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<blockquote data-quote="quixote23" data-source="post: 399730" data-attributes="member: 85618">Although I wouldn't exactly call this &quot;exciting news&quot;, I can more than understand the reasons behind it.&nbsp; I know the kinds of costs you're looking at in maintaining the forum, both in terms of hosting and bandwidth and with your own time and hard work.&nbsp; That is worth ten bucks a year to me at least.However, Mediaportal - as a free and open-source HTPC solution - is as great as it is because of the community behind it.&nbsp; While I don't have any problem with charging for forum access in principle, my concern is that imposing a pay-for-access plan will drive away a lot of potential developers and people who may have great ideas but not a whole lot of cash - or others who might be interested in it but are unwilling to pay to learn more about it.&nbsp; In lieu of moving ahead with the payment plan you have in mind, it might be worth considering a different approach.&nbsp; These are just a couple of ideas off the top of my head and may not apply, but what about:a. Setting up sections of the forum which are pay-access only, while leaving the majority of the forum public-access?&nbsp; For example, plugin and skin development subforums where paying members can get first crack at new updates and SVNs before they go live?b. Ads?&nbsp; I hate to even suggest it, because there's nothing more beautiful these days than a website that isn't packed with banners and annoying pop-ups, but you could probably get away with more than you have already.c. Alternate funding sources?&nbsp; I don't pretend to know much at all about how Mediaportal is run as an organisation, but there are Non-Profits out there that will provide financing for open-source development.&nbsp; Again, I have no idea how the brains behind Mediaportal are doing things and this is probably something that's already been explored if it isn't in place already, but a high-profile and well-developed package like MP is sure to get the attention of interested parties.At any rate, I'm donating 10 Euros (wish I could afford more) and hopefully others will do the same.&nbsp; I wish you guys the best of luck in figuring out your game plan with all of this, and thanks again for all your effort!</blockquote>

[QUOTE="quixote23, post: 399730, member: 85618"] Although I wouldn't exactly call this "exciting news", I can more than understand the reasons behind it. I know the kinds of costs you're looking at in maintaining the forum, both in terms of hosting and bandwidth and with your own time and hard work. That is worth ten bucks a year to me at least. However, Mediaportal - as a free and open-source HTPC solution - is as great as it is because of the community behind it. While I don't have any problem with charging for forum access in principle, my concern is that imposing a pay-for-access plan will drive away a lot of potential developers and people who may have great ideas but not a whole lot of cash - or others who might be interested in it but are unwilling to pay to learn more about it. In lieu of moving ahead with the payment plan you have in mind, it might be worth considering a different approach. These are just a couple of ideas off the top of my head and may not apply, but what about: a. Setting up sections of the forum which are pay-access only, while leaving the majority of the forum public-access? For example, plugin and skin development subforums where paying members can get first crack at new updates and SVNs before they go live? b. Ads? I hate to even suggest it, because there's nothing more beautiful these days than a website that isn't packed with banners and annoying pop-ups, but you could probably get away with more than you have already. c. Alternate funding sources? I don't pretend to know much at all about how Mediaportal is run as an organisation, but there are Non-Profits out there that will provide financing for open-source development. Again, I have no idea how the brains behind Mediaportal are doing things and this is probably something that's already been explored if it isn't in place already, but a high-profile and well-developed package like MP is sure to get the attention of interested parties. At any rate, I'm donating 10 Euros (wish I could afford more) and hopefully others will do the same. I wish you guys the best of luck in figuring out your game plan with all of this, and thanks again for all your effort! [/QUOTE]

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