forum speed--any interest in a fee for members for more bandwidth?

[Classical Katharine]

Hi, all--

 

I've been experiencing major speed issues with the forum for a number of weeks now (pages taking ten or fifteen seconds to load, doesn't sound so awful till you try to jump around to many pages) and have read that some others are experiencing speed issues as well.

 

SWB is providing to us, free to us, a great resource. I'm wondering if we happy users, in our great multitudinousness, might be overwhelming the available bandwidth.

 

Moderators? Is this the speed problem?

 

Members, if helping SWB to finance more bandwidth by paying to belong to this forum would solve the speed problem, would you want to? There are lots of us; maybe the moolah needed wouldn't be huge . . .

 

Other info or thoughts?

[swellmomma]

I suspect that if the forums started being charged they would go the way of the SL forums and we would lose the amazing diversity here. Many people that post here including myself would not pay to stay on the forums. The main reason I post here so much is because they are free.

[K&Rs Mom]

Another forum I'm on has a voluntary contribution. It's free to everyone, but once a year when it's time to renew the hosting the mods put out a call for donations. Lots of people give a little (like $5), and it ends up being enough to cover it.

[Meriwether]

I wouldn't mind paying a fee personally, but I'd hate to lose members over it. Plus, new membership would probably drop a lot. I don't usually have speed issues, but I don't like the idea of the board being a financial burden for SWB.

[Tinkerbell]

Yes, the speed issues are annoying. I don't have a lot of free time as it is, so when I get online, if a page isn't loading quick enough, I go somewhere else. So we are going to lose members that way if this continues to be a problem (gets slower and slower).

 

I agree that charging a fee is going to drastically reduce the members that use this forum, and we won't have the diversity that we enjoy now. They will just go somewhere else. Is there a way to purge or archive some of the really old stuff? Would that even help?

 

Perhaps a moderator can give us some options.

[melissel]

The speed issues are noticeable but minimal for me, so it hasn't really been bothering me. I don't like the idea of paying a fee, but I'd definitely be willing to voluntarily kick in a few bucks once a year or so if Susan/PHP wanted to accept donations.

[wapiti]

The problem has been going on for weeks, and there have been a few posts on the general board about the slowness. The way it started, however, leads me to believe there is some technical issue other than bandwidth - as in, perhaps there is maintenance to be done on the server, a little cleaning up if you will, due to outside forces dirtying it up, just as can happen with a personal computer (obviously I'm no tech expert, but there was at least one post indicating that this sort of thing might be a possibility).

 

I have seen no word from the mods on the cause of the slowness.

 

As for paying, a lot of posters would be lost, even if it were a token amount. I'd consider advertisers before dues.

[Spy Car]

I doubt the issue is bandwidth. In my experience as a "user," vbulletin databases (the software this forum uses) can get corrupted and require periodic maintenance to get them back to optimal speed. This has happened here on WTM in the past.

 

It has been sloooooooow for quite some time.

 

Bill

Edited May 2, 2012 by Spy Car

[melissel]

The problem has been going on for weeks, and there have been a few posts on the general board about the slowness. The way it started, however, leads me to believe there is some technical issue other than bandwidth - as in, perhaps there is maintenance to be done on the server, a little cleaning up if you will, due to outside forces dirtying it up, just as can happen with a personal computer (obviously I'm no tech expert, but there was at least one post indicating that this sort of thing might be a possibility).

 

I have seen no word from the mods on the cause of the slowness.

 

As for paying, a lot of posters would be lost, even if it were a token amount. I'd consider advertisers before dues.

 

:iagree: I've seen at least one late-night forum take-down by Justin.

 

But I really, really wouldn't want ads on here. IME, they cause more trouble than they'd solve.

[melissel]

I think I bought nearly every book SWB and her mother wrote. So I have contributed in a way. :D

 

:D I've been making it a point to buy PDFs directly from the site whenever possible for that reason!

[Five More Minutes]

Agreed that the forums are sllllooooowwww ... a problem I've been experiencing for a few weeks now. I've occasionally given up reading posts because of the long load time, so in a way it's impacting my participation.

