Unless I'm mistaken the amount of bandwidth doesn't seem to be the problem. (Unless of course we were able to cut down to a smaller cheaper package. But that would take a LOT of optimization since there would still be need for a big cushion.) Clubsoft said we weren't even near the bandwidth limit... The problem is that the money just isn't there.
cant be assed to read tru 8 pages of post but here's and idea why don't we just ask the people who already sell click games for a percentage of their money? they got big because of the feedback and support they got here so least they could do is do a favor in return. If you get their money your out of hosting trouble for sure!
"We have come to a point were the site gets so much traffic that the bills for running it are getting to high to be paid and the ads are not cutting it. I am hoping we see some donations to get us trough the next couple of months but this is a serious problem for the future."
For the record, I think it's a good idea to have those commercial klik games out there here too, helping to support the site both financially and content-wise.
Hope club wont mind me posting this here, but if we are doing to get really down and dirty on the technical side of things:
"Cost is due to the fact DC has its own dedicated server, we use alot of space, and cpu time. Had to move to a dedicated machine because we were killing the account on shared hosting (i.e. 200 sites running on the same server), plus other peoples poorly codes scripts in the background would cause everything to grind to a halt, not much that can really be done. PHP would help slightly, but not enough to warrant rebuilding the site completely from scratch just yet.. that's possibly a future project, but it's a mammoth task, we're talking months of work.
Be sure to follow us on the twitters for the latest and greatest: @dailyclick
If the switch to PHP will help, then switch to PHP. Take the ASP site offline, put up a generic PHP forum in it's place. Downloads, articles, and reviews can all pretty much be emulated by using threads. Things like projects, the store, and a proper front news page, are all features that can be coded (in PHP) later. Also, having 213k forum posts, both to store and sort through, probably isn't helping the server.
Originally Posted by maVado Then you should start right now. No need to recode but you could cut out a few features already, pick the page views that eat most of the bandwith and comment part of the code out. For example this answer frame.
Then present to the community how much you pay each month for the upkeep and list how much money in donations you need to keep the site running. Move the Donation frame to the top, above the user panel and maybe add three colored light to show if you are good to go for this month. Constantly remind people that they should donate to keep the site running. For example on the download page add a nag screen befire you can submit.
In general add layer ads to the page from another ad vendor.
And finally If people donate give them TDC points for their donation and make an option to purchase TDC points for money. Use the same donation button. I'm sure you can motivate a few people to spend a bit of money on a site they visit regular.
I like Mavado's suggestion about the donate button.
Have it in your face a bit more and let people know HOW much you need in revenue for each month. Set them a target so that people will think 'hmmm they need a few more bucks, I am sure I can help contribute'.... Plus the TDC points for contributing gives some extra incentive.
The issue about money has been rasied for a reason and that is that more money is needed. If you need to recode the site in PHP to help minimise bandwidth, then so be it, get it done. This is (usually) a great community and I am sure people will help when they can.
I just think selling games is not the way to go about this
Originally Posted by Adam Phant If the switch to PHP will help, then switch to PHP. Take the ASP site offline, put up a generic PHP forum in it's place. Downloads, articles, and reviews can all pretty much be emulated by using threads. Things like projects, the store, and a proper front news page, are all features that can be coded (in PHP) later. Also, having 213k forum posts, both to store and sort through, probably isn't helping the server.
Far easier said than done. Switching to PHP would mean recoding the whole thing from scratch, and means that everything would have to be recoded.. downloads, forums, projects, etc. And it's probably going to reduce BW usage by like 20% or so, which isn't going to make much difference.
Then again, bringing down the site for a year would greatly reduce traffic.
Disclaimer: Any sarcasm in my posts will not be mentioned as that would ruin the purpose. It is assumed that the reader is intelligent enough to tell the difference between what is sarcasm and what is not.
"Bandwidth isn't a concern, we pay for a set ammount which we're not close to going over "
"We use less than the 2TB a month we have allocated, so we're fine for bandwidth for now "
Now, I don't know if we're aiming for a smaller package so we don't have to have so much allocated, (I doubt that could happen since it's a dedicated server. Those are usually one package.) but it seems if things were so tight, we'd have already done so a little bit if that were an option.
Not sure if that's even relevant. Just wanted to make sure it was out there.
Originally Posted by MuzFar easier said than done. Switching to PHP would mean recoding the whole thing from scratch, and means that everything would have to be recoded.. downloads, forums, projects, etc. And it's probably going to reduce BW usage by like 20% or so, which isn't going to make much difference.
Then again, bringing down the site for a year would greatly reduce traffic.
Generic PHP forum means things like phpBB, vBulletin, etc. No need to code new forums when a solution already exists.
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Edited by Rob Rule
