CZ: Changes to CowboysZone Supporter System

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Angus

Hostile, how can donations be sent to you?

I send people my mailing address and they can mail the donation. Then I will make the payment and give the donation info to Reality. Several people have donated this way. Including one of our Mods.

[dallasfaniac]

So you really live in that off-shore bank account?

[Angus]

Originally Posted by Hostile

I send people my mailing address and they can mail the donation. Then I will make the payment and give the donation info to Reality. Several people have donated this way. Including one of our Mods.

Please send it to me then. Thanks.

[Maikeru-sama]

So if you donate, you can have the ads removed?

[dalsyk]

Originally Posted by Reality

For well over a year, we have had internal discussions on how to improve the recognition that users who have donated to CowboysZone receive. Our goal was to give better recognition to the most recent users who donated while at the same time showing appreciation to those who have donated in years past. We are very excited to announce we have finally created a new system for Zone Supporters that will do exactly that.

[View Full Quote]In the new system, users who have donated from January 1st of the current NFL season (ex: 2009) through the Super Bowl of the current NFL season (ex: February 2010) will have the CowboysZone Supporter image displayed below their name/avatar. After the Super Bowl, the CZ Supporter system will be rotated and only the users who have donated since January 1st in that year (ex: 2010) will retain their CZ Supporter image. However, every year a user has donated will always be displayed below their name/avatar regardless of whether or not the user is a current CZ Supporter.

On a personal note, I want to let everyone know that donations are always appreciated but not required. I put this site online many years ago so that Cowboys fans would have a family friendly place to support, discuss, debate and complain (when necessary ) about their favorite football team. Over the years I have upgraded the site and the servers to support its constant growth in popularity and activity. I have always avoided placing annoying advertising and sponsorships on the site because I wanted to keep the site clean and fast.

While I have always been happy to cover the operational costs of running CowboysZone, I do appreciate the donations that users make each year. I am glad that the new CZ Supporter system will acknowledge the users who donate, both past and present, so that other users can see who is helping to make CowboysZone the best Cowboys forum site on the internet!

Note: To support the new system, every user must be updated manually so it will take some time to complete this process.

-Reality

where do I send the paypal payment? cowboyszone?

[Maikeru-sama]

Originally Posted by dalsyk

where do I send the paypal payment? cowboyszone?

There is a Paypal link at the top right of the page.

[dalsyk]

Originally Posted by Maikeru-sama

There is a Paypal link at the top right of the page.

thanks!

[Cajuncowboy]

Originally Posted by Hostile

I am Reality's right hand here, and even I do not know how much he pays for the server costs to run this site or the licensing fees to the software we use.

I know this, we have the absolute fastest servers available. Not little in home stuff that crash on game days or need graphics taken down so they don't lag. The biggest baddest dogs in the yard protect this site and keep us in business.

This site is as well maintained as it possibly can be and we're getting some new stuff again this year. Other sites are run for profit, this one is not. I know for a fact that almost every month he pays out of pocket for some of the costs and he does not have to.

[View Full Quote]We could have signed up for the Dallas Cowboys to cover all costs, but some things that we were unwilling to do were in the offer. He could put ads anywhere he chooses, and he chooses instead not to. As I said, this site is not an ad machine and given the traffic and what he could make by doing so it is pretty darn cool of him. I wouldn't blame him one bit for adding more ads, but he doesn't.

That is why I say every donation is appreciated, because it goes directly to the site or upgrades we do to the site.

I hope my question didn't come across as anything other than curiosity. I really appreciate this place. I was wondering what the nut was on something like this. We have toyed around with something similar for another project but we went in another direction.

[ThreeSportStar80]

Ok admins/mods I want to donate you guys got me!

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Cajuncowboy

I hope my question didn't come across as anything other than curiosity. I really appreciate this place. I was wondering what the nut was on something like this. We have toyed around with something similar for another project but we went in another direction.

It didn't to me. I try and anticipate the next question and answer as much as I can.

[dreghorn2]

Sometimes it is very difficult to quantify exactly what something is worth to you.

I access this site multiple times per day and have done so for years. I also read several other forums most of whom are well run, this site however, without question is the finest i have seen.

The traffic is enormous and the information fast and topical (the daily zone is fantastic for up to date information). In addition there are many members with specific skills, insights, and contacts all of whom make the "being a fan of the Dallas Cowboys" experience so much deeper.

The moderators here do a terrific job of keeping an overwatch of the board. This is not an easy thing to do and a lot of time is required by people who are just volunteers. I have seen many forums, all with great intentions, disintegrate from lack of supervision.

It is easy to see that this is a labor of love for those involved, and i hope that if the time ever comes that serious financial help is required, that they do not hesitate to request it.

This is a great site and i hope it continues to be run in the same manner for a very long time.

[Achozen]

The green box kinda throws me off. You guys should have made it blue.

[Reality]

Originally Posted by Achozen

The green box kinda throws me off. You guys should have made it blue.

Moderators have blue boxes .. I wanted to go with purple for Supporters, Hostile suggested pink and Juke wanted a completely transparent image. We settled on green

-Reality

[Reality]

Originally Posted by rockwood2

Sometimes it is very difficult to quantify exactly what something is worth to you.

I access this site multiple times per day and have done so for years. I also read several other forums most of whom are well run, this site however, without question is the finest i have seen.

The traffic is enormous and the information fast and topical (the daily zone is fantastic for up to date information). In addition there are many members with specific skills, insights, and contacts all of whom make the "being a fan of the Dallas Cowboys" experience so much deeper.

The moderators here do a terrific job of keeping an overwatch of the board. This is not an easy thing to do and a lot of time is required by people who are just volunteers. I have seen many forums, all with great intentions, disintegrate from lack of supervision.

[View Full Quote]It is easy to see that this is a labor of love for those involved, and i hope that if the time ever comes that serious financial help is required, that they do not hesitate to request it.

This is a great site and i hope it continues to be run in the same manner for a very long time.

Very well said and appreciated!

[Hostile]

Originally Posted by Reality

Moderators have blue boxes .. I wanted to go with purple for Supporters, Hostile suggested pink and Juke wanted a completely transparent image. We settled on green

-Reality

I said hot pink for Eagles and Redskins fans usernames. You said our members would beat them up and make them cry if we did that.

What exactly was the drawback again?