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[Brandon Martus]

A message to the community of FIRST:

The Chief Delphi Forums, operated by the webmasters at Team #47 Chief Delphi, have been providing a communication tool for the community of FIRST since 1997. During this time span the growth of the site and the value to the FIRST community has grown many folds, as have the expenses to operate the site.

Given the current state of team economics and the anticipated growth in the upcoming years, we cannot absorb the site costs within the Team 47 budget any longer. We anticipate the site costs to rise as we improve and upgrade the site to meet the traffic demands of the FIRST Community.

In light of this we have incorporated banner advertisements as a method to offset the stress on our teams budget as a result of the website. Banner ads will fall within two categories:

Category 1: These are ads that are purchased by business to promote a product or service that is common to the community of FIRST. All revenue from these ads will go to support the site directly.

Category 2: These ads were sold by our students as a fundraiser to support their fundraising efforts for the coming year. These are referred to as “Partnership” banners that display a local business partnership with our team. All revenue generated will go to support direct student expenses.

All the ads will be displayed on a random/rotating basis at the top of each page.

If you would like to participate in this effort to advertise a product or service to support the site by purchasing a banner ad please contact Mike Martus at mmartus@chiefdelphi.com

If you would like to make a personal donation to keep this site running you may make a contribution using the “PayPal” button located between the banners. You will be listed as a Chiefdelphi.com web supporter on the advertisers page (unless your account is set to be 'Invisible') and for six months the banners will be hidden when you are logged in.

Please direct any questions, comments, concerns, or other inquiries to ads@chiefdelphi.com rather than replying here, PMing the moderators/administrators, etc.

Thank you;
Leadership of ChiefDelphi.com

[Elgin Clock]

Is there any way to include the "target=_blank" command on the code end to make the clicked on advertisements open in a new browser window instead of the current one?

And, not to sidetrack to much, but can that same feature be added to attached thumbnails in posts as well?


edit: Back on the subject of the Banners and sponsored links. Will the "Helpful Links" on the left hand side of the portal page be forced to buy banners, or are they already "in" as far as a link is concerned?

Just curious.

[Pat Fairbank]

Hmm... I can't say I enjoy having those two banners at the top of every page.

I understand, though, where you're coming from with this, and I have to say that this is a very elegant and well-thought-out solution. I like that none of the banners I've seen so far have been anywhere near as distracting and annoying as some on the Internet, and I do appreciate the option to make them disappear by donating directly. I'll probably be taking you up on that.

Anyways, I'm sorry to see that the financial situation is such that this is necessary, but kudos on finding a solution that I, and everyone else (I hope) can easily live with.

[Jay H 237]

I just donated with my Paypal account and the banners disappeared. It's just like it was before.

[MikeDubreuil]

$5 for 6 months is a small price to pay for the value this forum provides. I bought my subscription

[Stu Bloom]

Brandon, You know there are many of us who really value the service you provide. I am glad we now have a way to "help". Just one thing ... We might also like to patronize your sponsors (that's one of the reasons they advertise ... right?). But after donating thru PayPal and eliminating the banners I don't see a way to get to your "Advertiser's page" . I think you need a small but prominently placed link to that page ...

Keep up the great work - we REALLY appreciate it ...

[dez250]

I would suggest maybe a link on the extras page?

Until then here you go http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/advertisers.php?

[Billfred]

It definitely made my head spin for a moment.

But for all the blathering on I do around here, five bucks is a steal.

(By the way, any chance of getting longer periods put into the system, such as $10 for a year? Or $47 for four years, 8.63 months?)

<edit>After chipping in my five bucks, I got an error saying "POST requests from foreign hosts are not allowed.</edit>

[Joe Matt]

Originally Posted by Billfred

It definitely made my head spin for a moment.

But for all the blathering on I do around here, five bucks is a steal.

(By the way, any chance of getting longer periods put into the system, such as $10 for a year? Or $47 for four years, 8.63 months?)

<edit>After chipping in my five bucks, I got an error saying "POST requests from foreign hosts are not allowed.</edit>

Same here, I chipped in and got the same message. I still got my transaction recepit though.

[Greg Needel]

i also contributed....if you need anything else let us know

[Rickertsen2]

I am not a fan of ads but they don't really bother me. I understand the need for them and will put up with them unless they start making noises, get bigger than they are supposed to be, etc. I might donate to get rid of them.

Have you thougt about putting them at the very top of the page? They feel a little bit intrusive stuck in the middle and divide things a bit.

[Billfred]

Originally Posted by Rickertsen2

Have you thougt about putting them at the very top of the page? They feel a little bit intrusive stuck in the middle and divide things a bit.

I'm not an advertising expert (and it is 1:30 AM), but I'd stick them in that spot for the sole reason that they divide things a bit. To go from the body of a page to the top control bar, your eye has to cross over the advertisement. Which is kinda what they want you to do.

[Denman]

£2.96 if your british...

[KathieK]

I don't mind the cocept but wish I'd read the announcement BEFORE seeing the ads pop up on the pages... because I thought I'd inadvertently downloaded something on my PC which was causing them to show up.

[Brandon Martus]

If you are so moved, you can use PayPal's "Send Money" link, and send however much you want to "paypal AT chiefdelphi DOT com". The ads won't disappear unless you use the automated system via the button on the advertisers page, so make sure you send me a PM if you choose the manual route, so I can remove your ads for you.

-Brandon