"I want a site like this!"
We hope you enjoy browsing through our Old Home Town site, and seeing for yourself what an invaluable tool it is for gathering the history of places, people and events, and the opinions and recollections of the community.
We've also made the Archive's administration system really easy to use and manage - no web site building experience or programming is required
We've also made the Archive's administration system really easy to use and manage - no web site building experience or programming is required
"How much does it cost?"
We charge an inclusive annual fee of £25 (or local equivalent) for an
Old Home Town Image Archive. But add more than 250 images complete with titles and descriptions in your first year, and second and subsequent years are free!
Many of our customers recoup their annual fee through sponsorship. Getting local businesses to pay for small banner ads on a site's Home page can even make a profit. In our case we use this extra income from our Cromarty Archive to buy old postcards of the town which we then scan and add to the site.
If this sounds good to you, and you'd like a site like this, please email us at info@theoldhometown.com or call us on 01381 600818, and tell us a little about the project you are planning.
Many of our customers recoup their annual fee through sponsorship. Getting local businesses to pay for small banner ads on a site's Home page can even make a profit. In our case we use this extra income from our Cromarty Archive to buy old postcards of the town which we then scan and add to the site.
If this sounds good to you, and you'd like a site like this, please email us at info@theoldhometown.com or call us on 01381 600818, and tell us a little about the project you are planning.
"What do I get for my money?"
- a professionally formatted Image Archive web site branded with your own banner and colours
- a powerful, but easy to use, online site admin system which lets you add images, monitor and manage other contributors' photos and comments, and organise content into Albums and Groups
- the ability to place sponsorą”¤verts on your site's home page so you can earn some revenue to support your site. Some of our users not only cover their site costs in this way, but also make a profit. You can charge what you like for these adverts
- free hosting of the site no matter how big it gets. Add as much media as you like, there won't be any extra charges
- Free upgrades as we improve the system over the years. And we're happy to incorporate your suggestions for improvements if we feel these will benefit all of our other users
"What does Plexus get out of this?"
- we get £25 from you each year to cover hosting costs - but second and subsequent years are free if you you add more than 250 images and descriptions in your first year!
- we place relevant adverts (usually Google Ads) on all of the pages of your site, except your home page, so we can earn a little revenue when they are clicked on.
The Old Home TownTM system is wholly owned and developed by Plexus Media Ltd of Cromarty, Scotland. We're a small company specialising in web programming, with an especial enthusiasm for community and heritage projects. We're very easy to speak to, so do please contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Q - How much does it cost?
- A - £25 per year. This covers hosting costs and includes registration of a web domain for your site. But second and subsequent years are free if you you add more than 250 images and descriptions in your first year!
- Q - If my Image Archive gets big will I be charged more?
- A - No. There's no extra charge to you no matter how big your site gets.
- Q - When I upload my photos, are they still my property?
- A - Yup. We retain ownership of the site's programming code, of course, but you own the photos you've added to it and the comments that your users post on the site. We do, though, reserve the right to use your site's content to help promote The Old Home TownTM Image Archive system and also enhance search facilities to the benefit of all.
- Q - Can I close my site down later if I want to?
- A - Yes. We'd be sorry to see you go, but if you decide later that you really want the site erased from the net then we respect your choice and will take it down when you ask.
- Q - I don't like the Google Ads on my picture pages. Can I switch these off?
- A - Possibly. Clicks on these adverts make us our income, but removing them may be negotiable for an extra annual fee. Please talk to us about it.
- Q - I already have a web domain registered. If I sign up for an Old Home Town Image Archive can I point this web address at my site?
- A - Possibly. We generally recommend transferring such domains to our own hosting supplier as it makes administration of the whole system much simpler and more efficient for us and helps to keep costs down for everyone. However, we are happy to discuss this with you.
- Q - I already have a site which has lots of images on it that I'd like to use on my Old Home Town Image Archive. Can you transfer these for me?
- A - Possibly. If you have all of the images uniquely named and can supply them to us on CD or DVD, then we might be able to bulk-upload them for you in one go. However, we'd need to discuss this with you in detail first.
- Q - Is there any way to stop people copying images from my site?
- A - Not really. Someone will always find a way to get round any blocking code that could be added to any web site. If you are worried about this then the safest thing is not to put the image online in the first place. Bear in mind, though, that the maximum standard image size on one of our Image Archives is 735 pixels wide - fine for screen viewing but much too small to print out very well.
- Q - Can people add offensive comments or images to my site?
- A - They can, but these will not be visible to the general public unless you publish them through the admin system. If someone posts something you don't like, you are able to delete it easily and quickly.