DearDiary1
Dear Diary.Net Admin Diary

A plea
Thu Apr 21 2011

Hi guys,
I know it's been a long time since anything has happened - and it's taken a lot of soul searching and internal dialogue (and some external dialogue with various people!) to come to this point - but I am now in a position where I have no choice but to ask for your help.

I don't even know how many people still read this!

Anyway, as you may or may not know, I left full time employment earlier this year to go back to school and get a degree in Paramedic Science - just for something different :-) (Those that follow my personal life will know that computers haven't been my full time desire for many years now and finally I took the plunge).

What this means for DearDiary.Net is that I no longer have sufficient income to keep propping it up. It's my own fault I'm sure the site could be quite a good revenue generator if it had some TLC applied to it. But it's a LOT of code that runs the site and rewriting it to use newer technologies has eluded me because of its size. Excuses aside, the plain fact is that I need to come cap in hand and ask for your support. The server DD runs on has been scaled back as far as it can go and still provide reasonably quick service. The server itself costs $80/month to host, and I use it for some personal projects which produce about $20/month in revenue.

That leaves me in the hole for about $60/month. So I have a choice - I can come to you, loyal, loving DD readers to ask if you can pledge a small amount each per month to keep the server running, or I can admit defeat and have to close up shop, at least temporarily (and really, if I did that, would anyone still want to use it when it came back?). Let me state quite clearly, this 'pledge' you'd be making won't get any extra features or fancy stuff happening, it's purely to keep the place open at the moment. I hope this would be a short term thing (if a couple of years is short term!) while I'm at Uni and then I can go back to supporting it financially myself.

Also, I'm looking at converting the entire site to a WordPress driven site. Initially that would mean a number of features you currently have wouldn't exist (such as Friends Only diaries) until I could code WordPress plugins for them. But given that the main engine for posting/commenting/feeds etc would be already done, the tinkering round the edges is more likely to happen than a total rewrite. Anyway, give me your thoughts on that.

Please give me a straw poll for who is prepared to pledge a little each month to keep the site going until such time as I can support it myself (or it can support itself through other means). If everyone who updates regularly can support us, it would only need $4/month or so to meet the target $60/month.

Sorry to have to bring this to you - I hope it doesn't upset anyone too much - I hate having to ask!

Steve.

PS. If the future can be secured for the time being, I've set up a Google Groups discussion group. I'm not entirely sure how it works cos I haven't used Google Groups in ages, but anyway, if you want input into the future, lets talk there :-)

Future Of DearDiary Discussion

Visit this group

22 Comments

From:
Kaliko88 (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I'm more than willing. Kinda payback anyway considering how many people helped me way back when I went through uni. :)

>^..^<
From:
Dreamerbooks2003 (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
oh I'd hate diary to end. though I don't update like I once did.. still. I have bought the premium feature so that my flicks are here and it's private. friends only.. so what does this mean for me.?? Well. heck.. I'm barely making it myself .. but $4 a month isn't much.. will you take a credit card??
From:
Yetzirah (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
Rather than a monthly pledge, I would be willing to send you 60.00 for a month's support...

I have to wait till my husband gets home on Friday to send it via pay pal, but I would be happy to help.

I'm heavily invested in many ways in Dear Diary and want to see it continue until your situation changes.

Would love to see it hang in there until you can make the upgrades you want to and perhaps making it into a going concern.

I have to tell you, I still prefer DD to anything else I have seen on the net.

So count me in for 60.00.
From:
LLBBooks (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I might be willing to contribute. Haven't used the site in over 5 years, but it was my first journaling site and I remember it fondly.
From:
Yetzirah (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I like the interface.
I like the customization.
I like the community.

:-)

And perhaps this is just my take on it, but I REALLY appreciate the one entry on one page function of DD. I do not like stacked entries for a whole month on other blogs. They annoy the crap out of me. I would have to sit with that thought and parse it out, but I think the 'less is more' aspect is what I like. I know you CAN view other blogs one entry at at time, but you have to choose that AFTER you are already on an overloaded page.

I am easily overstimulated by too much information at once and like DD's pages for that reason.

Technology is our blessing and curse. As you can see from my latest entry, my computer just bit the dust... literally, so I have been browsing all day looking at replacements. And the only REAL reason I care about computers is because they connect me to some great human beings, even if only as pen pals... some with illustrations! ;-)

I would be happy to participate in a discussion group about where we could go with DD. I would hate like poison to lose our community to the WW conglomerates.

Love ya... and thanks for hanging in as long as you have under difficult circumstances.

Y.
From:
TxSweets (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
Ditto to all of the above! Count me in. d
From:
InStitches (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I haven't written much lately, but I am around and I treasure DD.

I've looked at other blog formats WordPress included and pretty much hate the way they are set up. I love having one entry per page and being able to customize the look of my pages. And while I might consider one of these other sites for more commercial reasons I come here when I want to write.....to really share and visit with friends.

The bottom line is even though this site may not have all the whiz-bang features what it does have it does well. And it offers something the others can't touch......a sense of belonging.

