What impact does donation have?

[Yanni]

Greetings my dearest community,

Before I get my license in 3 weeks (only then because I got finals) I really need to be sure of everything...
I did read the terms of service and other information pages but I still got some questions and now I came to think of donation.

While watching recources I saw for example waindiego, it's free but doesn't allow you to freely use it on a commercial site and I was wondering if donation makes your xenforo a commercial site?

Let me clarify further, I intend on making a youtube channel on which I'll post updates (for now my quadcopter project which I make 100% on my own, with my own electronics I've designed and so on), make commentary videos, have gaming video's, anything I know I'm good enough at.
I'll always ask on those videos for donations to keep me going (since I use games I buy to keep it legal, perhaps using content I paid for affects the xenforo???)

To get back at my electronic project, if I intend to make it open source, does that make my xenforo commercial?

I'll also have a member system depending on what reason and how much someone donated, that way I could have bronze, silver, gold and perhaps even platinum premiumship but also sponsor titles and abilities... You could've guessed my question, does this make it commercial?
​

I think it's clear I'm confused but that's because I'm not actually selling stuff so personally, it's not commercial.
Libraries of electronic components I make with and use on Eagle will be offered free for download.
My quadcopter files might be open source and also free for download.

Perhaps one day I'll have enough time to produce them myself and actually sell them which I understand is commercial for sure but would there be ways to avoid the xenforo to be commercial by moving my "products" to another website?
​

Sincerely,
Yanni

 

[Paul B]

Whether your site is commercial or not has no bearing on the XenForo license.

You will need to contact that third party developer for any questions related to their add-ons.

 

[Jon W]

Commercial is a legal definition, so you would have to get legal advice if you intend to "avoid" being commercial.

This pricing is really intended to support charities and sites that make no money at all. It seems to me that you make money from your site through subscriptions, so it would seem reasonable to me that you would make a small donation or purchase a subscription.

If you feel that that would put you in serious financial difficulty, please contact me.

 

[Yanni]

Commercial is a legal definition, so you would have to get legal advice if you intend to "avoid" being commercial.

This pricing is really intended to support charities and sites that make no money at all. It seems to me that you make money from your site through subscriptions, so it would seem reasonable to me that you would make a small donation or purchase a subscription.

If you feel that that would put you in serious financial difficulty, please contact me.

For now it might be a lot since I'm only a student and where I live you can only work 30 days when you're a student. (my job doesn't pay a lot though)
Where I live hosting is also pricier but it's a challenge I have a great feeling about but don't expect a lot of donations since the xenforo I now administrate is full of kids which don't have a bank account.

Only time will tell, thanks for the advice!

 

[Daniel Hood]

For now it might be a lot since I'm only a student and where I live you can only work 30 days when you're a student.

30 days a year, or what?

Where I live hosting is also pricier

You don't have to get hosting within your own country.

 

[Yanni]

30 days a year, or what?


You don't have to get hosting within your own country.

30 days a year yes and about the hosting I think it's only logic I host within my own country.

 

[Daniel Hood]

30 days a year yes and about the hosting I think it's only logic I host within my own country.

That's an interesting law, and limit actually (less than 3 days a month...).

As for the host.. would you mind explaining how that's the only logical choice? If you're worried about load times, you can use services like cloudflare. If you just want to live in the same country as your host, that's unnecessary.

 

[Fred.]

Commercial is a legal definition, so you would have to get legal advice if you intend to "avoid" being commercial.

Sorry to say it like that but that's also the reason I don't use your addons. I would like to. But the commercial or not is something that everyone sees different. I don't think my forums are commercial, however I have ads on them and earn little money with it. It's just too complicated. You have to be a lawyer to understand that. So that's the reason I avoid your addons.
Also the donation, I prefer to just pay for the addon.

 

[Jon W]

Sorry to say it like that but that's also the reason I don't use your addons. I would like to. But the commercial or not is something that everyone sees different. I don't think my forums are commercial, however I have ads on them and earn little money with it. It's just too complicated. You have to be a lawyer to understand that. So that's the reason I avoid your addons.
Also the donation, I prefer to just pay for the addon.

