This Millenial wants more out of DG.

So this has been bugging me for months....

I am a fairly recent subscriber and I know that I am in the minority demographic of your site users (as a Millennial) but I'm really having a hard time finding value for the subscription fee. I enjoy the forums and have made lots of great friendships but there are other sites with free forums that seem to be just as friendly. I appreciate the vast database of information that DG offers, but that is available for free without the subscription. What exactly does the subscription fee go to pay for? I'll be honest, I'm used to Facebook and all the other sites that are SO feature heavy. I know that is not attainable but there are lots of other models for forums out there that are much more dynamic.

1. What does my subscription go to pay for? How much is allocated to admin and user experience improvement?
2. Is there a feature request forum? Is there a forum where DG admin group's priorities are outlined for improving the site's user experience?

I am not trying to complain. This is a serious question. I'm not an IT person so I don't know how all of this works. Help me out so that I can feel good about resubscribing when the time comes.

I subscribe for the following reasons:

I can turn off the ads (hate them). I have wonderful friendships with real live people, not just virtual. I have been with DG through many changes, all of which have ultimately worked out for the best. I know of no other site where my feedback is as valued as it is at DG. I don't have any idea how much Terry and Melody get paid but they are both extremely responsive and professional. I can check PlantFiles as often as I want (as a subscriber) and play in all the forums. Obviously it's ultimately your decision.

Thanks for your response, carrielamont. I appreciate it!

(How did you get "Plant files" hyperlinked?! Did DG do it automatically for you? I tried to do the html myself to create a hyperlink and it didn't work.)

This message was edited Mar 15, 2014 1:57 PM

Do FB 7 other sites have Round ups & other get together's ? I have attended about 13 Round ups & a couple of small group gatherings.
Over half of the plants in my yard are results of the plant swaps at these gatherings. I have personally met nearly 100 people from around the country because of Dave's Garden. This includes both Melody & Terry.
My wife & I have stayed at other DG members homes while on vacation. Beats the heck out of motels!.
Would not have met any of these people as a non-subscriber.

Thanks Resin. Now I know!

And thanks CountryGardens for sharing your experience. I agree that the relationships are invaluable and I've certainly gotten more than $20 of free plants since I've been a subscriber.

But I still want to know what the $20 goes to pay for and I want to know what the admins are planning to roll out in the future. The DG site is light years behind other forums. I feel like there could/should be a lot of cool features:

1. Something like a "like" button. Many times I want to tell someone I saw their post but don't want to clutter up the thread with "Hey, I saw your picture. Looks great."
2. Hashtags and the ability to tag people in posts.
3. Embedded pictures in the posts instead of clicking on the thumbnails. I. HATE. THUMBNAILS. I know there are probably people with slow internet connections but it's so much extra clicking that half the time I don't click on them.
4. A mobile version of the site or an app (android please! :).

Also I think that the admins could free up their time by appointing moderators for the very active forums. The admins shouldn't have to be the ones making threads sticky. This work could be farmed out to dedicated DGers.

Really I'm not trying to say that the admins aren't doing a great job. They are! And I don't want to tell people how to do their job or how to run their business. But look, there's 150,000 paid subscribers paying $20/year which equals $3,000,000 annually. This doesn't include advertising. I just want to know where the money goes and where are the features?

I hope they don't screw it up like FB is!

You might find cubits.org or something similar more suitable for your personal
preferences. Most of us here either don't or some use both.

Dave's Garden is a very family/friend oriented site, perhaps a bit old fashioned for
a Millennial who is accustomed to Facebook. Strong friendships of many years have
been made here and many actual conversations take place in the threads.

The membership fee allows a person to participate in private forums that are only
viewable by other paying members. Forums marked with an asterisk are the ones
only available to subscribing members and that's about as much privacy as one can
expect these days on the Internet.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/

Just my opinion.

It's a fair question and one that should be answered by those that actually have the answers, not guesses...

I've never gotten a subscription here for the very reason of not understanding the reasoning behind it.

One thing that happens a lot is when a non subscriber posts a question, they never come back to acknowledge it. Subscribers do.
For that reason I do not answer those questions any longer.

