You're not that much older than me sweetie

See, I'm basically here day in, day out, now I see folks drop by, who have never posted before, wanting help with one thing or another, you help them out, they end up coming back to say g'day and what-not, and before they know it, they're hooked and posting frequently.. they see how friendly the people are, are drawn to the place.. and eventually, maybe so inclined to subscribe.. that's good PR.. if you want to draw people in, have friendly people on hand, then you'll get your subs

It's called Community Spirit

talking about time on WC not age user No. 670,585 June 12th  2003 yours 3,403,085 Dec 1 st 2008

I know Rick, but I've been around here for years, I just never joined until Dec last year, I wish now I had joined earlier

No offense meant, neophil but then why are you still here? If you have issues with the software,that isn't WC's fault,and the forums here have always been a good place to get assistance,have they not?

Like most things in life,the more you put into something,the more you get out of it.

To visitors it may be WinCUSTOMIZE and all about the skins.They are the future members in most cases and good PR/free advertising.

To people who just like to complain, it's WHINECustomize.Valid complaint or not, they can have their say here.

For those of us who use and enjoy the site,have a little fun,welcome new members and try to be helpful to others it's WINCustomize.

Amen Wiz!!!!, my point was not wasted after all and your break-down of the word WC, was a masterpiece

I'm just a bad boy who's telling wrong things

Way to go Wiz and Tailsgirl.

its me again...trying for dear life to hit that 1000

I'll be blunt;

WC is not a community in itself. It's more a skindatabase with a few community features added. 95% of what makes the community is what's going on in the forums, which is not at all a small thing, it's awesome. So, basically, the community is pretty much unaffected by the outcome of this fund raising. Buying WC subscriptions only affects the 5% of this community that is directly related to access of skins. So, I'm not worried about the future of the community...

I think WC is better off being run by SD though, because I've seen plenty of evidence that its not able to maintain a reasonable standard on its own (slow pageloads and other technical issues). With a million users it shouldn't be hard to get enough money to pay for the upkeep. But why is it so slow? The subscriptions are commercially advertised and sold. It gives the impression of a commercially funded site, not user funded. "Donate $35 or more to get the benefits for a year, and help the upkeep of the site" would likely bring in more cash than the current "Buy a subscription for $39.95 to get the benefits for a year".

I can't afford a WC subscription now, and I really don't think it gives any added value to me as a ODNT subscriber. If the site was donation driven, I could donate $15-$25 though.. I think there are lots of people in the same situation.