🔆 Hello Similar Worlds! ☺ We have new changes to announce.
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[big]• New and Improved Navigation[/big] Similar Worlds should now be easier and quicker to navigate, especially for Mobile users with our secondary navigation bar. New Icons and improved design. You should notice new icons implemented across the site in the coming days.
[b]Soon[/b] the navigation bar will also have a [b]Search Box[/b] which allows you to find much more on this site than just groups.
Also, a [b]Drop-menu[/b] will be installed soon, helping you to access important pages more quickly.
[c=#666666][Mobile Preview][/c]
[c=#666666][Desktop Preview][/c]
[big]• Online Status and Notifications[/big] Improvements have been made to these features. Added new settings, better synchronization, other fixes.
[big]• Advertisements[/big] Advertisements are now visible on Similar Worlds. We understand that the vast majority of users may not be happy to see Ads on this site. However, this is a necessary element for any Free membership site's survival. This is a good step forward, as it will help to keep this site sustainable in the long run, helping us to continue serving you. [c=#666666][i](More information on Advertisements below)[/i][/c]
[big]• Coming Soon - VIP[/big] VIP Membership will be available for purchase very soon on Similar Worlds. We are right now in the final stages of having it ready for availability.
Features: [c=#BF6900][b]Remove Ads • VIP Badge • See Profile Visitors • See all post/comment Hearts • Seen Message Indicator • Invisible Mode • Boost in Photo Limit • Boost in Block Limit •[/b][/c] and more to come!
[c=#666666][i](Several VIP options like "VIP Badge", are optional and can be disabled or enabled at any time.)[/i][/c]
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[big]• Why do we have Ads?[/big] As mentioned above, mostly all online communities need some form of monetization in order to remain operational.
We saw what happened with Experience Project; it is quite possible that their business was no longer profitable (even though they served lots of ads on their website), which was a major factor leading to their closure.
It is understood that many users may opt to instead Block the ads on this site via various tools. However, please keep in mind that this only reduces this site's ability to maintain/fund itself.
We do not want to harm our member's experience on this site, so we have done our best to stay away from using any very obstructive ad types, such as those which existed on EP.
Some have suggested that we should only have ads in very discreet areas, such as in the sidebar alone. However, having ads in only limited placements significantly reduce revenue causing us uncertain sustainability of this community.
Facebook, for example (which keeps most of their Ads to the sidebar), is a very large corporation that has many other ways of monetizing themselves, as well as much more targeted ads, served from their own massive Ad platform.
We have put ads on Similar Worlds this late because we wanted to focus on first making this community safe and very functional for all our members.
Our site is otherwise Free to use, and will continue to be Free always. Most features (many of which were not available on EP) are free to all our members.
We will continue to listen to all member's feedback, and if there are any significant problems for members in these latest changes or any others to come in the future, we are willing to improve these issues as best as we can.
Personally, I have already gotten accustomed to the Ads myself and barely notice them. 🙂 I believe the same will hopefully apply to most members who aren't very happy with their appearance.
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Thanks for your support! ❤ [c=#005E2F]- The SW Team[/c]
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