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Thread for questions about how this forum works. Feel free to move this if you want it somewhere else.
To start off, is there a way for posters to include pictures and/or tables in their posts?
Great question Tau. With this post (your third), you actually automatically just gained access to do that.
The forum has a default spam blocker that makes a user’s profile under heavy moderation for the first three posts. Until you reach three posts/replies, the forum requires an admin to review and approve a new topic created by a new user (it may have taken you a moment to see this topic populate, this is why). After the third post, these restrictions are lifted, and one of the things that becomes accessible is a little “Attach File: Choose File” button below this text box.
I just learned this myself! You should have full access to add attachments now. We also have the ability to embed, but I think I have to research how to properly activate that plug-in because I’m not seeing it readily available.
@kylededi Thanks, Kyle. I don’t see that I have that ability now, so maybe there is some kind of activation required.
I wanted to post a topic but needed to include a couple tables. I tried copying and pasting tables, but the formatting was off, so then I thought I could post the tables as pictures and couldnt figure it out. I wasn’t willing to hand enter all the data I already have in spreadsheets in bullet lists, so I stalled for now.
@tau837 Hey Tau – this is my troubleshooting profile. I just went through some posted enough replies to get this account out of that early trial stage, and when I did, this attach file box became accessible. Can you see this?
@guest1 Yes, I see it now, thanks. Will experiment with it when I get time (e.g., not sure if it will put attached files in the middle of a post or all at the bottom). Thanks.
@tau837 That’s not helpful for what you’re trying to do though… it needs to be inserted into the body. Playing around with the “code” line now
I see, it just adds the paperclip at the bottom, and it doesn’t actually show up in the post, a viewer must click it to see it. Better than no attachment ability.
Trying two attachments.
Attachment 1:
Attachment 2:
Looks like no more than 1 attachment, and posts with attachments must presumably be approved, so don’t show up immediately.
@tau837 Originally, I didn’t pick up the extra add-on for attachments because I was worried about it being abused… but there’s a very clear need for it. Adding it now.
@tau837 Try now, Tau. There should be a little “My Media” button you can play with. First, you add the files into your little shadowbox by hitting “add files.” Then, go to the text line where you want it to display. Then, check the box on the right in the shadow box and hit “insert into post”
testing 1
Testing 2
I’ll be able to customize default sizes and such as we go/
@tau837 Didn’t know where to post this, but 6.28 is Tau Day, apparently. I don’t know what the appropriate greeting is, but Joyous Tau Day to you!
https://tauday.com
@dtsmith-fiatbux That is funny, but I think that every day is “Tau Day”!! He has great great insights into all of our Charger talk. With that said, Happy Tauday Tau!!
@spanos-must-go Every day has been Tau Day for the last decade or so. If there were a Greek symbol for DiDiminicantanio (and there isn’t) we should celebrate that, too. If there were a Greek symbol for Buck Melanoma, it’d be a couple of hairy balls. But we carry the carry the tradition forward all the same.
@spanos-must-go DeDiDay. Name the date and I’ll put it on my calendar. How should we celebrate? Cake? Pie? Champagne? A 12-win season? You call it and I’m all in.
@dtsmith-fiatbux This made me spit out my coffee, I hope @buck-melanoma sees it 🤣 🤣 🤣
The Greek symbol for Diminicantanio is probably “…” making my last name name “De…” 🤣
How is the economy running for this site, i.e. costs and payments? Is everyone working for free for now and what are your expectations in the long run?
These questions might be too early to address – I apologize if so. I am just curious 🙂
No matter what, I will try might best to contribute and spread the word!
@bolt_dk DAMN! Hard hitting questions, I like it 🤣
So, full transparency… there’s no set plan in place for revenue. I’m footing the bill and all costs for the site, which to date have gotten close to $2.5-3k and should get us through the first year, after which the costs to maintain should drop to around $1-1.5k/yr before paying writers or contributors. I definitely could have saved money if I knew what I was doing from the jump, but have had to pay for some support/troubleshooting and what not. I also paid for the “entrepreneur” level WordPress site, not because I envision an e-store anytime soon, but because it gets us the highest level support and performance on the site… but I have to figure out how to remove the goofy purple bar calling it a demo store.
Here’s the vision as I see it now, but of course it could shift and adapt as things go depending on the kind of support we need.
I’m attempting to run it as if it were a credentialed publication, and eventually hope to get a media credential for the site. All photos being used in the Featured Imagery have been licensed through Icon Sports Wire, so there’s no piracy in that regard which seems to be a hot topic for blogs/sites like this, and was the biggest hurdle to clear (GettyImages charges around $450/license, Icon drops the price to about $4-5/photo). As such, it opens the doors for us to put our name out there as much as possible, and perhaps build a relationship with Chargers Communication teams (fingers crossed) to gain access to player interviews. Admittedly, someone that helped jumpstart the initial formatting included that Chargers video in the header, which came form their YouTube channel… so that’s going to be gone when I start “outreach.”
