NikonGear'23

The NikonGear Office => Site Issues => Topic started by: longzoom on June 04, 2016, 20:29:14

Title: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 04, 2016, 20:29:14
It is more than possible that I've missed something, but couple years ago I got a rank of life membership here. Looks like I lost it now. So would you be so kind to explain?  Thx in advance!  LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 04, 2016, 20:40:51
Dear LZ,

You couldn't have acquired life membership here for two reasons:

1. We don't offer life membership;
2. We exist less than a year, so what ever you did a couple of years ago, must have been elsewhere.

If you have any other questions, please let me know.

Regards, Jakov
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 04, 2016, 21:41:49
Just now I figured out what happened. Sorry for misunderstanding! LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Frank Fremerey on June 05, 2016, 04:33:05
Dear LZ.
With recurring costs I feel "lifetime membership" is no sustainable idea.
But you can become "Supporter" for 20 Euros a year
All the best, nice to have you on board
Frank

Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: golunvolo on June 05, 2016, 14:59:47
I just found out I had the same issue in fotozones. Haven´t been there for a while -no time to split, I can´t even keep up here- Password recovery did the trick. Hope it helps.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 05, 2016, 20:00:14
The same situation! Thank you!   LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on June 06, 2016, 01:18:03
To elaborate on Jakov's answer:

Nikongear (NG) is a web site entirely independent of any previous web site with a similar name. Our history goes back to June, 2015 and no further. Any membership, whether be it as life member or annual subscription, established for the old nikongear.com or fotozones.com thus does not apply to NG. On NG, we start from scratch with a blank page.

NG will not provide 'life membership' for a number of reasons, the most important of which is this practice can only ever hope to function in a setting of unlimited growth. However, as we all know, the notion of unlimited growth is not sustainable either on a theoretical or on a practical level.

Instead, we offer annual subscriptions moderately priced at 20 Euro. Besides being awarded the 'NG Supporter' icon, subscribers will have access to all features and facilities of the site. We aim at diversifying the features of NG in the near future.

Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: richardHaw on November 17, 2016, 03:47:35
how can we help support this site? at least help pay for the overhead :o :o :o
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Erik Lund on November 17, 2016, 09:43:03
There is no need to pay anything extra, we have plenty of cash in the bank to run this site.

However we appreciate your wish to contribute and the way to do that is to become a Supporter

How to Become an NG Supporter with Two Golden Squares and your name in orange:
http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,3553.0.html
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: richardHaw on December 04, 2016, 07:06:17
I am getting a message from paypal saying that I should get a notification from the within 24 hours. is this normal? I am having trouble buying Uli Koch's book,too. it must be a euro conversion thing. :o :o :o
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Erik Lund on December 04, 2016, 12:59:15
Are you asking about NikonGear or something else?
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: richardHaw on December 04, 2016, 15:46:37
NG, yes. I tried to pay by PP but I got a message saying that they will message me within 24 hours :o :o :o
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 11, 2017, 14:31:11
Flickr became completely inoperable today, around the Globe, due to severe bug attack. Is there any other way to post, directly from my own library, without Flickr and its problem?  Thanks in advance! LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on June 11, 2017, 15:03:08
Just attach your local files when you post. There is a field for that purpose underneath the message text box.

Do note file size of images is restricted to less than 2.5 MB each, a total less than 10 MB  for all attached images to a  single post.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 11, 2017, 15:19:32
Thank you, Bjorn!  LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 11, 2017, 16:46:15
Alternatively, you could create a gallery of your own at NG :)
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 11, 2017, 17:45:39
Good idea! Thank you, Jakov! LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: CS on June 11, 2017, 18:10:25
Flickr became completely inoperable today, around the Globe, due to severe bug attack. Is there any other way to post, directly from my own library, without Flickr and its problem?  Thanks in advance! LZ

Flickr has changed, and might not be finished. I tried posting an image to a conversation yesterday, for the first time in a couple of years or so, and I couldn't figure out how to make the image show in the post. What a PITA. A friend saw my struggle and told me how it's done now, but I still had trouble with the image size. What a PITA!

You don't need an advanced degree to play here, and the proof of that is they allow me here!  ;)
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: longzoom on June 11, 2017, 18:31:04
Hah! Actually, I already have an advance degree, but it did not help! Fortunately, Flickr is back to regular operation status, so, I am done, so far! Thank you! LZ
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Fons Baerken on June 25, 2017, 10:59:31
I see my status has changed from supporter to member, where paypal transferred the €20 annual fee this week.?
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on June 25, 2017, 11:17:41
Jan Anne should know the particulars of any transaction.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Thomas Stellwag on June 25, 2017, 15:09:31
Paypal wants from me another  credit card for doing this payment - can I get a normal paypal adress from one of you?
 I already have 2 paypal accounts and am not willing to open an next one, would also send by credit card or IBAN, or cash,  no problem whatever you prefer
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jan Anne on June 27, 2017, 17:12:32
I see my status has changed from supporter to member, where paypal transferred the €20 annual fee this week.?
According to PayPal the transaction is pending until the 30th, it will either be processed or the subscription it automatically cancelled when payment isn't possible.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Thomas Stellwag on June 27, 2017, 18:32:24
cleaning all cookies and loging in to PP before using the payment button in NG worked
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Fons Baerken on June 27, 2017, 19:37:09
According to PayPal the transaction is pending until the 30th, it will either be processed or the subscription it automatically cancelled when payment isn't possible.
.
Paypal notified me of an automatic payment June the 23rd for nikongear supporter subscription!
Dont remember such issue or whatever last year
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Akira on June 27, 2017, 21:28:33
If I understand correctly, the name of NG Member is displayed in black and that of NG Supporter in orange.  The current status of Fons is NG Member and is displayed in brown.  Apparently the brown color is applied only to Fons' name.  What does that mean?
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jakov Minić on June 27, 2017, 22:31:27
Fons is unique :)
I would gladly help if I could but our treasurer is Jan Anne, and I am certain that he will make Fons a true "oranje" as he already is :)
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Fons Baerken on June 28, 2017, 23:43:55
Thanks for your support Jakov.