The rule is not there to be worked around or avoided, so you really don't need to be a lawyer. If you don't think your site is particularly commercial and you don't make much money, then just send $1. And if $1 is still too much, then please PM me. I wouldn't want to take a last $1 from someone who is in serious financial trouble.

 

[Yanni]

That's an interesting law, and limit actually (less than 3 days a month...).

As for the host.. would you mind explaining how that's the only logical choice? If you're worried about load times, you can use services like cloudflare. If you just want to live in the same country as your host, that's unnecessary.

Belgium has many "interesting" laws but you don't want to discuss politics with me
And as for the host, I have no idea... Isn't it better since if calls need to be made for supports I won't have to pay international fees and whatnot.
I think I yet have to decide...

 

[Yanni]

Sorry to say it like that but that's also the reason I don't use your addons. I would like to. But the commercial or not is something that everyone sees different. I don't think my forums are commercial, however I have ads on them and earn little money with it. It's just too complicated. You have to be a lawyer to understand that. So that's the reason I avoid your addons.
Also the donation, I prefer to just pay for the addon.

I agree with the "paying for the addon"-part.

The rule is not there to be worked around or avoided, so you really don't need to be a lawyer. If you don't think your site is particularly commercial and you don't make much money, then just send $1. And if $1 is still too much, then please PM me. I wouldn't want to take a last $1 from someone who is in serious financial trouble.

1 dollar is the least of my problems I suppost, I could always pay that.
I will only do so in around 2 to 3 weeks though since I got finals coming my way.

 

[Daniel Hood]

Isn't it better since if calls need to be made for supports I won't have to pay international fees and whatnot.

I suppose but if you need to call your host that often, they're a bad host. I've had numerous different providers and I've never once called any of them, emailed a few times though.

Like most things online, generally emailing is equally or more effective. At least that's how it's been in my experience.

 

[Fred.]

The rule is not there to be worked around or avoided, so you really don't need to be a lawyer. If you don't think your site is particularly commercial and you don't make much money, then just send $1. And if $1 is still too much, then please PM me. I wouldn't want to take a last $1 from someone who is in serious financial trouble.

It's not about the amount of money Jon, More than half of my add-ons are paid, and I have 13. I don't mind paying for a add-on I like.
So if I do a donation it's all good?
I just wish you would put a price on your add-ons. If I need to set the price it will be the lowest I can get. Why should I pay $2 if I get get it for $1? I'm not going to get better support? Or at least there is nothing said about this as far as I know.
If I pay for the add-on I know the developer is going to support the add-on and I can always get back to them if I have a problem.
If I don't pay I don't expect support. But I still see a lot of developers give support for there free add-ons. This is good. And than I understand the donation.
But I think it's difficult to determine a price, that's why I like that the developer sets the price and everyone pays the same price to support the add-on.

 

[Jon W]

So if I do a donation it's all good?

Correct.

However, the only way to get guaranteed support with Waindigo add-ons is to buy the gold/silver subscription packages:
https://waindigo.org/account/upgrades

So, in response to your question, that is the price I am asking people to pay, including access to premium features and branding removal.

But... I understand that that is way more than some people can afford, so the donation option allows people to use the add-on on their commercial site without any guarantee of support. If I am able, I will offer support for free, particularly to anyone who has donated or contributed in the past.

I only have the ability to support so many people, so I have to charge a lot more for this service. As for the add-on itself, it doesn't cost me any more to allow 100 people to use it as it does for 10 people to use it if they don't require support. There is also a great community of people here who are happy to support each other, and that means I can spend more time creating and releasing add-ons.

 

[Fred.]

Ok, Thanks Jon. I didn't know about the subscription packages.
I'm ok with add-ons at the moment. I will have a look around on your site, nothing can stop me using your add-ons now.
Thanks for explaining everything.

I understand.
You are doing a good job.