I just added some to the tip jar. Having gone back and forth to TW over the years I've "met" so much generosity in this community, but Eric is truly in a class by himself.
BTW, regarding contributions, I found this service a while back: http://flattr.com/ It has a different, hmm, slice to it. Briefly, you decide *in advance* how much you want to spend on contributions for that month. If flattr- button A is clicked 10 times, button B 4 times and button C 1 time - then, at the end of the month, A gets 10/15 of the whole sum , B gets 4/15 and C 1/15. I think it is a perfect concept for a community. Another note regarding contributions, especially for super contributors such as Eric: I've long missed a central place dealing with "all" things tiddly. I believe the problems mentioned in this thread are much due to a lacking central effort (ie, the info/plugin/etc often exists...but where?) Attempts solving parts of this, or even all of this, have been made [1] but non quite succesful yet. IF there was such a place, including eg. a discussion board or a knowledge wiki and [links to] plugins, we could include something like the above mentioned flattr.com solution in the templates for *every* post made and every [link to] a plugin! Instead of eg. adding stars to a post, one could voluntarily click for a little contribution (and without going through the paypal hassle every time). Heck, what about UnaMesa hosting a regular PayPal account that the users voluntarily could pay into in advance to then 'distribute' as per the flattr idea? If we had such a central place, I imagine it should be an easy task to make a flattr-like local plugin. Then, as per the flattr idea, at the end of the month (or other fequency?) there is an automated payout into the receivers paypal accounts. You know, I wouldn't even mind seeing an individual like Eric setting up a private account where I could put in a little money that can then - flattr like - be automatically distributed on eg a monthly basis to *other* contributors paypal accounts. (Someone as established in the community and so incredibly generous would likely not suddenly "disappear"). Or maybe the team behind tiddlyweb/tiddlyspace which seems to be the ideal place for a central community site. Yet an idea would be to host such a flattr-type button in (some) very plugins! It would bring the contribution out much more in the open and remind people as they fiddle with their TW's. Note that if the user has not pre-paid anything, then pressing such a button does not result in anything so he has nothing to worry about. For someone like Eric, an idea would be a flattr type plugin that, when installed by the user, creates a button in the head for all other ELS plugins that the user has installed, and when pressed it executes... etc. This concept would not solve the potential wish to tip for verbal contributions, such as here on the board, but maybe it's a step in the right direction and worthy of a try? Come to think of it, TW "ought to" have a backstage tiddler showing statistics ranking the frequency of use for the plugins, or rather the names of the plugin creators - and possibly a donation button next to each ("My goodness, this guy has contributed to x% of my general TW use!? He deserves a little click here!") Further ideas: A polling type system. When experts share their knowledge here or in the form of plugins there is a risk that they only serve a few, or even one, individual. A poll e.g regarding which plugins to develop should increase the chances for contributions and tips by serving many at a time. Would be perfect for a central community type place but also possible as a stand alone (perhaps on tiddlyspace). An extension of this would be "collective fund raising type tipping solution". I started writing an explanation for this here but decided that I'll let you think about it yourself because it would involve some intricacies that I believe had better 'mature in the head' before discussed. Just one thing though; Do recall that contributions are voluntary to begin with, as is putting in dev time. Also, if the money were to be placed with an intermediary host as suggested above, then it wold again merely be a matter for the 'user' to decide how to *distribute* money that is *already* given for contributions! (Eg. I put in X dollars and then click 5 times on "issue" #6, 2 times on #12 and 1 time on #4) I've seen other places such as, hm, was it the discussion boards for phpBB or MyBB (they are open source forum software) where individuals offer their professional services for solving specific issues and prioritizing the individuals that contribute monetarily to them. Obviously charging money does not need to restrict the open source nature of the resulting code. (BTW their discussion forums use their own forum software) /Mat [1] Tiddlywiki.org - http://tiddlywiki.org/ Tiddlyhub/repository - http://plugins.tiddlywiki.org/plugins/ The Community space - http://community.tiddlyspace.com/ (an attempt I'm associated with and hope to return to some day) On Nov 7, 11:43 pm, Eric Shulman <elsdes...