So yes I'll contribute. :)

PS. I've never used Google Groups so can you post something as to how that works.
From:
404Error (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
As a Plus account holder I have mixed emotions about this, but I also have an extreme emotional attachment to DD. I have met some of my most treasured friends and greatest emotional supporters (and sometimes financial ones, too,) here. I would never have made true friends like that at Blogger or Word Press. So, yes, I will send you what I can, when I can. However, because I'm already operating on such a tight budget, with two unemployed and one barely employed college students in my house, I can't guarantee a specific amount each and every month.
From:
Zuuwho (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I also would rather send $60 for a month than a monthly pledge. I would hate to see this place just shut down.

I'll be on the lookout as to what you and others decide, but count me in for a months cost of your server.
From:
DyingToBeThin (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
DD means so much to me, would hate to see it shut down. It's by far the best diary/blog site out there, and would be lost without being able to update my diary! Would much rather send 60 bucks than pay monthly - so let us know what's happening. Count me in.
From:
DancingButterfly (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I clicked on the donate button, but it was set up in British pounds. I don't know how much that is in Australian dollars. If you can convert the currency, I will donate $60. It's the least I can do for 10 years of being able to write here.
From:
DowntownMom (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
You have my support, Steve! I haven't been updating lately, but this site has NOT been forgotten by me! Count me in for $5 a month. I will be recruiting :)
From:
Cpthereturn (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
count me in!

I would hate to see this place close, even temporarily.

I've been here a good few years (like ten!) and the support and friends I've made have been awesome
From:
Wrenchman366 (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I'm in just let us know what it would take to keep this site going
Tim
From:
MeanDonnaJean2 (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
Gotta ditto (and even double-ditto!) ALL of the above sentiment.

Steve, you were there for ME whenever *I* needed ya, and now the day has come where my actions will finally speak louder than me sayin': "if ever there's anything I can do for ya, just gimme a holler".

I'd be more than happy to send ya $60 to cover a month's worth of hostin' (or however ya deem best to apply the $60). If I can contribute even further down the road, I sure 'nuff will.

Just lemme know how ya'd prefer to receive the funds.
From:
Andrew61 (Legacy)
On:
Thu Apr 21 2011
I haven't been updating as regularly as I used to, but I would hate to see this site go. I'd be willing to contribute a modest amount like $4 or $5 a month to keep it going if need be.

I'm also with the other diarist who said keep it the way it is and don't switch to WordPress.
From:
DancingButterfly (Legacy)
On:
Fri Apr 22 2011
I've just donated $60. Hope it helps.
From:
Cpthereturn (Legacy)
On:
Fri Apr 22 2011
MrCuty and I will probably donate after the 1st - it's a bit close to the end of the month for him and we need to use his card!
From:
Rose (Legacy)
On:
Sat Apr 23 2011
I met my best friend and now husband/soul mate and father of my three babies on DearDiary.net - I'd be sad to see it shelved and thank you all for your support to keep things running and moving forward. I see the time and effort first hand that Steve puts into this site even through all the years we've propped it up ourselves financially because we see the importance of this site to some people in the connections and friendships they've made and the support they've gained through the DD community.
I can tell you there was many a night back in the early days of DD where this community got me through with their encouraging words and love from people I never met in real life.
So thanks and am hopeful for our DD to continue. (she says as hubby is currently on his laptop in bed taking up where he left off on the last lot of coding updates for DD) lol

Xxx
From:
FutureCat (Legacy)
On:
Sun Apr 24 2011
I've made a donation - sorry it couldn't be more, but our dollar has crashed since the earthquake, so AUD cost a lot more than they used to!

And let me chime in with all the other voices in appreciation of DD. Most of my bookcrossing friends are over on Livejournal so I have to cross-post there, but I much prefer the DD format. I joined here (under another name) way back before blogging became a word, and I've grown greatly attached to it, and to the people I've met here. Long may it live!

^ ^
00
=+=
v
From:
Camomille (Legacy)
On:
Wed May 04 2011
You know I love you guys. I feel terrible that I haven't been more active as this place has been a lifeline for me. I love my friends here. My finances are crunched like many, but I do expect a tax return sometime very soon (it should have posted to my account today. . . didn't see it yet though!). I will send something along to help when it appears. I have not gone to the Google chat site yet, but you know I support you in whatever you do. We are a relatively small but close group here, and I agree with everything Yetzirah said above . . . the single page entries and comment interraction are great. However, you have a life too! I think wherever you decide to go we will follow.
Blessings to you . . . and prosperity.
Always,
Anne
From:
TraumaMama (Legacy)
On:
Sun May 08 2011
Well, I have to help someone who wants to earn their paramedic degree, right? I went Plus and gave a donation to help. It's the least I can do. After all, my diary started when I went back to school to get my degree. Best of luck! Sue

DearDiary1 Dear Diary.Net Admin Diary

A pleaThu Apr 21 2011

DearDiary1
Dear Diary.Net Admin Diary

A plea
Thu Apr 21 2011