Author Topic: Adding PayPal option in the Forum for sponsoring a particular feature  (Read 6477 times)

icfw

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • View Profile
Dear Feng Office team,

We understand that financial contribution is vital in expediting your efforts in improving and developing the Feng Office script.

I am suggesting to incorporate the PayPal link/option/feature if any possible, at the same time readily accessible to all Forum users, in order for them to donate any amount of  $ towards a particular feature they have requested or are interested in.


Note: If 200 users contribute only $1.00 that amounts to $200.00 right there.


Here are some ideas:

1. Maybe a new forum's topic, named 'Finance YOUR Feng Office Feature'
2. Requested features to be traced by their unique ID numbers (for the users to mention it when financially contributing)
3. A progress bar that is updated on a regular bases (i.e. either, daily, weekly, or monthly) where users can visually see how the contributions are coming
4. Estimated amount of $ needed to get the job done by the Feng Office team.
4. A link where users can be directed to a prioritized list of features requested, in order to see when their requested feature will be worked on.

This project could be expended with other ideas as well.

Let me know what you think about this suggestion.

Thanks.
.Mirsad

« Last Edit: June 13, 2010, 11:22:09 am by icfw »

cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
It's an interesting idea ... but I think the forums might not be the best alternative, as they might become a little messy.

On a side note, what do you think about IdeaTorrent?

icfw

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • View Profile
Dear Admin,

I have reviewed the website you have suggested. I love it. It is easy to navigate for the users as well as for the administrative side of the script.

This is an excellent script for the community voting procedures.

However, I was not able to see how you can incorporate the PayPal option into this script once the vote is final and approved for development.

I would love to see this script being implemented on the feng office website/server.

Thanks.
.Mirsad


cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
Yes, that's one negative side of idea torrent. The other negative is the lack of Mysql compatibility.

Pet once recommended MicroPledge for micro payments.

icfw

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • View Profile
Dear Admin,

I have reviewed the website you have suggested. It appears promising.

In one way I like the idea of 'pledging' vs. investing.
However, as I am part of a non-profit organization myself, experience teaches me that once you find an individual interested in supporting a project, it is in your best interest to collect his donation as soon as possible, as project details may change, and (1000 people = 1000 minds & attitudes) investors may withdraw their investments as well.

Here are some suggestions I have.

1. It would be redundant to have feng users/feng community users suggesting improvements/solutions on both places: Feng Forum & Idea torrent.
For simplicity reason, I would suggest to eliminate the section for new ideas, etc. at the Feng Forum and direct users to Idea Torrent Feng domain.

2. It becomes cumbersome to go the 'Idea Torrent'  to vote and then go to  MicroPledge to search for a specific project to pledge a support. 
Instead, it would be far better to have a link incorporated within the main text body (or some place) on the Idea Torrent, where users can simply click on and be redirected to a correct web address on MicroPledge website (corresponding to the specific project they voted on Idea torrent)  to commit their support/pledge. etc. PayPal uses the same methodology, where ebay users are redirected to paypal's website when needing to pay for an item they have purchased while everything is prefilled and ready, they just need to login and lick "Pay".

Otherwise, this project could work. I think, like anything else, it will require some time for the feng users to become accustomed to two fold workflow: voting on the Idea torrent, and then committing/pledging on MicroPledge.

I am looking forward to see this this project being implemented.

Thanks.
.Mirsad




The one thing I was not able to find out is if it is possible to direct a feng user/feng community user directly via a link to

cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
Thanks for your feedback Mirsad. It's very valuable.

IdeaTorrent is in my short list (unhappily the list is  not so short, errr). I have to research a little before I get started.

MicroPledging is an immediate second stage if there is interest.

I agree that Forums will need to be restructured. I was thinking on leaving only the "Ideas" forum in order to post general ideas, braindumps, or wishes. After discussion or further whinking, those ideas would be candidates to appear in IdeaTorrent and be voted by the community.

Best,
Marcos

icfw

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • View Profile
Dear Admin,

I am glad that I can assist. My intention is to get involved more as the time progresses, however, at the present time, I can offer suggestions, reviews and potential solutions.

Looking forward to work with you.

Thanks again.

.Mirsad

cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
I've installed IdeaTorrent in Sourceforge for our project (here).
It's a little bit slow for me, can you give it try and share some thoughts on its performance?

cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
PS: We are only using it for testing currently.

icfw

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 122
    • View Profile
Dear Admin,

I have reviewed the testing environment you have suggested. I find the speeds decent actually, not slow. However, my DSL download speeds are 5mb. I do not know how the lower speeds would affect the navigation of the website.

Why did you install the script on the sourceForge.net website? Why not create a subdomain directly on the fen Office server, and test the script speeds there? It would make more sense to me.

I think this could work. I have left one idea along with a solution proposal as well. You can follow up for on it.

Let me know if I can be of further help.

Thanks.
.Mirsad

cabeza

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1004
    • View Profile
    • Feng Office
Re: Adding PayPal option in the Forum for sponsoring a particular feature
« Reply #10 on: June 30, 2010, 12:33:18 pm »
Our speed is 2MB, so it shouldn't be an issue. However all Sourceforge pages work terribly slowly for us (even Sourceforge services as CVS, SVN and tracker are slow).

We'll continue analyzing the options. Thanks!