Elle

I just wanted to note on this since the thread took a weird turn especially after the budget conversation (and this is not directed at you, but towards the people speculating budgets. Your post is just a reason for me to explain this further, but this is not geared towards you.) I shared my site budgeting after someone asked because they thought it would be helpful to them to make a decision. What I had a problem with was then other people speculating my personal budget. I found that really inappropriate. My personal budgeting shouldn't be brought into a conversation about LanaBoards, even if I am the one who pays for it. Just wanted to explain a bit further why I was upset over that. & again this response is not directed to the user I'm quoting, but just a general thought I thought I should share since the topic of budgets has been discussed for a bit x

Just want to apologise here for anyone who felt any negative away about my responses. Really, I was just trying to clarify things that I sensed were of confusion. That was all. I was not trying to rebut any oppositions, and I feel that I didn't, but rather just answered any questions people had or clarified any misconceptions I noticed. I went into this conversation fully expecting most users to not be receptive of the vignette ads. The whole point of me opening the floor to opinions was for me to explain what was going on and why the ads would be greatly beneficial, and then to hear what you all had to say in return. So even though the ads have been extremely beneficial in the week the experiment has been running, I knew that not all members would be on board with this. I did not want to make a decision the majority would be unhappy with despite the benefits for the site, so rather than making the decision myself, I wanted to reach out to you all. With all great benefits come some deterrences, so I just wanted to see what everyone's thoughts were on the manner. At this point it is a bit confusing as most members in the poll have voted yes, but those who are opposed have voiced strong oppositions that I am listening to and taking into consideration. Maybe I can think of some other middle ground. I had suggested the idea of a $2 cost for an ad-free version that could also be paid in a lump sum, but I know some people are not open to that either. I still have more thinking to do until the experiment ends, but perhaps there could be three options. Vignette ads for those who can tolerate them so the site can generate more revenue, the $2 cost that makes up for the cost of lost ad revenue for those who want to be free of all ads , and a free by-request option for those who are strongly opposed to vignette ads and don't want to pay to remove them either but are fine tolerating the normal banner ads we've always had. If anyone has thoughts on this possibility, let me know. My intention was not at all to shoot down anyone who was opposed to the vignette ads. I want to make it clear that if I did not care about people's oppositions, I wouldn't have asked, and I would have just silently implemented them. It's because I truly do value your opinion that I asked. & I feel that I have been fair and receptive. (Me, myself, Elle) I apologise to anyone who felt I was being anything but that, but please know that was not my intention x

This is frustrating for me because I feel I, myself, am being quite open and receptive to what everyone is saying. May not be the case for everyone here, but I do feel that I am being fair here. I am encouraging this conversation - though I wish it was a bit less dramatic. Yes, I got upset about someone bringing up my personal expenses/debt, but I feel it was reasonable for me to find that inappropriate, and even then I tried to respond respectfully. I'm not being rude to those who don't want ads. My responses are meant to clarify things that I sense some confusion on. I sincerely apologise if my responses are coming off in any other sort of way. I just felt it would be beneficial to answer things that seemed unclear rather than to remain silent. Again the whole point of me opening the floor rather than choosing to make a decision without consulting you all first was to gather opinions and discuss any questions. It's just taken a weird turn. But again, as I've said in my last message, all the dramatics are simply not worth it, so I likely will not be keeping the ads once the experiment concludes despite it being a good opportunity for the site. Above anything, the thoughts of the members here are what I value the most in these processes x

