The infinite ways to skin a cat to pay the bills.
Or … the crew try to give us the clear delimitations of a “perfect” membership in their vision.
I mean, just to go forward at least ^^
I do agree with this point. Threads should stay on topic but it is human nature to drift in a conversation from time to time. I guess the issue becomes the amount of off topic stuff. A comment or two does not derail anything but 20 comments and all of a sudden the meaning of the thread disappears under a pile of posts. I don’t know who flagged all the posts in this thread and really it doesn’t matter. The posts were off topic and flagged as such so the flags were appropriate no matter who used them.
Wishing everyone a great n wonderful day thank u OG FAM love u 2 
My own needs ^^ Touchy.
But let’s throw in consideration with what i saw at OG in-house skills.
Technically, I don’t believe that’s quite accurate. I know a couple of members who grow for their partner/spouse but don’t themselves partake in any form.
Generally speaking, I agree with you. Keeping spoilers hidden from those who don’t want to see whatever it is sounds like a positive thing. 
I’ve seen it expressed in a few places on OG by a few people that flagging is “childish” as said earlier in this thread. In a space that has moderators, and that wants to keep communication civil, I am going to take the hit to say that I think flagging is an important function.
I will also say that I haven’t flagged anything in this thread.
I have been a moderator on other sites. Moderators aren’t everywhere at once. If people want to maintain a good community, people who aren’t adhering to the guidelines we all agreed to in order to participate in this space then having folks bring it to their attention is a vital task. Sometimes that’ll remove a post! Sometimes it’ll be a quick chat with a mod or a note in the thread and it gets back on track! That’s ok and necessary!
I think at some point, as a community we will need to either establish a site norm of playground rules “don’t tattle” shit, or a “we care about having productive discussions and want to further that. shooting the shit and taking the piss and playful trolling can have their places, but discussions about literally the future of the site might not be that place” mentality that understands we have moderators and should recognize their utility in maintaining the welcoming and supportive environment we (hopefully?) all want to have here.
I’m clearly in the latter camp. I’m in a demographic minority on this site, so that probably influences my feelings. Having been bullied earlier in life also affects those feelings. I fully own that.
I just get tired of “someone utilizing the system we have in place and expressly ask people to use in order to help keep the community functional” being cast as somehow a shitty thing for people to do.
From the Terms of Service:
Respect: Treat other users with courtesy. Do not express personal vendettas or name others in disagreements.
Contributing Guidelines: Contributions should be constructive, relevant, and respectful. Posts should add value to the discussion.
4. Moderation
Final Authority: Moderators have the right to remove, edit, or reject posts not aligned with these Terms. Moderator decisions are final.
Flagging System: Users can flag content that violates the ToS. However, provocative discussions may be allowed if they do not breach these rules.
Reporting: If you encounter content or behavior that violates our ToS, please report it using the flagging system. Appeals against moderation decisions can be submitted to admins.
Emphasis mine:
Flagging is powerful moderation tool for you - users. If you want to raise an issue about a post without derailing the topic at hand, the best course of action is usually to flag it.
This feature is intended to dissuade bad behavior and spam, as well as to promote civilized discussion on Overgrow. After flagging post, system will notify Moderators and if needed will take an action automatically (e.g. post will be hidden - see details below).
The tool is here for a reason. Using it is not “childish,” it is not “tattling,” it is not a lot of things that people who want to behave however they want while unchallenged will call it. For those who want to be able to have conversations not derailed, or not have to deal with things that are against the site ToS, it is usually “the best course of action” to “promote civilized discussion on Overgrow.”
I realize this is wordy, and I think I may have commented similar feelings somewhere on the site, but here we are again with the same mentality being pushed forward, so here I am again on my bullshit. 
Related to the original topic of funding OG, I have been thinking maybe some sort of “merch idea submission” thread? Multiple people have expressed that they live in a place that they couldn’t wear a pot leaf logo but would be interested in purchasing merch to support the site.
My general thought was something like a “submit designs and then either LJ decides on some to poll or generally there’s a poll for which to put up on redbubble” sort of situation.
One that came to mind a bit ago as a (relatively) subtle option was something like
Homegrow
Overgrow
Things i have learned from actually reading this thread.
Joe does not own a T shirt factory and niether does anyone who has suggested OG sell clothes. It has been made abundantly clear they would be supplied by some vendor who would make most of the money.
Auctions, however noble they may be are not a reliable source of funding , and lead to disputes and aution lots having issues when one member may have issues.
Donations not through Patroen go through pay pal and could be flagged or have issues due to the nature of our subject material.
Anything involving seeds or weed related product sales or transactions connected to OG put us at risk. Personal trades not included.
Patroen is a reliable efficient way to fund OG without outside influence or messy merch contracts and occasional auctions. Its also preferred by the site owner.
The site owner has been clear that managing the huge influx of new members will require additional resources.
He has also been clear that management duties are infringing on his personal family oriented lifestyle. Its surprising that members dont feel empathy for his plight.
Well said Hashpants well said
I concur with this. It can be used vindictively/inappropriately, and that can be reported to moderators. In my opinion, it shouldn’t be the default assumption/reaction if something is flagged. Also, sorry for repeating myself within the same thread. 
This is a great summary.
This might be the problem, we may be overgrowing the forum to a size difficult to handle, might be a success but also the end of the old, cozy and familiar forum some of us knew before… 
Yep times are a changing an some people just don’t like change
Some people come, some people go.
An some stay
I find this aggressive persecution of off topic posts to be heavy handed.
Who wants to bet this gets flagged?
It’s a legitimate point.
My point is more along the lines of use it responsibly. We are meant to self moderate ourselves to a degree. When people are discussing things it is just human nature that conversations can drift some. There are multiple ways of handling that. Some are much more considerate of the users posting than others. I have mentioned many times “this is not the chat thread” and that’s usually enough to get folks back on track without making anyone feel a certain way about it. Conversely, walking into a thread where folks have drifted off and flagging 20 or 30 posts is much more likely to set someone off feeling they are being censored by one individual.
This thread is a perfect example. It is about a topic that has been taken in 100 directions as many ideas have come out. It’s a thread about the future of OG and folks ideas, of which there are many. Because of the nature of the thread, it is much more likely to drift off one way or another as many different things get discussed. Folks posting should be considerate of others not wanting to read through off topic posts just like folks who are flag happy should try to be considerate of the people whos conversations they are basically deleting.
To sum this up, the flagging system has its place and is a necessary tool. It is especially valuable when folks are being disrespectful or attacking others. When it comes to off topic posts, I would just like everyone to perhaps be considerate of what others may feel. That goes for posters and flaggers alike. There is certainly a comfortable middle ground to be found. 
Capture the flag thread ^^
So ok HP, Patreon is the way. But it’s already set and it’s not enough, so the call.
I don’t know this platform well what are doing the most successful profiles in Patreon ?
Dan Carlin has over 10,000 members and he never takes off his hat.
The quest for perfection is illusory.
Beware of judgements of others.
In this imperfect world in which we live perfection is an illusion and so the standards by which we seek to measure it are also in themselves illusions.
If perfection is measured by age, grace, color of skin, color of hair, physical or mental prowess than we are all lacking.
It is well to remember that the harshest judgments are reserved for ourselves.