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear TiddlyFriends, > > Most of you know me as the author of TiddlyTools.com ("Small Tools for > Big Ideas"), where I publish and actively maintain hundreds of > original TiddlyWiki addons (plugins, scripts, themes, etc.) that I > have written. You also know me as the moderator and a "key > contributor" to the TiddlyWiki GoogleGroups, where I often post > detailed instructions, explanations and solutions in response to > questions posed by people who are using TiddlyWiki in many different > aspects of their daily lives. Some of you may also know that, > professionally, I earn my living as an independent consultant, > specializing in User Experience Design and Information Architecture, > providing software design and development services to companies and > individuals in Silicon Valley and the surrounding San Francisco Bay > Area, as well as remotely over the net. > > What most of you don't know is that, since 2006, I have been providing > ongoing TiddlyWiki consulting services to the UnaMesa Association -- > the non-profit organization that holds the copyright on the TiddlyWiki > source. In addition to earning a modest but steady income (enough to > cover my basic living expenses) from working directly on UnaMesa- > sponsored TiddlyWiki projects, the primary effect of their financial > support has been to help promote the overall health and growth of the > worldwide TiddlyWiki community by allowing me to focus most of my time > and effort on creating and publishing new addons and providing > technical assistance to the TiddlyWiki community without the constant > distraction of seeking out new clients/projects. > > Unfortunately, since the beginning of 2011, UnaMesa has been facing a > fiscal shortfall that has significantly reduced their financial > support for my TiddlyWiki activities. Although there may still be > some funds budgeted for specific UnaMesa-sponsored projects, funds for > general TiddlyWiki "community support services" have been completely > exhausted and are no longer available. Regardless, despite this loss > of funding, the *need* for these community support services has not > changed. In fact, as TiddlyWiki continues to grow and evolve, it is > being applied to an ever-increasing variety of sophisticated real- > world applications for which technical help and assistance are almost > certain to be even more vital. > > From a personal perspective, the problem is simple: in order to > continue providing full-time support to the worldwide TiddlyWiki > community, I must quickly find a way to replace the loss of revenue > from UnaMesa, ideally without the distraction of finding and working > on *non*-TiddlyWiki consulting projects. Of course, TiddlyTools.com > is an open-source effort, so there are no licensing fees for the > addons I have published, and my online assistance has also been > offered free of charge. However, there *is* a "tip jar" form on > TiddlyTools.com (seehttp://www.TiddlyTools.com/#Donations) that > allows you to easily make voluntary contributions (via PayPal) as a > way of showing your appreciation and support for my continued efforts. > > You should consider making one (or more) donations to the tip jar if > you: > * use TiddlyTools plugins, scripts, etc. on a regular basis > * have been helped by my online answers, even if you didn't ask the > question! > * request specific help for your document (and I provide a useful > response) > * request enhancements to plugins to add new features for specific use- > cases > * or, just generally appreciate and want to support my TiddlyWiki work > > You should also note that, in addition to rewarding specific efforts, > your donations will help give me time for ongoing general maintenance > of the main TiddlyTools.com document in response to updates in the > TWCore, as well as time to develop and publish new addons and > TiddlyTools QuickStart(tm) documents (pre-configured, task-optimized > mini-applications). The amount and frequency of your donations are > entirely up to you, and should be based on how much benefit you feel > you actually receive as a result of my work. Ask yourself how much > time/effort you've saved, and how much that is truly worth in real > dollars... and then donate an amount that you feel comfortable with. > > Even with generous community contributions, I don't realistically > expect that my *entire* monthly budget will always be covered by > voluntary donations from the TiddlyWiki community (though it would be > very nice -- and would bring me great JOY!). So, in addition the > TiddlyTools.com "tip jar", you can also directly **HIRE ME** to > provide professional-quality consulting services for your TiddlyWiki > documents, including analysis and evaluation of the overall document > design, diagnosis and debugging to help locate and fix complex > document errors, general solutions for common problems, and custom > development of new plugins (or enhancements to existing plugins) to > support your specific needs. > > My professional services are available on an as-needed basis, or as > ongoing consulting as part of a planned, scheduled project effort. > For tasks under 1 hour, you should make a suitable donation to my tip > jar. For short-term projects or complex diagnostic/debugging > requests, I offer reasonable hourly, daily, and weekly rates. For > larger, long-term projects, a fixed-cost monthly retainer can also be > arranged. > > It is my hope that, through a combination of consistent and generous > tip jar donations combined with earnings from private TiddlyWiki > consulting projects, the TiddlyWiki community itself can provide the > funds so I can continue to do the work I love without distractions: > providing full-time technical support and advice to the worldwide > TiddlyWiki community. > > So, my friends, it is now up to you... as the holiday season > approaches, please consider giving thanks by making a gift to the > TiddlyTools "tip jar". Whether its just a 'stocking stuffer', or > Santa's entire workshop, your financial support will truly be "the > gift that keeps on giving". > > Be Well, Be Happy. > > much thanks, > -e > > Eric Shulman > TiddlyTools / ELS Design Studios -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TiddlyWiki" group. 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