 

If the issue were one that could be solved by more money, I'd be willing to donate to the cause. (Or by buying more PHP books! :D) I'd hate to drive away membership by charging a fee. However, I doubt that this is a bandwidth issue, as others have commented.

[sarahv]

The speed issues have been a problem for me. I generally give up and try later, but as the conversations move, I generally miss things I wanted to read because the page loads too slow.

 

I'd be nice to have it work better. Whatever the problem is.

[missmoe]

I personally would be willing to pay, but this forum is where I send new homeschoolers to get a feel for the community that is available and to find answers about anything and everything related to homeschooling. I hate to limit that type of use of these boards.

[Kathryn]

I'd be willing to donate, but I don't think charging is a good idea. And 10-15 seconds I could deal with. I frequently have to wait for over a minute or it times out entirely. This has been going on here for about a month and I have DSL.

[Juniper]

I would be willing to donate, but I am not sure that is what is going on here. My computer times out so fast that this has become very difficult.

[cagirlintexas]

Its funny but I haven't experienced any issues but then again I am half way around the world so I might just be accessing the forum at a time of day when there is less traffic.

 

As far as paying. I like the idea of supporting a site that I use and would be okay with that but I don't like the idea of forcing every member to pay because I think that it should be voluntary. I am sure some members only come here sporadically and if they would have to pay they would just stop which I think would be sad. Its a nice resource especially for people just starting or considering homeschooling.

[melmichigan]

I think a fee would ruin the boards. I would be in favor of a donation link to paypal to help fund the boards, maybe a donation drive for a month once a year or some other type of thing to encourage it for those who are able? Whatever it would be I would like to see it as voluntary.

[Zebra]

A little over a year ago I had dial-up....so I have plenty of patience ;)!

 

The boards are worth the wait to me.

[melissel]

I'm surprised to hear that people are having such serious trouble! I see a delay in most (not all :confused:) pages loading, but only 10 seconds or so, if that. That's really odd.

[ErinE]

I think I bought nearly every book SWB and her mother wrote. So I have contributed in a way. :D

 

I have as well! Multiple copies of several books when I realized PDF and Kindle formats were much better for our lifestyle.

 

I'd prefer a donation drive. I wouldn't pay a subscription fee, but I would be willing to donate.

[kristin0713]

The speed thing has been driving me CRAZY and we have a very fast connection. I almost posted about it the other day.

 

I would be willing to pay a small fee or make a periodic donation but I agree that there would be a great loss of membership if payment was required for the forum.

[Mothersweets]

Another forum I'm on has a voluntary contribution. It's free to everyone, but once a year when it's time to renew the hosting the mods put out a call for donations. Lots of people give a little (like $5), and it ends up being enough to cover it.

 

 

I like the idea of a voluntary donation. I'd donate!

[boscopup]

I have intermittent speed problems.

I'd like the forums to remain free.

I'd be willing to give a voluntary donation each year (if bandwidth is the problem, and it may not be).

I think a required fee would definitely degrade the forum (look at what happened to Sonlight), and I don't see SWB going for that anyway. ;)

[Dustybug]

I suspect that if the forums started being charged they would go the way of the SL forums and we would lose the amazing diversity here. Many people that post here including myself would not pay to stay on the forums. The main reason I post here so much is because they are free.

 

 

:iagree:

 

I've only been here for maybe nearly a year and while I enjoy it here, I would not pay to access the forums.

[Farrar]

There was a forum I was on at one point where being a supporter gave you more, very minor privileges - the ability to control more about your profile, the ability to post polls, and a larger inbox. Something like that would be fine, but agreed with the comments that going subscription would be a problem.

[Tanikit]

In the country I am in speed issues are usually related to our service providers so I just thought it was that - good to know its the forum itself (cause then it is more likely to be fixed at some point) Because we are used to speed issues I just always keep a few pages open and move from one to another - then with up to a 30 second delay I am not affected too much.

[Jpoy85]

I dont have any issues. Weird that some are. Hopefully it gets fixed soon!

 

What about people who need or want help but couldnt afford the fee?

[sandst]

We do experience a slight delay but that happens with all others websites and I have fast internet. I also keep a few pages open and move around a bit. I would be able to pay a donatin but would not be happy with a subscription.