Hmm. "It would be great to have a sidebar where folks could post links," but some features prove great only for folk with up-to-date software. Using an original iMac (same age as my grade 5 son, it's outlasted a couple of younger second-hand laptops) I'm acutely aware that not all web pages display correctly on the old browsers I can run.

Would links in a sidebar be easier, or harder for blind readers to see and use through a screen reader? I dunno.


Max, good luck making money with commercial partnerships and other ideas, but why would you "want all contributions stopped"?

Voluntary contributions to maintain a service we value should be seen as payment, not gift. Call 'em subscriptions (maybe no set amount, Mudcat names listed but amounts not announced unless subscriber asks to list it in a "match thi$" section)? User support is the purest (though not the most lucrative) way to keep up this amazing place you've created. It makes the 'Cat more independent. I only wish it would cover the whole cost.

To free your energy for Mudcat, something's got to provide for your household. Not even a tree works for nothing: it gets a living from what it does, turning air and water and sunlight into wood, leaves, fruit, shade, shelter, and ultimately soil richer than the soil in which it began. It does great work, but if it can't make a living there, we don't get a tree. If we want trees about, or fish in rivers, or earthworms in soil, we've got to provide what's needed for them to make a living there. Same thing if we want a busker to make our corner of the world a more pleasant place to stop by, or you to put in some hours with your eyes on this screen instead of on your family (or some paying job) And what is more fair and fitting than allowing those who benefit from work to be the first to support it?

Thanks as always,
Maureen