No one is forbidden from certain topics, however, I prefer that offsite drama remains offsite. No one is going to receive Warning Points or anything for posting about certain things that you may be referring to, but the best way to stop drama is to not talk about it. Even this whole thing was more drama than I asked for. I really do hate drama. (speaking to everyone here, not in a response to the quote) The bickering and dramatics is not what I expected when I opened the floor for opinions. I honestly was expecting most users to probably be opposed to the vignette ads, but I wanted to gather opinions just in case, because again, this would have been a really great opportunity for the site, yet I fully understand the frustrations of more ads. That being said, all this drama is really not worth it. The experiment with the vignette ads that was automatically placed by Google will end in a week. Based on how things are going, I'm gathering it would not be the best idea to keep the ads out of interest for our members here. I really do appreciate all the opinions, and while I do wish things had gone a little smoother with this discussion, I hear all of you and am listening. Thank you for the feedback. Again, because I cared, I asked. & I am receptive to all of your thoughts and have taken them into consideration. Also with the whole mod-politics thing - this decision does not impact the mods. This is a me, Elle, thing. I will always do my best to remain impartial and unbiased. I can't speak for everyone, but when it comes to me, the owner of this site, that's my perspective. I am not liable for anything anyone chooses to post here - whether that be a member, mod, supporter, etc. So, coming from my mouth, the owner of this site, the one who is ultimately making the decision regarding the ad placements: I will not unfairly treat anyone based on their opinions about the ads. With what I said above, to reiterate, I'm the one asking for opinions, and I feel that I, myself, the one ultimately making this decision, have been very fair and receptive to listening to what you all are saying. I hear those who say they do not want the ads, and I am listening. That is why I asked. That's all x

I'm sorry, again I'm really really really trying my hardest to keep my composure here and not come off in any sort of way, but it was extremely inappropriate of you to speculate my expenses, which by the way, have been made up of things I've bought over the past 9 years. Just because in the past I was able to comfortably buy some things does not mean it has always been that way, or is still that way. Also, a cumulation of things bought over the span of 9 years isn't really a concrete display of my current state - especially given the times we're in. I'm a human, I have debt. Aside of LanaBoards related things that people may request to know, are my personal debts/expenses really anyone's business? No. So, respectfully, please do not speculate on them. Furthermore, I opened the floor on this matter to gather opinions rather than making a decision without consulting you all first (which I totally could have done by the way and would have had every right to, but I did not feel comfortable doing so.) This wasn't me being desperate for cash or begging for donations, this was me recognising a good opportunity for the site so I wouldn't have to pay as much out of pocket for the site. But I wanted opinions from those who make the community what it is. I'm not rich. Far from it. & while I willingly pay for this site and will continue to do so no matter what, I just wanted to gather opinions on the possibility of generating more revenue to go into the site - not to profit from. I believe there was a more respectful way to share your opinion against the vignette ads. If you have any further thoughts that are related to my personal matters, you are free to DM me to discuss further. I also apologise for being so candid here, I tried to bite my tongue on this, but I just really felt this was very inappropriate given what this is all about x

I'm trying really hard to keep my composure here, but I just want to say that speculating on people's expenses or debts is really not nice and has struck me in a weird way. For that reason, I've removed my response detailing exactly how much it costs to run this site. If anyone else feels they need to know this information to help make a decision here, please message @admin I apologise if this is inconvenient x

The COTCC theme is essentially finished. I had someone helping me with some of the photoshop work, but that person has been MIA the past week while I've been waiting on a slight revision I noticed I needed before launching the theme. I asked someone else to help me instead, but that person hasn't had a chance to help out with it either. I want to make sure the theme is perfect before releasing it, rather than it being left with still needing a few tweaks and revisions. I'm just waiting on my little helpers, but as soon as everything's set, it will be up. I've been using the WIP theme for a bit now, and I think you all will really like it. Again, it just needs a little tweak before I feel comfortable launching it, but I need to wait on others who are helping me out with it. I'm really sorry for the delay, but I am relying on some other people here (and am very grateful for their help!) x

Hey hey hey, now I'm not deliberately asking for money here! I'm not trying to throw my hands in your pockets, nor forcefully shove ads in your face. The whole point of this thread was to ask your opinions on this before I did anything. Yes this would be a great opportunity, but it also isn't imperative that I do this. Yes it would be nice, but this isn't a life or death matter. Also as I've stated, I gratefully and willingly choose to host LanaBoards. & if sometimes that means paying out of pocket, then I gladly do so! Again, it is my pleasure to host LanaBoards. It is also my responsibility. I will continue to host LanaBoards no matter what, and no matter the cost. I'm not desperately struggling here, but more revenue for the site is never a bad thing. Again, I am not forcefully shoving ads in your face, or even requesting that users donate. I'm simply asking if running vignette ads would be tolerable so I can earn more revenue for the site, or if users are strongly opposed to it. No matter what, I will always continue to fund the site, even if Adsense doesn't completely cover it. I took on that duty when I bought the site in the first place! I have a great love for Lana, and part of showing that is by collecting merch and hosting a fan site. Nothing in this world comes free! But again, I do it all willingly. I am not complaining. I wanted thoughts about a possible opportunity. If I really didn't care or if I was super desperate, I would have silently implemented the ads permanently without saying anything at all. & this post isn't even me saying, hey I'm going to be implementing these ads for sure, leave some thoughts if you wanna. It's me genuinely asking for thoughts and opinions because I genuinely value your input before any site decision I make. That's all x

