time to redecorate AO

[RT Lover]

Im sure there are people here who wouldnt mind helping in the design just for the love of the marker! I my self would do leg work no problem im just not a web designer lol, if we update it im sure it will bring more people in and look way better! im not saying this site is crap or anything but broken or missing links, updated markers, some of the custome parts and bodies are unreal, and newer pics from people playing would be awesome!!! We can show the world that it may not be "mainstream" but the automag is stronger then ever

So TK put it together, lay out what is best for you! Im game no matter what! Just to have you comment on a thread of mine is bad ass lol! Oh yea, i will buy ao right now from you... I will even take the business.... lol i wish

[BTAutoMag]

Oh yea, i will buy ao right now from you... I will even take the business.... lol i wish

Dibs on product testing

[Bunny]

PHPBB isn't REALLY designed for major communities. VBulletin is.

I would be happy to help with this - I've been running a smaller VB site, but can certainly help with all of this.

The real issue is server costs - you can't run a site this large on a shared service. You'd need a dedicated server or a Virtual Private Server.

Here's an example of the fees around this:

http://dreamhost.com/servers/compare-our-products/

I would like to see some numbers from Tom or Dave (whoever ownes automags.org) to see the traffic and bandwidth this site uses. Other than a few webpages at the top, most of the content is text based. I just can't see this website costing so much money.

I may be wrong, but the hosting company is making it sound worse then it actually is.

Btw, when I ran a few sites, I used Dreamhost and <3'd it!

[BigEvil]

I would like to see some numbers from Tom or Dave (whoever ownes automags.org) to see the traffic and bandwidth this site uses. Other than a few webpages at the top, most of the content is text based. I just can't see this website costing so much money.

I may be wrong, but the hosting company is making it sound worse then it actually is.

Btw, when I ran a few sites, I used Dreamhost and <3'd it!

Traffic numbers are deceiving. They are inflated due to the constant barrage of spambots

[Dayspring]

Still, bandwidth at Dreamhost is unlimited. Plus, if we upgraded AO to the new VBulletin, you can open registrations to ALL of the free domains by adding a secret question to the form that bots can't handle.

Means no more spam.

And in regards to PHPBB, I had SOOOOO many issues with spam bots with that software. Soon as I went to VBulletin, it all stopped.

[BTAutoMag]

a point I would like to make:


AGD was a super power in the paintball world and why? because the design is simple, reliable, low cost and fast. name one other paintball marker that has all 4 of those attributes.

and then came AO. Tom would say what should I make next? and we would tell him. or he would say look what I made and we would go, THATS AWESOME or I dont like that at all.

Ideas like the deldrin bolt which died quickly because we the site put its through the ringer and found the fatal flaw... who found the flaw? WE DID!

Automags have become IMO the longest lived single paintball gun thats still competitive and the FIRST open source paintball marker!

In AO you have everything to keep a company going. look what Luke, hill, renie and eeryone else has done for the mag, AGD stepped back and we forced its evolution.

Long live AGD, Long live the MAG.

Let us design the future of this company YOU founded Tom. You will will be amazed at what a group of fanatics can acheive with the permission to do so

[Bunny]

Btw, I totally agree with upgrading the forum to the latest vbulletin it would be way easier to transfer old accounts.

[skipdogg]

I will contribute $$

[RT Lover]

i am going out on a limb but i think the vast majority of use would pay a membership fee, just do different levels, like low, med, and high... and the pay out with more foot traffic would make it worth it... make it appealing to younger people and show them all that a mag is! i like the v bulletin idea transfer over the data and wammo! I personally would drop more cash up front. just to have a gold supporting member and to see what i love grow is what i want lol. I sure with newer people it will bring a new dimension to the mag!

I guess we need stats or some idea on what TK thinks is best. Like i said i would do all i could do to help!!

BTAutoMag thanks for bumping!

[Tron]

Go for http://xenforo.com/ drop VB 4 nothing like VB 3 used to be. If you guys want a front end go simple and use WordPress or use the add-ons Xenforo have. Nginx and Xenforo and this place will be rocking fast and up to date.

[knownothingmags]

when we get this done, there should be an archives section with all the old projects and info threads to be placed.

[BTAutoMag]

BTAutoMag thanks for bumping!

[audioSLAVE]

If there is anything I can contribute graphic-wise please let me know.

[Darring D]

Im in some $ for the win!

[Olsson]

Regarding membership and fees. Over at MCB it's free to register, or it's $10 a year to be a member. Personally I think that AO need to have at the very least a level of free registry, or AO would loose a lot of people who are more casual visitors, whom we still would like to stick around to spread the word. Whether or not there should be different levels of paying membership could be argued - I have no good arguments either way.

However, to increase the incitement of paying for membership, how about now and then having different kinds of membership specials. For example, there was a fairly high interest when TOTShadowCompany had both the reg sale and the gauges sale with the AGD logo on them. Since they were all made with the permission of Tom Kaye anyways, why not make them a member special deal. Easy and cheap enough to become a member if you want in on the deal. Or when TOT had the AO $10 off the price for the new Deadly Wind foregrips.

Personally, I believe that AO will get enough paying members without any extra membership perks, but with these AO might generate more interest amongst others to become paying members.