Bulbagarden Summer Fundraiser!

[evkl]

Break out the beach towels, the volleyballs, and the sunscreen--summer is almost here!

While all of you are getting tan and having fun, our server is getting creaky and old, and wrinkly. I know it's only been about a year since we got our own server, but it's already outdated. New growth is astounding, and we need more RAM and a faster CPU, or else we'll be dealing with a lot of downtime in the coming year. Diamond and Pearl have been an awesome addition to the community and have boosted forum traffic and enthusiasm for the entire subject of Pokemon, but they've also boosted forum and 'Pedia traffic, which raises server load--and in turn causes downtime and slow load time, which makes for a lousy Bulbagarden experience.

We're looking to alleviate these problems by getting that new server. What can you do to help? Donate. There's a little PayPal button on the top taskbar which you can click to donate. It's completely safe if you so desire it to be. For donating, you'll receive a nice little "DONOR" thing under your name. And if you see a donor, thank them by PM--they're who help keep this site running.

So, here comes the painful part. How much do we want from you? Not much. $10 would be cool. $20 if you're feeling generous. More than that rocks, obviously, but everybody is on a tight budget, especially after buying Diamond or Pearl--or both. Look at it this way--it's the sacrifice of a few ice creams one week for another year of Bulbagarden. Our overall goal is to raise a few hundred dollars from the campaign over the next couple of weeks. We can make it happen--this is not an impossible goal.

Thanks guys. Have a fantastically fun and safe summer.
~Evan and the rest of the Bulbagarden Staff

 

[evkl]

bump! to get noticed.

 

[Zhen Lin]

Due to overwhelming response, we have already achieved our target of raising $500 (to be precise, we reached our target of raising an additional $187 over the $313 we've raised over the last 6 months).

Now, as some of you may have noticed, I had to temporarily shut off web service on the server a few hours ago due to extremely high loads (I'm talking 5-8× our usual load) but even after being offline for an hour, traffic promptly returned to normal as soon as web service resumed. In fact, it's more traffic than we usually get.

As such, our projected specifications for the new server may turn out to be insufficient when the time comes. More powerful specifications will cost more money, so please continue donating. Every dollar helps.

We are optimistic that we can reach the new goal of $750 within the next few weeks.

 

[llxwarbirdxll]

Is it possible to donate by mail? =/

 

[Zhen Lin]

If you're talking mailing cash, that's probably a bad idea. Otherwise, speak to Archaic or Mozz directly about alternative methods of donating.

 

[evkl]

Mailing checks or money orders, of course, is completely safe.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

I have a question. People who have donated once before, would they get anything, in addition to the banner they already have?

I was thinking maybe a "color change" for the banner, to indicate the total amount of money that they've donated currently and in the past. Different colors for different totals, or something....


Of course, that's just something I thought would encourage more people to donate (since there's no raffle taking place or anything).



I'll probably donate again anyway, just for the heck of it. XD

I mean, Bulbagarden is my favorite site on the net, so I might as well help it run smoothly. ^_^

 

[Zhen Lin]

The donor banner is added by the plugin, which isn't too flexible about things. The list of top donors is on the donate page, of course, though not all donors are listed.

 

[evkl]

We could make a special insignia--like a group thing, like Team Rocket fans and that kind of thing--and different groups would be different levels of donor...

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Oh, I see....

So that's how it works.


That's a shame though, how it's not very flexible, Zhen Lin.

And I find it weird how not all the donors are listed. But I guess that's understandable.



EDIT: Ooh! That sounds awesome, Evkl! ^_^

I love your idea!!!! :-D


A usergroup for Bulbagarden donors sounds pretty cool.