Fundraising (website running costs)

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:38 pm

Hi all,

Edit: Updated Janaury 2023
"Donations" extensions (see above) was re-enabled a while ago - so If you want to donate please use teh abvoe link or PM me and I'll let you know the Paypal address to use.

(Note: Previously it was suspended until I could re-install the extension that allowed you to donate directly via the forum).

I've had a chance to look at some costs incurred (over the last 12 years, since I last looked) to maintain the 3 UBT websites under my "control" (namely this one, plus ukboincteam.co.uk and now ukboincteam.com) and I've updated the accounts info on the following page:

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/ubt-accounts.html

If you'd like to make a small donation (say GBP 2->5, and certainly no more than GBP 10) then it would be gratefully received. PM me for details - Paypal might be best - and please include either your real name or your forum name, if you prefer = otherwise, you'll be listed as "Anonymous"

Note: When we originally had some donations, we were able, with Darrens help, to include a small symbol on the UBT stats signature. Sadly, with Darren going AWOL for a long time, this isn't possible anymore.

But we can offer a "Special Team Rank" to anyone who donates, as a "reward" for your support? Plus you can have your very own "ukboincteam.org.uk" email address....which you can use either as an incoming email address, or we can re-direct it to your own existing email account. Please let me know if you'd like this setup.

Of course, you could also remain anonymous, in which case, no info will be noted publicly.

Membership of this forum is FREE and will remain so, for as long as is possible (and assuming no sudden increases in costs).

FYI: As of janaury 2023, the annual domain name registration costs around GBP 11->12 (was GBP 5 back in 2015 !!) per domain and hosting is approx GBP 25 (was GBP 17) per annum. So, annual running costs are about GBP 60 per annum (as of January 2023).

regards
Tim

Steven L. · Post by **Steven L.** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 7:12 am

I suggest running advertisements on the website to cover up a portion of the costs.
Google AdSense has made me keep going for a non-profit initiative I made on the internet,
Though it does not make all that much, it is definitely better than nothing.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sun Jan 24, 2016 8:50 am

Hi Steven,

Thanks for the feedback.

TBH, I'd not considered including adverts on the forum. Maybe it's something I should look into and see if it's a good way of covering some costs, although in simple terms, anything that helps offset domain registration and webhosting charges would be useful.

thanks and regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 9:14 pm

Ads would work - I'm sure nobody would mind if it means that the forum keeps running!

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 10:20 pm

Hi all,

Thanks for the hints and advice.

I've looked into adding some ads for the forum - as this is the section of the website that gets the most "hits"

There are some phpBB add-ons that can carry ads, but none seem (AFAICS) to be compatible with the phpBB version of software that is running. And I don't want to risk having any issues with a "working" forum, just for the sake of a few pennies in ad revenue.

Plus if it did go wrong, I'd have issues fixing it...

So, I'll keep an eye on the possibilities and when one shows up, then I'll give it a go.

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Mon Feb 08, 2016 10:48 pm

Sounds like you have it under control, Tim

Regards,
Chris

nick · Post by **nick** » Mon Feb 29, 2016 11:42 am

i can host your sites for free you will just have to pay for the domains. i have a reseller account on ix web hosting.

Post by **chriscambridge** » Sun Oct 09, 2016 5:02 am

Hi,

When would you expect to next update the accounts?

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/ubt-accounts.html

Chris

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:09 pm

chriscambridge wrote:Hi,

When would you expect to next update the accounts?

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/ubt-accounts.html

Chris

Hi Chris

Done it now.

Sorry but I've had a lot of "work related" stuff that has been on-going and hence I simply forgot to update the UBT website.

So, thank you for the reminder

regards
Tim

Post by **chriscambridge** » Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:26 pm

No worries; I'll make another donation in the next few weeks.

Did you ever get any further with Easyfundraising?

Chris

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Mon Oct 10, 2016 10:14 am

Hi Chris

Yes, I did look at a number of options and for now, I've put the idea on a back-burner as some of the options are not available to us (as we're not a charity and hence we don't qualify) and I'm not so keen about imposing some advertising on the forum members.

In simple terms, the website hosting and domain registration fees are not THAT excessive, so, it's more a question of minimising any costs, without detracting from using the forum.

And I doubt we'd raise much on the "clickable links" idea anyways, as footfall to this forum is quite low....although we have over 450 members, there are less than 25 who "pop in" regularly.

I'll take another look around in a month or two, when work eases up a bit.

regards
Tim

Post by **chriscambridge** » Tue Oct 11, 2016 5:32 pm

Ok that makes sense.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 10:59 pm

Hi all

I've now added a "Donations" link at the top left of the page (to the right of FAQ).

This allows you to make a donation by PayPal. As such, please note that I've registered as a business user (to use this extension), and, as such Paypal takes a few percentage points as their commission.

The alternative is to send a donation to my email address which is:

founder @ "the_ubt_domain_name_shown_above_in_the-address_bar_of_your_browser"

and make sure you use the Paypal website function to send money to "friends/family".

Hope this helps

regards
Tim

wkdwill · Post by **wkdwill** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:10 pm

I've now added a "Donations" link at the top left of the page (to the right of FAQ).