I’ve been transparent with all our content creators and writers that there is no revenue stream, and I don’t have funds or investment to pay them until we get to that point, and generating revenue is admittedly an afterthought in this project. Even then, without an idea of what revenue we could bring it, I have no idea what payment could look like. My goal is to essentially platform creators and writers, who maintain ownership of their own content, and through collaboration and shared audiences hope to amplify their outreach and individual marketability. TDU is a great example – I’m hosting their content on StormCloud, but it’s all embedded from their self-owned YouTube channel, amplifying their view counts and hopefully their subscriptions. If they choose to do things like “Premium Content offerings,” “Super Chats,” and other things, that’s all revenue to them and I wouldn’t ask for anything, even if there’s significant traffic directed to them from the site.
If creating an individual revenue stream is the goal for any of the writers/contributors, the next step is going to be offering “premium subscriptions” for their content, while setting an expectation that they have a 75-80% free/20-25% paid content split. Creators can do this on their own if they want using Patreon or Discord, and if they self-manage their revenue stream and premium content I’m not asking to share in the costs of the site’s overhead. If they can ask me to manage it through the site, I probably will. If they go through the site, I can create pages/user accessibility that pay-walls certain content and makes it accessible through a premium/paid membership.
All content creators and writers have this option – if they want to try and establish and revenue stream, they have my full support in creating one, and if I’m managing it through the site it will be minimal split to the site to help offset my costs. If they manage it on their own, I’m not taking anything.
If we get to the point where we are marketable enough to sell ad space on the site, and/or start a storefront or sell a site-wide “premium” offering, we’ll enter a new phase of this site. I’ve told our writers and creators I’m not crossing that bridge and taking anything in personally until we have an idea of what that looks like, and what fair splits would be, which is something we’d all have to agree on before flipping that switch. If we can’t come to an agreement then we don’t take the collective revenue, or dissenting opinions might choose to go their own path at that point with their content, which would lower our marketability, giving them some leverage.
This is a passion project for me, I don’t see it as a revenue stream. I ultimately just wanted something that could scale-up if our work is a success, so we can continue to grow it, expand our offerings and outreach. My personal goal isn’t to derive income for the site… I hope that with added exposure/the ability to create a portfolio on here and potentially network with people in the industry, that I may one day stumble and fall into a Front Office or Player’s Rep Agency.
Ryan and I share a collective goal in that regard – we see this as our extended Combine to “try out” for the NFL to some degree. I want to platform other people similar goals along the way. My ultimate goal would be seeing someone that contributed to this site go on to do big things in the NFL, or just help someone like the TDU boys reach a goal like reading off a pick at the draft.
If we don’t achieve generalized revenue for the site, and if I’m running it at a $1-2k loss a year just for hosting/forum licensing/photo licensing, I’m happy to do that and will keep plucking away at it.
For now, if you want to support this site, support our writers and content creators by viewing their material, subscribing on their channels, sharing their content, and being on the lookout if they do seek to create a premium content model. There may even be an option to drop a “tip jar” at some point for them that I may enable. Don’t worry about sending anything my way, or the site’s way. Just support the creators in any way they can or ask :).
@kylededi That’s about the coolest response I can imagine. And reason that I have high hopes for this site. Thanks again for setting this up. I can imagine the amount of work it took. Thanks Kyle and Ryan.
@dtsmith-fiatbux Thanks brother! Really looking forward to building this thing out with everyone the right way!
@dtsmith-fiatbux I couldn’t agree more! Kyle, Ryan, & everyone who is contributing….thank you!!! 🙏🙏🙏
@kylededi What a transparent, thoughtful, and sincere response. It is clear that you have given this a lot of thought and I am surprised how far along you all are in this process.
It might not have come across in my questions above but they were not meant to be pushing you guys in any way. I sincerely appreciate the transparency but it is not something I feel entitled to receive. I was only curious about where you are in the process if things are difficult to maintain (i.e. workload and economy) and if we (members) should be aware of things we could help with.
I am excited to follow this journey and wish everyone contributing the best. I hope everyone succeeds!
@bolt_dk I understand not feeling entitled to receive those answers, but I think everyone deserves them after my remarks about why I was leaving BFTB, and transparency over the issues we were experiencing with management. I made a stink over the continued direction from high-ups to post over our quotas while covering for MP (amongst other things), so why spend significant money to go write somewhere else without a plan for earning revenue or an exit strategy?
