I'd like your feedback on a couple topics: Search, Subforums, Banner Ads

I don't see the need for larger PM boxes; Platinum members already get 300 messages. If you need to keep more than that, there's the option of downloading them in various formats.
 
I am fairly new here but I am a paying member and believe in supporting this site,,,I am in favor of running banners if need be,,I like the idea even better if only the nonpaying members see them, I am not for opening the search to nonepaying members, come on guys and girls,,the prices to support this site are very minimal,,a few dollars stuck back for a few weeks and its done,,I am also in agreement on sub forums,,photography, cooking etc,,just as long as it doen not get out of hand,,,we all enjoy seeing pics of our knives,,we all use knives when we cook our food,,I look at those as a part of most everyones life,,so if we can keep the sub forums to anything that is associated with knives in one way or the other I think they are fine,,just my thoughts
 
Search for paid memberships works for me, that said, it depends upon which way you make the most money. I enjoy the forum and I want you to make money! :D No banner ads for paid memberships please. Sphinx sounds good. More subforums works for me.

Thanks for the hard work!
 
As a current "non paying" member, I wouldnt mind seeing the banner ads. This is a great forum, and I personally do not think ads would make it a bad place. If/when I go gold again, it would be nice to not see ads, but it wouldnt be a deal breaker. As far as not offering search for non paying members, this also hurts paying members who sell. I cannot get on here everyday, and I used to do a search for knives I was looking for. Now I just scan the first couple most recent pages. Search feature would help everyone IMHO

Thanks Spark! Keep up the great work.
 
Spark said:
Huh, I thought I made this clear in my initial post:

Is that more understandable? I meant that from the beginning - paid memberships wouldn't see ads.
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I think that banner ads for non paying members is a great idea. Although the non paying members contribute to the community that aren't supporting it financially. I also like the idea of limiting the number of advertisers and keeping them knife related, but this may bump head on to the deal spotting rule, that may have to be modified to allow people to talk about the payed advertisers.
I like Bladeforums and make multiple stops here each day. This is the only knife forum I belong to simply because it fulfills all me knife needs.
It would be nice if the search worked better, and I usually use the google site search to find what I am looking for, but that isn't the reason I bought a membership. I bought it to support a site that I feel offers a valuable service to the knife community
 
I have no problem with any of your proposed changes, Spark. I do have one suggestion, though: Would it be possible to set things up so we get an e-mail with all posts for every thread we've subscribed to?
 
Not currently possible, sorry
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Have you seen Search Engine FAQs & Tips?
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Yes I have but for some reason the built in search is ungodly slow for me. I also find that the google site search gives me a more narrowed down search. Like I said though I didn't pay to use the search I payed because this site is worth it to me. Personally I would have payed to be a member here even if there wasn't a search. This is not one of the best knife forums on the internet, it is one of the best forums on the internet compared to any.
This place has what it takes to be good
Great members, good mods (generally fair and upholding the rules in my experience) extremely helpful people, plenty of sub-forums to keep most people happy, the fact that its a knife forum is just a bonus
 
Spark,

I like the idea of opening the search up to everybody if possible, and I think more forums are good for the site. As far as ads go, while I'm surprised that they haven't appeared yet I'm am glad they're not here. One thing that I really like about BF if that there's a definite sense of decorum (for the most part:D) and a bit of class, and while I don't see a problem with some ads for non-paying guests I would like to see it stay low-key. I don't think people will be as likely to stick around and explore the site if it feel like a trip down the Vegas strip when they open the page up. JMHO, but I know I tend to avoid sites that I fear might send me into an epileptic seizure (coughknifeforumscough):p I don't even mind if there are ads on the top,bottom, and both sides of the screen, they just don't need to flash, fizz, or expand:thumbup: Half-naked wimmins is always good, though;)
 
Esav Benyamin said:
Banner ads visible only to non-paying members are a legitimate compromise. I've seen other sites that do this: subscribe and the ads disappear. Put them on the top and/or the bottom of the page. Ads along the sides really eat into reading space.

It would be nice to have an effective search function but I usually find what I'm looking for when I turn to an outside search like Google.

