Thanks.

Your overwhelming support is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for being so open to feedback as requested.

Wow. I've been hanging out here on-and-off for almost 5 years. I don't contribute to the forums as much as others and I haven't made a monetary donation yet, but I have NEVER felt "coerced" into doing so...it has been quite the opposite. The message conveyed from EVERYONE is that there is absolutely NO pressure to donate anything more than quality posts. I don't see anything wrong with giving "subscribers" a little extra bonus in the way of Boolean search, etc.

Any donations that I make or have made are because I like reading the posts, sharing the laughs (or tears, at times), the recipes, hints, cooking methods, new product reviews, others' views on all kinds of stuff, etc. Not to mention getting to know some truly outstanding folks. Somebody has to pay for the hardware, software and labor to keep this thing going so that I can enjoy it. Why should Phil have to dig it all out of his own pocket???

I'm sure the experience you have with other groups is massive. However,on the web, this is the only place I can go to laugh hysterically, weep, get advice on anything, and get pointers on some damn fine food. This is just the tip of the iceberg. I pay not just for recipes, I pay to be part of something great. Something I believe in.
I'm sorry you feel "coerced". Not anybody's intention.

Yep, sounds to me you like this site :biggrin:

Also not cool to call folk out who have concern for the growth and security of this site. You simply could have kept that thought to yourself. I digress....

The responses to flyingbrass' comments are the reason why I come here. Nobody called him dick or an arsehole for being new and accusing the site owner of try to coerce him into donatin or subscribing. Nobody flamed him, pointed out his lack of manners in someone else's very happy home or made derogatory comments about his family lineage.

Everyone responded to the accusatory remarks in a very civil and polite manner whether it was deserved or not. I love this place and the people in it. We help pay the bills because this is home.

Mista said it best.... This is home. And we're family. It can be hard for someone coming from the outside to understand that we take all comers. If someone feels coerced because one of the brethren, not the Poohbah, let us know about a situation with the site and we rallied to help not just the Poohbah, but our home, then you probably don't get what we're talking about and what we really represent.

It seems to me you ought to know better than to use the approach that you used to give your opinion.

I forgot to add that I enjoy this site so much that I own & wear proudly 3 Brethren shirts, 2 Brethren hats (1 is put away for a dress-up hat), 1 judges' tote & just ordered 2 Brethren aprons. You might get the idea that I like this site:biggrin:. Oh, yeah one of the g-kids has a little teddy bear with the Brethren tee shirt.

I wasn't coerced, but I just made yet another donation to support this site, my friends, and online community.

I am also not coerced by the electric company to subscribe to them, but it beats waiting until dawn for light.

If you are lucky you will see the light soon and realize what this place means to so many of us.

What about the Brethren Thong or official Brethren judges cooler? :biggrin:

Nice use of the word "home". We pay to keep up maintenance on our home.

I was frustrated when I wrote that earlier post. I could have worded my comments better.

In most venues, this forum being the sole exception I've encountered, newcomers are strongly encouraged to search and read before asking questions. And for good reason. Much can be learned that way. Lazy newbies who can't be bothered to search annoy the regulars.

My initial motivation for joining a forum is usually to gain access to the search function and the ability to view attachments. Joining here felt like a bait and switch. Welcome to the forum, but now to get much practical use out of it payment is required upfront. That strikes me as totally backwards. Usually, the value obtained from a site/forum over time inspires one to donate. Requiring a fee in advance for such basic functionality is a pay site approach. Different strokes for different folks, but had I known that was the deal I probably wouldn't have registered.

I think someone mentioned boolean searches, perhaps implying that a simple single word search is possible. Nope. Non-subscribing members apparently have no searching ability here at all with the exception of the FAQ searchbox. I can't even pull up my previous posts or look up threads I've posted in. I find that to be an extremely frustrating environment.

You aren't helping yourself much here. How about going to "Cattle Call" and introducing yourself instead of veiled and not so veiled complaints about how a very successful and popular forum is run. We aren't interested at all in how "other forums" are run. We like it here because it is different.

You are welcome here, but if all you are going to do is complain about the forum we love, then maybe you just aren't going to fit in. I'm sure you will fit in if you'll try to conform instead of changing us.