Site announcements and information discussion

CM operates on dedicated servers, and the forum software offers much more than just a single Xenforo license. There are add-ons that provide extra functionality which we have all grown to love. Even more features will emerge in time, benefiting everyone.

Expenses

• I have paid a significant amount—I won’t disclose exactly how much—but it is a considerable sum for taking on the responsibility of keeping this non-profit generating site running…
• The server fee for the dedicated host at wired is currently 70 dollars monthly. I am reviewing this carefully. We might secure a lower rate, but part of that cost likely covers support fees… so it isn’t entirely clear cut…
• Domain registration costs 27.90 dollars annually.
• The Xenforo software license requires renewal—( $200 one-time fee - valid until the next cycle (!))
• All current Xenforo add-ons installed on CM cost approximately 45 dollars per month in subscriptions to keep us updated.
• Server load shows peak hours exceeding 95%–110%. The number of active users is visible on-site for everyone. It fluctuates…
• Our user base exceeds 25,000 members, with about 2,200 truly active within a reasonable timeframe right now. We gain roughly 60 new subscribers daily and lose about 2.
• I will soon install a new add-on: among other things, a mobile chat function that many have requested. It costs me around 70 dollars upfront plus a $10 monthly subscription.

**There you go! Plenty of good reasons to chip in a donation from time to time ** Any guarantee that I will spend all the donations on CM? Well, I could easily just buy beer for everyone and let CM sink… But why would I spend so much money acquiring CM and taking on this huge responsibility, supported by an energetic board and mods, if I were only going to let it all go to hell? So you have to trust me on this. That is all I ask. Your trust in me, and perhaps a small donation from time to time, if you like CM even half as much as I do:-) And should I ever be flooded with donations beyond reason, You will be the first to know;-)

Two ways of donation

1. THE DONATE BUTTON

1. Click the donate menu item.
2. Enter an amount and hit the Donate button.
3. You will then be redirected to PayPal for payment. The recipient is . You can choose whether or not to have your name listed in the donation list:-)

If that doesn’t work for you for some reason, you can also use this method:

2. DIRECTLY FROM YOUR PAYPAL WINDOW Send the donation from your own PayPal account to ** **. It will be listed under whatever name or note you choose, ( Please leave a message in the PayPal window - at minimum mark it “donation” and preferably include your CM member name - I’d like to know who to thank!. Also consider sending me a PM here on the Mansion. I would love that:-))

Sincerely, Jens Administrator