Overhaul/Update of the BOS resource pages (2 Viewers)

[michael1990]

Um, yeah buddy thats kind of being done. Have a look around at the "sponsored links".

Yes but it doesn't mean we cannot do it again.

 

[blue_chameleon]

Yes but it doesn't mean we cannot do it again.

Um, yeah.

...being...

Present tense, right?

 

[juggernaut]

id imagine those advertisements scrape in just enough to cover server costs

 

[me121]

Um, yeah buddy thats kind of being done. Have a look around at the "sponsored links".

think about it. how regularly do you visit the sponsored links/google ads?

 

[michael1990]

think about it. how regularly do you visit the sponsored links/google ads?

Me, i would think almost never.

But that does not mean a business won't do it.
You would just have to find a business willing to do something for nothing.

 

[blue_chameleon]

think about it. how regularly do you visit the sponsored links/google ads?

Understood, they are probably as useful as tits on a bull, my point was more that they are currently advertising (albeit pretty unsuccessfully), from which we can gauge the level of success pretty clearly. Definately, if you can get people on board and you can find space on the forum to place ads that aren't sponsored links (dont know much about advertising), then go for it, as im not trying to kill any brainstorming you guys might be doing.

In all reality though, based on the 'before and after' effects of the inception of advertising in general, I dont see it as being a viable option for funding that will be needed to improve the site.

Just my 2c.

 

[blue_chameleon]

Me, i would think almost never.

But that does not mean a business won't do it.
You would just have to find a business willing to do something for nothing.

Im not here picking on you man, but that defeats the whole purpose of a business, in the reality of it all.

 

[me121]

Understood, they are probably as useful as tits on a bull, my point was more that they are currently advertising (albeit pretty unsuccessfully), from which we can gauge the level of success pretty clearly. Definately, if you can get people on board and you can find space on the forum to place ads that aren't sponsored links (dont know much about advertising), then go for it, as im not trying to kill any brainstorming you guys might be doing.

In all reality though, based on the 'before and after' effects of the inception of advertising in general, I dont see it as being a viable option for funding that will be needed to improve the site.

Just my 2c.

I'm just a mod (I moderate the forums), not an admin of the site and not a business associate. So I don't really know/cannot comment on any of this.

 

[michael1990]

Im not here picking on you man, but that defeats the whole purpose of a business, in the reality of it all.

Yeah i agree with you. But most businesses do this as a intangible asset.

I think if we got an email together of what we wanted to actually do, sent it around to a few businesses, they may help us. I mean some will just say no straight out, some may do a little research then say no and then again some might say yes why not.

 

[AsyLum]

Yeah i agree with you. But most businesses do this as a intangible asset.

I think if we got an email together of what we wanted to actually do, sent it around to a few businesses, they may help us. I mean some will just say no straight out, some may do a little research then say no and then again some might say yes why not.

Its been done.

Fund raising, we used to hold events, we had a massive push, etc. We've tried it. The fact of the matter is the bandwidth this thing goes through is quite a bit, they've upgraded servers to handle the peak periods and thats about it. Its got nothing to do with hardware, its the interface and management systems we're talking about. Don't get the two mixed up.

Like I said, if you want to do something about it, find someone who'll do it for free, or write up a proposal. The worst point of BoS' past ventures has been planning, both in terms of funding and viability. If I could be arsed, I'd have a go at fixing it up, but in between full time work and honours that ain't going to happen anytime soon.

 

[me121]

The fact of the matter is the bandwidth this thing goes through is quite a bit, they've upgraded servers to handle the peak periods and thats about it.

There are things that could be done to minimise this. Such as remove the standards packages from the server. I mean they are on the Boards web site anyone, so why double up here, and they are fairly big. I mean not many people would downlaod them from here, but search engine bots might.

Also, I think the HTML could be cleaned and compressed a little bit.

If I could be arsed, I'd have a go at fixing it up, but in between full time work and honours that ain't going to happen anytime soon.

Yeah.. no one has the time.

 

[AsyLum]

There are things that could be done to minimise this. Such as remove the standards packages from the server. I mean they are on the Boards web site anyone, so why double up here, and they are fairly big. I mean not many people would downlaod them from here, but search engine bots might.

The fact is its the resources and the forums which take a fair chug away, I'd harbour that those aren't exactly the top of the access lists. (I have no numbers just guessing).

If someone has access to it, try and find the stats on the most important parts, and develop strategies for them.

