List Owners & Moderators FAQ

EZBoard

Q: What is EZBoard?

A: I am a member of a few EZBoards. They are not mailing lists, but message boards (if there is an email-only option, I am not aware of it). If the board owner or community does not pay for the ad-free option, it is pop-up ad hell (IIRC, the last time I visited a community with ads, I had to close four separate pop-up windows after I was finished). Like Yahoo, the board owner has no control over which advertisements the board will see.

It can be set up so the board members ("community") contribute to the "community chest" to pay for the ad-free version, so the owner does not have to shell out all money himself/herself. Costs depend on how many page views the board gets per month and whether the fee is paid every 3, 6, or 12 months (the cheapest option is currently $4.50/month for <1,000 page views/month when paid 12 months in advance). Individual users can also pay $7 for 6 months to view all of their boards ad-free.

EZBoards do have one really nice option (at least for lousy typists me) -- built-in spell check! :-) It has some other neat features, some of which only come with the ad-free version (like the ability to restrict membership, customize the board, "stick" important threads at the top of the board, etc.).

Thanks to Pattie A. for posting this to EL-M.