Support THR

THR has been up and running since before Facebook and Reddit existed.  We’ve got a proud history of being the place where the Second Amendment and related issues could be discussed and debated in a reasoned and polite tone.  I’m honored to host and maintain this place, and I’ve been happy to provide a home on the Internet for this community, but it hasn’t been inexpensive for me to do so. 

If you value this community, its information, and our focus on firearm-related content rather than culture wars, please consider becoming a contributing member for $25 per month.

Advertising

Years ago, the ad revenue was pretty good: it reimbursed me for the money I’d invested prior to that and provided for ongoing expenses.  Over time, Second Amendment friendly advertising has suffered – the big players in the market started prohibiting gun and knife related ads, the big ad network that worked direct deals with advertisers got bought out by venture capital who then got out of our market entirely.  I tried some direct sales, but I’m an awful salesman.  Even worse….

I hate intrusive ads.  They come with all sorts of tracking to allow advertisers to better measure their return for the ad dollars they spend, and the ones that pay the best come from shady companies that want to auto-play videos or run pop-ups in the background.  A year ago, I turned ads off, hoping I could do without them.  Now I’m coming to the realization that the reason I put up with advertising in the past was because the revenue it generated really helped with the expenses.

So, ads are coming back.

Contributing Memberships

If you want to get a badge saying you’ve helped fund THR and turn off ads, you can get a contributing membership for $25 per year.  This can be paid via credit card or PayPal, on a one-time or recurring basis.

Alternatives to Ad Revenue

I do IT for a living, so hosting THR has been a natural fit.  If you’d rather buy services that will (indirectly) help fund THR then that’s great too.  Here are some services I already provide my clients that I think THR readers might be interested in:

• Backups for desktop machines. As an IT consultant for a couple of decades I can authoritatively state that 1) you need offsite backups; and 2) most folks who are managing their own backups are not nearly as diligent as they should be.  I can manage these for you, for $5 per month per computer (or $4 if you pre-pay for a year.)  Backups are encrypted using a common passphrase by default (allowing you to manage your own backups and recovery if you like), but if you need greater security we can configure you with a unique passphrase – just let me know when you sign up.
• Forum hosting. Want your own forum?  Well, I can host it.  I don’t have fixed pricing here, but we can talk about how much help you need and come up with a solid price for you – comparable to hosting on Xenforo’s own cloud, but with a more personal touch.  THR is not the only forum that I host, but its performance is a fair indicator of the performance you can expect.
• Web Hosting. I’ve been hosting WordPress sites for clients for over a decade.  I’ve got a couple of options that you (or someone you know) might be interested in:
  • Free Speech web hosting. Say what you like, and if it’s not illegal here in the Southern USA, and you’re not too much of a jerk, I’ll host it.  If you’re in a jurisdiction that’s a bit tyrannical (like the UK seems to be) and you want to exercise your free speech while maintaining your anonymity, I can do that.  Use a VPN, pay with Crypto, and if I don’t know who you are I can’t disclose your identity, can I?  This starts at $35 per month.  If you’re already successful, have a following, and want me to manage the maintenance of your site (as listed below, minus the included labor), the monthly cost is only $100.
  • Concierge web hosting. This premium managed WordPress hosting option is designed for small businesses. 
    • I’ll maintain your plugins and WordPress installation so you don’t need to
    • I’ll monitor performance and tweak optimization if and when needed
    • I’ll run an additional set of automated off-site backups (including to your own Google Drive if you like so you’ve always got the latest backup in your possession)
    • I’ll include agency licenses for plugins like Elementor
    • I will peek in and update your SEO using AI to generate page/image summaries when it’s appropriate
    • Lastly, this is the big one, I will make minor alterations to your site for you. Hire someone new and want to put their bio and photo on your website?  No problem – I’ll update it.  Need to change a downloadable form and all links to it?  Sure, just send it to me.  Need some new pages added?  That I charge for.  Basically, I’m your part-time employee managing your web site so you don’t need to. 
    • This is all included for $179 per month. That is a great value if your time is worth something.
• MSP Services/Small Company IT Consulting. If you are managing your office computers yourself this is both a great value and time saver.  This is very affordable, no frills service (starting at $45 per computer per month), but this is remote-only, includes no labor, and is basically me adding your computers to the herd of computers I’m already managing.  Think of this as preventative maintenance and installation of best-in-class tools to manage and protect your computers:
  • Backups performed nightly
  • Updates performed in a timely manner
  • Continuous monitoring of your fleet of computers
  • Security layer stacked on top of security layer to protect your computers from online/e-mail threats, phishing web sites, and the darker parts of the Internet.