Features for non-subscribers

I'm finding the way things are set up here to be less than ideal.
I found out via the ID forum that a houseplant I have is a Hoya, so I sent a link top the thread to a couple friends who I'd given cuttings to as an "FYI" and also to introduce them to Dave's Garden (I think both would like it).
Both wrote back "I can't tell anything from the tiny picture on that site" and that was the end of it for them.
Not much of an intro . . . and as a dialup user, there's a certain investment to uploading a pic here-- kinda sucks that you can't share it with friends once it's up.
I know things are the way they are for a reason, but . . . I don't know.
What about something like a temporary link that you can share with a friend to give them full features for that thread?

It's only $15.00 a year to suscribe. I suscribed the same day I found Dave's and have never regretted it.

The "Share this page" idea is a pretty good one, actually.

Unfortunately, we've learned that the members REALLY like the privacy of knowing that people need to pay something in order to see the threads and pictures. Therefore, giving a loop-hole through which non-committed people could see the site is undoable.

We just dealt with this a few weeks ago...

dave

But don't non-subscribers have access to the first entry in a thread, as well as the PlantFiles?

Why not just send them a link to one of those, start a new thread or add your plant to PlantFiles....or am I missing something?

You're missing that I'm on dialup and it just doesn't make sense timewise to keep uploading the same image again and again . . .

A lot of folks make the choice of using dial up but I'm not sure where that plays in to the way Dave should manage his website?

If a picture qualifies for Plantfiles, you only have to load it once.

That is what I was thinking, Farmerdill.

A lot of folks make the choice of using dial up but I'm not sure where that plays in to the way Dave should manage his website?

It was constructive feedback, unlike your post nc. Why not just avoid threads that bug you?

So, non-subscribers can view images full size on Plant Files?
What's required to post something there? Do I have to fill in all the info about the plant?

PlantFiles is completely free for everyone. Only the forums are offlimits to non-subscribers.

dave

No, if you have a picture to post, go to that plant's listing in Plant Files. At the bottom of the page, it says (in blue) Upload an image of this plant. Click on that and it will take you to a page that has a field for your image and a field for any comments you would like to make.

The nice thing about that is your friends can often see a lot of examples from other who grow the same plant. It is fascinating to see how different plants grow in different areas. You're like me, in the midwest. People from the SE or W have vastly different plant experiences. It's neat.

Thanks for the explanation!
Still doesn't avoid the double upload problem if it's relevant to a thread-- can I link to the image in the plant file easily from a discussion thread? Or insert that same file inline into a discussion thread post without re-uploading?

Thanks, Dave.
Guess I'd have to log out and explore to find out what a non-subscriber would see . . .

You can always link to a PF plant by entering (I cut and paste) the url in the text of the message.

for example: http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/91117/index.html

But, for non-subscribers to see it, it would have to be in the first entry of the thread.

HO_ard, so far I haven't found a thread on Davesgarden that bugs me. I enjoy every aspect of this site.

I had dial up for many many years so know exactly what you mean about it's slowness. That's why I stated that. I never expected a website to change things to accomodate me though.

Non suscribers have lots of ways to access DG as described above. That's a great thing! That's how I found it in the first place (as we all did I suppose.)

Then you and I aren't going to see eye to eye on this.
To never receive an iota of constructive feedback or a suggestion for improvement is a demotivating thing for a webmaster.
Dave seems to get that and the way he accepts feedback and suggestions would be a good model for others.

Now plenty of other threads to post to out there Nicole, chop chop.

I still have dial-up. i don't find most of the pictures a problem unless someone has sent an unusually large one. (I hope that you try to edit really big ones to a smaller version).

I was just a member for a year and during that year searched Plant Files as many times as I needed to and uploaded several images. but after the year, I found that I wanted to be able to participate more fully. I don't really have any problems with requiring the $15 to participate more fully.

The only problem with dial-up is that I can see the day coming when I might finally exceed the 70 hrs/month that I'm allowed without extra charges. I spend too much time at DG. Then I might have to rethink the dial-up.

