❤️ Please help out ThePhotoForum.com, consider donating to the site!

[ekool30 1]

It is with a heavy heart that I write to ask the members of the site to consider donating. We make most of our money off of advertising, but with AI taking over the search engines and the proliferation of ad blockers, it's just not enough anymore. The expense to keep the site running are more than the site makes. The worst part is that AI bots essentially spam the server and steal resources without giving back. We block them and they find a way around it. So hosting is more expensive than before! We've haven't had a donation option on the site since we've owned it. I fear that we must now make a change and ask for some assistance.

You can donate by clicking the Donate option in the navbar or via this link: Donate Now!

Currently we only support PayPal but you can also donate by mail. Our mailing address is as follows:

Forum Foundry, Inc.
Attn: ThePhotoForum.com (Insert Your Username)
PO Box 3503
Cedar Park, TX, 78630

As someone else mentioned, you can also become a supporting member which includes a few perks and also helps support the site. You can do that at this URL: https://www.thephotoforum.com/account/upgrades

As always, thank you for being a member and thank you in advance. Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[gk fotografie2 1]

It is with a heavy heart that I write to ask the members of the site to consider donating. We make most of our money off of advertising, but with AI taking over the search engines and the proliferation of ad blockers, it's just not enough anymore. The expense to keep the site running are more than the site makes. The worst part is that AI bots essentially spam the server and steal resources without giving back. We block them and they find a way around it. So hosting is more expensive than before! We've haven't had a donation option on the site since we've owned it. I fear that we must now make a change and ask for some assistance.

You can donate by clicking the Donate option in the navbar or via this link: Donate Now!

Currently we only support PayPal but you can also donate by mail. Our mailing address is as follows:

Forum Foundry, Inc.
Attn: ThePhotoForum.com (Insert Your Username)
PO Box 3503
Cedar Park, TX, 78630

As someone else mentioned, you can also become a supporting member which includes a few perks and also helps support the site. You can do that at this URL: https://www.thephotoforum.com/account/upgrades

As always, thank you for being a member and thank you in advance. Any and all help is appreciated.

I know you Americans love show and entertainment more than substance, but this is truly pathetic beyond words, if you look away for just a moment, this photo forum turns into a circus!

I wonder when, alongside all the bells and whistles (POTW, top member – with numbers 1, 2, and 3 being people who haven't been on the forum in years – top poster, top donation, streaks, and other nonsense), a countdown clock will appear on the homepage showing how many days until TPF is finally discontinued?

 

[ekool30 1]

I know you Americans love show and entertainment more than substance, but this is truly pathetic beyond words, if you look away for just a moment, this photo forum turns into a circus!

I wonder when, alongside all the bells and whistles (POTW, top member – with numbers 1, 2, and 3 being people who haven't been on the forum in years – top poster, top donation, streaks, and other nonsense), a countdown clock will appear on the homepage showing how many days until TPF is finally discontinued?

The internet has changed. We now compete with other forums, Facebook Groups, Reddit and the search engines and AI scraping our content and answering the user with the education it gained from scraping us without linking back to us. Throughout all this time, we've kept the site pretty consistent in style and moderation. I think that's an enviable goal. The Internet changes --- and we can try to adapt with it without losing our core values, and I think we've done a decent job at that. The site certainly isn't growing -- but I remember a time when it was just email lists and forums. I don't think those days are coming back -- but what the AI can't do is foster community and I think we are still doing a good job at that.

If you disagree, I understand. But it's not for lack of caring or effort, we are putting that in every day.