Westone info site

Ok, lads... we are on the cusp of a new era; the host for the Westone info site is folding his tent at the end of March, and we need to find a new host.

Barry has done the due diligence and has found a suitable host and the current host is happy to transfer all of the information over, so all good there.

Here's the rub, fellas; this costs and I don't have the readies  - and quite frankly, I don't have the inclination! - to pay for it myself, and neither does Barry so if you blokes decide that keeping the .info site is worthwhile, then we're all going to have to contribute! 

All we need now is a sense of where we are  - I think it costs around US$100 a year to do this , so hands up now who's prepared to help out.

This does not affect the forums - they are on a different set-up - just the info site.

Thanks, fellas...

John

More than happy to contribute John, the info site has proved an invaluable source of reference and by it's very nature runs in tandem with the forum.

Will watch this space

Count me in. 

I'm willing to contribute

Just two small but important corrections here folks.

We are not talking about the www.westone.info site. That domain name belongs to Forum member DreamRaven who is maintaining David Blair's old original Westone site.

What we're talking about is our own www.Westoneguitars.net site which is an updated and current informational web site based on David Blair's original data. This is what we're having to relocate.

And the anticipated cost would be just under $100/year in Canadian not US dollars. This covers both hosting and domain name fees. Ideally if we get 10 members @$10 (less in US/UK funds) we're good to go.

Many thanks to those who have already responded in the affirmative.

Our westies deserve it. count with my credit card!

Count me in, just not this month or she'll have me guts for garters!

Hypothetically with 1688 members, 1 dollar each. That should keep it going for 16 years...

Count me in.

Well I've become smitten with my Westone and intrigued with the Mats factory in general so for what it's worth, I'm willing to contribute.
With the years of hard work to put this info together, it's worth keeping.

We could have a raffle where one member donates something, a pedal maybe or a pickup etc and all ticket sales go to the site via a designated PayPal account ? 
I've seen this on another guitar forum and it works well.

1 Canadian dollar = .50p uk as of todays rate.

Count me in!

Please Westbone... don't rub it in..

Hi Guys,
I haven't posted anything in here for a long time but I'm happy to chip in, if it wasn't for the info site and this forum I'd not have the knowledge and pleasure of owning some of these fine instruments.

Count me in as well. Always glad to help as we all use the information and love our Westones.

This is a great forum. Count me in too.

Barry wrote:We are not talking about the www.westone.info site. That domain name belongs to Forum member DreamRaven who is maintaining David Blair's old original Westone site.

What we're talking about is our own www.Westoneguitars.net site which is an updated and current informational web site based on David Blair's original data. This is what we're having to relocate.

Thanks, fella - I get a bit hazy on those details! Glad you know how to do this stuff....

And yeah; thanks for circling the wagons, so to speak, and putting your hands up! We'll decide exactly how this is to happen and post something here - I'm picking that most in here have experience of Paypal so it will most likely take that form. If anyone else has a suggestion, then now's the time!!

Nice to see other currencies down there with the Australian dollar....

corsair wrote:...Nice to see other currencies down there with the Australian dollar....

Yeah, comforting ain't it?

Barry wrote:

corsair wrote:...Nice to see other currencies down there with the Australian dollar....

Yeah, comforting ain't it?

Think yours is bad!

South African Rand is R23.15 = £1.00 at the mo. + 2.75% transfare fee...

I'd buy that for a dollar!

Count me in

  ' know where that's from.

Yep count me in - Paypal, credit card or direct debit all good by me

I'm happy to throw in a few quid!

OK, troops... what I intend to do is set up a completely new email address expressly for this purpose and into which we can fire funds; sound OK? I'm new at this but I have Barry holding my hand and he's an old pro....

...(wait for it... wait for it...)

Just to keep things above board, here's the exchange of emails between Canada and Australia...

Barry, Corsair wrote:Rightio, then… I will set up a completely new email address for just this purpose and get the lads to fire money at ASAP. When it comes time to fire dosh at you, I can pay out of Paypal to your email address, is that right?

Not too sure of listing contributors though; I always felt on other sites it smacked a little of elitism… however I’ll put it to the crew and see what they reckon… In fact, I shall show them this email so that everyone knows EXACTLY what’s going on...

You’ve got a bit to be going on with, then?! ;-)

John
On 9 Feb 2016, at 7:20 AM, Barry Eames wrote:

Hey yerself John,

Sure, I guess PayPal is the simplest method for most folks to use. I guess it doesn't really matter who collects it as long as I get reimbursed. :-D
I'd prefer it if you handle the money buddy.

