The LAVA website has grown over the years and now boasts over a million hits per month. Last October we hit our peak at 1.6million hits! We now have over 3000 members and 7800 posts. That's a great accomplishment and I'd like to thank all the members who have contributed and visited the site over the years. I'm very glad to see this enthusiasm and interest in a website that is outside of the normal National Instruments funded channels. I think it is important to have an independent outlet where we can discuss not just LabVIEW but issues that affect our professional careers.

I've constantly added and enhanced the site as user suggestions have come in and always tried to provide the best user experience possible. This comes in the form of a web interface that rivals even the best corporate forums such as the NI discussion forums which are backed by large budgets. With the rich text editor and embedded thumb-nailing, we have constantly led the way to how things "should be done". I've always tried to provide an outlet for expression, by adding the ability for members to create their own Blogs, and create personal custom image galleries. Of course there is also the fun stuff like the member map and the Arcade. The LAVA site has also become a resource over the years by hosting the LabVIEW FAQ, an updated LabVIEW bug list and the ever popular wish list. We've also assisted the community by hosting experimental sites such as xnodes.lavag.org and vindex.lavag.org. (Edit, Oct-2006: We've recently added the LabVIEW Wiki and the Code Repository to the LAVA toolbox)

This is just the beginning. I've been listening to your requests over the last few months and have been planning some new features for the LAVA website that many will find exciting. As this functionality becomes a reality I will be inviting a few select members to beta test them before they go live. Stay tuned for more announcements regarding this.

The question, however, always remains. How long can this website survive with just donations and personal funding? The answer is: not very long! The LAVA site needs funding to survive. Unfortunately, this is the reality we are facing right now. I've been considering several revenue generating options such as advertising. I personally don't like to see ads on websites. This form of revenue however has not been ruled out and I am considering special locations on the site where banners can be placed. I will consider advertising as a last resort option.

After much thought, I've decided to create a special member group called "Premium Member" for lack of a better name. This user group has additional privileges, capabilities and "perks" which currently are not available to normal Members. The minimum cost of entry is the purchase of a 6-month membership package at the low fee of $24.95. You can also purchase a yearly package at $39.95. This comes to about 10 cents per day. I've put together a table below, that compares a standard membership to the Premium membership. Those of you that have donated to LAVA over the past year will be grandfathered in and will automatically receive a 1-year membership. The standard membership will still be available and, as always, guests can browse the information and posts but cannot actively contribute.



To purchase a Premium Membership, we currently support Paypal. After logging into the forums, go to your control panel and find the link on the left called: Purchase Paid Subscriptions. I hope that this change provides a fair way for all of us to continue to enjoy one of the most interesting and lively internet resources for LabVIEW and automated test system development.