 

[juggernaut]

a good idea would be to design a donation scheme. donators get little privlidges here and there.
-abolish signatures/or avatars which take up bandwidth and allow only donators to be allowed to have a signature/ or avatars. (1 or the other)
-ive always wandered why this board didnt have a vbulletin reputation system (like bodybuilding.com) as the foundation of this site was built on the concept of people assisting each other and the sharing of knowledge. all this is encouraged by reputation systems. a donator could be reward reputation points (say 5x the dollar they donate). this probably sounds trivial but if youve been on bodybuilding.com youll see that the reputation system works and is actually taken pretty serious (not saying that people are going to care as much on this site, because people obviously dont intend on becoming a forum member forever, usually just the length of there hsc year)
-perhaps place a cap on daily or weekly downloading of resources. this cap can be abolised if you donate ANYTHING. no minimum donation required
-coloured names etc etc
-in peak periods like before exams and what not when the site runs to a halt, manage the resource section so only a certain amount can dl at a time, others will be placed in a queue. donation entitles you to not get queued

redesign the premium member system so peope actually want to pay for it
some possible suggestions
-talk with a tutoring company to advertise there services on this site, in exchange get them to run a few workshops. premium members who pay for the service longer than say 4/5 months of the year are entitled to the workshops. have them run half yearly and then before trials/hsc
- a bored of studies email (not sure how hard this would be, or even how useful)
- no cap on downloading of rescources obviously + premium resources which needs to be improved

redesign the advertising system with businesses based on circumstantial initiatives, eg;
-talk with videoezy, have a holiday scheme where when holidays are on if students rent 2 movies they get 1 free
-talk with a massage palour in the city, if u go 2 weeks prior to exam dates you get a 15% discount
-talk with dymocks, at the beginning of the year (term 3 for hsc), when students buy textbooks negotiate with them some scheme where bos students get 5% off textbooks if they shop there
perhaps you could even tie these in with the premium member services. for eg. when u sign up for premium member service in term 3 of yr 12 year you get 5x 10% off textbook coupons for dymocks. obviously would be hard to negotiate with large scale businesses such as these, but im sure if you produce the figures of your site and show how many students actually visit this place im sure you could get a few initiatives going

just a few quick random things off the top of my head, will try think of more later

 

[AsyLum]

a good idea would be to design a donation scheme. donators get little privlidges here and there.
-abolish signatures/or avatars which take up bandwidth and allow only donators to be allowed to have a signature/ or avatars. (1 or the other)
-ive always wandered why this board didnt have a vbulletin reputation system (like bodybuilding.com) as the foundation of this site was built on the concept of people assisting each other and the sharing of knowledge. all this is encouraged by reputation systems. a donator could be reward reputation points (say 5x the dollar they donate). this probably sounds trivial but if youve been on bodybuilding.com youll see that the reputation system works and is actually taken pretty serious (not saying that people are going to care as much on this site, because people obviously dont intend on becoming a forum member forever, usually just the length of there hsc year)
-perhaps place a cap on daily or weekly downloading of resources. this cap can be abolised if you donate ANYTHING. no minimum donation required
-coloured names etc etc
-in peak periods like before exams and what not when the site runs to a halt, manage the resource section so only a certain amount can dl at a time, others will be placed in a queue. donation entitles you to not get queued

redesign the premium member system so peope actually want to pay for it
some possible suggestions
-talk with a tutoring company to advertise there services on this site, in exchange get them to run a few workshops. premium members who pay for the service longer than say 4/5 months of the year are entitled to the workshops. have them run half yearly and then before trials/hsc
- a bored of studies email (not sure how hard this would be, or even how useful)
- no cap on downloading of rescources obviously + premium resources which needs to be improved

redesign the advertising system with businesses based on circumstantial initiatives, eg;
-talk with videoezy, have a holiday scheme where when holidays are on if students rent 2 movies they get 1 free
-talk with a massage palour in the city, if u go 2 weeks prior to exam dates you get a 15% discount
-talk with dymocks, at the beginning of the year (term 3 for hsc), when students buy textbooks negotiate with them some scheme where bos students get 5% off textbooks if they shop there
perhaps you could even tie these in with the premium member services. for eg. when u sign up for premium member service in term 3 of yr 12 year you get 5x 10% off textbook coupons for dymocks. obviously would be hard to negotiate with large scale businesses such as these, but im sure if you produce the figures of your site and show how many students actually visit this place im sure you could get a few initiatives going

just a few quick random things off the top of my head, will try think of more later

This has all been done before and/or currently being implemented. Premium members/donations/book drives/advertising.

The responses have been pathetic to say the least.

 

[juggernaut]

that sucks. i didnt even know about that? maybe people need to be informed a better way

perhaps install a login at the very beginning of the site, cant view the site in any way without registering and logging in. on the sign up page have a choice between FREE membership or PREMIUM membership, then do the table with benefits of free vs premium (you know like when you download the trial version of a program and it wants you to upgrade and you just press the free bullet). this also stops freeloaders soaking up bandwidth

or maybe people are just never going to bother with it unless strict restrictions are placed on free downloading of resouces, which i guess goes against the whole premise of the site

 

[AsyLum]

Its a fine balance between providing students resources for free, and doing donation drives. I don't think that at any stage BOS should look to force people to pick or degrade their experience if they don't pay. Thats not what this site was made for.

Lets stick to what needs to be done first, and clean up the backend.