Why donate to DU? Help me keep my job!

Last fund drive, I posted a thread asking DUers to donate so DU could afford to hire me full-time. I explained how I had been working for free, and then for a very small monthly check, for over 2 years, because I believe in what DU is doing (I wasn't involved in the founding of DU, I joined a month later as a regular poster and volunteered when a programming project came up). I encourage everyone to go back and read that thread (linked above).

Now, we're at the next fund drive. DUers came through last time, and DU reached its goal and Skinner was able to hire me full-time. Since that time, I've been able to implement a slew of features that had been sitting on the "TO DO sometime later when I have time" pile. We've been able to upgrade our servers to a much more powerful setup (although we're experiencing some minor technical issues that we're still working out, that is to be expected with such a major upgrade) which has virtually eliminated the mid-afternoon till mid-evening daily slowdowns we used to experience Monday - Friday, and has enabled us to handle the massive increase in traffic to the website during primary season.

Although my main job, as the techie admin, is adding new features to the discussion board software and fixing bugs, etc, I do many other things that benefit you as a DU member in direct and indirect ways. For example, I'm also responsible for making sure our servers are running properly and as well as they can be. Most of you probably remember DU was the victim of a DOS attack in January. Because I was working for DU full-time, I was able to address that situation as soon as it began and work with our ISP on shutting down the junk traffic, monitor the servers, and record, track, and compile information that will help us in finding out who was responsible. Had I been working at my dayjob on my normal schedule in January, rather than working for DU, I would have been at work when that happened. Skinner would have had to call my cell phone, and possibly wait hours before I could get home and check out the situation.

Another thing having me on full-time allows me to do is cover the administrative work for Skinner and EarlG when they're unavailable. Believe it or not, running a discussion forum such as DU is a very stressful job a lot of the time, and even admins need vacations sometimes. Skinner and EarlG took some time off around the Holiday season this year, and because I was on staff full-time, I was able to cover the administrative work and allow them some rare time off without having to worry much about DU. Consequently, you have an admin staff that came back much more refreshed and ready to deal with the stressful and nasty primary season in January/February than you would have had if I had been unable to do that because I was working at my dayjob full-time.

Now, to give you an idea of the programming work that's been completed since December when I came on full-time, I've compiled a list of new features, bug fixes, and other changes I've finished since December. This list is by no means a complete list, but gives you a good idea of what work has been accomplished, which in turn makes DU a better place for you, the member. The pace at which I was able to add new features before December was easily less than a third of this pace, due to time contraints since I had to work my dayjob full-time. So think about if all these new features are worth a few bucks to you in a donation to DU:

Changes for everyone:

• Hide Threads feature added
  
• Spam guard was added to prevent spammers on the boards
  
• Bug was fixed which allowed people to post after a thread was locked
  
• I was able to identify 3 major bottlenecks in the database and reduce the slowdowns caused by them by over 65%
  
• Voting in polls was modified with several changes to eliminate some freeping tactics
  
• Spellchecker was added
  
• My Recent Posts was added
  
• Setup the old database server as an image server to reduce stress on the two front-end servers
  
• You're automatically redirected to the proper URL after posting now, so hitting 'Refresh' works correctly
  
• Sent folder for private messages
  
• You can alert on a private message now
  
• Ignore link added to private messages
  
• A major security hole was found and fixed in the private
  message system
  
• Links are now automatically shortened to prevent posts from scrolling sideways off the screen and messing up formatting
  
• The archives are now browseable
  
• The basic search was improved
  
• Advanced search was added which enormously improves your searching ability
  
• When you make a one-time donation online via credit card your donor star is now automatically assigned
  
• Liberal radio links were added to the Lobby/Latest pages
  
• The "Latest Polls" feature was added
  
• The option to remove Lounge threads from the Latest page
  
• Mystery Upgrade #4
  
• Mystery Upgrade #5
  

A few of these features you may recognize as features added off of our DU Holidays Wishlist, which we ran this year. This was something we did to give our members a real say in the improvements they wanted to see added to DU. I posted a thread asking everyone to make suggestions about what they would like to see done on DU. The admins then picked the finalists, and everyone got to vote on which ones they liked the best. As you can see from the list above, we've added five of the finalists already (the ones receiving the most votes were added first), and as you'll see below, two more are finished and waiting to be revealed.

