You mean I'm subscribing for nothing? Maybe it's Magical Thinking, but if $25 a year means I won't get those messages, it's worth it to me.

Just in case anyone has second doubts after subscribing to be a contributing member, we'll gladly refund it

The "server is too busy" thing is just temporary.

Wa'il

Interesting concept, Liz53, but I'd sure hate to see user fees destroy the very things that make this place so great!

This site carries advertisements that all of us see when we journal and pursue other activities here. There is no denying this is a very valuable site to its users. And no one wants inconveniences.

However,once a fee-for-use is levied, it does tend to increase. This could cause a whole lot less dialogue here with young people and students who need the site but who might be disinclined to pay for services that are available in other formats elsewhere free of charge. The economy still has not recovered, too, and some people are still struggling to make ends meet. This site helps keep us all aware of the hazards of eating less expensive foods and fast foods that we know aren't good for us.

Also, it's the dialogue with young people on the forums here that is very valuable to me, as a 65-year-old woman with disposable income. The young people here -- (or, youngER people) are very bright and quite engaged and I haven't found that elsewhere. The international aspect of it also is unique and useful.

I'm thinking it might be a lot of trouble for the techies that are keeping this running to set up a two-tiered system whereby paying subscribers get certain services, such as fast online saves, uploads, and downloads and those whose memberships are subsidized by advertisers do not.

For one thing, as the demographics changed, so would the advertisers. Secondly, the vitality here would be adversely affected. This site strikes me as a unique labor of love, and that is one of its strengths. It is not glossed up with fancy graphics or so many colorful photos and alluring viewer-enticing layouts that you cannot "meet" each other easily or get to know other subscribers.

The content is -- for the most part -- pretty visible even so. And it available to all. Thank goodness! What a wonderful, wonderful service to us all. Our subscriber base is intelligent and also relatively well educated and there is tremendous enthusiasm, friendliness, goodwill, and helpfulness here.

As long as it is this good, lets not ask the site-owners if we can
"pay for better service." Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. This place is terrific just as it is, and I am sure that Tamarian is going to do his best to find a solution to this situation.


Not that I am not grateful for the site. But I'd sure hate to see it based on any other premise than what it is right now. Everything would change, and it would not benefit us, as subscribers, I fear.

Hey, Tamarian -- Ha, ha. . . . Your response merits many brownie points for you and for the site. Have you ever seen a situation in which people who are getting a "free" service are requesting to pay you for it in order to keep it convenient, when you are offering to do that for them, anyway, free of charge?

What am I missing?

See my post above about the dangers of making supporters' payments mandatory for faster service. I feel it would destroy the qualities that make this site so wonderful.

I agree with Malibanne that this is a wonderful site and I believe it might become less so if there were subtle "penalties" for not subscribing. However, that said, I intend to subscribe this week anyway: not to get better service but to say "thank you" for helping me lose weight and keep it off. Hell, I've paid a lot more to doctors, pharmacists, trainers, hypnotists and snake oil peddlers who didn't help me achieve these results!

To be clear, I did not subscribe just to get better access. I subscribed for all the benefits listed in the link I posted earlier, particularly the elimination of ads. I'm a long time public radio listener, and they have indoctrinated me to pay for what I enjoy listening to. Others benefit as well, so it's a win/win.

I know that not everyone can afford $25 a year, but for those who can, it is a small price to pay for such good information and discussion. I'm in no way saying that everyone should subscribe, but for those who can afford it, it appears to be a way to get to the site more easily. But maybe it's Magical Thinking on my part. Let's see if I can get this to post.

I agree, Whofan AND Liz53. Those are all the right reasons to pay for the service, and I also intend to do so.

Once again, I'm in total agreement with Liz.

I became a subscriber for the sheer appreciation of all that this site and its community has given me.

It is an invaluable resource! and I'm deeply grateful.

Plus, not seeing ads is a bonus!

I think we all agree that it is wonderful! And that we want it to stay that way.

For the last hour I have been getting those "busy server" messages again. The wait time is not as bad as in previous episodes -- only seem to have to hit "reload" about three or four times, then wait. However, yesterday I had to hit "reload" up to 20 times and even walk away from the computer for a half hour or so. And I would come back to it and get more" busy server" messages.

I hope this posts. Very frustrating. I'm quitting for tonight. Too bad. . . . there are emails in my box about updates on friends' journals, but I do not want to have to wait 10 or 15 minutes between posts.

If this is going to be continuing, it will wear down my patience. i might decide to just read and not post.

Just checking, are you saying that you get this error when trying to post, not when reading?

Wa'il

Yes. Last night when I was filing in meals and ingredients on My P.L.A.N., every time I added an ingredient, I would get the message. I had to "reload" each time so that instead of just posting once and having the internet momentarily "wink" and then come back up, the "winks" were more like very long snoozes and naps, and the computer took ages to respond and THEN gave me the "busy server" notice, finally. Posting what I ate for dinner took 30 minutes or more. (Looking up ingredients takes time, too.) It's lucky there were only a few dinner entries.

This is what I mean. If all the My P.L.A.N. users are experiencing this, they're gonna end up on Spark People or F.I.T. Day, or Livestrong, or one of those other sites for the eating/exercising options. Many people I know on this site go elsewhere for those services anyway, but I think it's nice to keep everything in one spot.

Once I'm on a page, it does not die. But getting there can take a while. When I called up my friends' journals to read, once I got it, I was fine. But RESPONDING was NOT fine. I typed a response to one friend -- a hefty two-paragraph response -- and I got one of those messages. Had to reload it three times. The third time took forever, but it did "take." I was afraid I had lost it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

It's 7:20 a.m. and it's starting again . . . . I did the above at 6:30, then made various posts . . .and now I'm discovering that in going onto my friends' sites to READ their latest entries, I have to go through this "wait-and-see," very-long-wink, then "server is busy" message process again . . .

I did it once, but don't have time for more.... I'm off to slay the world and live my day. But it would have been nice to read a few other posts from other friends first.

--------------------------------------

Now it is 7:24 -- ha, ha! Got slapped in the face trying to post this. It is happening on this very message, too!

I'm starting to think we're taking about different messages. Can you post a screenshot of this messages? It might be a browser, or router/ISP message, and not the forum busy message.

Anyone having this problem, please specify if it was while reading or posting, and a screenshot will help.

Wa'il

For me, it was both when reading and posting. If it happens again, I'll try to get you a screenshot.

Thanks for clarifying, T . . .
I will get you screenshots when it happens again.