No more free lunch

[DCElliott]

Webmaster World ( http://www.webmasterworld.com/ ) one of the top web development forums (if not THE top) is no longer free. Not only that the new subscription fee is going to be $149US per year!

Is somebody getting a bit greedy here? Does anyone think this is going to be a trend for all the currently free forums out there?

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

But you are not getting a penny . . .

DE

[animgirl]

ECK!

Really, I don't get it. Wouldn't that be making money off of everyone else's knowledge?

They must have really thought they out because dang, they should know they're risking losing many many people over the millions of free forums out there. They must be featuring something new for all that dough. Or at least they should.

btw: where did you see that announced? I was just on there today and didn't see mention of it.

animgirl

[MikeParent]

Yeah, CNet did this a couple years ago with the "Builder Buzz". We certainly did not appreciate them turning around and trying to charge us for intellectual property that we helped create. Very f*&king lame that is.

The hiveminds.info site (temporarily located at http://hiveminds.w1.factorsofi.com/) was started when we all left CNet because of this.

[Daybreak_0]

I like experts-exchange.com, it is based on points.

Not great if you are a newbie and want to ask a question every day, but good for experts who join and trade their knowledge.

[DCElliott]

In answer to AG, I learned of this when I tried to log on today and was redirected to a subscription page.

I personally think that the site owner has shot himself in the foot. There is a wealth of historical postings that is still available, but you have to subscribe to post a question (or respond). I think the whole site is going to come to a grinding halt. And $149 - sheesh - I would spend $5, grumble, and get on with it but that is too rich unless you are a fulltime developer and can write it off. A lot of the most knowledgeable participants are not pros, but rather enthusiastic amateurs.

It is too bad, and makes forums such as this one all the more valuable.

DE

[Terminator1138]

I know this thread is way back in the day, but once I clicked on the link, it took me to the forum and I did not have to pay, so did they change their minds? Just curious. If no longer paid for subscription, then I note here that the subscription service has ended? any comments

[animgirl]

I was a member before this thread started and I never saw anything about having to pay.

[Terminator1138]

Was it just an opton then, ?

[Tarmithius]

Apparently so Term. It looks like they changed their mind or someone else made them change it.

[DCElliott]

Actually there is a subscription section and a general section. About a quarter of the site is subscription only and deals more with webmaster issues, I think. The subscription section used to be donationware. What really bugged me is the number of cross-references into the subscription section in some of the threads I was reading.

Oh well, I guess if you don't pay, you can't play.

DE

[Terminator1138]

Well the reason I asked is that I started clicking on some links for info and no subscription window ever popped up, so was thinking if they had the whole ball of wax under a subscription or if they decided only donations for info.

[Tarmithius]

I did the same thing but never noticed anything that told me I would need a subscription for either the whole site or just parts. Could be possible that I missed something though.