So technically, it is against Google Adsense policy for me to ask users to click on ads (or click them myself) but I will answer some of these questions to give some insight! Clicking on ads generates much more revenue than just viewing them. However, Google can also tell when I click ads myself or if people just click on ads repeatedly just for the sake of clicking them, or if people accidentally click an ad and immediately close the page. For an ad click to actually count, it has to seem like a real, genuine ad click. But yes, these sorts of clicks generate more revenue. So, while I'm not asking/telling you to click on ads, you can take that information as you may xx

Hi, I'm sorry! Maybe in the LDR Village Merch Drop Thread? You would have to upload the folder somewhere else first, but you could certainly post a link to it in there x

I just want to add a note about the not secure thing - we have a fully functioning Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) script installed, but because some of our site tools and images are coded in with HTTP instead of HTTPS, the page is marked as "partially insecure" but please rest assured that all sensitive information is securely encrypted. I know some users have been concerned about that, but please know that everything is secure, it's just the way some of our tools and such are coded in that mark the page as not fully secure. To give some users a piece of mind, I tried to go through the code and change the HTTP elements to HTTPS, but this ended up resulting in the issue where users kept getting logged out and then couldn't log back in. So, I need to tackle that issue in a while when I have some more time to figure everything out properly. Also I just want to reiterate that the ads only occur in-between some page loads and will not randomly pop-up while reading or creating posts. Also, they will be the same sort of ads as you would see on banners, so no MILF ads here! All ads are provided to be through Google Adsense rather than from dodgy ad issuers. Just wanted to clear up some things that could be misconceptions there, although I still completely understand if the vignette ads are not your cup of tea x

Okay I'm here to answer more questions and clear up some more things - some people have voiced my replies are sort of intimidating and may be keeping people from sharing there opinions, but please please please know I'm not intending to come off as any kind of way. I'm just doing my best to make sure everything is clear and understandable, so I may be coming off a little direct. I apologise if my replies have been a bit off-putting, as it was certainly not my intention x Yes, I just want to reiterate this. No one will ever be obligated to pay to use the site, ever. Ads have always been run in banner form, and donations have always been welcomed and appreciated. Now I'm just offering a little bit of an extra incentive to donate in exchange for no ads. But it will never be a requirement for users to pay x I've definitely considered LanaBoards merch and have even spoken with people about ideas, but now I'm a bit hesitant to do any of that because I really don't want to seem like I'm dividing the site among users who can afford to purchase merch and those who cannot. But I'm welcome to more thoughts on this x I will keep the site up regardless. That is nothing to worry about. If I have to pay out-of-pocket some months, I have always done so willingly. I don't want to seem like I'm complaining about a lack of support or anything, because I will always back LanaBoards no matter what the cost, and it is no one's obligation to fund the site except my own. I am glad and truly honoured to host this site for you all, and I will always continue to do so no matter what. The vignette ads have just greatly increased the site's revenue and would be a huge help of guaranteeing I make enough revenue to pay the site each month, and help pay off other site expenses I've accumulated a tab for that I've paid out of pocket. But if users really don't want vignette ads, I will not implement them and things will go back to as they were before. I only wanted to ask because this would be a great opportunity to generate some more revenue for the site, but I would not be fully comfortable doing so if I knew the majority of users would be bothered x I will say, I'm a bit uncomfortable talking about Adsense so outright, so I'm going to put the following answers in a spoiler. I'm also just going to answer everything rather plainly and directly here, as money talk always makes me ~uncomfy~ I have never pocketed any profit from the site, and again there are times when I have had to pay out of my own pocket when Adsense revenue has not covered the complete costs. Considering all the prior payments I've made for the site I have yet to pay off, it would probably be a long time until I were to ever profit money that could be used for non-site related expenses, and I have no intention of ever doing so. I don't own LanaBoards for the purpose of making profit, and if the day ever did come where I'm making more than what was needed for site-expenses, I could definitely turn off ads or limit them x Hopefully this helps answer some questions, but please don't be hesitant to ask anything further below. I'm here to help clear up any confusions! x

