Originally on CougarBoard, there were only donors and non-donors. Donors were told that with a single donation, they would have access to "donor features" for life (the list of features has always been subject to change). A few years ago, we decided to make an ad-free subscription, and gave anyone with an expired subscription "donor" status.

People who have been on the board a long time understand what it means to be a "donor", but it's always been confusing to newer people. Recently, I was trying to explain the nuances of how it all works to one of our moderators, and he convinced me that it would be better to make some changes to how it works.

So, starting today, there will no longer be a "donor" tier. There will be two tiers of subscribers: Basic and Premium. "Premium Subscribers" are what we would have previously just called "Subscribers", and "Basic Subscribers" are what were previously known as "Donors". I've completely rewritten the subscription page, which should be much easier to understand. Hopefully that means less confusion for everybody.

For those who subscribe in the future, they'll be able to choose either Premium or Basic subscriptions. A Basic subscription will be $9.95/yr, and will give access to what were previously known as "donor features". Their subscription will NOT give them access to the Premium subscriber features, such as removing all third party banner ads from CougarBoard.

For those who have donated or subscribed in the past, don't worry! You are "grandfathered in" and have a lifetime Basic subscription. This change shouldn't affect you at all.

I believe I've found and updated all the verbiage on the site referring to donors/subscribers to use the new nomenclature, but I may have missed some. Please let me know if you find any.