Patriot
Administrator
Hello,
Just a quick update on some changes to the site.
Firstly, we are continuing to make changes to the ads. These will continue as they are needed to pay for the maintenance of the server and the website and to fund future features for the 4 wheel driving community. We have also introduced a popup, that will drive people to become members.
Secondly, we are introducing paid memberships. These are $20 per year and will remove the pop up that appears and the ads on the forum, but not other parts of the website. Depending one where we get with revenue, we may decrease the ads on the non forum parts of the website.
We are including a free annual membership with each purchase of a T-Shirt or Polo from the 4x4earth site. These aren't automoatic, so it may be a couple of business days before they get actioned, but it means that this is an easy way to get an ad-free experience.
We have taken these steps for a number of reasons.
1. I have always wanted to provide all of our information free to anyone wanting it. Many people highly value the information on the site, but newbies often don't. It is critical that they are able to access the information as it is them most likely to get lost, roll over, or have someone die in an accident because they aren't prepared and no one wants that to happen. The more newby 4 wheel drivers who go out and have a create trip, the more likely it is that we will grow the number of regular 4 wheel drivers.
2. The site is big, complicated and expensive to run. All of these things have increased in the last 12 months.
3. We've tried other ways of monetising the site and they haven't worked too well. Some sponsors have been great, but there aren't enough of them. The calendars we quite popular, but certainly not enough to help sustain the site and same with the T-Shirts.
4. I am keen to build in new features. A better way to organise trips. Newbies struggle to find a place they can find newby trips out and that is a big problem for the 4 wheel driving community. I also want to repair our track logs and maps feature. It was great when it worked and it still has thousands of people using it, but updating it and creating more tracks will be an expensive process. I think it is time that we turned what we have on the site into an app.
To get a membership, either go to the store and purchase a T-shirt or Polo or click on your profile icon as per below.
Click on Account upgrades and
Add your CC and details in here. The back end is handled by stripe, so we don't see any Credit card details.
Please let me know if there are any issues. We need to work on the site live as it is quite difficult to replicate in a testing environment, so there may be a couple of teething issues.
Have fun out there!
James and the team.
Just a quick update on some changes to the site.
Firstly, we are continuing to make changes to the ads. These will continue as they are needed to pay for the maintenance of the server and the website and to fund future features for the 4 wheel driving community. We have also introduced a popup, that will drive people to become members.
Secondly, we are introducing paid memberships. These are $20 per year and will remove the pop up that appears and the ads on the forum, but not other parts of the website. Depending one where we get with revenue, we may decrease the ads on the non forum parts of the website.
We are including a free annual membership with each purchase of a T-Shirt or Polo from the 4x4earth site. These aren't automoatic, so it may be a couple of business days before they get actioned, but it means that this is an easy way to get an ad-free experience.
We have taken these steps for a number of reasons.
1. I have always wanted to provide all of our information free to anyone wanting it. Many people highly value the information on the site, but newbies often don't. It is critical that they are able to access the information as it is them most likely to get lost, roll over, or have someone die in an accident because they aren't prepared and no one wants that to happen. The more newby 4 wheel drivers who go out and have a create trip, the more likely it is that we will grow the number of regular 4 wheel drivers.
2. The site is big, complicated and expensive to run. All of these things have increased in the last 12 months.
3. We've tried other ways of monetising the site and they haven't worked too well. Some sponsors have been great, but there aren't enough of them. The calendars we quite popular, but certainly not enough to help sustain the site and same with the T-Shirts.
4. I am keen to build in new features. A better way to organise trips. Newbies struggle to find a place they can find newby trips out and that is a big problem for the 4 wheel driving community. I also want to repair our track logs and maps feature. It was great when it worked and it still has thousands of people using it, but updating it and creating more tracks will be an expensive process. I think it is time that we turned what we have on the site into an app.
To get a membership, either go to the store and purchase a T-shirt or Polo or click on your profile icon as per below.
Click on Account upgrades and
Add your CC and details in here. The back end is handled by stripe, so we don't see any Credit card details.
Please let me know if there are any issues. We need to work on the site live as it is quite difficult to replicate in a testing environment, so there may be a couple of teething issues.
Have fun out there!
James and the team.