I'm not seeing it, might just be my system, I've tried clearing history/caches/cookies and the rest but no link

Will

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:14 pm

wkdwill wrote:
I've now added a "Donations" link at the top left of the page (between FAQ and ACP).
I'm not seeing it, might just be my system, I've tried clearing history/caches/cookies and the rest but no link

Will

Hi Will

I've only just fully configured it, and it is working OK (as far as I can tell). The link is viewable on my PC.

But it is likely that your browser hasn't fully cleared it's cache, so maybe give it until tomorrow and see if it's OK then?

regards
Tim

wkdwill · Post by **wkdwill** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:16 pm

yep, possibly cached data from ISP.

I'll check back tomorrow.

Will

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:19 pm

ubt-donations.jpg

regards
Tim

Note as "admin" I have access to ACP and MCP, as shown in the picture, which are admin and moderator control panels - these are not accessible to members.

wkdwill · Post by **wkdwill** » Thu Dec 01, 2016 11:34 pm

I'm deffo thinking cached data from ISP, tried three different browsers(Safari, Firefox and SeaMonkey) and none show the donate link

Will

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 12:48 am

wkdwill wrote:I'm deffo thinking cached data from ISP, tried three different browsers(Safari, Firefox and SeaMonkey) and none show the donate link

Will

Hi Will

Thanks for the feedback.

OK - so I need to check if it's something else I need to configure in the ACP, so I'll wait for others to feedback if they can see it...if not then it must be something else I need to tweak.

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Mikee** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:27 am

Hi

I got 'donations' next to the 'faq' .

Mike

wkdwill · Post by **wkdwill** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 7:43 am

Checking on the way to work and I see it on my mobile

Will

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 10:07 am

UBT - Mikee wrote:Hi

I got 'donations' next to the 'faq' .

Mike

Hi Mikee

Thanks for the feedback.

I did look into this shortly after Will's post and sure enough, I'd not changed some permissions, buried deep in the ACP (and which are only "hinted at" in the extensions "instructions").

Hopefully, all is well now and there aren't any issues with it from here on in.

regards
Tim

wkdwill · Post by **wkdwill** » Fri Dec 02, 2016 6:32 pm

Hi Tim,

I see it on the laptop now

Will

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sat May 20, 2017 12:21 pm

HI all

SInce I've updated to the Board3.de "portal" extension, I've now removed the link to Paypal from the top of the forum page (next to the FAQ link and underneath the logo) and it is now positioned at the bottom of the main portal page.

Hence now you will only see it on the one page, instead of on every page.

regards
Tim

Post by **chriscambridge** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:32 am

Hi Tim,

I just wanted to check if the donations page is up to date on balance?

http://www.ukboincteam.org.uk/ubt-accounts.html

It is currently showing a negative value of £79.80.

If so, I will make a 3rd donation shortly in order to try and bring the deficit down.

Chris

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:06 pm

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the message.

I've not updated it, as I was waiting for the invoice from the hosting provider for the next years charges.

I'll update it in the next day or so...but as you might imagine, the deficit has got a bit higher, as there haven't been any other donations since late last year.

If you want to make a small donation, that would be greatly appreciated. If using paypal, use the "pay a friend or family" option, as they don't charge commission for that !!

regards
Tim

Post by **chriscambridge** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:29 pm

Hi Tim,

No worries, it can make up for me crunching for cryptocurrency while waiting for mandatory team requirements to be lifted (elsewhere).

I will try and send something over late this week or early next week.

Chris

Post by **Woodles** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:35 pm

Whoops, I'd completely forgotten about donating, sorry

I'm blaming whoever moved the link from the top of the page to the portal page as I very rarely go there and never to the bottom of it

Mark

ETA:

I've just tried the link at the bottom of the portal page and it gives an error message about not working and to try again later.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 5:00 pm

Woodles wrote:Whoops, I'd completely forgotten about donating, sorry

I'm blaming whoever moved the link from the top of the page to the portal page as I very rarely go there and never to the bottom of it

Mark

Hi Mark

No worries - I removed the "top of the page" donation link, as I didn't want it to be a "constant nagging" type of thing, always at the top of each page

.

ETA:

I've just tried the link at the bottom of the portal page and it gives an error message about not working and to try again later.

I've just tried it and it shows a PayPal error page. So, it might clear up, or it might mean the forum "add in" code has changed and PayPal don't recognise it anymore - I'll take a look at it and see if I can fix it.

In the meantime, I'll try and re-enable the "top of the page" link.

UPDATE: The "top of the page" link works OK

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Sat Dec 16, 2017 10:56 pm

Hi all

I've received a small donation (about a month ago) from someone with the initials "C. N." and with the number 2001 in their email address, but I don't recognise who it was who sent it - anyone care to admit to this?

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:00 pm

That would be me

Wasn't much, but I wanted to give something back to the team - I'm planning on doing a bigger one at some point in the new year

Chris

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:11 am

Hi Chris

Thanks for the confirmation - I was going to ping an email to the email address, just to see who might have made the donation, so no need to do that now

And many thanks for making the donation...I'm just sorry I took a while to get around to acknowledging it.

regards
Tim

Post by **UBT - Chris** » Mon Dec 18, 2017 4:21 pm

Hi Tim,

No worries! Always happy to help the team out!