Ann

Ann, maybe your ISP has an unlimited usage plan. Might be worth checking it out. I think most do offer such a plan now. I pay 19.95 a month for unlimited dial up usage from a local provider.

Juno, Netzero, Netscape are still under $10 a month for unlimited usage. I've used Juno for several years and still satisfied.

My goodness, a time limit on internet usage? That would debilitate me. I am on DSL, my mailboxes and Dave's are open 24 hours a day, except during thunderstorms.

Whew, lucky me!

Molly
:^)))

Watch the fine print, because "unlimited" doesn't always mean unlimited.

We tried one of the newer cut-rate/discount plans (can't think offhand which one it was) and we had an ISDN modem at the time. With AOL, I was accustomed to never logging off unless I was rebooting, so when I got cut off from this new plan at about day 20 of a 30-day billing cycle, I was perplexed. I called them up and discovered that unlimited usage meant 600 hours per month. I also got reprimanded for failing to read the fine print of the user agreement and as such was in the dog house with them.

Sooooo, 10 days later, with tail between legs, I tried again, figuring it would be no problem to stay under 600 hours as long as I logged off each night, right?

Nope. My modem (terribly needy thing that it was) would re-dial after I logged off, and stay logged on (with no activity) until the ISP booted it out the door every four hours. It would wait a few minutes and re-connect.

So the second month I got cut off at 20 days - again. They refused to listen to my pleas for mercy, so that's when we decided that this cut-rate plan of $15 a month wasn't such a great bargain after all - we switched to cable and it's wayyy more expensive, but they don't care if my computer stays hooked up 24/7 year-round.

Yay!!!! Terry! that the way to go. :^)))

I've seen that fine print, which is why I never signed on with them. If it had truly been unlimited I probably would have and might still be with them. Their loss thanks to Juno.

We recently tried getting service through the phone company. They had an attractive package that was available supposedly until our village started building a railroad underpass and they started having service problems with our area. Other plans that might be available are so much more expensive and we're spoiled with a good price and reliable service (as reliable as dial-up can be anyway).

I pay less than $40 a month total for full featured local phone service plus (truly) unlimited dialup. Was $32 total (including all taxes and fees) but somehow it crept up in the last year and I haven't had a chance to try to figure out why.
Too good a deal and a little too functional to justify broadband at the moment.
This has nothing to do with my initial issue-- Dave got my drift even if others didn't.

DSL is not available where I live which kind of tells you I'm in the middle of nowhere. I am on dial-up for 19.95 a month and I can let computer be online 24/7 if I want. It really is unlimited. Every year, I call around to several places to see if DSL is available through them but so far, it's not. Less than 10 miles from here yes, but not here.

Could you get a free account at picturetrail.com? You can set up an album and give the people you want to see your picture the URL there. I do that a lot for people that I want to see pictures that aren't related to this site. I am not sure how much space you are allowed for free as I upgraded a long time ago. But I think there are still free websites you can upload pictures to besides that one also.

Are you talking to me? Are you talking to me?
Actually, I have a website and hosting and I did do it this way for a recent Clematis post-- uploaded everything to my webspace and posted links-- but the packaging, for lack of a better way to put it, ends up suffering that way. Plus, external links have a way of getting broken. And dialup users generally are click-shy, because often it's about a 20-second wait until you can even tell what sort of a page you;re pulling up.

I have the same situation as Vic...but Cox is moving our way as we speak!.....LOL

I am happy with my local server at $19.95 per month and UNLIMITED connection. They recently installed a new Spam program and I only recieve unwanted spam about once a month. Jo

nc.. you had good feed back don't worry alot of us do not see eye to eye on lots things but we are still friends and polite to each other.... have great week end.. blessings.. we all got the drift to ... so i think its great, great helpful site so much to do here so many great , great friends..

hope43 thanks for your friendlywarm wishes..... keep on being you.... god bless... life is so beautiful among good friends don't ever change..

Thank you Ho_ard.. have nice time here with everyone.everyone will be helpful you will find lots new friends to.. hope you got to go more places.. blessings..