I am interested in joining A-gaurd, but the link indicates that the proecess to do so is down. When will this process be back up and what details can be given about dues and so on?

thanks,

Sean

Sean & All,
The A-Guard was originally setup to defray the costs of the site, provide members a way to have more gallery space and a few other perks. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to manage the user signup/renewal and cancellation process so it had to be shut down until such time as I can automate some of that.

Stay tuned. Basically I am planning a rather large change to the whole concept of user subscriptions. No the site is not going to become a "pay to access" site. But I realized the other day that if I make a few changes to the process and lower the fee considerably, then I may be able to bring my goal of making this site my full time occupation closer to hand.

For those in the A-Guard now nothing would change (until such time as all the existing subscriptions expire. For the new "subscribers" there will be an option of what support group you would like to join. So we can have the A-Guard, Shipwrights League, AeroGuard, and whatever other fun stuff we can imagine.

Here is what I have in mind....

1 year annual subscription (optional)

- subscriber status on posts/profile
- 50mb of gallery space
- user uploadable avatars
- inclusion in any selected KitMaker E-zines (newsletters, etc)
- access to any subscriber forums (a-guard, etc)
- more (TBD)

All for the incredibly low cost of $12 annually.

The newsletters or e-zines are something I want to pursue more of as the subscriber-base grows. Initially they may be just updates on what is going on with the site, but the goal would be that they would have unique content of their own and perhaps even reach magazine level quality (just delivered electronically). Not a small task but one I can do if given the time to work on it.

Also this will all be launched with a complete re-work of the signup process. The new process will allow users to set their own password, return and modify their email, simplify the forgot-password system, and also build the subscription signup into the initial user signup.

Lol... bet you didn't know your little question would evoke all this?

Comments? Suggestions?

Cheers,
Jim

I have some, Jim.

Would we be able to put our banners back on site?

Would the gallery space still be only for Armorama use?

Alex,
You can do both right now. In the past we asked that only modeling related photos go into the gallery because (let's face it) it's a model related gallery. I don't really think you would want to see your July 4th BBQ pictures coming up on the homepage of the gallery with comments from members. But you do have the ability to hide personal albums, so in that case, sure why not. The reality is just to use common sense on the whole issue.

As for banners in the existing gallery, people are doing it now. It was only suggested that to save some small percentage of server resources that we use some other off-site hosting for that.

Again the reality is that if you need photo hosting you can go to photobucket and get 1GB for FREE. The point of having space on Armorama is to display and organize your model photos (I hope).

Cheers,
Jim

O.K.

I also visit Planet Armor I was using my gallery space here for pics there until I read a post expaining/reminding users to use the Armorama gallery space for Armorama so I got a photobucket account - I'm hoping some day I'll actually build some models and it will get full... :-) either way it is no big deal, but I thought I would ask anyway.

As for family BBQ pics don't worry my life is not that exciting...

Just one question boss. How will the deferent groups work? (Armorama, Shipwrights. Ex.)
Will are money only be used by the group we sign up for or will it still be used by the site as a whole?
And if it’s the former will there be an option to have it used by any group or to be able to possibly join more then 1 group?

Alex,
Sorry I was unaware of such a post unless my memory is that far gone. Did I write that? If someone else did then they are wrong. It may have been more of a "friendly suggestion" but it's never been official site policy to stop users from displaying their gallery photos elsewhere. If I wanted to do that I can add a little snippet of code in about 2 minutes that would stop all images from displaying on specified sites.

Jacob,
As for where the money goes, sorry I should have been more clear. Minus the operating budget for the server, domain expenses, shipping expenses (for sending review items), promotional costs, etc. the rest would go to my paycheck (if it actually gets that far) so I can do this job fulltime. Obviously I will continue to expand the site and add servers, software as it grows as well.

Regarding the club affiliations. At this point I wouldn't see the harm in subscribers joining as many of the clubs as they wanted to. The club affiliations would obviously give us an idea of their interests from their profile, etc.

Cheers,
Jim

Wow, nice changes, and change ($) left over for just that right PE set. :-)
$12.00 is real inexpensive.
Really like the ideas and possibilities
Bob

Man Jim, you sure know how to sell a product!

So by doing the $12 annually, we would completely remove the monthly subscription?

Jeff

My question...Would the $12.00 annually be an annual subscription per group that we decided to join? Just curious!

Sean, nice timing on this post. I just got notification that mine will not be renewed.

Dear David Savard,

Your subscription to Armorama Guard Silver Annual Membership has been cancelled by Armorama.com.

