if we need to go this route, so be it. whatever it takes to keep the site going.

I agree we need to keep this site going. I am willing to pay a yearly fee up front as well. even if it means 20bucks a month.

Here's a real freaky idea. Follow this for a second:

I agree with GatorVR4 on another post that says donations are just a way to make this site limp along until it goes south again. And who's going to pay for donations when there already is another Contour site that actually HAS the potential to become really great. No I'm not here advertising for them or anything - I'm not getting paid to advertise or something but hear me out.

I talked to Cardoctor and asked him his thoughts on CEG being in trouble. I guess that in his situation they have the capacity to hold the amount of members that CEG has and their bandwidth level is really high (something like 100GB a month). I hear he is going to share a GB of space for another Ford site that is in the same pot.

Why not just sell the Contour.Org name to him or ask him if he would consider taking over the forums operation for this site? The forums here are 99% the most commonly used thing... I've been a member here since June of last year and I don't see anyone interested in anything besides the forums or chat. I think that Lance got lucky with Matt lending him the bandwidth, but with luck it always runs out at some point. I hate to say it - But if CEG has to go it would be a shame to lose all the posts here and conversations. That in itself is almost priceless - If I were an admin I would definately suggest looking into possibly working something out... It's just an idea and it takes alot of stress off of Lance - Plus it consumes bandwidth that is already paid for... Albeit on Ford Contour.Org's server - But not gone and lost forever. Plus I think the animosity between some people on here and that site and Cardoctor is so immaterial that they should grow up, realize that when CEG was down last time he had no problem letting people come over there and get their "daily fix". C'mon people !!! Realize that the answer is right in front of your monitors.. If you are too proud or stupid to admit it you might as well format the hard drive on CEG's server because you've doomed everything learned and discussed here. Consider your obvious choices:

1. Finding a free T1 line.
(How many times do you think that CEG is going to get that lucky?)
2. Use a resource that is already out there waiting to be tapped.
(Smart move, let someone else pick up the tab while you get to enjoy everything you're used to.)

It's an idea. Give it some thought.
john

if it comes down to it i would prefer to pay an annual membership eventhough i am broke...i could come up with membership money though im sure

Freaky yes.

/me stomps on ground and yells:

"HEY, ARE YOU FROZEN DOWN THERE???"

Time to start selling advertising space.

Just, please, no annoying popups.

The trouble with pay sites is... there's nobody on them.

Yet, lots of free joints getting along even though nobody's posting.

But posting is what keeps this or any place going.

People come, because people come.

Sell some advertising. This site has to get hundreds of hits a day. A non-required membership fee of $25 a year. If someone doesn't become a member, we just don't answer their questions. This will allow people like Terry, who probably never ask questions but answer many, still help out contour.org It will also allow non-members to see how great the site is.

I have not been around for a few weeks, so I feel like I'm jumping into the middle of something I don't know much about here, but...

How are non-members going to see how great a site it is if we ignore their questions until they are a member? Seems they would get pissed and go away.

Personally, I do not understand nearly enough of the business of websites to have any suggestions of my own, but I will support whatever it takes to keep this site alive.

To date it has saved me:

-$2000 in not taking my SE in for a transmission rebuild it apparently did not need, despite 2 local in person sources saying that is what the problem was.
-$Hundreds in no longer paying for fault codes to be read, thanks to OBD II GB and being told that Autozone pulls codes for free.
-$Hundreds in repairs/maint. costs I am now able to do myself thanks to knowledge gained fron the forums.

Not to mention info about/links to/access to various upgrades and mods I never would have known about otherwise.

I will gladly put some back to keep the site alive. Just tell me where to send the check. (Actually Paypal is better )

Dave

Gator, yes it is frozen - Why don't you join me?

Anyhow - Beyond simple ignorance. What's the total cost needed for donations? Why not solicit to the manufacturers that make parts to see if they'll kick in? I'm sure with such a big clientele CEG should be a sure fire shoe-in for sponsorship. Banners and ads are tacky, and they end up driving people away because the site looks cheap - If you wanted to do that then move the site to a free server... Without the forums. Ohh I forgot - Remove the forums, remove the heart of CEG. Isn't that what you some of you are trying desparately to rescue??

Honestly, you spin your wheels to find more ways to get freebies and free money. When in reality it all comes down to the actual admin and what he can afford to do - Which has a complete different bearing than what any member here can say by "pledging" money every day/month/year. Running a site is not a cheap investment - Our company has a site that we spend around $3000.00 a month just for a full time web guy to run the site. That doesn't include server maintenance and also the cost of connectivity. All in all - A mid size business webspace is around $1200 to $2000 a year. Are all the members here ready to foot that bill?

Let's get a show of hands and also money where your mouth is. Foot that bill and I don't see why not that CEG couldn't go on every year on it's own server hosted by a decent company.

John

It has been mentioned in the past and shunned, but I think advertising is the way to go. Check out www.ls1.com, they have WAYYYYYY more users and traffic than contour.org and find a way to survive with advertising. A simple ad in the top middle of the screen that switches between vendors every few seconds would be great. Just think how many vendors/manufacturers we have helped via group buys, word of mouth and experimenting... Time to have those same vendors/manufacturers chip in for those who help put food on their table....the user community.

My .02