A New Chapter for Interference.com

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

You know, I dont think I ever noticed that the buddies had sad faces on the buttons... I wonder why they're sad.

I never noticed that.

 

[~BrightestStar~]

but don't worry its still going to be blue. I made sure of that.

Reason Number 325 of Why I love Sicilicious.





I can't believe I didn't notice this thread til now.
Anyways, congrats on all your future endevour's Joel and thanks for making this crazy place!


I fear change but I look forward to see what's coming.
As long as it's still blue.

 

[beegee]

A few optional features include allowing or not allowing comments to be posted

moderating comments before approving them

allowing only members on your contact list to view your blog and/or leave comments.

 

[AngelofHarlem01]

Will everyone be able to view member profiles with the upgrade or will it still only be accessible to those with premium memberships?

 

[neutral]

Yeah the blogs are definitely a nice upgrade from the journals we have now.

 

[onebloodonelife]

And it took me a bit of time to copy and paste 3 quotes. On the new forum you just click a button by each users post you want to quote and hit reply. This is one of our favorite features so far.

I avoid quoting multiple people often because it's a pain in the ass. This sounds soooo much better!


I have to be honest, when I read through Joel's post, I got nervous and a little upset, but it sounds like Andy and the mods are going to do a fantastic job!

Welcome to the community, Andy!

Joel, thanks so much for all of your hard work throughout the years!!

 

[diamond]

 

[Schmeg]

The journals will now be called blogs, and there are TONS of things you can do with them. A few optional features include allowing or not allowing comments to be posted, moderating comments before approving them, subscriptions, allowing only members on your contact list to view your blog and/or leave comments. An advanced comment box for responses, save blog as a draft, searching blogs, report a blog entry.

Lots of fun stuff

Will we be able to see old journal entries that were swallowed up by posting more journal entries than was actually healthy?

 

[Schmeg]

Will everyone be able to view member profiles with the upgrade or will it still only be accessible to those with premium memberships?

I was also wondering this. If Interference is now officially someone's "investment," than is there still a need to have paid memberships?

 

[~BrightestStar~]

Actually, I sorta have some questions along similar lines...

1) Will we be seeing any changes in the cost of premium, either up or down? I know Joel had raised it to keep up with site costs

2) This being an investment, are we going to be seeing more advertising on the site now? Cause that would make me sad.

Also, this might be silly, but when we switch over, will we lose anything like..journals or our PMs or anything like that?


Better yet, due to a mysterious fluke, can all our joining dates say we came into existence in the 1970s?


Thanks, and sorry if any of these questions are repetitive!

Welcome Andy!

 

[zonelistener]

Man...BrightestStar JUST beat me to a whole slew of questions I had.

When I joined the community more than seven years ago, I would never have thought of this place as anything more than a community. Now it is a money-making venture. I am pretty wary of that. Always have been.

I have been a Elvis cynic because I have always wanted a little more information on where the Premium money goes. I feel that if you are upfront with people on where the money is invested in, or if I can figure it out, I am a that much more comfortable with paying for a service.

I would love to see those types of posts from Andy. Build the trust from the beginning!

Further...as far as I know, the mods and admins have been tireless volunteers for too long. Will they or CAN they benefit from this venture?

I have been a part of a few other online communities, but NOTHING like interference.com. We (and I mean WE) have excellent moderators and admins who run a good, tight ship.

So, yeah. Welcome, Andy. Thank you Joel for building this community!

 

[~BrightestStar~]

Ooo! Oooo!

I spy Andy!


Now I feel like I'm stalking him






PS. *Just*?! I soooo beat you by like 20 minutes Zoney.

Anyhoo, you know what they say about great crackhea....I mean minds...

Now it is a money-making venture. I am pretty wary of that. Always have been.

I admit, this is a partial motivation behind my questions.

 

[Andy R]

So, do we get a pic of you Andy???

Photo added. It's from my trip to Africa in February/March this year. We went to visit and learn about life in the townships. It was really a humbling experience. you feel so sad to see people living in such poor conditions but life goes on and they all seem to smile and be quite happy.

 

[~BrightestStar~]

It's a very nice pic.

Sooooooo cute!





The little kid I mean.



But you ain't bad yourself.




New question!
You registered in 2006?
Have you been lurking all this time?

 

[Andy R]

1) Will we be seeing any changes in the cost of premium, either up or down? I know Joel had raised it to keep up with site costs

No, there is no plan to increase the cost of premium memberships.

Originally posted by ~BrightestStar~ 2) This being an investment, are we going to be seeing more advertising on the site now? Cause that would make me sad.

Not really. As you can see there are a couple really old ads at the top of the page (Total Tickets and the Interference t-shirt ad). I plan to replace those with a single Google ad. The goal will be to try and fit a single ad up there while at the same time reducing the total size of the header so you don't have to scroll so far down the page to get to the content. (see attachment)

Originally posted by ~BrightestStar~ Also, this might be silly, but when we switch over, will we lose anything like..journals or our PMs or anything like that?

