We need to support this site now

[Roadrunner70]

There's little to no chance of us being shut down by my host, he's a small company and very 2A friendly. What happened to ar15.com is their registrar decided to kick them off and they had to move it to another one (which is really crazy, I never thought hat would happen.) I'm currently looking into new registrars to insure that never happens to us.

The skin was just one example of the customizations needed. Another is the ability to accept credit cards through our platform, that has to be created from scratch. Also the classifieds system has to be made, etc. Once we're on the new system we should be good for at least 5 years, maybe longer.



I sent you a message.



I've always disliked having to go in and cancel subscriptions to things so I've never really considered it for here.



In an earlier post I mentioned some stuff about advertising companies buying forums, I believe snipers hide is one they acquired so they run their ads on it. I'm not sure why we don't have more local companies advertising with us, but it's a problem that a lot of forum owners are seeing. I'm not sure if there are just better options out there for small companies like using google ads and facebook, or they just don't receive the expected returns from their ads on small forums. Their ads get seen a lot but it's a lot of repeat views from the same users and it doesn't actually generate any sales. I really don't know to be honest.

Good to know. What happened to ar15 defiantly concerned me for any gun related site. Glad you got a 2A friendly host

 

[MacFromOK]

Hey, I got an idea!

While we have @Okuma on the line... how about someone explain the "chicken & lego" bar some members have?

We even have a thread about it (with no answers) here:
https://www.okshooters.com/threads/what-is-this.304111/

 

[nemesis]

I think before you guys jump to sending in monies to Save OSA! Its time for a discussion. It would be nice to actually see the owner involved in this discussion. Since he doesn't actively participate here.

If the site is no longer about making money and add revenue is nonexistent. Then there is no need to worry about clicks to sell advertising. If that is the case. Then I suggest changes are made to the classifieds. We have way to many folks on this forum that just spam the living crap out of the classifieds and add nothing else to this site. I am not saying don't support the site. I am saying if we are going to fully support it then how about taking some input from those that do pony up.

I put some of them on ignore. That way all their ads are gone. And it doesn't interfere with my perusing the other forums either, since they don't post anywhere but the classifieds.

 

[nemesis]

I'm always open to hearing people's opinions on changes but there are some issues that I'm pretty set on, open classifieds being one of them.

Then at least require them to consolidate all of their ads into one post. A simple "several guns for sale" will entice viewers to click on the ad just as easily as having to scroll through them all. One poster puts about a dozen firearms sequentially on the page and bumps them frequently. He monopolizes the page.

 

[Roadrunner70]

I totally agree. I would suggest some kind of a minimum post count before a new person can use the classified thread. 100 post, 250 post, 500 post et cetera.......Just a thought.

That unfortunately is what kills forums. Lets be honest, Classifieds I bet bring in the majority of users initially. Putting that big of a post cap will deter new arrivals. OSA isn't the only kid on the block anymore for us locals. IMO doing this will drive potential new users to competitor sites even if they have a required paywall.

 

[nemesis]

I think you need to take your spat somewhere else and stop derailing this thread!

Or, at the very least, to realize 1) punctuation matters and 2) paragraphs are our friends.

 

[Roadrunner70]

I just thought of a potential idea. Havent seen it mentioned yet here, but if someone has forgive me. @Okuma ever thought about selling merch? T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc? It could double as free advertisement! for ya. Plenty of merch sites now days where you can create you own custom product line of merch and they do all the production/shipping to buyers.

 

[Glock 40]

So we have 2 of 3 most active moderators on the forum in favor of some type of change to classifieds posting. Along with multiple people mentioning it in this thread. I suggest even a trial run.

Something like 50 legitimate posts and member for 1 week to sell items or pm members. Adds are still viewable to anyone. If you want immediate access to classifieds buy a minimum 1 year supporter membership. Supporters get 10 free listings a month. Many ways to make being a supporter more valuable and drive community over clicks. Again this is assuming the goal is to have the site sustainable and not worried about driving clicks.

 

[Catt57]

I just thought of a potential idea. Havent seen it mentioned yet here, but if someone has forgive me. @Okuma ever thought about selling merch? T-shirts, hats, bumper stickers, etc? It could double as free advertisement! for ya. Plenty of merch sites now days where you can create you own custom product line of merch and they do all the production/shipping to buyers.

There is this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078NK8PFS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[MacFromOK]

While I agree that ads can be annoying, I can also see where a fee (or other requirements) might drive away new members that only have an occasional item to sell.

And I'm guessin' those are the members that usually turn out to be regular participants in the forums.

Just my 2¢ ...