You will not be billed for this subscription again.


-----------------------------------
Cancellation Details
-----------------------------------


Cancellation Date: Jul. 6, 2006
Subscription Name: Armorama Guard Silver Annual Membership
Subscription Number: S-22789200U0455815X
Item Number: AGMS-25YR for Dixon66

Do I lose the increased gallery space while we wait for the next changes?

Dave S.

I just cancelled all the renewals for the older $25/$75 subscriptions. For those on the $4.95 bi-monthly payments I would recommend just cancelling these once the new one is available.

For those who currently have an active annual membership...

For those in the A-Guard now nothing would change (until such time as all the existing subscriptions expire.

Mary...
No there would not be any additional fee per club.

Jim

What you have proposed sound good to me so far Jim. I like forward to joining when this gets official.


thanks,

Sean

Staff Jim

If I understand correctly that someday a person could join any one of the five major sites for only $12. If for some reason you wanted to join Armorama and Modelshipwrights it will cost you $24.

There is no affect on your ability to participate on any of the five major sites (except for the regular limits on server space and special features) if you do not join.

You will no longer be charging re-enlistment of A-Guard and letting them expire until the new system is up and running, and that we will be able to keep our server space until then.

Sounds like a simple 50%+ price reduction for a better value add!

Not quite... The $12 is for a subscription to the entire network. In addition you can opt to join clubs like the A-Guard or any new ones setup for the other sites at no additional cost.

Jim

Ahhhh thank goodness for that!!!!

I just got the same email and thought I'd been banned or something (and I've just sent a rather panicky email to Jim asking why ), so Jim, if you read this first you can ignore the PM )

One question though Jim: I often refer family and friends to my gallery to check out pictures of my new builds. The way the current gallery works I suspect they can't see larger pics from the gallery without joining the site - and no matter how much they love me I suspect they won't pay $12 to look at pics of my builds. How will this be affected by your (otherwise good) changes to the site?




Sean

Sean,
Well technically speaking they wouldn't have to subscribe to see your pics, just register.

But I will take your point about accessing the larger images under advisement. There may be some way to authorize it via an emailed link or something.

Jim

Silly question here, but is 12 bucks a year enough?
The reason I ask is, what happens if you only get a
few hundred people subscribing..



Dave

Dave,
Yes I am hoping that at $1 a month most people will consider this a pitance and signup for the extras. The site has about 2000 solid regular visitors that are registered users so if we can get them to realize (ahem) that if they want more fun stuff (or a site even) then $12 a year is not too much to pay. Once a solid base of subscribers is on-board I can do more to maintain, improve and expand the network.

Cheers,
Jim

It just keeps getting better and better.

I think its a great idea and reducing the price as you have will most certainly see a higher level of participation from the members here. I know i certainly would.

In regards to the likes of Armorama.co.uk for example, are these all going to be integrated with the main armorama.com? In terms of the A guard membership, would it apply there as well or remain seperate?

Jim, I got the same email as Dixon66 (Dave Savard) received. When I first got it I was a bit surprised, but once I read this post, and got the scoup, I have a much clearer view of the picture. Wheeeew !!

Not a big deal, but maybe you should have announced it first before you pushed the 'nuke' button ??..... :-)

Will you or someone notify members when the the old A-Guard subscriptions are up and new ones are availible ? This is my 2nd year as an A-Guard member, and I'm really happy with the benefits that went along with it. If the new system will be bigger better for less money, thats even better !

No more free Armorama t-shirts for joining ? Maybe offer a slightly higher price for the A-Guard membership, and offer the cool Armorama t-shirts again. Just a thought

Regardless, I think you are doing a fantastic job on this site, and I'm proud to be an Armorama member

Cheers !!

Robert

Jim:

I gather we sign up for one "group" for $12 / year, but that is "valid" across the board, did I get that correct ?

So do we get a little badge like the "old" A-Guard badges ?
Does that badge only show in the "group" we sign up for, or does it show up in any group we might be participating in ?

I guess I go back to some earlier concerns I have about the direction of the site, but there are many(some) of us who are multi-disciplined (is multi-disciplined really undisciplined ).

Thanks,
John

John,
Most likely (as nothing is finalized yet) you will have something like this on your sidebar/profile.

Network Subscriber

[A-Guard Badge image]


And as I said you might have more than one badge depending on which groups you wanted to affiliate yourself with.

Jim

Yep, as soon as it's good to go, you can put me in coach, I'm ready to play!