This is me putting my money where my mouth is – and I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I believe everyone contributing here feels the same way in one regard or another. The goals I expressed at that site were the same as they are here: I wanted expand my personal network and opportunities, and I wanted to continue building our community, because my love and desire to perpetually learn about the inner workings of the NFL/Chargers stemmed from our community in the comments. Dating back to before MP’s time, in the Gennaro days, I always learned SO MUCH from our comment section, that I always wanted to pay it back to our community, but didn’t feel like VOX had any interest in doing so. My griping over the quota issues wasn’t about my personal pay – it was about VOX showing their hand that we were never going to receive additional support to grow the site. They were either planning on leveraging Ryan and my personal pride in our work to their advantage, and count on us to not just let the site go dormant while they refused to flex a staffer to help us or give us appropriate compensation for the added workload (which felt like shit and was demoralizing to be used like that), or they really didn’t care about the damage losing the momentum we were building over the past year working with MP would cause, and hard it would be to build back up. Either way, it was very clear we were an afterthought. I do not wish for anyone here to refrain from going on BFTB, this was never about a strike, exodus, or retaliation… I genuinely wish the best for MP and am empathetic for the situation VOX has put him in. I just hope that while BFTB will continue to be a source of Chargers content for ya’ll, that you choose to play in this sandbox as much as you can.
So, here it is. I’m not – and never will be – the best writer or most knowledgeable football guy in the biz, amongst the Chargers community, or on this site… FAR from it. But I hope you all know – everything I’m do here is for you all, my extended football family, because being a part of the community we’ve built together has meant everything to me… and I know everyone joining in this adventure has the same ethos.
While building this site out, I was offered a chance to speak with the owners of another publication to become their beat writer for the Chargers… but this particular site didn’t have a “commenting” feature on their posts, or a forum. They would have provided access to my other goal of getting media credentials and networking, and I had already considered reaching out to them for the position in the past, but the fact that there wasn’t an ability to build a community on the site where we could all engage was the deal killer. Before we even scheduled a call to discuss terms, I explained I had to turn down the opportunity for that reason. I expressed that to them and explained what I was doing with StormCloud, and they were really, really supportive, and gave me some insights on why they hadn’t gone the community-commenting route thus far (mostly because of negative/abusive comments and over-extended moderation). They joked that if it’s a success, they’ll probably try to buy us out… but I don’t see that happening. Maybe I can help them build out similar sites for 31 other teams, but I plan on this little thing being our baby forever. 
Sorry, this turned out to be my love letter to ya’ll, but everyone deserves to know the “why.” And as I’ve mentioned, every other contributor here deserves all the love and support you can give them, especially Ryan who’s been working hard jumpstarting the content while I’ve been busy plucking away at all the formatting/design/troubleshooting BS!
I can promise you this – we’re just scratching the surface.
@kylededi I agree with every sentiment you express in this lovely love letter!
Thank you all for all your hard work, and I sincerely appreciate you guys for taking on the fight to expand the Chargers’ internet community. The community has meant a lot to me for many years, and its continuing growth makes me feel uplifted. 😊
This is so awesome to read. I’m really amazed at how much thought and work you have put into this. I love the transparency and the main objective of this website. I truly hope it can launch you and the others on the path you are looking for.
I’m also excited about being a small part of this from the get-go. This site and the ideas behind it feel like an example of what a great thing the internet can be, bringing people together from all around the world with a shared passion. The contrast is stark with the monetized, commercialized monstrosities a lot of corners of the internet have become.
Good stuff! Thank you!
@arne-sixpakfrombelgium Thanks Arne! The communities a HUGE part of it – without our collective little group of passionate fans, we’d be nothin’!
An interesting FYI. THE BFTB site currently under the ‘ Active Conversations’ sidebar.
‘Ranked by the most comments received over the last 24 hours.
No recent comments!’
🤣
Kyle….incredible responses outlining your vision for this site & this community. Your hard work & financial outlay is, frankly, humbling. This is the type of community I want to belong to, where we have lively, stimulating, respectful discussions. Where thoughtful input is encouraged & contributors are celebrated.
I’m here to cheerlead, contribute, & cajole….lol. Let’s all help to make this THE best place on the interwebz to talk all things CHARGERS!!! ⚡️⚡️⚡️
Wondering why I’m consistently getting logged out of the site? At BFTB I almost never got logged out unless I chose to. Is there some timeout due to inactivity here?
If there were a Greek symbol for DiDiminicantanio (and there isn’t) we should celebrate that, too
I agree with this!
First, I love this site, the content, and the community. I have a suggestion to add to the forum. I am sure that any of us could do it. I’m thinking that aside from specific content that posters add and that we all enjoy, that we have a “This weeks general comments”. A place where we can share a small general comment or article upload. Recycle and start a new one each week. Differentiated as “open” versus a forum story where someone has very specific content. Thoughts?
Not sure where to put this, but we have a new member called “Smith”. It feels very Matrix-like to me.
@spanos-must-go it’s fiat-bux. He said his old screen name disappeared….or was suspended, I forget. It’s in the cut tracker thread, I believe.
I’m hoping it’s a temporary name. Still no luck getting FiatBux back, but I’ll keep trying. I am not a digital simulation, nor am I named Keanu or Neo. Smith is my last name, though.
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