1: I am going to begin allowing synopsis to be copied from Wikipedia through the Creative Commons licensing. We had had some discussion about this in the past and, while it is preferable that we have our own original synopsis, the reality of it is that it just ain't happening. If you do copy from Wiki, though, you MUST also provide a link to the page where you found the information. Note that this is the ONLY thing that may be copied from WP ... credits and such are still not allowed.

2: I am also going to be putting our logo bug at the lower right hand corner of the screenshots for anyone except subscribers and researchers. High resolution screenshots will now only be available to subscribers and researchers as well. Since our Google Ads account got shut down, it has been a struggle to find ways to finance the site. The subscriber model has not been that successful and as much as I don't want to close the site down, I have to find a way to make the site pay for itself or that may well be a possibility.

3: To that end as well, I am going to be keeping a tighter leash on who is allowed to be a researcher. To wit, if don't contribute anything within a six month period, your rights as a researcher will lapse. There's no reason for someone to have the benefits of being a researcher if they are not contributing on a regular basis. (And we do have quite a few who have signed up, but then never contributed.) I will, however, notify people before that happens.

Questions?

1: I am going to begin allowing synopsis to be copied from Wikipedia through the Creative Commons licensing. We had had some discussion about this in the past and, while it is preferable that we have our own original synopsis, the reality of it is that it just ain't happening. If you do copy from Wiki, though, you MUST also provide a link to the page where you found the information. Note that this is the ONLY thing that may be copied from WP ... credits and such are still not allowed.

I feel that a well-detained synopsis written by us should supersede the Wikipedia one, right?

2: I am also going to be putting our logo bug at the lower right hand corner of the screenshots for anyone except subscribers and researchers. High resolution screenshots will now only be available to subscribers and researchers as well. Since our Google Ads account got shut down, it has been a struggle to find ways to finance the site. The subscriber model has not been that successful and as much as I don't want to close the site down, I have to find a way to make the site pay for itself or that may well be a possibility.

It's a shame it had to come to this. I feel the subscription model wasn't working because of a combination of many factors (obscure site, COVID-19 putting a dent in...well, everything). (Incidentally, wouldn't having separate watermarked and non-watermarked images for every cartoon take up more storage space?)

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I feel that a well-detained synopsis written by us should supersede the Wikipedia one, right?

Yes ... I'll out in a system so you can still add a new original synopsis.

It's a shame it had to come to this. I feel the subscription model wasn't working because of a combination of many factors (obscure site, COVID-19 putting a dent in...well, everything). (Incidentally, wouldn't having separate watermarked and non-watermarked images for every cartoon take up more storage space?)

Surprisingly, not as much as you might think. I'm taking up the slack by uploading the thumbnails at a lower resolution which isn't really noticeable.

Some thoughts... I'd suggest adding a banner to the main site and perhaps also the forum asking for donations or subscriptions; I checked while logged out and there's currently nothing obvious on the site mentioning their importance. Other sites that are dependent on donations do this sort of thing, and without it, people may not be aware of the importance of such contributions.

Adding additional subscription rates for people who want to help out more might also be a good idea. I for one would be willing to do more than $2 a week to help take the edge off the hosting costs a bit more. (Alternatively, I could submit a periodic donation on top of my existing subscription; but just increasing the subscription rate would of course be easier.) Unless I've missed something, I don't see where I can increase my subscription rate in PayPal, nor do I recall such an option when subscribing.

And one would think there are reputable choices among the alternatives to Google AdSense for embedded advertising, though I'm afraid I don't have the experience in this area to give recommendations.

It's nice to see "credits and such" from Wikipedia not only discouraged but explicitly "not allowed"; now, can the same be said for information from IMDb, BCDB, and other sources of dubious reliability, and "open season" declared for cleansing the database of such information? One of the raisons d'être for this site in the first place, as I understand it, was to create a resource with greater reliability than the other databases -- hence features like restricting contributory access to the database to authorized "researchers", and displaying the sources for listed credits (something I'd like to see expanded to things like release dates and character voice credits, by the way). For this site to stand out as superior, it needs to hold fast to that goal, and permitting information that's simply copied over from the other databases or other low quality sources undermines it.

Some thoughts... I'd suggest adding a banner to the main site and perhaps also the forum asking for donations or subscriptions; I checked while logged out and there's currently nothing obvious on the site mentioning their importance. Other sites that are dependent on donations do this sort of thing, and without it, people may not be aware of the importance of such contributions.

Adding additional subscription rates for people who want to help out more might also be a good idea. I for one would be willing to do more than $2 a week to help take the edge off the hosting costs a bit more. (Alternatively, I could submit a periodic donation on top of my existing subscription; but just increasing the subscription rate would of course be easier.) Unless I've missed something, I don't see where I can increase my subscription rate in PayPal, nor do I recall such an option when subscribing.

Done. You shouldn't see it if you are a researcher or a subscriber, though. I'll have to look into whether PayPal will let me do a variable amount for the subscription.

And one would think there are reputable choices among the alternatives to Google AdSense for embedded advertising, though I'm afraid I don't have the experience in this area to give recommendations.

I did find an alternative. I don't know how lucrative it will be just yet, and once again, you won't see it as a researcher or subscriber.

It's nice to see "credits and such" from Wikipedia not only discouraged but explicitly "not allowed"; now, can the same be said for information from IMDb, BCDB, and other sources of dubious reliability, and "open season" declared for cleansing the database of such information? One of the raisons d'être for this site in the first place, as I understand it, was to create a resource with greater reliability than the other databases -- hence features like restricting contributory access to the database to authorized "researchers", and displaying the sources for listed credits (something I'd like to see expanded to things like release dates and character voice credits, by the way). For this site to stand out as superior, it needs to hold fast to that goal, and permitting information that's simply copied over from the other databases or other low quality sources undermines it.

Noted. I'll put that on the list (which thankfully is now getting shorter and shorter!)

For non-members, I am noticing pop up windows everywhere. Every time the page loads, it will as quickly as possible head to some sort of ad. This WILL turn off many readers thinking this is nothing but a phishing site and the site becomes unusable as a result. Do you know anything about this???

For non-members, I am noticing pop up windows everywhere. Every time the page loads, it will as quickly as possible head to some sort of ad. This WILL turn off many readers thinking this is nothing but a phishing site and the site becomes unusable as a result. Do you know anything about this???

I did have a problem with that with one of the first alternatives I tried and disabled that system. Try refreshing your browser and if you're still having the problem, let me know.

A similar problem I have is that when I first get in to the site, it redirects to a shady download spam page. It stops if I press the "Stop Loading" browser button immediately as the main site first appears.