In addition to those improvements for everyone, I've been able to program many features which are available to the moderators and admins to make our jobs easier and improve the manner in which we moderate the discussion board. This benefits you, as members, because as more work for the moderators/admins becomes automated, that reduces stress on the moderators and admins as well as creating more time for us to deal with issues that come up. The less stressed/busy we are, the better the service we can provide to you guys becomes.

Changes made to improve moderating

• The post as "Moderator" feature was added
  
• The way in which the admins can search the database for IP matches for returning disruptors was improved
  
• Locked threads are now automatically removed from the Latest page
  
• The warning system was added
  
• The appeals system was added so members can more easily appeal a warning
  
• The "Type of Violation" was added to the warning system to better explain to members why they got a warning
  
• We now have an automatic IP check function to better spot returning disruptors before they have a chance to disrupt the message board
  
• I've almost completed a new system for Alerts which will eliminate duplicate work for the moderators, improve the speed with which they receive alerts, and hopefully reduce the time spent dealing with alerts
  

Finally, there are five new features that I've programmed especially for the fund drive. When we reach certain goals for the fund drive, these features will be revealed. Every 200 donations, we'll reveal a new feature - and I can promise you there are some really good ones in there (the one for reaching 1,000 donations is especially cool), including two from the DU Holidays Wishlist (see above).

In closing, I would like to say that there are many, many projects that I want to do for DU over the coming months that I hope I'm able to do. The only thing stopping me is whether or not I'll have the time available to continue to improve DU for you guys at the same rate I have been over the past few months. No matter what you think about anything on DU currently, the fact is that these software improvements benefit everyone, and make DU a better place for all of you.

So I hope you'll donate to DU this week and help us reach our goal, so I can continue to work for this great website full-time, and continue to bring you new features, bug fixes, and a more improved experience at DU. We all know DU is one-of-a-kind, no place else on the internet gives you what DU does, and with the election coming this year, you're going to need DU to be at the top of its game. Can you even begin to imagine going into November without DU? How horrible would that be, with the media how it is, just stop and imagine how much you're going to depend on DU in October/November of this year - and then consider if that's something you would pay for. You pay for so many things everyday with hardly giving it a thought that provide so much less, why not support a website that is offering you so much?

Any amount of donation helps, you can give as little or as much as you can afford, so please take a moment to donate.

Thanks

I usually give a chunk every summer, so this will be a little extra Elad "gravy", so to speak. Anyway, what the heck would we do without you??

Sue

Just curious? Because we could get an Indian guy to do your job a lot cheaper ... so are you supporting one of the anti-NAFTA candidates? Nothing personal. :evilgrin:

I'm on the phone with a guy in India right now. (I just put him on hold. TAKE THAT!)

We're lucky to have Elad. I've already donated, but I think I'll send some more $$ tonight when I find someone deserving of a star.

/Gravelbutt

I'm not so sure about that. :) We're not getting rich off of DU, we get paid enough to get by. It's a labor of love, so I'm not sure outsourcing would actually work, hehe. :)

Is that open source? I'm sure you must have changed it a *lot* right? It's php yes? Just curious - honestly, I'm surprised you guys can keep this whole thing running as smoothly as it does :)

And for mystery upgrade #5 (but not #4, interestingly enough)

;-) A toast for spellcheck! :kick:

You are the greatest! My donation was small but it is there. I hope you know how appreciated you are, all of you.

:yourock:

I donated last night and intend to continue sending donations in the future. I appreciate all you do and hopefully enough DUer's will feel the same and donate some cash for the cause so we can keep you on full time and allow you to keep surprising us with all the new toys on DU.
DU Moderators, thanks again for such an incredible site.
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:yourock:

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look great and have made the board more interesting to use.

Unfortunately, it has been my experience that during the same time span, the interesting level of CONTENT has decreased at the site.

I can only hope that the level of despair I've heard from former and current DUers reflects in the fund raising effort. If a lack of funding shuts down DU, as you seem to suggest, it won't be due to lack of s/w upgrades.

What do you think might be some reasons that could happen?

I'm still wondering if this is a serious concern or not?

Can you even begin to imagine going into November without DU? How horrible would that be, with the media how it is, just stop and imagine how much you're going to depend on DU in October/November of this year - and then consider if that's something you would pay for. You pay for so many things everyday with hardly giving it a thought that provide so much less, why not support a website that is offering you so much?