Journals will be brought over into a new system with more functionality. Nothing will change with your PMs.

 

[Andy R]

The revenue from the site will go to offset the hosting and server costs (just like the past). I do plan to try and get some advertisers (which can be challenging with forums sometimes) so if I can land some then we will be cash flow positive and I will try to find ways to take care of our awesome team. I'll also make a commitment to donate to charities and support our members when they do things like events to raise money for charities. You know the kind of things like the Susan G Komen walk for a cure (womens breast cancer). I'd like to sponsor our members and do things to be a good member of the community. Yes, Interference was an investment for me (both time and money) I don't want to hide around that fact but please have some faith in knowing I will try to find ways to take care of the people who take of this site. It might be in the form of tickets to shows, flights to Ireland, CDs, a gift card to Starbucks, etc. If the gettin' is good the goodies will be better if the pickin's are slim then we all just have to go hungry and wait for a boom.

 

[diamond]

I'm a little bit nervous about all of this- I will have some of you know.

I'm contemplating ringing my therapist.

 

[Zoots]

Oppps, sorry. I did not know the policy was to not be able to change names. Sometimes members have good reasons for changing their names so when they present a case it's really easy to change. An example might be when someone uses the same name on other sites and gets a stalker. Others have something in their life change like a last name or event that makes their name no longer relevant and want to get it updated. Each site has their own policy on this. Let's talk about this more after the move.

It would be awesome if we had the ability to change our names! You know, people create names depending on what they're into at the time. And I think it kinda sucks that they have to stick with it for the rest of their life! lol. I mean, we are allowed to officially change names in real life so I don't see why usernames shouldn't be allowed to change. Besides, I have seen a modified username lately. Slightly different name but same join date and post history. So I'm sure it's do-able.

 

[~BrightestStar~]

Indeed, I fully support your requests to finally have your name officially changed to Poodlesque.

Andy, please make it so.

 

[Zoots]

Indeed, I fully support your requests to finally have your name officially changed to Poodlesque.

Andy, please make it so.

I didn't say I was gonna change my name!

 

[Sicy]

It would be awesome if we had the ability to change our names! You know, people create names depending on what they're into at the time. And I think it kinda sucks that they have to stick with it for the rest of their life! lol. I mean, we are allowed to officially change names in real life so I don't see why usernames shouldn't be allowed to change. Besides, I have seen a modified username lately. Slightly different name but same join date and post history. So I'm sure it's do-able.

Admins have the ability to change users names, but honestly I've only changed people's names a few times and usually its because of special circumstances like someone used their real name by mistake or maybe someone really wants to just shorten the name or change it into their nickname, as long as its obvious to all the members its the same person I dont see it as a big problem. I think it would be too confusing if members were able to completely change their names.

 

[Zoots]

as long as its obvious to all the members its the same person I dont see it as a big problem. I think it would be too confusing if members were able to completely change their names.

Makes sense.

 

[neutral]

Will we be able to see old journal entries that were swallowed up by posting more journal entries than was actually healthy?

Yeah you will be able to see all entries of even the biggest journals now.

 

[Gluey]

How about a way of seeing peoples alters???



Nice pic Andy!

 

[Sicy]

How about a way of seeing peoples alters???

You seem to want all the features that the staff has, not a chance sister

 

[yolland]

I don't have much to chime in at this time, as I've been shamefully delinquent in getting myself up to speed with the new features due to an exceptionally hectic 'real life' lately. But what I have seen looks great; as already mentioned, there are several cool new features, while at the same time the basic look and flow of the site remains the same old familiar Interference. It's like most any other upgrade; we'll probably all go through a little disorientation at first, because this or that button or link isn't exactly where it was before, hey what's this funny-looking new icon do?, some of the formatting is slightly but noticeably different, etc. But they're all minor things, the kind of stuff that becomes habit quickly, and before you know it you've forgotten it was ever any different. Andy and his staff have been so patient and responsive in addressing our questions and obligingly tweaking this or that function a little in response to our concerns. We're in good hands. And as far as the day-to-day moderating of the forums, like Sicy said, none of us are going anywhere, so y'all already know what sort of hands you'll be in there.

Thank you Elvis for creating this place, keeping it going all these years, and seeing to it that the management of the site will be in good hands heading into the future, and good luck with your new endeavors.

 

[Gluey]

You seem to want all the features that the staff has, not a chance sister

My Mum always told me to aim high....

You know you love me Sicy

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Also chiming in to add my complete support. Real life has gotten a bit overly busy these past few weeks (finals, work, and more MBA classes) but I'm really jazzed by the changes that are coming down the road. Andy has been really great to work with, very open to hearing us all out and to being flexible. I for one am excited about the direction. I hope everyone will be willing to keep an open mind and to continue to make this place the biggest and baddest (in the best possible way of course) U2 community anywhere.

 

[cobl04]

(Total Tickets I plan to replace

YYYYYEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH

 

[Lila64]

Nice pic Andy

BTW, what part of the world are you located in?