Important News!!

By and large by the same crew.

Then don't pay. No is making you.

People who are paying are doing so because they don't want boards to shut.

The mods have enforced a light touch moderation system across boards now, so unless you are planning on being abusive, posting things which may cause legal trouble for boards or are hellbent on discussing cases awaiting courts then you won't be banned.

There are dedicated threads to have as many opinions as members like though, this one is about ways to raise money and save the site. There's a thread on feedback about the way the site is ran and such matters so why does it always get dragged into every other thread to disrupt it. Enough said by me on this.

Maybe an idea for new signups.

On signup page, short blurbs explaining the dire situation/extolling the value of the info on site/Irish resource etc and giving an option for new signups to sub for one month to enable them to post across the site straightaway instead of having to post 50 or 100 posts before they have post access to certain forums? Might get a few quid from re-regs (and then nuke em) and you never know some signups might…

Thanks @Boards.ie: Mike and @Boards.ie: Odhran for coming forward with this. Honestly, I am surprised it hasn't happened sooner. As a very long time use of 20+ years on boards.ie (original account abandoned due to a dangerous stalker), I hope my contribution here is both read and considered, because it echoes mush of what other have said already.

The Negatives on Boards

From a technical point.

• The search function is horse shít. This makes the site harder to use and results in duplicate threads, sometimes from only days previous.
• The mobile version is almost unusable, as the page is constantly jumping up and down. This was worse when ads were listed.

From a management point.

• Moderation needs to be fair. It could not be clearer that some mods have a hard-on for warning and banning people who don't share certain views. As a general example, It's OK to call Christians delusional and that they believe in fairies in the sky, but you write any negative views about Muslims and see how fast you get banned, regardless of how you articulate your point. There are plenty of fair mods, but there are also plenty who we all know have dragged the site into the mud and some of those act in bad faith. Active users leave and the content bias keeps shifting one way. Go against the grain and you're a Nazi/far right loon/bigot/insert slur here. You need only look at the reviews to see what I am talking about.

The Positives on Boards

• The sense of community has seriously diminished after loads of people left for the reasons above. However, there is still a small community on each category, sometimes spread amongst connected categories, like EV and Renewables and this is worth saving.
• Boards is still a great place to get and share ideas, because most members are very helpful, sometimes even when they haven't a clue what they're talking about 😂
• As others have said, the bargains thread is a good one and I have come across one or two over the years worth using.

I suggest subscribers aren't marked and mods shouldn't know who is paid up, as it could possibly create some bias in treatment. I really hope to see the community grow and healthy, robust, respectful debate be allowed going forward.

I also echo that the HELP BOARDS SURVIVE type of message needs to be in every forum as a banner.

I'm happy to sub to help keep things going. It's the RIGHT thing to do 😉

I'm just waiting for my main email address to be unlinked from my abandoned account before subbing. Email sent to boards.

Thanks and best of luck.

Why would they? People are subscribing to give back and try to keep the site alive.

I think this "class warfare" concern is yours alone TBH

I've paid for the very same reasons, however I wouldn't like to think my posts are better than others. In fact I'd be quite happy for it to be less conspicuous.

Nate

Yes for sure not the twitter model!!! . And just for clarity. This credence was at first purely subconscious. It just stands out to see the paid tag under the poster.