Your first suggestion wouldn't be beneficial for the site and would even result in less revenue than standard, as those who are online the most therefore generate the most revenue through ads. It also wouldn't be fair to treat new members any differently than members who are already part of our community. & again, paying for ad-free would be optional. Also, I haven't yet made the decision to permanently implement these vignette ads for certain, for now I'm just gathering opinions so I have some insight on what decision to make. Please know this website is not cheap to pay for each month, and although I host it willingly, it is always extremely helpful for me when Adsense can cover the complete cost, especially since the site is free to use. I am unable to delete accounts, as this would be very detrimental to certain tables of the site. Plus for archival reasons, I wouldn't want to delete content simply due to inactivity. Some users have requested to have Usernames from users who have not been active in several years, and I have found a solution for those members. If that's something you're concerned about, feel free to message @admin to discuss further x

I'm asking everyone to please be honest here - again, if I really didn't care, I could have of course just silently implemented these and had everyone deal with it. It's because I actually care about you all and your preferences that I'm asking. You all make the community what it is. At least from my perspective, I always try to stay neutral. Unless someone says something outright rude to me, I have no reason to dislike certain users. & even then, I've had plenty of people say rude things to me, and I've never used my mod powers to unfairly punish them because of that. I always aim to stay a level-headed and fair admin of this site. I can't speak for the other mods on this site, but that's my perspective. & this decision really doesn't have anything to do with my mod team, just me and my funding for the site. So, if you all are willing to tolerate the vignette ads to generate more revenue for the site, then that's wonderful! But if not, please let me know. I'm asking for honestly so I don't make a decision that people will be upset with, or vise versa, miss out on an opportunity because I didn't ask. You're not offending me or anything by voicing your opinion. & again as I said earlier, if I truly didn't care, then I wouldn't ask. But I do, so I am x

This website will always be free to use. Always. The two ways to support this website are to either view ads, or pay to get rid of ads if you have the means to do so. If you don't wish to pay to remove ads, viewing them during browsing is a completely free way for users to help generate revenue to fund the site. What I'm trying to gain consensus on here is that although these vignette ads are generating up to 5x more revenue for the site, will this upset users enough to not visit the site/use ad-blockers further detracting from revenue? & for users who still want to support the site yet don't want ads, I am offering an Ad-free version for a very low cost so the field is leveled. Of course there will be users who don't want ads for support and don't want to donate for support either, but in the midst of everything, I'm just trying to see what option will be most favourable as I do need to generate revenue to support the site somehow, and the added support from the vignette ads would be extremely helpful if users are willing to tolerate them (or pay to remove them if they desire.) So please remember that while this site will always remain free for everyone to use, it is absolutely not free for me to keep hosted and managed. I pay several recurring fees each month to keep the site running. Though, your guys' thoughts are important to me and you all make the community what it is, so that's why I wanted to gather some opinions on this before I implemented anything long-term x

I'm thinking donating $2 a month would be able to level the field in exchange for no ads. & it wouldn't have to be a small payment that recurs each month if it's more convent to pay all at once, so for example you could pay $24 upfront to be free of ads for a whole year. I've also been meaning to revamp the whole Supporters 2.0 system, hopefully by the end of April since work for my actual job will slow down a bit after next week. For those who will be a part of our Supporters 2.0 program (which will also be a monthly-based program for new Supporters in exchange for special site incentives such as exclusive themes, lavender name tags, a VIP forum section, expanded PFP image uploads, etc. Those who have donated in the past and were promised Lifer status will not need to pay to keep their Supporters status, unless desired) there will be the option to add Ad-Free for just a dollar more to the Supporters 2.0 cost. (I'm thinking the cost for supporters will be $4 or $5 monthly, but I still need to figure out the math and everything) x

