Site News and Support Request
We started this site in November of 2021 to provide a place for the public to collaborate on ways to improve the research, science, and innovation sector and engage with MBIE's Te Ara Paerangi / Future Pathways review process. It has been (and will continue to be) free for people to use. We shared submission snippets, made it easy to get copies of all of the public submissions, and watched to see what MBIE would do with them.
Last month, we did a soft-relaunch with a site upgrade, new site design, and new focus. There have been regular posts with links to relevant news stories and events around the country. This has resulted in a steady increase of visitors to the site and more engagement. It is really gratifying to see so many people finding value here. We are excited to see where we go from here.
We have covered the expenses with contributions from a small group of people and orgs. The site upgrade added support for embedded videos and web site links using a free (but limited) Iframely account. We are looking for some financial support to upgrade the Iframely account to cover the increased usage. That cost is USD $29 (~NZD 50) per month. If you or your organisation can make a donation, please let me know and we can sort out the details.
I was a bit surprised to see how many Iframely hits we have had this month. This is a screen shot from this morning. I expect it to run out soon - either today or tomorrow. When that happens, all the embedded content will stop working until the 6th of September. A few small donations ($25 - $50) would get it going again. A larger donation ($300 -$600) or two would sustain this functionality for quite a while - leaving us with more time to focus on the site itself.
Thank you for being part of Te Ara Paerangi Community and for considering our request for financial assistance. The comments are open and available for your thoughts.
Over the max today. Things are likely to break. If you can help with a donation, please reach out.
Since it did not stop working right away after passing the limit, I thought maybe it would just go on. Then I got an email from Iframely saying it will stop working from tomorrow.
We have not yet had anyone reach out to donate to keep this service going. That means many of the posts on the site (which have embedded content) will cease working until the 6th of September.
You could be the hero that keeps things going. Message @Community Host today!
We have had a hero turn up and offer to make a donation go keep the embedded service going for a couple of months. I've asked if I can name them and am waiting for a response.
In the meantime, a great big thank you!
Dr. Amanda McVitty is the hero that kindly donated enough to keep the Iframely functionality going for a few months. She mentioned that there was no donate button on the site. I will add one sometime this week to make it easier for people who might want to contribute.