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Old 08-28-2004, 08:32 PM   #21
Knightscape
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Another forum that I vistit uses Google ads. The site is a fans site for a sports team, so Google puts ticket sales ads, team related merchandise ads, and sporting goods ads on the formum page. Since most of the forum members are interested in these things, the ads are more likely to get clicked on.

On occasion one of the site owners will put up a reminder that clicking the ads helps the site stay afloat, and since the site is still around most likely members listen.
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Old 08-28-2004, 10:34 PM   #22
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Question Mark

Quote:
Originally posted by Megabot:
Yeah if the banner are "interesting" we clic on it as i say but how many times would you find it intresting?
I dont think we have to find it interesting (not trying to start an argument), I think that with most adds, the fact that you click on the link in the first place is what counts, I dount they are going to track exactly what everyone in this forum does at their website.
I do see your point Megabot, but im sure if the link clicking started slowing down, Ziroc would know and could tell us about it.
Or maybe we could just have Choc at the front page with a giant whip, whipping us if we dont click the links [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 08-29-2004, 02:51 AM   #23
LennonCook
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The following are my longwinded suggestions:

1. Redesign www.tgeweb.com so that it uses dyanmically generated pages like the forum, instead of the static pages it uses now. This would reduce the amount stored on the tgeweb server, and possibly it's bandwidth, aswell as making it an easier site to maintain.

2. Move the forums onto the tgeweb server, as www.tgeweb.com/ironworks/forums , or similar. This would cut the cost of having two domain names (and Ziroc has atleast three registered, maybe more), two ISPs, and two servers.
It could also mean more people would see the TGEWeb site who know only of the forums, and that more people would visit the forums who only know of the TGEWeb site.

If the two-URL system is preferable for whatever reason, then I would suggest splitting it up into a more logical system than what we have at the moment (one site that is only a site, and one site that is it's complimentary forums):
Have the tgeweb domain as what it is now if you ignore the Ironworks section of it: if you look at it all in context, the Ironworks section doesn't realy fit as part of the same site.
For the Ironworks section, and the forums, use the www.ironworksgaming.com domain, which at the moment redirects to www.tgeweb.com/ironworks . Have it set up as the main site at www.ironworksgaming.com , and the forums at ironworksgaming.com/forum or forums.ironworksgaming.com .
This approach has already been succesfully used in a number of places - see www.pocketplane.net & forums.pocketplane.net , www.forgottenwars.net & forums.forgottenwars.net , www.gibberlings3.net & forums.gibberlings3.net , www.mozillazine.org & forums.mozillazine.org , www.the-silver-river.com & www.the-silver-river.com/Forum , etc.
Even with the two domains, if item 1. , above, is implemented, it should be possible to host the two sites on one server.

On the note of site maintanance, it may also be benificial for some members (say, the moderators) to be able to add information to what is currently www.tgeweb.com/ironworks . Alot of the information there is incomplete or outdated, and it seems mainly due to the fact that it is too big a site for one person to try to maintain by themself.

Combine these ideas with the Google text adds, and it should, in theory, be possible to reduce the costs to such a point that member donations could be a welcome finance for improving the site or the server, rather than being necesary to keep it up. It would also, as jaradu, HiveTyrant, and Ilander all said, help people who can't donate feel that they are still contributing to the community as much as anyone else.

[ 08-29-2004, 02:52 AM: Message edited by: LennonCook ]
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Old 08-29-2004, 06:09 AM   #24
RoSs_bg2_rox
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That is quite a good idea Lennon, as long as you got auto redirected since some members who hadn't visited the site for a while wouldn't know of the changeover (unless Ziroc emailed everyone) and then would be lost and might end up losing the forum.

Sidenote. I also just noticed that the rpg gaming section where you can buy games needs to be updated since some of the games, when you click on the link (doesn't that get money btw?) say that this game is no longer available, or something along those lines.
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Old 08-30-2004, 08:01 AM   #25
Link
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The forum USED to be www.tgeweb.com/ironworks. At some point Ziroc bought the domain name we have now, ironworksforum.com
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Old 08-30-2004, 10:05 AM   #26
Ziroc
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Good post Lennon, but I chose the domain setup out of necessity. Remember (maybe you don't?) That I originally had the forums on tgeweb, and they killed all my cgi access because the forum generated over 40 GIGS of bandwidth a month.

I decided to split the forum off from the website and host it separately (which lowers bandwidth, and saves some money). I like how it is now really. And the sub domain thing I don't care for. [img]smile.gif[/img] But Readyhosting sucks anyway, and everyone remembers their support sucked. They said I would need a dedicated machine for the bandwidth I was chewing up, and would cost 299 a MONTH. Well, I would rather host it HERE at home, where I control everything for that price Ya know?

90% of tgeweb is dynamic SSI. Only my graphics section is yet converted. So that's no biggie. But yeah, the Google Ads look to be something that might work. Dunno. Ad sales are crappy right now. We'd need 1000's of clicks a week to make $100 even. (I miss the late 90's when ad sales kicked ass)

Anyway, the domains are fine, and I would indeed loose visitors if I changes things, so I don't want upset that. Sooner or later I will move the Ironworks Gaming area strictly to the ironworksgaming.com domain though, and tgeweb.com will become my 'All Artwork' personal site again. But other than that, naaa..
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Old 08-30-2004, 01:21 PM   #27
Ilander
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I think this is the most informational thread that I've ever seen on this forum!

How much bandwidth does the forum suck nowadays?
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Old 08-30-2004, 05:16 PM   #28
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Yeah, i could totally click on a link, like 10 times a day. why not? If it makes money for the forum, I'm willing, and have the high speed connection that allows me to do it reasonably quick. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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Old 08-31-2004, 04:10 AM   #29
Ziroc
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Quote:
Originally posted by Ilander:
I think this is the most informational thread that I've ever seen on this forum!

How much bandwidth does the forum suck nowadays?
1.8 to 2.3 Gig a day still. It's insane.
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Old 08-31-2004, 05:03 AM   #30
LennonCook
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If my ideas are used, then yes there are obvious benifits in having www.ironworksforum.com redirect to the forums for a while - atleast until the current registration for the domain expires. And the sub domaining is only a minor suggestion - it isn't central to the idea. It's possible to have it as ironworksgaming.com/forum , which could be more to your taste. [img]smile.gif[/img] And ofcourse you wouldn't need to wait for any DNS but the main domain to propogate...
How much bandwidth does the Ironworks section at TGEWeb use? Wouldn't it be possible to have it and the forum both on your home server? And wouldn't that potentially reduce your TGEWeb bandwidth costs, AND give you more space to use for your artwork?

And I get the feeling that banner revenue will go up again soon... it's becoming rarer for people to not have some form of popup blocking, be it a god browser, or a third party program. And isn't there a popup blocker in WinXP SP2? Anyway, this means less people see popups, and so they're less effective... making banner adds more effective, and worth more money. [img]smile.gif[/img]
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