While I hadn't put many credits in for a while, I thought I'd give a couple of pounds to help the running of the stuff behind the scenes

Chris

Post by **Woodles** » Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:23 pm

Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.

Is UBT now running adverts or is this an error?

I've disabled my adblocker and nothing appears to have changed?

Happy to permanently disable the adblocker if it's official.

Mark

Post by **chriscambridge** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:30 am

My ad blocker is running but it is not showing any ads being blocked on this site.

The site was offline, with what look like cache issues, very soon after I got a notification about your reply, so perhaps its all related.

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:36 am

Woodles wrote: ↑Fri Mar 15, 2019 3:23 pm
Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
Is UBT now running adverts or is this an error?

I've disabled my adblocker and nothing appears to have changed?

Happy to permanently disable the adblocker if it's official.

Mark

Hi Mark

It's all YOUR fault !!

I did install ( a while ago) an Advertisement Manager extension, in the hope of earning a few shekels to help fund the website hosting costs.

But Google didn't allow me to set up an account and so the Extension wasn't configured.

It was upon seeing your message that I was minded to Disable the Extension, and that may have contributed to the forum going offline.

regards
Tim

Post by **Woodles** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 12:46 pm

UBT - Timbo wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2019 9:36 amHi Mark

It's all YOUR fault !!

Whoops, sorry

Mark (

)

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Wed Mar 20, 2019 1:11 pm

Hi Mark

No worries

In the end it was a very simple fix...but it was beyond me...

And as Chris guessed it was all down to the phpBB cache throwing a wobbly...once the extension was disabled.

Janos came to the rescue, purged the cache manually and all was good again. And I've learned something too.

regards
Tim

bigsinky · Post by **bigsinky** » Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:06 pm

Hi all

I don't see any paypal links on any pages. Am i missing something or just blind?

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:13 am

bigsinky wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 9:06 pm Hi all

I don't see any paypal links on any pages. Am i missing something or just blind?

Hi Neil

The forum software was updated a while ago and in doing so, because the software was completely re-written (and even though the major version number of software didn't change) it caused some of the previously working "extensions" to fail.

As such, I had to disable them, in order to keep the forum running and I've been waiting for the various authors of the different extensions to update their code, before inflicting it on this forum.

That process is still ongoing and in some cases, the authors haven't updated their extensions to work with the new forum software.

If you want to make a small donation, then I'm happy to PM you a PayPal address where you can send a few shekels to.

regards
Tim

bigsinky · Post by **bigsinky** » Tue Mar 26, 2019 9:27 pm

UBT - Timbo wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:13 am
If you want to make a small donation, then I'm happy to PM you a PayPal address where you can send a few shekels to.

regards
Tim

yes please if you wouldn't mind

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Fri Feb 25, 2022 9:31 pm

Hi all

As you may know, I've been able to update the forum to the latest version and I've now also re-enabled the facility where forum members can make a small donation (via PayPal) towards the running costs of the Team...as for the last few years, apart from a few members who've made donations, I've actually paid for the running costs from my own pocket.

These costs include domain name registrations (for this site as well as the .co.uk and the .com domains) as well as for the website hosting.

FYI: The domain name renewals cost around £7.50 pa for each of the .co.uk and .org.uk domains while the .com is £11.99 pa. Hosting costs are of the order of about £2 pcm. So, yearly costs are around £50.

I do NOT expect anyone to make significant contributions...but a few quid here and there always helps.

Our current accounts are shown here:

http://ukboincteam.org.uk/ubt-accounts.html

As you can see, we are in a bit of credit, due to "HF" donating one of his S/H GTX2080ti GPU's, to which I have assigned it with a value of £500 - so the cash I saved (instead of buying it) I have put towards the running costs over the last 2+ years.

Stop Forum Spam

I've also now been able to re-start using the "Stop Forum Spam" extension, which should help minimise errant forum registrations from "bad actors"

(I had to disable this a while ago, as it stopped working due to a php server issue...but with the new forum software and new php, the latest Stop Forum Spam extension seems to be in good shape - I'll just have to monitor how many "spammy registrations" take place over the next few days, to see if it an improvement

).

regards
Tim

Post by **stephenhunter** » Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:23 pm

Hi Tim

Happy to donate if you DM me the paypal details

Post by **UBT - Timbo** » Mon Feb 28, 2022 10:02 pm

stephenhunter wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 4:23 pm Hi Tim

Happy to donate if you DM me the paypal details

Hi Stephen

Thanks for the kind offer.

I'll send you a PM, if you want to help out...but as you can see from our published "accounts" (link above), we are slightly in the "black" thanks to one of our generous UBT members who donated a GTX2080 to me, and any monies I would have spent on this, I've been offsetting against the running costs instead.

Of course, some costs might increase in the near future, esp as energy costs increase and maybe domain name renewals will increase...though in both these cases, the increases may only be in single percentile points...and there is one "hidden" cost that may be due soon, which I'll let you know about in the PM.

regards
Tim