Input Sought On Modifications To duckboats.net (Updated with info from our ISP)

Eric,
I would contribute $$ and some great pics, as I am shooting pics with my Android all day. Perhaps it can be ready by this season's memories.
Thanks for your initiative in doing this.
Steve
 
I too would be more than happy to contribute!.. I agree that an app would be great.... But automatic resize and ability to direct upload from your phone would be outstanding!
 
I too would support what needs to be done! It is a great site - we must continue to keep it from becoming over commercialized! I have participated in a number of Offshore and Salt water sites that have - Sold OUT!! and are now worthless, or gone. So sponsored money is a given, the membership I believe would be willing to participate in assisting to keep the integrity of this site! In the end pay grades above me will decide, just let us know what we need to do so we can stay current. Thanks to all those hard working behind the scenes guys who keep this site AWESOME!
 
Seems you could kill 2 birds with one stone. Offer a short or long sleeve tee shirt and sweatshirt with logo with a certain amount going to cover the cost of the upgrade to the site. I love the site and would chip in if asked, but I would guess a fair number would bow out if asked to donate.
 
I too would support what needs to be done! It is a great site - we must continue to keep it from becoming over commercialized! I have participated in a number of Offshore and Salt water sites that have - Sold OUT!! and are now worthless, or gone. So sponsored money is a given, the membership I believe would be willing to participate in assisting to keep the integrity of this site! In the end pay grades above me will decide, just let us know what we need to do so we can stay current. Thanks to all those hard working behind the scenes guys who keep this site AWESOME!
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Randy, I was contacted again last week by a company who wanted to buy this website with the plans of using the forum to post ads. I told them no as I had before. I think one of the reasons we've survived is the lack of commercialism and the feeling that this place is more like a duck club and less like the latest issue of Wildfowl. My goal is to upgrade the site so that it continues to survive and attract new members. Turn over is a part of the online landscape so if we don't attract new people all we will be left with is me, Scott Farris, Carl, Huntindave, and Tod :)
 
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Turn over is a part of the online landscape so if we don't attract new people all we will be left with is me, Scott Farris, Carl, Huntindave, and Tod :)
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Well,,,,,,,,,, two out of five isn't a bad batting average. :>) :>)
 
Eric, I'll make a donation today. I know that I have had many pictures in the past that I have wanted to post but became too frustrated and gave up, mostly to to the size limitation.
 
I spoke to our ISP about the modifications they can do for us. Before getting into those details everyone needs to know that the software that runs the forum is over a decade old and Gossamer (our ISP) is no longer developing it. There will be no product upgrades down the road and what they can do for us now is not going to make us state-of-the-art. Online forums are dying so there isn't much market for them and given the multitude of platforms people use these days it is a very expensive venture to develop a forum that works for everyone on all their devices. Mobile platforms is where companies are sinking their resources in and Instagram is king for now. Internet forums were great for desktop PCs but as more and more people, especially the 30 and under crowd, switch to their phones to connect to their chosen communities places like duckboats.net shrink or die.

So with that said let's talk about what we can do. Gossamer is willing to modify our software to improve the picture posting/hosting capabilities. The updated code will auto-size any image uploaded to be format and size friendly. Users will no longer run into the 100 kb limit and need to manually resize before uploading. The software will take whatever image you upload and push it through a routine that resizes to a common size for all uploads and adjust image quality to minimize required disk space yet maintain picture quality. Users will no longer need to fool with "inline image tags" that so many people don't understand or didn't want to learn. Images will automatically be placed at the bottom of your post after the text. You will be able to post multiple images at a time.

As for modifications for mobile platforms there will be none. The site should continue to work with Safari or Google Chrome and other mobile browsers. Redeveloping the forum to run like an app on your phone is too large of an effort at the present time.

The cost for such upgrades is $1500. If the community wants to pursue this we will need to raise around $1000. Personally I want to make these changes but it's up to you guys to make it happen, or not. I'll leave it up to you.

Eric Patterson
 
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Eric,

Thanks so much for all your time and effort. It sounds like you've come up with a good solution. Count me in. I'll make a donation today. Wis Boz would haunt me if I didn't help!! Let's get this done.

Jim Bosanny
 
I`ve enjoyed this site almost daily for the last two years. I thank everyone who participates for all of the shared knowledge. I`ll help out with a donation. Donate on the support link or send a check ?


Paul
 
I'm not anywhere near technological savy but I just figured out how to post pics off my phone! It's a pain and I have to resize through an app but finally I got it figured out!!!

I'm still going to donate a bird, let me know when Eric.
 
Eric,

Get the upgrades done! I just made use of the "Support Duckboats.net" link at the top of the page. Sure made it easy ;^)

You scared the dickens out of me, thinking of the two of us hanging out with Dave, Carl & Todd.

Best,
Scott
 
Eric

If we can upload pictures from our smartphone on Google Chrome that are automatically resized I think that solves all of our issues.

Happy to donate and/or come up with a way to help raise money after all its what I do for a living.

Let us know how we can help.
 
Eric, as you know I use Instagram from time to time and enjoy seeing your pictures there. This page is fine as a forum and the ability to directly input images would be an excellent update. I just made a long overdue donation to assist.
 
Good morning, Eric~

This is certainly an important thread. I am happy to see that Photobucket has not (yet) removed my images from my posts (I've been checking the Tutorials in the Carvers Corner).
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Steve, I seem to recall reading something about Photobucket allowing current paid up Plus members to continue to use linking until 2018. Some sort of inducement to stay with them I think. Like you I use the $100 option since I have years and years of photos there.
 
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