delica.ca google adsense revenue and site expansion

[jessef]

I was wondering if some of the delica.ca google adsense revenue can be used to expand things on this site and if the revenue will be put back into the site or used for other things non-site related.

Because this site has grown very large and has a solid long-term member base, I would hope that all input and discussion on this topic will be encouraged and considered.

This is also a single discussion thread related to site suggestions and not a 'general discussion/last word cafe' topic.

My suggestions to date :

- mailbox size currently limited to 50 inbox/sent PM's which is small comparing to other forums of this size
* standard is between 100-200 PM's

- image size currently limited to 800x600 which is small comparing to other forums of this size
* standard small is 1024x768 and standard large is 1280x1024

[naterade]

I agree with your suggestions, especially with images - 800*600 maximum is like 2001 standard


I will also suggest if it is easy/feasible/possible that some of the topics that have been gone over for the nth time be categorized or grouped into further sub-categories inside the tech forums, to prevent more new topics being started on stuff that has already been covered - it will allow people new to the forums to easily find the specific threads they need (if for some reason they can't successfully use the search function)

IE part #s, oil changes, headlights, winter starting, lifts, electrical, etc etc


Just throwing it out there, if you like it, good, if not, toss 'er right back

[FalcoColumbarius]

Good points. As far as the images, we had them bigger before, in fact at one point they were limitless with the idea that people could try more creative postings, however we started getting pictures of parts of lug nuts so we nixed that idea and reverted back to what is still the industry standard ~ 800x600. Increasing the size we can do, I'll get onto it.

Regarding Adsense revenue: I am not as intimate with it as Mark is so perhaps he should address the point but I will say again as was mentioned before in another thread ~ we are currently working on rebuilding the Purchasing And Importing forum but we are still in the early stages and like all things Delica Canada ~ we still have to work for a living so can't put all our efforts into it.

Regarding increasing the size of PM boxes: The server isn't unlimited, it costs money. But let me ask you this: Do you really need to have more than fifty active PMs? As a site admin I don't need that. Generally I would recommend good housekeeping and download any records of PMs that you wish to catalogue onto your own computer.

Falco.

[jessef]

Good points. As far as the images, we had them bigger before, in fact at one point they were limitless with the idea that people could try more creative postings, however we started getting pictures of parts of lug nuts so we nixed that idea and reverted back to what is still the industry standard ~ 800x600. Increasing the size we can do, I'll get onto it.

Thank you !

Regarding Adsense revenue: I am not as intimate with it as Mark is so perhaps he should address the point

Regarding increasing the size of PM boxes: The server isn't unlimited, it costs money.

If you look at the google adsense revenue for 2010 delica.ca , you can see that this site is bringing in some good dollars that can be put back into the site, ie. larger server size (server space and bandwidth are low cost items in this scale), etc... There's enough revenue there to accommodate these requests.

But let me ask you this: Do you really need to have more than fifty active PMs? As a site admin I don't need that. Generally I would recommend good housekeeping and download any records of PMs that you wish to catalogue onto your own computer.

Yes. I'm constantly deleting and having to clean up the mailbox. This is a general consensus on most large online forums. Out of the few dozen forums I participate on, delica.ca is less than 1/2 the mailbox capacity of sites that are tiny compared to delica.ca membership.

[fexlboi]

I agree with your suggestions, especially with images - 800*600 maximum is like 2001 standard

- image size currently limited to 800x600 which is small comparing to other forums of this size
* standard small is 1024x768 and standard large is 1280x1024

Not sure if you guys familiar with the current web standards, but using a 1024 image + the website design would cause scrollbars for a lot of users. Even in 2011 the entire fixed width of a website shouldn't be wider than 960px. That said, there are ways to incorporate larger images without braking the site, but that's another story.

It would be great to use the money for something beneficial for the Delica community. How about supporting one of the legal cases against the RHD ban? Or how about free Mitsumaple stickers instead of someone paying for it in advanced out of his own pocket?

[RichD]

To cut to the heart of it, we all know that delica.ca has been monetized for some time and the scale of this has expanded recently.

Would Mark and Falco be willing to reveal to the community what that revenue looks like in the past year?

Obviously this revenue FAR outweighs the cost of hosting the site, including the traffic costs and incidentals. So the question really is, what about the profits and will any of it go back into the community?

[RichD]

The server isn't unlimited, it costs money.

This is not true.

delica.ca is profitable.

[FalcoColumbarius]

The server isn't unlimited, it costs money.

This is not true.

delica.ca is profitable.

Well yes, it potentially is... With a full time staff: CEO; Secretary; Treasurer; Auditors; Committee Heads for a start ~ Who wants to start paying dues first?

