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Would you donate a nominal sum of money for upgrading to modern commercial software?
$0 10%  10%  [ 6 ]
$5 7%  7%  [ 4 ]
$10 12%  12%  [ 7 ]
$25 43%  43%  [ 25 ]
$50 17%  17%  [ 10 ]
$100 7%  7%  [ 4 ]
$1000 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
$10000 2%  2%  [ 1 ]
Total votes : 58
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PostPosted: June 24th, 2021, 2:46 pm 
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Joined: April 30th, 2010, 4:11 pm
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Location: Georgetown, ON
It has been suggested to initiate a fundraising campaign and raise money to upgrade to modern interface software.

myccr.com is currently coded using the modular freeware Drupal 8.0, which has many limitations.

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PostPosted: June 24th, 2021, 3:02 pm 
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Joined: August 27th, 2002, 7:00 pm
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Location: Geraldton, Ontario Can
On another canoe site I'm on, we raise money by a member or members donating items. Anyone who contributes money to the site by a certain day is eligible to be selected for one of the gifts. When the draw is done, the member who offers the gift looks after shipping to the winner. The admin has very little to do with it, other than receiving the money and pulling names out of a hat.


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PostPosted: June 24th, 2021, 10:03 pm 
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Joined: March 18th, 2019, 7:54 pm
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Location: Brampton
I wouldn't have an issue with a donation. This site has been an invaluable source of information for me. I've made a few friends here as well. And god knows, it needs an update.

But if I may make one suggestion: it isn't just the software, it's also the implementation. Rather than just looking for off the shelf software to upgrade the site with, I would suggest hiring a pro, on a contract.

I've been in I.T. for 20 years, although web design isn't my thing, so I doubt I could be of much help - but I've been keeping websites running long enough to know the long term value of a proper, professional design, and also long enough to have some idea of the difficulties involved with updating a site that's been around for 20 some odd years.

Hire a pro, that's my advice. Someone who can update this place without changing the look and feel too much. We may even have a member or two around who can offer a hand.

And with that 1 donation of $10000, we could! :thumbup:

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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 12:39 am 
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Joined: March 11th, 2015, 8:49 pm
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I would pay money to leave the site the way it is. User interfaces change often, but they seldom improve. Bah humbug.


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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 9:35 am 
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Joined: July 9th, 2003, 11:48 am
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Location: Back to Winnipeg
I'm nervous about changes in the same way, could be the start of a slippery slope (but I know nothing about this stuff). If it really solves anything, I'd be happy to make a small one-time donation. P.

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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 10:03 am 
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Joined: November 6th, 2009, 9:37 am
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Location: Kingston, ON
Also of note, hiring a pro and software customization is why we are where we are. Years ago when we moved to this new system there were a lot of competing asks. It involved extensive customization through a professional IT company. It's these customizations that have lead us to a site that doesn't easily adapt to change. Off the shelf tools that have mass acceptance would be a good thing.


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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 2:40 pm 
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not now. Covids effect on border closures has made us seek paddling opportunities elsewhere. Has the WCA pursued grants? We fund our food banks because of good grant writers.( not me)


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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 6:55 pm 
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No thanks.
With the amount of advertising on this site, some of which I found offensive, surely that funding over time should cover your upgrades.

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PostPosted: June 25th, 2021, 9:23 pm 
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MartinG wrote:
Also of note, hiring a pro and software customization is why we are where we are. Years ago when we moved to this new system there were a lot of competing asks. It involved extensive customization through a professional IT company. It's these customizations that have lead us to a site that doesn't easily adapt to change. Off the shelf tools that have mass acceptance would be a good thing.


I wasn't suggesting customizations - rather, I would recommend against them, for exactly the reasons you mentioned, chief among them being that customization makes subsequent change very difficult. It's still something I argue should be done with professional help though, even in the absence of a bespoke implementation.

I'm happy to lend what help and advice I can, but like I said, I'm not a web designer. My expertise lies in systems engineering. Succinctly, I make it work good, and someone else makes it look good.

Ted wrote:
No thanks.
With the amount of advertising on this site, some of which I found offensive, surely that funding over time should cover your upgrades.

Sorry but the advertising on this site is well within reason. I assume it pays the bills, but doesn't pay for major changes. The advertising budget covers operational costs, but not capital costs, if I'm right. As for offensive advertising: I've worked for online advertising companies. It's a far more insidious problem than you think it is, and there are no easy solutions.

elGuapo wrote:
I would pay money to leave the site the way it is. User interfaces change often, but they seldom improve. Bah humbug.

I would pay money to have image links work properly here. And we can't leave it the way it is forever, or it will break eventually, horribly and irreversibly.

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PostPosted: June 27th, 2021, 5:30 am 
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Joined: April 22nd, 2019, 7:19 pm
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Ted wrote:
No thanks.
With the amount of advertising on this site, some of which I found offensive, surely that funding over time should cover your upgrades.


Curious to know which adds you find offensive and why they offend you. Might help Admin improve.

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PostPosted: June 28th, 2021, 10:48 am 
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Joined: April 30th, 2010, 4:11 pm
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Location: Georgetown, ON
Some of the Google AdSense advertisements, which have appeared, have been for Ashley Madison. They are sometimes; provocative.
myccr.com has no influence over which advertisements appear in this way.

PacketFiend is correct in stating that the advertisements only pay for the cost of hosting the site. This is just servers and access.
Administration is all by volunteers.

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PostPosted: June 29th, 2021, 12:22 pm 
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Joined: September 21st, 2006, 8:41 pm
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Location: Southern Ontario
I would make a donation, the site is in dire need of upgrading. New interfaces offer more user friendly options for links, pictures etc. and if it gets rid of that darn banner running down the middle of the PM text box :thumbup:

On top of the need for upgrades the site has proven very valuable for information of all things tripping, and thus is worthy of a donation IMO.

Volunteer donations are always a better option than a user fee.

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PostPosted: June 29th, 2021, 1:04 pm 
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Joined: April 2nd, 2019, 5:09 am
Posts: 42
I would donate a smaller amount, I mean I am not very tech savvy - I don't have issue with existing site really - but what will be improved and would my experience be negatively affected by an upgrade? don't know.
Other sites have a private 'donating member' section which I'm not really a fan of. I would vote to keep the entire site open access to all even though that allows (forgive the assumption) for the many that chooose not to donate to benefit from the few who will (which I have been a part of as well - paid for access / instruction only to have the resource released 1-2 years later free on public foums / media).
I have gained a lot through the myccr resource, so supporting with a small contribution is no different than buying a guidebook in my silly little opinion.


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PostPosted: June 30th, 2021, 7:11 am 
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Joined: August 5th, 2009, 8:34 am
Posts: 329
I would donate a small amount. There is so much useful content on here. However, with an aging age range of users, the format has to be updated in order to keep it fresh and interesting to younger people. We all know there are some weird glitches to this and I believe that if the interface was more up to date it may attract new people.


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PostPosted: June 30th, 2021, 9:02 am 
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Joined: February 28th, 2019, 4:55 pm
Posts: 18
I would enthusiastically donate towards site maintenance! Communities like this one are a dying breed; to have ownership and control over your entire operation and archive is a thing of the past that needs to come back.

Every machine needs maintenance and a website is no exception! My preference would be to keep the front end similar (stripped down look and basic functions) but with a modern back end that keeps the site alive and functioning for years to come.

I would also consider donating regularly via a Patreon type platform to make myccr ad free for everyone, or at least to the point where myccr could choose a handful of advertisers/sponsors that are relevant to the community and move away from AdSense.


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