[pnm]

For those of you who are not subscribers, and the puzzlers who don't use an ad blocker

I'm trying out straight-up Google adsense for the ads now, opinions are welcome.

The setting is "auto ads", so the size and placement and all is determined by Google.

I'm hoping the ad content is acceptable too (have not yet found the option to specify "appropriate ads only").

[runforhome]

I do believe having ads is a good idea.

now i see you ´ve taken the possibility away again.

regards Mats

[pnm]

I'm waiting for the new ad provider to set things up.

Once done, I'll ask them if I can use Google ads _just_ for the "unlock puzzle" feature.
(they don't support "rewarded ads").

Another option I was thinking about is to reward posts about the site,
or maybe retweets / likes and such (but that is trickier to implement).

[pnm]

I'm now looking at a feature where if you post about the site ("look here I solved a timed 5x5 in 20 seconds!" on facebook, for example), then you can submit the post link, after which I'd unlock the subscriber-only puzzles (not the extra) for a week.

So a bit more effort, but then 14-16 puzzles would be unlocked.

[pnm]

So here's a first attempt at a feature like this:

https://www.calcudoku.org/ops/share/en

(English only for now)

Non-subscribers can submit a link to a post there, I get notified, and then I can activate "subscriber-only puzzle unlock" for one week.

The "at least 50 followers" is a bit arbitrary, maybe this number can be lower.

Please test if you can

[pnm]

I could maybe also enable the feature for subscribers,
does anyone have suggestions for what the reward would be then?

[6sam6]

Chi non ha nessun social viene automaticamente estromesso!

[pnm]

Chi non ha nessun social viene automaticamente estromesso!

It doesn't have to be a "pure" social network (like facebook or instagram).

It could also be a reddit post for example (which you can do with a dummy account).

[pnm]

In any case, the option isn't very popular yet. So far one (1) person has submitted such a link.

Quite a few other people have either submitted single words
(so I added some clarifying text: "Please do submit an actual link.
So far I've seen many people submitting a single word. The point is to share a link to the site, not to send me words .").

Also a couple of people have used the share option to send me requests, like "considergivingextrapuzzlesfornon-subscribers" or "12x12istoolarge".

Below the form it says "Questions? Send me email at: ...", but apparently it is a better option to use the "share link" input field to communicate

[runforhome]

I am not into facebook, instagram , snapchat or any other social media. So i don´´t have any followers I can post to .
Looking at an ad suited me very good. I know other sites have google ads.

Hope you can find another way for us to unlock the subscribed puzzles.

I.m just intrested in the killer, 12*12 and the 10*10 puzzles. A wish I have is to get a 15*15 puzzle to solve.

I do admire the work you put up to get this site working,

Regards Mats aka runforhome