Donate to Developer link

[NickR]

Is it possible to have a " Donate to Developer " link at the top of screens?

i.e. in addition to the [Website] - [Screenshot] - [Download] - etc links

ArcConvert is a good example.
From its PFW entry page we can:
. . . . . . Get a description,
. . . . . . Review the comments,
. . . . . . See the screenshot,
. . . . . . Download the program.
. . . . . job done - great thanks very much .

Only if, by chance, we click on the [Website] link
do we see a well placed solicitation from the author;
. . . . . . "Make a donation for this program."


Obviously this isn't appropriate for all freeware entries as many don't ask,
but many do and many authors are also very good at follow up comments etc.
so it would be good to encourage giving something back

Alternate wording may be clearer like
. . . . [The developer of this freeware gratefully accepts donations here]

I cant see if this has been discussed before - apologies if I missed it
. . . but charity and fair-play are always in need of a bump!

Any Thoughts?
(I know Andrew is very deserving too, but that's another thread

[guinness]

Only if, by chance, we click on the [Website] link

It's an idea of course, but the idea of TPFC is just a Database so if users aren't visiting the authors site for extra information about the application then I would highly recommend to do so from now on. I just don't think it's viable, because it's more information for those that update the entries & sometimes it can be missed when adding an entry. Another problem which I could see happening is where would the line end between TPFC being an informative tool to hosting all details about the application, what I mean by this is some users think that TPFC develops the applications that are posted at present (see the comments!) so this could bring the very "faint line" further together.

Right now if the License is Donationware then this is specified in the License field.

But of course I'm just one user, so I wonder what others think about this idea?

[ChemZ]

I prefer not, it could get too cluttered.

Plus as guinness said, you really should visit the author's page for more info. You could always donate there.

[webfork]

Is it possible to have a " Donate to Developer " link at the top of screens?

Thanks NickR. Its a good suggestion and donations are a really important part of freeware. I've tried to address this in the past and I do hope we encourage users to give a little back to the developers. Freeware is fundamentally something produced without the expectation of compensation, but if you want to say thank you, its harder to say it better than with your wallet.

I'd advocate having the donation note on the license line and I've been doing that with a few programs here on the site including Ditto: http://www.portablefreeware.com/index.php?id=1361

There is a good amount crippleware/trialware/adware for which a "donation" button wouldn't really make sense. There it would be "buy" or something similar, and I think developers want to handle that themselves.

Additionally, in the case of PortableApps, do we list the donate button for PortableApp and their wrapper or do we list donations for the original program? Obviously with the license field, you can put both, while a "Donate" field at the top would necessarily only list one or risk the clutter ChemZ is worried about.