As Paypal seems to haggle over 20 eurootjes, we wait for divine intervention.
IMO there are more ways than one to pay the subscription, certainly in Holland as Jan Anne is from here :).
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jan Anne on July 03, 2017, 12:11:22
As Paypal seems to haggle over 20 eurootjes, we wait for divine intervention.
It's actually not PayPal but apperently initiated by the bank linked to your PP account:
Pending:
An eCheck is initiated by the sender. Once the payment is completed, the money is credited to the recipient's balance.


I think that recurring payments by a PayPal account linked to a bank account instead of a credit card might have caused this. So you did send money but we didn't properly received it as such, we'll give it a few more days before refunding the 20 bucks.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Fons Baerken on July 05, 2017, 07:08:54
Thanks, i don't understand much of this banking business, why it has to be so complicated.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jan Anne on July 05, 2017, 10:36:18
Fons, the transfer has been properly cleared and the automated script has extended your subscription :)

With our forum software only PayPal offers an automated subscription capability which works 99% of the time. So it requires very little intervention from our side which is a good thing as non of us are getting payed to manage the NG forum.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Akira on July 17, 2017, 17:09:08
Now Fons' name has been back to orange for a while, but I noticed the status of Armando (armando_m) is "NG member" and his name is displayed in brown just like Fons'.

Does the brown color mean his/her payment via PayPal is on hold?

When I forgot to renew my NG subscription, my status was displayed as "newbie" instead of "NG member".  I don't remember the color of my displayed name, though.

Are there any means for these?  I'm just curious...
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Andrea B. on July 17, 2017, 18:28:08
Initially lapsed subscriptions became "Newbie". I think at some point we tried to have lapsed subscriptions become "NG Member". The subscription software is not particularly easy to fix, so I'm not sure it always works. If anyone ever becomes a "Newbie", then just let us know and we can manually reset the designation.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Akira on July 18, 2017, 01:15:36
Andrea, thinks for the explanation.  Personally I don't mind if my status is indicated as "newbie", as I feel I'm always newbie in different ways.  As I said, I was jus curious.  The change of status indication works good as the reminder of the expired subscription.  :)
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: rosko on October 02, 2019, 10:01:33
To the Crew :

Help !

I just noticed that I had been downgraded from supporter to member. I am not sure since when, but that happened without I was informed. :o

Perhaps it's related with the previous issue about Paypal (which took twice the amount of money in my account) this year and previous years.

Jan-Anne resolved promptly the issue at the time.

I want of course to stay supporter.

Many thanks to letting me know and tell me what I have to do.

Francis.

I hope this is the suitable thread.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Birna Rørslett on October 02, 2019, 10:18:13
Obviously there has been a glitch somewhere ... your subscription was marked 'elapsed' by July 30, 2019.

Until Jan Anne has investigated the financial status and what really happened, I made a temporary fix to extend a complimentary subscription until end of 2019. Thus you are now properly designated 'Supporter' once again !!
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: rosko on October 02, 2019, 10:59:53
Many thanks, Birna for your rapid answer and decision.

I will keep an eye on this thread to see what was going on. ;)

Gratefully,

Francis.

Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Jan Anne on October 05, 2019, 10:27:11
Rosko, it seems that PayPal did extend the subscription with another year but somehow that extension didn't sync properly with your NG account which l will fix manually.

So its the opposite of what happened last year where multiple auto renewal subscriptions successfully extended your membership multiple years into the future :o

I suspect that PayPal tried to extend you membership in the same timeframe that NG had some accessibility issues, when I have more time I'll check the subscriptions of other members which were automatically extended in the same period.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: rosko on October 05, 2019, 12:17:18
when I have more time I'll check the subscriptions of other members which were automatically extended in the same period.

Thank you Jan-Anne !

I had a look on my paypal account, but I could see activity only from 1st January 2018, hence no possible to know the balance.

I'd PM this balance if you need.

All the best, Francis
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Bob Foster on March 18, 2023, 16:56:12
I no longer maintain a PayPal account.

I'd very much like to retain my subscriber status at NikonGear.

Is there any alternative to the use of PayPal for supporting Nikon Gear?

Bob
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Birna Rørslett on March 18, 2023, 18:04:31
I sent a PM to Jan Anne and he should be able to help.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Bob Foster on March 18, 2023, 18:16:06
Thank you Birna.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Birna Rørslett on April 22, 2023, 10:18:07
I have made some minor version updates to the forum software, which now runs SMF 2.0.19 instead of the earlier 2.0.16. SMF claims the update contains unspecified 'bug fixes'. That remains to be manifested?

I also did a DB validation and subsequent repair.

Let us hope these measures improve the current issues? Except those possibly incurred by Paypal, however.
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: ColinM on April 22, 2023, 17:40:04
Is it my imagination, or am I noticing some new or less familiar names posting in the last week or so?

If it's a result of the increased awareness for paying members, it sounds positive and maybe a sign of the change were hoping for?
Title: Re: Supporter - Membership of NikonGear
Post by: Birna Rørslett on April 29, 2023, 08:41:07
What we are seeing now is that some of the 'old' subscribers start to renew their lapsed subscriptions. A trend we think is very good.

There are > 100 of those old subscribers at present.

By the way,  the subscriber count is updated manually, usually once a day. Thus don't expect the count to increase immediately after a subscription is completed!!