Once again I have to start by giving my most sincere thanks to you all! I was nervous about taking a step out of my comfort zone to launch this site but once again I find myself BLOWN AWAY by your collective kindness, support, and generosity.
I was expecting this to be a slow burn that took a month or more to get on it's feet but thanks to all of you we have hit the ground running and are up and operational in less than a week!!!
I'm happy to announce that the site has been paid off and our hosting fees have been taken care of for the next year!
As exciting as this is, it's only the beginning. I've been tinkering away at the back end constantly looking at ways to improve the site's design and function. Those of you who may have been paying attention have probably already noticed some significant changes on the front end of the site.
Apparel Store
It's been a bit of a tedious process migrating everything over from my old store. I don't have the exported files downloaded in once place like I should have so I'm having to dig through my Procreate gallery and re-export, resize, and even remake some designs from scratch. So I've got a few up there and more to come soon! Once the designs are uploaded I will also be working on different variations (women's shirts, tank tops, etc.) but for now they will all be on basic unisex tees.
Subscriptions and the Tavern App
Once again I just have to say THANK YOU to everyone who subscribed to the forum! Y'all are literally the ones making this possible.
I know how weird it is navigating away from social media apps and using a browser like we're living in the prehistoric era. Many of you have probably gotten the prompt to download the Wix Spaces app if you are browsing on mobile.
The Wix Spaces app seems to be a little buggy/laggy so I'm not sure if it offers much of a benefit over simply using a browser but it does have it's perks as far as the UI goes.
That app is a generic version of the one Wix can make for us. I was looking in to it the other night and was almost about to pull the trigger on a custom Tavern app but it appears I got ahead of myself when I was looking at their advertising.
The branded app is actually $199/mo instead of the $99/mo I originally thought.
When I was first checking it out the popup said $99/mo and I ran with it but it turns out that is their cost when you purchase a 12 month plan. We have done INCREDIBLY well for the first week, but not "drop $1200 on an app for the next year" well. So I am neutral towards the branded app. It would be INCREDIBLY neat but it is a CHUNK of money. I'll be leaving it up to y'all as the community that would be using the app. If we get enough monthly subscriptions to cover it I'll run a poll and if y'all want the app we'll go for it.
Founders & Subscription Updates
This morning I went through and checked the list, all founders SHOULD have their badges now.
As previously stated I had originally expected things to take a month or more to get up to speed. The original plan was to leave Founders Subscriptions open for the first month. Once people started ordering more than anticipated I started worrying about making sure those who were early supporters felt like they got their money worth and got in on something. Just like collecting there is a balance between making sure folks get their money's worth and that enough people feel like they get a chance to get in on it. After having some discussions with a few folks who felt left out by the timing of the site unexpectedly popping up we have decided to modify our approach to subscriptions in general.
We were originally looking at playing the long game. We were basically hoping that we could have enough folks chipping in over the next year to cover the cost of the website and justify the original investment. Now that the Founders have done that, and more, we will be moving to a different model.
The "Founder" tier will now be a general "Supporter" subscription for folks who want to support the site with a one-time payment.
Copper, Gold, and Silver subscription tiers will now be for folks who want to support the site with a monthly payment (like a Patreon) and will have their own private board. As before tiers are subject to change as we figure out what we can do/offer everyone.
Thank you all again for your support and I look forward to growing this website and community along with all of you!
When my finances are sorted out, I'll be going for that gold. Hopefully we can raise enough for the app.
Also, thank you so much for the time that you put into this. So that we all have a place to hang out and talk, it's appreciated..
I like the generic app on my phone, the browser is good on my PC
I think I’m just app oriented rather than web page oriented. But willing to go along for any ride!
Checked out the generic app... I tinkered with a few settings, and I think I can deal with it till we get the branded.
I checked the app and I didn’t like it at all. I’ve deleted it already. I like the browser much better!