Falco.


P.S.: I have increased the image size by one fifth. As per Fexlboi's recommendation, the image size is now 960 X 720 ~ let's see how that goes... smiles. FC.


"The Transformers"

[RichD]

]Well yes, it potentially is... With a full time staff: CEO; Secretary; Treasurer; Auditors; Committee Heads for a start ~ Who wants to start paying dues first?

What does that even mean?

[fexlboi]

P.S.: I have increased the image size by one fifth. As per Fexlboi's recommendation, the image size is now 960 X 720 ~ let's see how that goes... smiles. FC.

Falco, the entire width of the website should not exceed 960. Not just the image alone. Anyway this thread shouldn't be about images sizes.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Hmm, okay. That picture that I posted is 960 px wide. Seems to me that it is not overly huge, still bigger to give more depth but not to involve a great deal of scrolling ~ a sort of happy medium.

As far as the thread topic goes: There are three items on the agenda ~ "image size" is number three on that agenda ~ as posted by Jesse, the original poster. Done.

Item Two is regarding "size of inbox". Jesse recommends increasing the inbox size from 50 to 200. and for the reasons I previously mentioned in this thread, I doubt it's going to happen nor is it really necessary as everyone able to access this website will have a computer quite capable of storing important documents.

Item One: First thing I would like to point out ~ this is not a publicly traded corporation; there is no board, nor are there share holders. It is a gift. Mark has built the frame work for this site out of his own pocket. Nor is this a union or a co-operative. No member on this site has had to pay dues, there is no AGM that gives an annual report, no weekly or monthly newsletter ~ there's not even a periodical. I don't quite see why any of us want to see a financial report of Marks bank account. My brother has a lot of money. What he does actually affects the lives of British Columbians substantially ~ he's not going to give you a report of his finances either. Do any of you guys want to give a financial report of your personal dealings? Personally I don't mind even if Mark makes millions off this site, more power to him. All I say is: Thanks Mark for giving me the platform to meet cool people and learn more groovy technical thingies about my wagon.

As far as the site expansion aspect of Item One ~ as mentioned before we are currently working on remodelling Purchasing and Importing to help alleviate View Active Topics but it's going to take a little time because in between Delica Canada we have to make a living.

I like Naterade's idea of a reference library of the usual, in fact we have one started with Delica FAQ's. Just need to update it and perhaps organize it a little more. Naterade, if you can think of any particular items that you think should be catalogued ~ sent me a PM. Perhaps sub-forums on "oil" related articles "fuel" related articles, &c., under the FAQ and Downloads forum...

Falco.

[konadog]

Personally I don't mind even if Mark makes millions off this site, more power to him. All I say is: Thanks Mark for giving me the platform to meet cool people and learn more groovy technical thingies about my wagon.Falco.

Yep

[jessef]

Can you just remove 'Sales by Canadian Registered Dealers' from the 'View active topics' list ?

Maybe make a section just for them ?

Go back the last 5 months. Only two dealers that post and bump every 2nd day.

Seriously.

[FalcoColumbarius]

As I said: "We are remodelling the Purchasing and Importing forum". As far as removing a certain group from VAT: There is an issue known as "Established Usage And Custom" ~ morally we must give people time to get used to the new system. Currently these people have employed this forum for advertising methods, much like you have, Jesse. We can't just chop them off, not ethically. Having said that ~ the new system will have the advertising (of pretty much everything) in it's own shell. The shell will have an update portal on the View Active Topics page that will appear like an ad for Delica Trader. This portal will advertise when a new listing happens or how many but will not be in the VAT lists.

This picture that I have loosely sketched out for you has many bugs to be ironed out and may change without notice. Patience is a virtue.

Falco.

[jessef]

As I said: "We are remodelling the Purchasing and Importing forum". As far as removing a certain group from VAT: There is an issue known as "Established Usage And Custom" ~ morally we must give people time to get used to the new system. Currently these people have employed this forum for advertising methods, much like you have, Jesse. We can't just chop them off, not ethically. Having said that ~ the new system will have the advertising (of pretty much everything) in it's own shell. The shell will have an update portal on the View Active Topics page that will appear like an ad for Delica Trader. This portal will advertise when a new listing happens or how many but will not be in the VAT lists.

This picture that I have loosely sketched out for you has many bugs to be ironed out and may change without notice. Patience is a virtue.

Falco.

Waiting patiently.

There is no comparison between someone like me posting in the sales section a few times a year compared to the two mentioned that post over 300 days per year. That's like comparing homegrown apples to planet-sized watermelons.