Hi all, I wanted to fill you in on what's been going on with some advertisements lately and gather some opinions. About a week ago or so, Google Adsense implemented an automatic experiment with vignette ads (full-screen ads) that occur in-between page loads. It only affects 50% of our users for now, but it has shown that my Adsense revenue has already greatly increased. Some days, I'm making up to 5x more than I usually do. The end of this experiment is approaching, and it will give me the opportunity to permanently implement this ad placement, or remove it. I wanted to gather your opinions on possibly permanently implementing this full-screen ads before I make a decision. To give you a bit more information on these ads: These ads will only occur in-between page loads. The ads will not randomly "pop up" as you are reading threads and such, and they will only occasionally occur when you click to browse another page of the site, and by simply pressing the "X" button on the ad, the ad will close and the next page will continue to load as normal. These ads will be the same forms of content as any other ads you would normally see on the site. So don't worry, you won't be seeing any sketchy ads for MILFS and such, but rather the same content you would see in the banner ads but in vignette form as well. They are the same Google Ads. Things to keep in mind: While the site is free for you all to use, it is not free to host and manage. Each month, I pay several recurring fees to keep the site up and running for you all. I rely solely on Adsense at the moment to pay for these fees. As these vignette ads have greatly increased my ad revenue, this would help ease some of the stress of guaranteeing I generate enough revenue each month to fully cover the costs Any extra roll-over revenue these ads may produce will be greatly helpful to help finally pay off the loan I borrowed 4+ years ago to purchase LanaBoards in the first place, and can also help pay off the tab I have running from months that Adsense didn't fully cover the fees and I had to pay out of pocket. If I ever find I am generating more revenue than the site needs, I can absolutely remove these ads. (However, I still have lots to pay off for the site alongside monthly recurring fees, so this could be awhile.) I plan to implement an Ad-Free "subscription" package for LanaBoards that would be a monthly $2 cost for anyone who would like to be free from ads on all devices. Users can also choose to donate with a lump sum upfront rather that split into monthly payments So, given all this, I want your thoughts. Above anything, your enjoyment of the site is always my top priority. While this extra revenue would be very helpful for the site, I wouldn't implement these ads permanently if this is going to greatly detract from your enjoyment of your site. If you find yourself wanting to access the site less or are tempted to use an ad-blocker program, please let me know. I want to make sure no one feels greatly deterred from using the site with these vignette page-load ads, and using ad-blockers would defeat the purpose of me implementing these ads to help generate more revenue for funding the site, and could instead result in the site generating less revenue than normal. Please be honest with me here, I really need your opinions. I've put up a poll for this thread where you all can let me know if you're willing to tolerate these ads, or if they are unbearable and would greatly damper your enjoyment of the site. Also please feel free to leave any further thoughts to explain your opinions below. Thank you for your consideration guys, and I'm sending all my love to you as always xx

Yosemite vs When the World Was at War

Your Result: Wild At Heart You’ve experienced severe judgement in your past, and you’ve learned to live in spite of it. The mundanity of day-to-day responsibilities are of little interest to you, and you often feel torn between many aspects of your life. You have a strong sense of personal autonomy and feel best when you have control over your own decisions. Song Recommendation: Secret Garden by Bruce Springsteen Oh, this teaaaa! The little summary pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'm glad I bought all that Wild at Heart merch from the LDR Village then. & the song recommendation is actually one of my aunt's favourite songs of all time, and I love that song too. This was fun, thank you for sharing! x

Hi, this sounds fine! I would recommend making this thread in the Games or Lana Thoughts section. After navigating to the desired section, press the "Start New Topic" button to create the topic. You can leave a link of where to take the quiz, and tell users to leave their results below. If you still have confusion about how to create a topic, please DM my @admin account and we can discuss further! x

@honeybadger Hi! Posts automatically save every so often, so if you leave a thread and come back to it & click on the textbox, the last text you typed will automatically be restored. However, I would recommend permanently saving the post somewhere else too just in case, especially if the post is particularly important/lengthy. Also, if you decide to make another post in the thread where your work-in-progress post were to be posted, then it would no longer be saved, unless you repaste the content in the textbox after you make the other post. So, condensed version: posts do save and restore upon returning to the thread, but I would recommend also saving the post in a word processor or Google docs for double insurance x

From today, Lana, Nikki, and Danita repping the MotoStuka hats -

That's not Nikki in the photo, that's Danita Gayle x

All of those unreleased songs are songs produced by Princess Superstar, and they were registered on ASCAP in 2014 x