i've asked for several things including monthly traffic breakdowns plus the things below as well with not much luck in getting answers (aside from a mod forum):

sounds good, now there are a few things that the community will need to vote / settle on:
1. ad stuff (whether we keep kontera or not, comparing ad revenues, etc)
2. new site features / mod privileges
2. site staff and design turnarounds (i think this should be done once a year)

i mean i appreciate the work the admins have done and maybe i'm way off here but i really think they may need a break and we either need to do a new staff vote or more people need administrative power - i've noticed there is definitely a general lack of communication between the admins and the rest of us and i can see its frustrating quite a few members here. i've almost (almost, lol) given up asking for stats, pointing things out, etc as i'm mostly ignored - i suppose it has to do with me saying what most won't.

anyhow, we also need a decision on this botched Open Reaction contest...so lets get this stuff out of the way guys and get the community moving forward again :)

Posted By: niemionSean posted some Kontera stats not that long ago.

yes he did but we're looking for specific stats (like monthly for example) and it would be nice to get all this stuff together rather than in bits and pieces.

plus we were supposed to discuss kontera again (at least that was my understanding). i think i mentioned this before but i think the site stats should be posted every so often on a schedule - if that means having a dedicated person for this lets get it done. maybe i'm off here but there certainly are enough people asking about stats, money, contests, etc and i think this affects visitors confidence in the site.

i'm not sure what kontera's login is like but i don't think it would be hard to create a google account for a separate 'statistician' and that would look after adsense and google analytics, right?

Posted By: Mike WeissI don't know why we don't run this like a normal Non-profit? Why don't we make it official, file some paperwork, and have a board of directors that have a term of 2 years or whatever?

From the front page:

"Open Designs is a community owned and managed site"

and

"OpenDesigns.org is owned and operated by The Open Design Community, a nonprofit organization"

I support that.

plus we were supposed to discuss kontera again (at least that was my understanding)

I was my understanding too. I have to admit that I voted yes because it was suggested that the money generated from the links could be spent on competitions an such. But if they don't, then I would think we would be much better without. Those villainous links have been here for a while and still they irritate me gruesome.

yugnats:
I posted the exact AdSense revenue, where you saw it, so don't come here to cry about not seing things, I'm starting to get fed up.
And people who want to see the AdSense stats.
1st check collected, was for a few months in a row, but we had some downtime in the middle, was of a total of $642.28
About 2 days ago I got the check for december, $125.23
The January check is going to be $206.36
After some optimizing we will be able to raise that amount to a bit more, and then run some mega contests. but first we have some more important things to do for smooth running which everyone has been complaining about. I cannot publicly disclose much, but we are working on a good solution.

Posted By: LobsterManyugnats:
I posted the exact AdSense revenue, where you saw it, so don't come here to cry about not seing things

wow, personal attacks aren't necessary joe...besides you did not post what i asked so i'll make it completely clear: myself and others in the community are asking for screenshots that show the 2007 monthly breakdown for adsense and kontera income for opendesigns. please give us a screenshot of the analytics monthly breakdown for 2007 as well and we would appreciate it if we had a schedule for releasing this community information.

it should only be a couple of minutes work and if you don't feel comfortable posting them here you have my email address.

Posted By: LobsterManI'm starting to get fed up.

lol, what your fed up because i'm asking for screenshots of OUR community sites revenue and traffic reports? unless something has changed and this isn't OUR community any longer whats the problem here?

Posted By: SkyshadowJust asking, has any non-profit paperwork been filed?

Posted By: Mike WeissI don't know why we don't run this like a normal Non-profit? Why don't we make it official, file some paperwork, and have a board of directors that have a term of 2 years or whatever?

thats exactly what i tried to set up in the beginning but (from what i remember) the admins were against it. of course i disagreed (and still do) but my complaints fell on deaf ears so i stopped wasting my breath. as i recall i even offered to pay the non-profit fees (as they are only $40 here in canada).

Posted By: SkyshadowJust asking, has any non-profit paperwork been filed?

Here's a few early links about non-profit use here at opendesigns:
Link 1
Link 2
but the conversations just didn't seem to go anywhere so clearly its time to do something.

Posted By: perthmetroi'd like to see monthly figures

By that I meant financial figures...
1. How much revenue gained from ads (both types).
2. How much revenue gained from donations.
3. How much revenue gained from interest earned whilst in the bank.
4. How much revenue has been spent.

But given the revenue depends of traffic then I suppose that would be good to see too.

I also agree that Joe was out of line with his answer... if Joe is getting fed up, maybe the site's finances can be passed onto to someone who won't get fed up with the members asking for more accountability and who would have the time and willingness to post the details.

In fact I think it would be a good idea for the finances to be as removed as possible from the admins for accountability reasons. There's just too many reasons for the members to question the current system of admin accountability.

Pete

edit: and unless all the members vote by a majority that the finances/stats should not be posted publicly, then they should be. When it comes to money, the people managing it have the responsibility to do all they can to removed any doubt of it's accuracy.

1. What are our duties Joe?

2. As I've said before don't confuse the members trying to bring their ideas into the community (and directly to the admins) as being unappreciative for efforts the admins do. They're two different topics.

3. Do we not trust you? You've hit the nail on the head Joe... you need to prevent anyone from not trusting you. You're in a position of trust and with that comes a responsibility of accountability... that's how it works. We all trust you Joe, but that doesn't mean you don't need to be anymore less accountable than if we didn't trust you.

4. Just because it will take too much effort to officially register as a non-profit, doesn't mean we can't operate as close as possible to one.

5. Why not focus on the important things? I remember making a post a long long time ago about what is important to some may not be important to others. As an admin you shouldn't be taking the role of deciding on what is important (especially when it comes to money that isn't yours) but rather listening to what the community wants and telling us if you can do it (not if you want to do it).

Joe, it's important not to see this topic and all it's passion as an attack on you. It's not about you, it's about the processes that are in place for accountability and 'unfortunately' you're the only one that can put those processes in place.

Don't be afraid to ask for help/advice.

Pete

Thanks Joe

I shot of an email to my lawyer and my accountant in regards to opening a nonprofit and the operation. I thing that bringing in as much ad revenue as we are we should be able to afford the legal help and accounting help that a typical non-profit would be able to handle. I assume that the three admins would retain "ownership" but I think many people would feel more comfortable either calling it a private venture between three people, or a true nonprofit. No more of this wishy washy stuff. I am willing to help as much as I can. I have incorporated three businesses in the past and I believe that the nonprofit should be somewhat easy with the relatively low amount of ad revenue we are talking about.

I don't mind if we just call it what it is... a joint venture between Sean, Chris, and Joe. But let’s choose so we truly know how things are.

Just on a side note for Joe, Christopher, and Sean....It may be a good idea to remove the Contest Blurb on the home page in the Latest News section!

Posted By: gnome Design Turnover Period (6 months, 1 year, 1.5 years, 2 years, just once more, never)

Gasp! Never!