Summer is approaching--within a couple months, school will be out, people will have nothing better to do with their vacation, so they'll be getting online and goofing off. What does this mean? It means ZKL, like many other game sites, will be bracing for a tidal wave of web traffic as those who don't surf the crests this summer surf the web instead.
We are currently running at about 3/4 our bandwidth capacity--that's some pretty good breathing room. But, with summer coming up and ZT2 not long after that, we can expect ZKL to be straining its buttons pretty soon.
Now, I'm quite determined to keep this site ad-free if at all possible; I cannot STAND banners and popups, and heck if I'm gonna let them invade my webspace by my own choice. But I also realize that not many people here have the means to donate money to support this site. Not to mention I'd feel really really really uncomfortable asking anyone for money anyhow; there's too much liability involved on my end for my liking. So forget money, I'm not gonna ask for that. But we are going to run into a bandwidth problem in the summer unless we get some help. So here's what I propose...
Our mascot is Gandalf the Siberian Tiger, yes? We "adopted" him through an animal rescue program. We send in a little money (along with multiple other sponsors) and he gets taken care of every year. Simple enough. What's that got to do with bandwidth? Well, here's the deal. Although most of you don't have a means of donating money, some of you do have your own websites. So I am starting a ZKL animal "adoption" program--for ZT user animals and objects.
Through this program, you can "adopt" a download from this site, and co-host it for us on your server.
So, instead of donating money, you donate bandwidth.
This would actually be a LOT MORE helpful than donating money, not to mention a lot easier to do. Each of the most popular downloads racks up anywhere from 10-100MB of traffic per month. That's not a whole lot by itself, but when you consider we have literally hundreds of available downloads on this site, it adds up pretty quickly. But if just a few people sponsor 1 download each, that would be a tremendous relief on the server, and relatively painless for the sponsor. Most free web accounts allow 100 or so MB of bandwidth per month. If you're only sponsoring 1 download, that shouldn't cause you any problems.
What would you get for doing this? You'd be noted as being a ZKL sponsor in your profile. Members who sponsor 3 or more downloads will be allowed a custom title (rank) of their choosing. You would also be placed on a sponsor list for everybody to see.
To be eligible to become a sponsor, you MUST:
- Have a website that allows direct FTP access. Your host MUST support off-site linking (this disqualifies anyone with FREE geocities, tripod and angelfire sites--sorry). There are a few decent free hosts out there, Lycos is one, I think, and AOL/Compuserve members also have some free web space.
- Know HOW to use the webspace you have.
- Be able to guarantee your site will remain functional most of the time. If your site goes down for an extended period of time, you will lose your sponsorship until you can get it back up and running again.
- Have a working e-mail address we can contact you at.
So, you want to be a sponsor?
Here's what you do.
1. PM or e-mail me, Luna Manar, and let me know you want to be a sponsor, and how many downloads you wish to host.
2. Give me some information about your website so I can verify that you are eligible to be a sponsor. Tell me if it is a free web account or if you pay for it (paid webspace is usually more reliable and can handle more bandwidth than free webspace). Based on that, I will choose the download(s) you will host.
3. Download the object/animal(s) I give you to sponsor and upload them to your website.
4. Provide me with the location (URL) of the file(s) on your site.
5. After testing to be sure it works, I will place that URL in the post of the applicable download(s). From that moment on your website will be the PRIMARY SOURCE of that download. There will still be an alternative link to the download on ZKL's server, in case your site goes down.
You may request a specific animal or object you'd like to host, HOWEVER, I will not promise you will get what you ask for.
Please keep in mind that some of the downloads on ZKL are exclusive to this site and cannot be sponsored (such as those made by dj_pluffs).
REMEMBER: even though you are hosting the files, the downloads are still ZKL downloads. This means you may not post a link to them on your webpage unless the author gives you express permission to do so!
If you have any questions, PM or e-mail me and I'll do my best to answer them. Please, if you have the means, become a ZKL sponsor! It's really not hard, and it doesn't cost anyone anything. ZKL is going strong with no sign of slowing down, and we're going to need all the help we can get in the coming months.
-Luna
I've always wanted a horse 