New forums: we don't need a Barbie forum but food and photography bracket a lot of what we do discuss here. Many of us use knives for food more than anything else, and recipes pop up often enough that we could toss them into it, too. Photography is integral to many forums. A lot of us would benefit from one place for the experts to share techniques, equipment, and advice on how to do it.
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See, on occasion more than two people can completely agree on the same subject matter. :)

It would be nice if in the User CP we could turn the banner feature on an off for paying subscribers, sometimes I like to window shop or go off tangient to a knife mnfg. site or puveyors catalog link.

Anyway it goes I'll be there and a paying member of some type, thanks for all you do to keep this place open Kevin.:thumbup:
 
Two things I want to say. One, I'm surprised there's no kitchen knife subforum. Second, even though I'm going to finally pony up for a membership, I have no problem what so ever with add banners. Just no pop ups please.
 
Spark said:
Finally, let's talk banner ads. Personally, I hate them. It's a very rare thing for me to click on a banner ad and buy something, but that's me. At the same time, there've been no shortage of companies who have made offers of purchasing ad space on this site. I've resisted them over the years because I like an uncluttered forum space. At the same time, however, I have to be realistic - the paid subscriptions here do not cover all the bills we have.
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The bills have to get paid somehow! What initially drew me to bladeforums was the content available and the clean look of the site sans ads. Maybe if you decide to do the banner ads for the non paying members, you could make it known that a paying subscription will make them go away. That will bring in ad revenue for people who do not decide to pay and bring in membership dollars for those who want to get rid of the ads! Thanks for the great site Spark!
 
I think having search available to everyone may help bring more paying members in the long run. If they can search, they will really be able to see the wealth of information available here. Its just a guess though....

I only have one other forum I go to (non-knife) that has banner ads. I like the fact that BF's has always had an unclutered look, but really after awhile I got use to seeing them. I think if it helps you financially, go for it. We will adapt. If it was set up so everyone could see them, would you be able to charge a little more because of the ads getting more exposure?

As far as other sub forums, if they will have a big enough draw, why not.
As already mentioned, if it doesn't draw enough attention, it could always be closed.

I think a lot of us here are avid hunters, and fisherman, so possibly adding a subforum for those topics would be good too.
 
I put up a fair amount of food oriented posts, but I see a greater need here for a kitchen knife forum than a food forum. Is that what folks mean by "food"?

Banners? Hate 'em. I never go to that "other" place because of them. However, if as a paying member I don't have to see them, then fine. Folks don't want to see them, then they should toss in a few bucks a year to make them go away.

Search? I don't care if it's wide open or not. On other forums where I'm not a member, I certainly appreciate the ability to search the entire site.
 
I personally hate banners...I always see forums full of ads, as less serious. But i guess it all depends on the kind of ad. As long as its knife and gear related its ok.
But ads for free "antivirus" software, trips to Las Vegas, and various kinds of meds are no-go if you ask me. Being a paying member, it dosent matter to me, as i wouldnt have to look at the ads. But i believe its still important that we think about how BF looks to newcomers. First impressions are very important. In the end, we want people to think its a good site, stay here, and maybe shell out for a membership. But its a good and fair way for non-payers to support the site.

I can understand it if some people would like more subforums, but i think it should still be knife or wilderness related in someway.

The search function isnt a big deal for me, i think a BF/google search works just fine for my needs.
 
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As a non-paying member I have no problem with having some banner ads on the site, as long as (like mentioned by others) they are at the top/bottom of the page, not all flashy, and not down the sides of the page.

Personally, It doesn't really bother me of the search is open to non-paying members or not, I barely ever need to find something and when I do it can be done with google.

Looking forward to the new features :thumbup:
 
I wouldn't mind banner ads for really decent knife shops like a.g. russel and knifecenter. I have actually bought stuff from them in the past, and if I see a new cheap beater model come out on a banner ad I might actually follow it down the rabit hole.

not so with any other type of ad. car, insurance, medical, clothing, literally any marketable good other then knives and I'd turn on ad block for this site. I know the intent is to only have it for non paying members, but this opinion stands even if it was for all users. as a paying member I wouldn't mind good knife shop ads, but anything else = :barf:
 
I think that the banner add would help out a lot and try to encourage people to become paying membership. But hey maybe you can help me out. I want to up grade to gold membership but I don’t have a paypal account or the other people account too. I can pay by credit card or send in a us money order but I don’t know on how to go about this. can you please help me out??
 
Click on "upgrade your forums experience," select the membership level you want, click "order," and then click on "order using Authorize.Net." It'll let you use a credit card there.
 
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