Recently Sent Email On HuntingForGold Website Status

[Nuggetdigger]

i thought id also post this here, just in case some of you dont get it in an email


well guys and girls, i hope everyones had a wonderful holiday season..

as im sure the majority of you know, we have been online now in one form or another for a great many years. we started out as nuggetdigger.com, and moved over here to HuntingForGold.net. its been a good run, but as i feared, it looks like its going to be coming to a close. as you all know, this website is solely member supported. each year we take donations from our members to keep the site running, and to keep it running advertisement free.most of you have voiced in the past that this is one of the reasons you like hunting for gold, because every time you come to it, you dnt have a bunch of garbage popups and blinking banners in your face trying to get you to buy something. all we have ever asked is that each year, our members all gather together and send in a small donation to help pay for the hosting and bandwidth use. up until now, our members have always been very supportive, and have done there best to make sure that there site is kept running. as a thank you, every year we have held a contest and given away valuable prizes to those members who took the time to make a donation. we have had some wonderful prizes. gem stones, gold,jewelry,mining equipment,outdoor gear,etc.


this year, it seems things have fizzled out. when the contest went up, we expected that our forum s members would come thru once again and make the donations that would keep our website running up and strong again for another full year. we were wrong it seems. donations this year were very VERY low. the very few donations we did receive were recently used to diagnose and fix the website at the server, and they didnt even cover that completely. to me and im sure others here, this is very disappointing as hunting for gold has alot of information thats really invaluable to new and old prospectors alike. we have served as a political hub for our members to keep eyes on whats happening in the world of prospecting,etc.

as all great things do, i believe its now time for this all to come to an end. we have had a wonderful run and i like to think we helped alot of young prospectors just getting started out, but with the economy like it is ( and seeing as we have supplemented what was lacking money wise in the past, and being disabled and on social security) we can no longer afford to pay the bills to keep the site running and running smoothly. as i posted previously, January 7th,2009 was our deadline to make our payment for our hosting fees,etc, and it has come and gone without them being made this year so far. i dont have any idea how long the site will now be going, so im writing this now to thank everyone for everything they have done here at huntingforgold.net just in case it gets shut down.

i will keep everyone updated on the status, and if anything changes, a miracle pops up, a generous wealthy member decides to send in a big donation,ect i will let everyone know.

thanks again, and i hope the new year is kind to you


john thurman
AKA
NuggetDigger
Administrator
http://www.HuntingForGold.net

[diverrick]

WOW!! and not a person has yet commented on your note.. Very sad day indeed.. I have noticed a drop in the attendance in the last 6 months, that plus the bad economy, I would have to remind you your not the first, nor the last to fall prey to the current economy. Sorry to hear things are that bad.
Keep me in your books, as I was thinking of flying up this spring. Ok.. I am also sorry alot of have folks let you down. I don't know what I'll do with all my spare time without this site.. It was a good run, even though I came in on the end of it.. Good luck.. Rick
Hope any of you that are interested, send me an email and I'll add it to my list.. Mine is: Rdozier1@aol.com

[Nuggetdigger]

yep, it sucks.

if we dont get something handled and i mean quick, im positive it will go down.

they did tell me though that if it does, it will still be in the system for 30 days, so if something does break, and we come back online, ill send out a mass email and let everyone know.

[diverrick]

Hey ND.. How about you loosen your rule a tad bit, and allow a "select few" to advertise.. I know the place in Auburn is way above board. I figure there are a few others as well that would also be acceptable candidates. Maybe the group could suggest ideas for candidates? As long as they are not glaring ads, with pop ups and all that crap. If you stick to your guns, you can proudly say you didnt ever allow for advertisements, but then the site would be closed, as a result.
If you allowed a select few to advertise, you might be able to keep it up some, and continue this wonderful spot.. Just an idea, but it makes some sense. Sometimes you got to roll with it a bit.. in order to survive. I am sure you have considered all of this. Just wanted to tell you that if it comes down to not having the site, then maybe you need to change things enough to continue.. Kinda like creative financing.. It would bother me none to know you had some financial support besides us members. Heck.. you might even make some money at it ..I know, that's was not your intent originally, but???? Whats the option?

[Sac - man]

Yep I hate to see this site go down, I have meet alot of great folks on here. if it does not make it, like Diverrick said if somebody needs somebody to head up in the hills chasin the yellow glow give me a holler.....

huntingold@aol.com

[Mobius]

Love the site and people I've met. Thank you very much. Sent a donation before X-mas, hope it arrived.

[vini]

Sorry John that I haven't been any help its been rough here just making all my bills each month I have had to really pull my reins and stop spending , it sucks it stress's me out job's haven't come in like I had hoped . After seeing what I made on my regular job this year $3,000 less then last and not getting side work that accounts to very much just little jobs I understand now why i have had to struggle just about every month this year. Then Xmas strikes and B-days for family luckily nothing fatal has come up because I wouldn't be able to afford shit, cards are maxxed out and high interest is killing me on one of them BLAH BLAH BLAH . I am even back to eating top raman and rice meals LOL pretty bad when I get there man!!


Will miss the site and the guys hopefully we can meet up elsewhere out there.

[Sac - man]

just wondering ?? just how much would it take to keep it going ??? and for how long...

[Nuggetdigger]

the hosting costs about $400+ a year with the bandwith use we have here (around $33 bucks a month). if we use more bandwidth ( such as videos,large pictures,etc) it can run a bit higher ( one reason i ask people if possible to use photobucket to post there media as even though we still use more bandwidth, it isnt as bad.)

if we have no problems, were pretty much good to go. if there are problems, they charge around 40 bucks an hour to diagnose and fix them. we already got about 170 bucks in donations, but about a week ago, hoser pmed me about the site not working right, so i called the hosting and they found that there were some problems with the forums software, and it ended up costing about 155.00 for them to diagnose it and fix it, which whacked what we already had in donations in the head.

right now as we speak, to keep everything up and running, we need to come up with about $400 bucks for the years hosting. that would keep the site up and going for a whole year. i also like to keep at least around $100 "buffer" in the coffee can, just in case we have a problem and have to have it diagnosed and fixed.

plus people need to realize we dont make any profit from the website at all. any extra that we end up not using we generally purchase prizes with and give back to the members. hell, ive sold my own personal shit in the past to pay the bill and keep things going!

but, to keep it up and smokin right now, we need to come up with about 400 bucks to pay the bill

heck there is more than that in just prizes listed. the damascus knife retails for over $200 bucks by itself!

[2prospectors]

N.D. i sent you a p.m.

[Nuggetdigger]

well, all taken care of gents. our forums fees are now going to be paid for the entire year

we can still use whatever donations for upkeep you guys want to send,

thanks

[diverrick]

Cool!!! Who do we have to thank for that to have happened?

[Nuggetdigger]

well, whomever it was, id suspect they won the "largest donation prize" sofar hands down, wouldnt you?


we have 2 prospectors to thank for that.
hes supposed to be shooting us out the money

[2prospectors]

monies in the mail. thanks for the great site!

[Nuggetdigger]

u da man bro......we appreciate it greatly.

hey guys we can still use a few extra bucks just in case.if anyone can swing anything email or pm me for info