BigDumbDinosaur wrote:
ChuckT wrote:
How about paid memberships? Members who are already here are exempt. New Registrations pay $10.00 which is refundable after 1 year if they have a post count and are in good standing or they can donate it to the owners of the board.
I think that would keep spammers out if they had to pay to join or it would generate lots of support.
The only problem I foresee with expecting a "deposit" as a condition of membership is now the forum is expected to be up 24/7 because people have paid for access. That puts an onus on Mike to immediately drop everything and tend to the server/software/Internet connection, or whatever it was that caused the forum to go down. Dunno about Mike, but I wouldn't want to be in that position for a hobby forum site.
You make it a contract that it is not for board service. If they make constructive posts for six months or a year, they can have it back. If they don't, it is yours and you can ban them.
For $20, you can have levels of membership.