As for transparency, now that's a head scratcher. Obviously we can't give everyone access to a bank account but I think folks would be OK with a simple listing of Name / Amount Donated?? A Sticky post should do it, and you ('cuz you is da Admin) can update it with a running total. That would mean a bit of a PITA with currency conversions but I have faith in ya matey! There will be a balance to maintain for at least one year. With luck we'll raise enough to pay for more than 2 years and we can relax a bit.

While you are doing that here's what I need to do:
Set up a new account on the Canadian site
my current account is grand-fathered on the American site and I'm stuck with US fees, otherwise I'd consider setting it up as a second contract

The contract will be in my name so I'll have to provide a credit card for payment.
I'll use your PayPal balance to pay it off

I'll then contact Neil and give him the log in credentials so he can transfer the data over

I/he will then transfer the westoneguitars.net domain name from Namecheap.com to 1and1.ca
the cost of the name is included in the new contract so you will not have to worry about renewing it at the end of March as would have been the case otherwise
once it's all transferred Neil can close down his operations and we'll be running from Canada, and with greater speed I anticipate

Not sure about the timing of all this, that'll be between me, Neil and Namecheap.com
it should appear seamless to users as we switch over

At some point down the line I'll transfer ownership of the site to whomever takes over from me
but that's more paperwork for another day
So, here's a breakdown of the host plan I propose and you can share this with the membership:

1&1.ca Managed WordPress Hosting
BASIC PLAN
"The best choice for medium-sized WordPress projects"
CAD $6.99/month
       
First 12 months $0.99/month, or,
$11.88 + 13% HST = CAD $13.43 year

...then $6.99/month the following year, or,
$83.88 + 13% HST = CAD $94.78 year

Total for 2 years = CAD $108.21

This actually works out better compared with the STARTER PLAN @ $4.99 mo = $59.88 +13% HST =$67.66 year
or, $135.33 for 2 years. And we get lots more storage, speed and security.

At this stage I'm not aware of any additional fees.

Any of this help at all?

All the beast,
Barry


On 2016-02-07 9:19 PM, stokes family wrote:
Hiya Barry…

Rightio, we seem to have enough bods onboard to make this thing fly; how do you suggest we make it happen?

I’m thinking Paypal would be the way forward; what do you think? And just using either yours or mine perhaps? How do we make transparent enough for the people who donate to see where the money is going? Or do they just have to trust us?

John
On 3 Feb 2016, at 1:25 AM, Barry Eames wrote:

No worries me ol' trout!
I already have everything backed up here should the worst happen.  ;-)
But Neil has offered to move everything for us so I won't have to deal with the hassle and likely screwing it all up!

Yes, I think we need to post an informational piece to let the folks know that this change is in the works and will need a relatively small amount of money to continue with the web site (about CAD$100 depending on which plan we go with).

We need to be clear that the Forums are hosted for free and are not affected. The money is for the web (information) site hosting and domain name renewal. We must have the Domain name in order to keep the Forum address. I hope this not too confusing Johnny. *

If we get a quick and positive reply, sure, we can use the PayPal method to collect. I have a hunch we'll receive more than needed so perhaps the money can be tucked aside for future renewals? Easier than trying to return it methinks.
* The 1and1.ca account also includes the domain name! That means if we keep the web site that we need not worry about renewing that separately and we can drop NameCheap.com's involvement altogether. I believe that 1and1.com can transfer ownership at the same time. One less thing for you to be concerned about since you are the current owner.  If we do not keep the web site we still need to renew the domain name for about $15/yr. I'll let you know if/when we're at that point.
K?
Barry


On 2/2/2016 4:01 AM, Stokes Family wrote:
Ahhhh, rightio, mate; I got hold of the wrong end of the stick... again!! ;-)

OK, I value the website more than the forums at the minute but, like you, I'm not in a position to fund this by myself - if we cannot crowd fund it, then unsure where to go from there!

Can we download the data to a hard drive so that it's not lost forever should the worst happen??

How do we go about hitting the few people we have left up for a donation? Just ask on the forums, and get them to Paypal it to someones email address?

Barry, getting me to look at a hosting service is like asking a pig to knit a jersey; unwise at best and a step outside the pigs knowledge base!! If you're happy with it, then I'm happy!

... you'll see the option that we intend to take up at the bottom of Barrys last missive; if anyone has a well thought out opinion/suggestion, we're all ears but at the moment, this is the plan!!

John

So, a central PayPal account into which interested parties pay their contributions; which then repays Barry for his costs incurred for the webhosting & domain renewal charges in connection with the 'westoneguitars.net' website?

If so, sounds good to me

Yup.

In the grand scheme of things this is not really big money.
The more folks who contribute the less pain per person, and the bonus is, if we raise more than we immediately need there would be funds for the next renewal cycle 2 years from now.

