enticing, you need more adds on the website. I don't even see that google ad thing right now, did you take it down?
Try lining the top, bottom, and sides of the site with dynamic ads.

If you wanted to focus on saving money, you could have it so avatars must be hosted by the user and not the forum. Most of us have access to webspace anyway.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

If you want the no ads thing to be enticing, you need more adds on the website. I don't even see that google ad thing right now, did you take it down?
Try lining the top, bottom, and sides of the site with dynamic ads.

If you wanted to focus on saving money, you could have it so avatars must be hosted by the user and not the forum. Most of us have access to webspace anyway.

Everyone can thank Shawn when I install 10 popups and animated flash banners! lol

You don't see the banner or google anymore? I've been playing with getting them to display only for some usergroups. Maybe I did it wrong.

 

[ShawnD]

The banners won't bother me as long as they're not those flashing ones that cause seizures. Banner ads are how I discovered tshirthell.com
I really want the shirt that says "WWJD for a Klondike Bar"

And no, I do not see that google bar right now.

 

[The_Professional]

How about adding a hooded PF sweatshirt and PF cap for the Super Duper paying members along with the other goodies

 

[rattis]

I like the idea of the gold membership, especialy the toolbar, and I am always up for les ads.

At those prices i would expect a student discount to be avaliable for those such as myself in full-time education. And what about paying in £ or euros?

What about a custom rank, authorised by an admin of course.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I like the idea of the gold membership, especialy the toolbar, and I am always up for les ads.

At those prices i would expect a student discount to be avaliable for those such as myself in full-time education. And what about paying in £ or euros?

Again I want to state that there will be a few different levels of membership. The first being around only a $1-$2 a month. I think just about anyone can afford that.

What about a custom rank, authorised by an admin of course

Absolutely

 

[deda]

I want to raise the question of offering premium memberships here at Physics Forums. The goal is to not only raise money for the Physics Network, but to equip all of you with useful and fun new features. I am interested in your opinons and feedback on the following two possible membership plans.

Silver Membership
------------------------

* Membership title
* 200 PM limit
* No ads

$25/yr


Gold Membership
------------------------

* Membership title
* 200 PM limit
* No ads
* Ability to give members reputation points
* PF IE toolbar (spell check, search references, calulators...)
* PF Journal (like a personal blog on the forums, a personal comment area for you to write in)
* Can choose from several forum skins
* PF Email (hotmail style in the forums)
* 5mb of webspace (yourname.physicsforums.com) on request

For: $75/yr or $225 lifetime

I think this would be the most logical development of initially "free of charge" luched PF. But PF's not fun for me. It's a tool like car thanks to which I expect to reach then remedy the public opinion. Why paying to the one I do favour to?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think this would be the most logical development of initially "free of charge" luched PF. But PF's not fun for me. It's a tool like car thanks to which I expect to reach then remedy the public opinion. Why paying to the one I do favour to?

Why would you be here if you didn't have fun? Someone forcing you to post? The memberships aren't for everyone and they won't be mandatory. Just a good way to increase funds and enable more functionality.

 

[Jack Martinelli]

Instead of a subscription fee, how about a fine for those who violate the rules. You'd have to require members to submit credit info. so that you or a panel of judges could give a thumbs up or down on suspects.

Or how about a lottery? There aren't that many people here so the chances of winning are tons better than a state lottery. A member could buy a ticket with a half-life of 137 days at a cost of say $20.

Either idea depends on the ethics of the administration. A flat fee doesn't.

Awards are another way to go. Get contributions from rich people. At the end of the year offer a PhF. Amount TBD. The board takes 10% and the awardee gets the rest. Or put the contributions in a mutual fund & each year the award is what the fund earned.

There is a large difference between discussion & collaboration. How about a natural selection pressure that selects among those that qualify for collaboration. Those of us who want to work on reseach problems would pay the extra fee. Or those winning the award can move to the collaboration group.

How about read-only for free. RW is not.

All of these could be combined in lots of different ways.

 

[Monique]

It's a tool like car thanks to which I expect to reach then remedy the public opinion. Why paying to the one I do favour to?

You pay to drive a car right? You even pay to hitch a ride on a subway. Just a thought :P

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Instead of a subscription fee, how about a fine for those who violate the rules. You'd have to require members to submit credit info. so that you or a panel of judges could give a thumbs up or down on suspects.

Or how about a lottery? There aren't that many people here so the chances of winning are tons better than a state lottery. A member could buy a ticket with a half-life of 137 days at a cost of say $20.

Either idea depends on the ethics of the administration. A flat fee doesn't.

Awards are another way to go. Get contributions from rich people. At the end of the year offer a PhF. Amount TBD. The board takes 10% and the awardee gets the rest. Or put the contributions in a mutual fund & each year the award is what the fund earned.

There is a large difference between discussion & collaboration. How about a natural selection pressure that selects among those that qualify for collaboration. Those of us who want to work on reseach problems would pay the extra fee. Or those winning the award can move to the collaboration group.

How about read-only for free. RW is not.

All of these could be combined in lots of different ways.

Jack thank you for your comments and suggestions. However there is no way for me to securely store credit card numbers and overall that just doesn't seem like good idea. A lottery system has a lot of legal implications and would get messy. As for the mutual fund, I'm not about to risk contributers money. As for read only members, that has been discussed and we'd like to keep basic reading/posting free. Radical, but interesting ideas jack, well done!

 

[The_Professional]

How much for r00t?

 

[Janitor]

beer money

May we buy and sell our member names? I really don't want to part with my 'Janitor' handle, but sufficient filthy luchre could convince me to do so. Bid floor is $20 U.S.

 

[The_Professional]

Reminds me of people selling various Online thinggies at Ebay: Everquest super powers, usernames,etc..
Now that made me think, my kickass username, "customized" rank and my lovely Wolverine avatar

HhmmMm...

 

[Janitor]

I offer five bucks for the wolverine avatar.

 

[Phobos]

Selling the use of avatars is a good idea (no donation, no avatar). There's a lot of interest in having an avatar and it would be a high profile/easily identifiable recognition of members who support PF.

 

[Monique]

someone is now wishing they never brought up the subject
but I think it is a good idea!

 

[Loren Booda]

If PF charges to use a copyrighted avatar online, is there a conflict?

 

[Monique]

all avatars would be treated equally, and it is a service not a sell so it should be fine right? not that I know anything about laws..

 

[Jack Martinelli]

Jack thank you for your comments ...

np. You might want to put together a list of ideas you've collected so far & post them on a heuristic poll & let people vote and/or add new ideas. After a couple of months you take a closer look at the top three ideas & choose.

 

[The_Professional]

someone is now wishing they never brought up the subject
but I think it is a good idea!

Ugh True. What I meant jokingly of course, was I will sell my account on Ebay with the avatar, "customized" rank..etc

Personally, the avatar usually comes with the account that a subscriber paid for.

 

[loseyourname]

Every idea sounds like a good one to me except the user ratings. I'm a moderator at another forum and it's hard to see something like that working. Then again, that forum gets pretty nasty on a very consistent basis. Maybe it isn't as bad here.

One thing I'd like to add is that you should increase the max avatar size to at least 100 x 100 pixels. That's the least you could do for a paying member. When will this option become available?