Donations to the wiki

[Gryzor]

Hello guys,


Well, yeah, believe me when I say that I generally hate it when site owners whine about money, so I hope that this announcement doesn't cause any negative feelings.


The fact is, I simply cannot afford the server on my own. The wiki has grown larger than anything we ever thought it would be, and ever since we lost our last donated host (I won't be repeating the details...) we needed to finally find a robust enough host/server and learn to stand on our own feet.
What this means is this: it costs me almost €600/yr now (already paid for the first year), and this is quite heavy for me to bear alone. I don't mind putting long hours into it and thus making what little contribution I can to the community, but this is more than I can pay myself.


I have installed a donations system, to be found either here or through the button just before the Logout option at the top bar menu[nb]Default theme only for now [/nb]. I have set a yearly goal of €500, but anything that anyone can contribute, no matter how little, is much, much appreciated.


So, thanks for listening, and thank in advance to anyone and everyone who considers donating to the Wiki community.


Themis


PS On last thing - if someone could use the system to do a test donation (which will be refunded - even for €1) it'd be really helpful in testing the system... Thanks again.

[Devilmarkus]

So, does it work?

[Gryzor]

Heck if I know Unfortunately I can't donate to myself...

Ah- oops, just got the email. Yes, it does, thanks for that, will refund right away.It works!

[Devilmarkus]

Good then...
Sorry that I can't donate more... This project is it worth!

[ralferoo]

This is probably my most visited website now... You can definitely have a donation from me! Thanks for all your hard work in keeping this place up and running!

One thing I'd say though is that the Donations button is nowhere near visible enough. Even after you told us where to find it, it still took me a while to find it! Maybe highlighted just a little, like the Home link?

[steve]

I saw the button immediately when I logged on for the first time after it appeared, I think it's position was chosen deliberately so that those who can log out without looking will "accidentally" hit the donate button instead of the log out button .

I will donate later, it would be helpfull if you had some visual indicator of donations and how much more you need, I am sure none of us minds if you get more than 600 euros, but we might just leave it to others thinking you will get enough donations to keep the site running.

Some of the churches in this country have a picture of a thermometer outside with the mercury level indicating donations received with the amount required being the top of the thermometer, (the CofE is the richest organisation in the country, they should repair their own buildings).

[Gryzor]

Thanks mate, added you to the Supporter group.


Concerning the donations button, well, I wanted it to be as discreet as possible; I really don't want to have that in-your-face Paypal button on every page that loads...


Thanks again =)


@Steve: yeah, you're onto my plan (Do people really use to Logout button?). You can see the full donation statistics if you press that button - it doesn't automagically suck monies out of your wallet, it just loads the relevant page that shows a progress meter and members who have donated (and don't keep their donation hidden).
If it goes above €600 then the surplus will be used to simply pay for next year's expenses That's why I chose to make it public (one of the reasons, that is), to allow people to check how it's going...

[Gryzor]

Oh wow. Already at 18%... I'm touched

[steve]

20% or thereabouts of each donation is going to paypal, is there a way of sending money that does not get eaten up with exorbitant charges?

[TotO]

Paypal is around 4%, not 20%...

[steve]

Donations 128euro, paypal fees 26euros = about 20%, if paypal fees are 4% were is the rest of paypal fees going?

[Gryzor]

Hm, that is not correct. Even the system's files indicate that only €4.1 have gone to Paypal, will investigate why the total appears so high... Weird!

[EDIT] Ok, found one problem - two donations had come in in GBP so I had to manually add the Euros to the table for the total to be correct, but I left the total after PP deduction empty, so it assumed that no real money came in. It still shows an incorrect number (€7.30), but it's better and in the admin area the numbers are correct. Will try to reconcile that small difference too.

[EDIT2] Fixed it; it's not that smart when it comes to currency conversions

[mr_lou]

Wow, it only took 2 days to almost reach the goal. Only 10 euro missing. This is a great community.

One small question. Bryce gave 100 euro, but 3.75 of them went to Paypal? Why then didn't any of the 50 euro I donated also go to Paypal? Shouldn't 1.86 euro of those go to Paypal? Any special reason why it didn't? Or did some of it go to Paypal, and just doesn't show because you typed it in manually?

[Gryzor]

2 days? More like half a day... response is amazing. Wow. I would be in tears if I was not as macho as I am.


As I said, all money over the limit will go towards next year's expenses... I have set this thing to be as transparent as possible, supposedly (can't check because I'm the admin ) you're able to see everything in the account.


Now, about your donation: the system is set up so as to absorb the PP fees. When you paid (manually) there was probably an option in there for you to either pay the fee or include it in the amount donated. So I would think you paid a bit more than €50 in the end - can you check?

[mr_lou]

Only 50 euro went out.
I selected that it was a gift though. You think that means anything? Can't imagine it does, but you never know of course.

[MaV]

2 days? More like half a day... response is amazing. Wow. I would be in tears if I was not as macho as I am.

Machos are allowed a single tear only! And your face may show gratitude at most, otherwise it better be emotionless.

I can't donate right now, will in two weeks.

[mr_lou]

I checked the details of the transaction. It says 0 euro in fee.

I wonder why I didn't have to pay a fee. I see no other explanation than the one about selecting it was a gift? If so, that's worth looking into.

[00WReX]

Just checked and my PayPal account shows the same as yours Mr Lou...no fee.

Cheers,
Shane

[Gryzor]

Hmmm I think that yes, maybe it's because the system goes through the proper channels where I appear as a merchant, so PP decides its an honor for me to do business with them and pockets that fee; which may not happen when it's a gift...
But, indeed, when you send a donation and the fee comes out of it PP will show 0 as a fee to the paying user.

[Gryzor]

Btw, I have started rolling out the little medal that appears in your user box if you have donated (or otherwise supported) the Wiki...

[robcfg]

Nice!


If we get several medals, could we achieve ranks as 6128+ Commander? 

[TotO]

Nice!

If we get several medals, could we achieve ranks as 6128+ Commander? 

Your medal link is dead... Missing "i" of index... :p

[steve]

I don't know anything about paypal except that they are most definitely NOT a charity, did they charge the fee to Mr Lou?

[Gryzor]

  It appears they didn't charge him, I know about the "i" and yes, if you donate multiple times you get several medals and you get in the Hi-Score table, complete with the Commando tune

[mr_lou]

It appears they didn't charge him, I know about the "i" and yes, if you donate multiple times you get several medals and you get in the Hi-Score table, complete with the Commando tune

That brings up the question, why not? Can everyone avoid the charge by simply manually selecting that the transfer is a gift?