FAQ: Fun stuff on our site - DonationCoder.com

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Become a Supporting Member

There are many benefits to becoming a donating member, including a permanent non-expiring license key for all of our programs, early access to beta releases and new reviews, discounts on popular shareware, and much more.

Still Have Questions?

You know the drill -- the first order of business is to search our site or forum for answers to your questions.

But don't hesitate to contact us directly with questions. We don't have secretaries - you'll get a reply right away from the same people who designed the website and coded the software here. Or post your questions on our public forum for a community response.

Live Chat

If you prefer, you can join our text chat channel on irc and speak to other DC members and administrators 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take a Deep Breath
I could just die!!!! This was so fantastic!! Fabulous set up: with introductions to what it is, why people want it, etc. Incredible, useful, explanations. Shows something is available for everyone. Unbelievable demonstrations. It was just amazing. You must be exhausted, but, I hope, very pleased. [about the screencasting review]

Read more…
J.R.

FAQ - Fun Stuff at DonationCoder.com

Here's a list of random things on our website.

Will you teach me how to program?

No, but we will try to inspire you to teach yourself!

Before we started DonationCoder.com in 2005, we created a small C++ Programming School forum where people could challenge themselves to a series of increasingly difficult programming assignments. This idea of a self-teaching programming school was something we expanded on at the DonationCoder forum, where users of all skill levels could be motivated to learn by progressing through hundreds of challenge assignments in dozens of programming languages.

By 2016 the internet landscape had changed, and the number of high-quality websites devoted to helping people learn to code has grown tremendously. So much so that we felt that our self-teaching programming school section did not have much to offer that was not being provided elsewhere. Because of that, when we upgraded our forum in 2016 we did not recreate the Programming School section.

With that said, we do have a few ideas for a new Self-Teaching Programming Website which we hope to pursue in the upcoming year. Stay tuned!

What do other people say about DonationCoder.com?

Who is that bird-duck creature on your web pages? Who is Cody?

Cody the bird is our mascot:

He's very friendly but he loves coins so if you see him in your house you better make sure you don't leave your spare changing lying around. He was designed by one of our members (Nick Pearson) as a gift to the site and we love him very much. He was born in this thread where we solicited help designing a mascot for the site.

How can I get some DonationCoder.com merchandise (mugs, tshirts, etc.) ?

Join in and find out!

The artist who designed our Cody mascot has created for us some very cool designs which we have put on some cafepress items. The mugs in particular are wonderful: http://www.cafepress.com/donationcoder

However, these items are really not meant to be purchased (we put the prices super high so that people wouldn't just go buy them). This is because our site depends on donations and we just couldn't stand the idea of people spending their money on merchandise and thinking they were supporting our site, when really only a tiny amount would go to us, and also because we much prefer to give out the merchandise ourselves as gifts to members.

So the answer is that you can't really buy DonationCoder merchandise but you can get given some by participating in fun projects on the website and forum.

However, all supporting members are eligible to receive by postal mail a free silly DonationCoder.com "member kit" which includes some postcards, a magnet, and a happy membership card. We will send this to anywhere on the planet free of charge.

Just submit your request for a kit here: Member Kit Request Form.

How can I help out the site and participate more?

There are lots of ways you can help the site other than donating

Tell your friends about us on facebook, twitter, youtube, review sites, etc. We don't do any advertising so the only way people learn about us is through word of mouth.
Join our forum and participate in our conversations and community. Even if it's just to ask questions, it makes the forum a more enjoyable place to have more people participating. Share a bit of your life with us.
Leave a testimonial about our site. It may help someone else decide to donate if they read what you say.
Send us a postcard (or chocolate or art) from a far away land.
Remember us if you ever become wealthy. We'll be here and we made a little chart for you to show you how much you might consider donating when you win the lottery.
Read our FAQ pages. We went to so much trouble to write them and try to make them funny, and it makes us sad that no one ever reads them.
Sign up to our mailing list to receive our occasional newsletters that round-up the best topics on our forum.
If you are a programmer, stop by the coding snacks board on our forum or participate in our annual famous New Apps for the New Year (NANY) programming challenge and win yourself a DonationCoder mug.

Who does the wonderful artwork on the site?