:kick:

I have donated in every fund drive since I've been here and I will keep donating. If it wasn't for you and the work you do on the DU, the men in white coats would have taken me away by now. I am SO grateful for everything you do. And I'm reminded of what a GREAT JOB you do every time I sneek a peek at the format of the freak republic. :O

As for going into November without DU - no - I CANNOT even begin to imagine it.

People - DONATE WHAT YOU CAN - IT IS VERY IMPORTANT.

how I dislike spelling errors. x(

I'll forego the lapdance....THIS time ;-)

Sorry I couldn't give as much this time as I have before. You, Skinner, EarlG and DU are the best. :toast:

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DemEx

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coming by way of "snail mail"...look for it in your mailbox in a few days.

Thank-you for all you do to keep this place "a-float."
Your hard work really shows.

The one for being able to make the post way long extending way off the screen was the best. Now everything word wraps. ;-)

I, for one, am so grateful that you're on board full time. You deserve more than they're paying you. I love the new features. They make an already user-friendly site even better. I can't wait to see what you think up next.:-)

Rhiannon

what more do you want people!!!

Even being a German citizen, I find a lot of interesting topics here on DU. After all, what an ex-drug addict calling himself president does is not irrelevant to Germany.
Many things are not or only scarcely covered by our German media, e.g. the work and obstruction of the 9/11 commission. But even in Europe we are losing civil rights through laws justified by Sept. 11.

I appreciate very much the professional quality of the DU staff, and the resulting high number of visitors, which makes possible to expose your ideas to a lot of people.

I agree with you completely. The fact that the man calling himself president chooses to alienate two of our oldest allies, Germany and France, is certainly not irrelevant. Every American should stand up in protest, but even the civil liberties of protesters in America are being taken away. September 11 brought us all together. Every country lost citizens. But George Bush* squandered this world-wide sympathy and divided us from our allies like never before.

DU is the best site on the web, IMO. Thank you for being here. It is important that we get many voices on DU and I am so glad that you are among us.:-)

wher DU knows that the donation is from "Jane Roe," but does not get to know my real identity in the real world?

cash anonymously and ask that it be credited to your username, but DU doesn't do anything with your personal information and if they really wanted to, they could find out who you are anyway, from your ISP. But, they don't do that. I feel perfectly comfortable with them knowing who I am.

If the current owners promised never to sell the site. Most of the bad experiences I have had on the Internet have occurred when ownership of the entity I am dealing with transfers from somebody I like and trust to somebody I don't like and don't trust. (eg, MP3.com website sold to Vivendi, circa 2002)

As such, my privacy concerns stand.

I think you can stay anonymous (to DU) only if you send them your money in cash and write your forum name.

The thing that troubles me most is not that amazon or DU knows my identity but other guys, paid by our governments. And they could know you via your IP (I think if you only post from your office you are safer, it would be hard to track the infos to your individual computer).

by snail mail.


:yourock:

that YOU ARE GROVELBOT!!!

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to follow the one-time donation I made recently.

Elad, I truly appreciate the service that you, Skinner and EarlG provide. I become electronically politically active after becoming a Wes Clark supporter last October and discovering DU was a great moment.

:kick:

I guess my old star status from a couple years ago wore out - hungh...

(High) time for another donation I suppose - heh...

I just want to say thank you for being here, this is the best web site on the internet. I've been to many sites before, but this is the only one I've ever registered at and posted at. The conversations are adult and entertaining and even the disagreements are civil. It is a great place to join in with other liberal thinkers. I've donated what I can this time and when I'm doing better, I will do a monthly donation. Again thanks.

ps I happen to love Grovelbot!

What a brilliant creation. Is he available?:D

:kick:

The latest version (as of January 29, 2004) of DCForum+ is Version 1.25. What does DCScripts or DU do to make it easy/easier to migrate user changes and customizations to new versions and releases? (Do y'all use any Version/Release control software? formal disciplines?) How much effort do you estimate it would take to retrofit (including debugging) existing DU changes to a new version? to a new release? How has this (or will this) affect a decision regarding adoption of an upgrade? Does DCScripts offer any direct support for their software or is it solely user-supported? (Inquiring minds want to know.)

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DemEx

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