Boo ya!

Sounds like a plan...just let me know where to send the cash.

And thanks for taking the time to sort this out.

I agree.  Let us know where to send and you got it. 

Thank you for doing this. 

Oh, and Barry... include $1 per year for yourself as a bonus.  Consider it coffee money.  Heck, in two years you could afford a cup!

In Canadian money,  $1 is the equivalent of 2 sips of coffee!  You're so generous Chad  


Thanks for all your hard work, and your dedication is appreciated guys,  cheers!

Ok will be waiting on the pay pal info.

Sgt. Vimes wrote:In Canadian money,  $1 is the equivalent of 2 sips of coffee!  You're so generous Chad  ...

Happy to contribute I like the PayPal route.

OK, lads.... I've set up an email account linked to a Paypal account and I'm just doing some checks before we go live...

(that means that I'm getting Barry to check what I've done because I'm a complete clod!!) 

Everything's looking good from here Johnny!
The account should be OK to receive funds whenever you're ready to roll.
Thanks for setting it up.

Okey, dokey troops...

westoneinfosite at gmail dot com

is the email a/c to pay into vai Paypal!

thanks for taking care of the business to keep the website going. it is an important resource.
great job gentlemen!

perhaps there could be a Donate link at the top of the page on the info site with the other links (Home, Forums, Guitars, etc), and maybe on the forums pages too.

-to alert visitors there is a need
-and to make it easy to find in the future, not only just readers of this thread

here is an example of how a listener-funded, online radio station does paypal donations for support. DFM 
clik on the Donate button in the middle of the homepage and it opens another page that gives the details of what is needed and what has been donated.

Good idea Mike.

+ One, great idea

Have made a contribution, please let me know if I need to send more or if that feels about right.

Thanks for the button suggestion Mike. Unfortunately it is not a straight forward application.

Tax laws have been tightened up considerably and according to PayPal:

Note: This button is intended for fundraising. If you are not raising money for a cause, please choose another option. Nonprofits must verify their status to withdraw donations they receive.

The line which causes potential problems is the last one. Even though we're dealing with relatively small total amount of money, we have no easy way to prove that we're a non-profit organization. That means that PayPal could freeze the money and we'd not be able to access the money raised!

I don't wish to go through the misery of creating and maintaining an Non-Profit Organization staus in addition to the web hosting etc. And, frankly, we're just not a large enough group to justify all the work involved.

So, please, for now, just make contributions via PayPal using the email address above *.
If you're not sure how to use PayPal have a look at this LINK

Thanks folks!

* EDIT: (repeat of the email address for convenience) westoneinfosite at gmail dot com

Donation made,  thanks again for your time and effort guys.

Those who've donated, please know that your donation is now sitting there awaiting Barry to uplift what he needs, when he needs it so thank you and big props out to you!!

Pleasure and honor to be part of.
Cheers guys

Donation sent...

Donation sent.

Not sure if this is a good or bad idea as donation amounts are up to the individual, but if like myself willing donators are unsure of what feels an appropriate amount to donate would (once everything has settled down) a

(x) amount of members raised
(x) amount of funds

Tag be useful as a guide

Donation sent - patron of the arts, me, eh...?

Thunder-Chunder wrote:Donation sent.

Not sure if this is a good or bad idea as donation amounts are up to the individual, but if like myself willing donators are unsure of what feels an appropriate amount to donate would (once everything has settled down) a

(x) amount of members raised
(x) amount of funds

Tag be useful as a guide

It's always been the plan to report on the status, and I'm sure John will do that when appropriate. The anticipated costs are already detailed in this thread. We are not looking for a large amount, either in total or from individuals. Small amounts times many is the key here, we're not looking to cause financial stress for anyone, and no one is getting get rich either.

Got enough for a prestige yet Baz? 
;-)

Sgt. Vimes wrote:Got enough for a prestige yet Baz? 
;-)

Nope... not yet!! Already scanning eBay, CL and Gumtree in readiness for the time I have got enough though!! 

Loving the way Barry is in the headlights while I lurk about in the shadows... this could work well for me!!

I'm not sure as to how to proceed with acknowlegment of donations; I've already done something small but public with the "Financial supporter" tag and really, I think that is enough. I am certainly not going to openly publish individual amounts but I shall take a screenshot of the account and show that to everyone, with the individual amounts blurred but the total balance visible. 
As Barry said, "small times many" is the key.....

On a personal note... you blokes are the best!!

Payment made

Out of interest guys...how are we looking so far, I know it's early days but are we on target to cover the next two years fees yet or could you do with a little more (disregarding the prestige bass for the moment)?