Cost Of Running NetShrine For A Year

[Max Power]

In the thread on donations I mentioned that it costs about $800 a year to run this site.

Since then, a few (not many, just a few) have e-mailed me wanting to know why (?) it costs so much to run NetShrine. So, I thought it was about time to share how the $800 figure was derived:

The biggest cost is the server space, which is $320 a year. See: http://skiltech.com/hosting.html (because of the space and scripts needed for the NDF, the "Advanced Package" is required).

The next biggest cost is the license for the forum software. See: http://www.vbulletin.com/order/ (since the forum is two years old, in my estimate, I used $95 for the yearly cost - - the $160 for year one [2002], plus the $30 for year two [2003], divided by two). This cost, on a yearly basis, gets better as more years will go by - - - as the denominator on the equations gets bigger. But, for now, year 2, you really have to use $95.

We also had many, many giveaways in 2002 - totaling in cost, including S&H, around $150. (And, we already have some giveaways scheduled for 2003.)

A small cost is the annual fee to "book" the URL for the site - - that's $25 per year - - which is good, because the price used to be $35 a year just a few years ago. More companies handle these types of registrations now, so, the cost is getting better.

So, if you add the $320+$95+$150+$25 - - - that's $590 a year.

But, there are other costs.

My ISP runs about $300 a year. In reality, if not for NetShrine, I probably would have a much cheaper plan (because I would not need to be on-line as much). So, I think it's fair to take 1/3 of my ISP fees ($100) and say that's a "NetShrine" cost.

In addition, besides the vBulletin software, I need other software to maintain the site - - - such as FrontPage (which I use to edit some of the site, including the NDF) and the application I use to load files to the server. As an annual estimate of "software costs" I'm using $100. It maybe be less or more, on a given year, but, it's probably around a hundred a year (for all the years there has been a NetShrine).

So, the required ISP and software is another $200 (combined) estimated cost per year.

Add the $200 to the $590 and that's $790 - - - which is about $800 a year - - or, at least, $800 forecast to run the site for 2003.

I hope this is helpful to any who may have also wondered - - - someone even suggested/guessed that the site should cost about $50 a year. Shoot, the URL (www.netshrine.com) ALONE costs about that - - never mind all the stuff it points to and does!

[Skip]

Thanks for the clarification.

[satchel]

Also note what's absent from the tally above - Steve isn't factoring in the cost of his time and effort. So even if he collects the full $800 from donations this year and every year, we're still getting a bargain. How many services do you know of that you can get at materials cost only? Thanks for all your continued hard work, Steve.

[Max Power]

Thanks Satch - - I didn't want to be the one to bring that up but, if you believe that time is money, yes, that's a cost too.

Not to freak anyone out; but, it's a lot of time on my part - - - - look at it this way..............

Just doing "pure admin" type stuff for the forums is an every day job. If I were to say that I spend 17 minutes a day 'just doing admin stuff' on the forum (which is a very, very conserative number) that equates to over a 100 hours (out of my disposal time) a year.

Again, just 'admin' stuff - - not actually using/having fun on the boards - - more so things like running contests, updating avatars, smilies, adding hacks to the software, consulting with the mods, etc.

That's a 100 hours that I probably should be spending on 'other stuff' - like painting my garage door, replacing a light switch in the family room, ripping up the carpet in the spare bedroom, or, heaven forbid, getting on the treadmill.............and, believe me, there's a cost on my end for all those things that I'm supposed to do.............

I'm not saying that the NDF is the root of all my evil. Just that it does take time, and time is not somthing that comes free and easy..........

[KCBOOMER]

Originally posted by satchel
Also note what's absent from the tally above - Steve isn't factoring in the cost of his time and effort.

This is why you make a donation to help fund the sight and look upon it as money well spent.

[Craig S.]

I think the time is easily the most valuable contribution that Steve makes. We can help cover some of the overhead costs, but we can't give that time back to him.

[Max Power]

Boomer - thanks.

Craig - - there's a quote, that I can't remember now, about not having the time to worry about lost time.........ST, TNG, I think? That's the way I'm looking at it!

[Max Power]

Just remembered, it was a Troi line from First Contact: "Timeline? This is no time to talk about time. We don't have the time!"

[pwdennis]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
This is why you make a donation to help fund the sight and look upon it as money well spent.

AMEN !

[Skip]

Originally posted by Max Power
Just remembered, it was a Troi line from First Contact: "Timeline? This is no time to talk about time. We don't have the time!"

There's some other ST-TNG quote where Picard (I think) says something about something stopping time, and then Data says "but the affect is only temporary." Hilarious.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by Skip

There's some other ST-TNG quote where Picard (I think) says something about something stopping time, and then Data says "but the affect is only temporary." Hilarious.

Still hilarious, even if you weenies didn't get it.