How many sales did you have on your new site?

Quote from: Ron on May 12, 2014, 17:51

I am not sure what your intentions are, as you would have seen my signature when you quoted me, twice.

Quote from: Ron

PS: I have emailed Chad about 5 times to get a reason, but he is ignoring the question which I find childish. Big bad Fotolia dont have the balls to tell me why. That I find more annoying than anything else. LOL.

Same question. Ron Wrote: "I wouldnt recommend Symbiostock at this point either, and you know why."

To use your own words, Big bad Ron dont have the balls to tell me why. That I find more annoying than anything else.

Did you PM him?  Maybe he doesn't want to say why in the forum but would tell you in private?  If you were asking sincerely?

Here are a list of Symbiostock features:

Theme: Free.
Premium: Optional.
Hosting: Your choice.
Sitemap plugin: Optional.

Technically you could launch a successful site and Symbio would never see a penny. And indeed it often happens that way.

The optional "paid upgrades" is simply a way for you to get upgrades right in your admin area, and you will also get an email saying "your site has an upgrade available". For those who do not wish to pay for upgrades, they can just check the forums and github now and then...manually reinstall. http://www.symbiostock.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1546

A while ago the Multi-site version of Symbiostock was started. Combining all previous experience, the new version keeps what is awesome and what works, and discards what doesn't. Its also going to house the www.symbiostock.com multisite network, allowing average people to upload the same as agencies, though being able to have contact pages, blogs, etc. The sites on symbistock.com will be the same as independent sites, except they will also be joined by an on-site central search and webmasters will have fewer options (all things are predefined...you only have to upload, blog, and have fun). As mentioned in the update email, this is almost done. But it will not be launched or even completed if the pattern remains the same. This idea was presented a long time ago ... the "hub sites" where multiple sites could create good strong network nodes and customer concentration points. In all of this silence there has still been wonderful progress, even if its almost completely unfunded.

I will assert that Symbiostock's main killer was the spirit of MSG. Most people here are quite nice, but sadly its the few particularly loud angry convoluted people which tend to rule the atmosphere. And thus you had the fallout which killed Symbiostock's growth and momentum. But of course others will say different, because thats what this place is for.

Technically this project is like the walking dead right now. It has been since I left MSG. Before I finally decide whether or not take down all the supporting sites, I'm determining if this thing really does have a future.

On a very positive note, even our present version is getting quite a few facelifts and refinements, plus quite a bit of progress in how it functions. Here are the sites running the latest version:

http://www.clipartillustration.com/
http://www.atstockillustration.com/image/heart-graphic/
http://www.teamclipart.com/image/softball-cowgirl-fastpitch-softball/

The latest version is not yet an upgrade - its still being tested. This series of releases will gradually get sites ready for the new release of Symbiostock, which is happening slowly and methodically (as opposed to the duct-tape-and-set-it-free start we had back in the opening days).

During the downtime we were able to refine much. The latest version gives tons of menu space without sacrificing visual quality. We even adopted back the menu appearance that the early starters of Symbiostock grew attached to. This version is not adding much though - its taking away. Thus we get faster performance, cleaner streamlined presentation.

http://www.symbiostock.org/community/viewtopic.php?f=53&t=1545

Plus we have a central sales reporting area for those who wish to connect their sites to it. It anonymously shares sales. Only a few of us are reporting right now - but if even half the network reported there sales -- you would see that indeed symbiostock has not failed it's objective of being an open source means to selling direct.

Right now there are 3 or 4 sites reporting sales. If you'd like to connect your site to report sales, please let me know and I'll show you how leo [at] symbiostock.com

Even now the sales are impressive: http://www.symbiostock.org/collective/symbiostock-sales/ ... impressive considering this is not a centralized operation, agency, or even one of the "common" solutions. Its just the combined work of many people.

If we could keep the best of Symbiostock and learn from the mistakes, it still has a future. But honestly right now I've divided my time between other projects because like all of us, its not smart to put all of our eggs in one basket!

Hope everyone is doing well. I had to stop by to comment today Also I apologize to anyone I may have offended before.

Quote from: Milinz on June 09, 2014, 19:19

Quote from: Ron on May 12, 2014, 17:51

I am not sure what your intentions are, as you would have seen my signature when you quoted me, twice.

Quote from: Ron

PS: I have emailed Chad about 5 times to get a reason, but he is ignoring the question which I find childish. Big bad Fotolia dont have the balls to tell me why. That I find more annoying than anything else. LOL.

Same question. Ron Wrote: "I wouldnt recommend Symbiostock at this point either, and you know why."

To use your own words, Big bad Ron dont have the balls to tell me why. That I find more annoying than anything else.

Did you PM him?  Maybe he doesn't want to say why in the forum but would tell you in private?  If you were asking sincerely?

Sombody needs to answer my intentions to ask a question and get an answer. Is that a rule here now. Easy question was why. With Ron gone you question if I'm sincere to ask a question? Do all questions get the same sincere and intention test challenge?

I have a feeling that the email and some of the posts here and there gave the mistaken impression that SyS was going subscription for updates. The number of comments I've seen asking about pay and your clear answer to that question, might help.

Not having an active site, I didn't follow the link or take the poll: (this came from Leo)

Symbiostock Monthly Membership?

Symbiostock has had no problem growing in the early days. It does it's job, sells images, and is quite useful. But it has not exactly been a very "sustainable" project (like we've never heard that before!).

Here we propose an answer: A small monthly paid membership, allowing convenient access to upgrades.

Seems that after under 20 responses, Leo pulled the plug and turned off the website? Aren't there supposed to be 180 active sites still using SyS?

Quote from: Batman on June 29, 2014, 20:06

What I want to know is what does the new version with subscription updates mean. Is Symbiostock still free except the $120 fee to make the search run, site enhancer,  or the sitemap features? Now updates are going pay? What does this mean? Sombody explain.

there is no 'new verison with updates' --
symbiostock is and always has been free.  the current free version is stable & runs fine.  if you want extras like site map or advanced editing and collections, there are small charges for plugins

 there IS NO $120 fee -- leo asked in a poll if people would be interested in paying a monthly fee to support the project and most of the dozen who replied said no.

 meanwhile over 180 sites continue to function just fine with existing software

right - as in most things, only a small percentage actually participate. that's fine, but it means you can't draw major conclusions from small sample sizes