I posted this on the old web site almost a month ago but wanted to re-post it again since the web site changes are still in progress. It was originally in response to the members only conversations we were having but can pertain to the web site too.
The question "How can we find a way to have a members only area on the board but simultaneously not restrict or turn away any potential owners from joining" has been going through my mind for days now. I have been picking brains left and right to get ideas on how to make this work and each time I feel like I hit a brick wall. If we have a members only area on the board created, we would basically have to "give" something to those who are members to differentiate them from the non-members. We already know that we do not want to restrict the message boards in any way as that may very well deter new and potential members from joining. But on the other hand, what can be given to the members only if there really isn't much to give? The only possible idea that I could come up with is recognition. For instance, this is an example of what we currently have underneath our username:
CristinaB
Marmaduke
396 Posts
Currently, for X number of postings, we get a star and a category (i.e. Marmaduke) which basically identifies how active we are on the board and/or how long some of us have been on here. There are even a few "Founding Member" categories which to me is just too cool to have next to your name. Although it is a simple aspect of the board to have these categories, I think it is a neat feature to have on a message board. So, one idea would be to have the "Members" (Members = Those that are committed to pay the monthly $5 or whatever is decided on) be identified differently than those who are non-members. For example, those who are members would have their Username placed in bold and maybe in gold color per say. Or, we could even have two members only categories. Maybe the bold and gold are the ones that pay $10 per month and the bold and silver are the ones that pay $5 per month?
Just a thought....