Thanks June_nmexico for letting me know about cubits.org. I will look into it!

Dosetaker, Thanks for your input. I'm glad I'm not the only one wondering.

CountryGardens, I can totally understand how that is frustrating when you take all that time to answer a person thoughtfully and they don't even acknowledge you.

I can't say I've ever wondered about the subscription costs because I treat it as I would a magazine subscription. I pay more for them and get less, sometimes only 6 issues a year. Here I can read, research and find information from five years ago without cluttering my cabinets and bookshelves.

Now, can it be improved? Absolutely and one thing I agree that would be nice is a "like" option. Many times I would love to acknowledge a post or photo without cluttering the thread or stepping on someone elses chit chat. Again, just one opinion.

On the "like"...................I do NOT "like".................and "thumbs up" that is on the "other" site. I absolutely DISPISE FB and hope that this site does not implement that drivel.

Call me old and crochety; probably because I'm gettin' there. :>) If someone "likes" something that I posted, I would MUCH rather see the post saying it, than clicking a "like". On the other site I get notices that "you have 5 thumbs up".............sooooo...........have to go there and see who did it and for what post. Waste of time and I hardly go to see who did what anymore re: thumbs up, etc. Now you're thinking I'm REALLY old and crochety!!!!!

I'm with you, Anna. Call me crotchety or old, I don't care. If I wanted FB's features I'd be there, not here.

I'm joining the old and crotchety bunch as well. The internet can eat up a colossal amount of time and energy with all its buttons and links and gadgets and on and on. Simple is better and there should be differentiation rather than everything alike. :)

Anna_Z, Pirl and Cville_Gardener — Move over ladies and make room for me on the "old and crotchety" bench please. ;-)

Welcome to the bench, June. :-)

And here I thought I was the only one that was thinking that the other site's wonderful icons, ect are just a bunch of wasted space. Tho I do admit to liking the green toothy smiley there. But that is the only one.

Gee the old and crotchety bench is filling up......I brought my lawn chair so I will sit there and make room for someone else. LOL

lol.

There are many of us, both women and men. We can do a virtual potluck celebration!

I'll bring the statin drugs (for cholesterol), the cheapo reading glasses, a heated massage pad, and a pot of chili.

Can I sit with you ladies?
I get emails from FB that say, "you have notifications pending". Go there, nothing there. So I just delete them without reading now.
FB is just as bad as texting on phones.

Yes, indeed.

There's always room for one more. We can sit on the lawn, if need be, though we may need others to help us get up again.

I can always build some more benches.

May I join you on the lawn? I will bring lemonade and cookies.....

Surely!

I bet Anna doesn't feel so all alone now!

Yum ... and I'll bring some tea cakes.

To bad Anna got rid of her cows, she could've brought milk for the cookies.

Hello All,

I have been a member of DG for quite a few years now, although I will admit I am mostly a lurker. But, I have been lurking so long now I feel like I know all of you and your gardens personally. You are all really great people! To typwc, I am very familiar with FB and the "other" site and all the other forums out there. As the running joke is going on the thread of being old and crotchey (and you guys are not!) I am neither, but I would appreciate a seat on the bench with all of you. Nothing beats DG. Nothing. The information is invaluable, and ALL the people here are wonderful people. You cannot "buy" that anywhere. The Garden Watchdog alone is worth the price of the subscription. It will steer you in the right direction, save you money (towards the subscription) and tons of aggravation.

I will do much better than that, Bernie.........I will bring pie and cinnamon rolls. Pie crust made with good ole lard! And the rolls w/butter!

I'm looking forward to it!

Oh, and I wanted to add..........if the "other places" (either of them) start charging a membership fee, I am outta there.

Thanks, Cheryl18. You are welcome on the bench. Bernie is planning to expand it.

Here is a reason for belonging here.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1353791/#new

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1353648/

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1353730/

Can't get these links to work.

This message was edited Mar 19, 2014 4:53 PM

Strange.
Right click the link, it will ask to open new tab. Click on that, then click the new tab.

It works fine for me.

Good.

I think Darius would like to be remembered just like this:

Me too, June. That's a great photo.

That was Darius' favorite photo of herself.