Or.
Remove basic to offer an exciting new level of account called sponsored users. Wait, you say. Isn't that plus?
Ah, no. At least, I don't think so.
Actually, I could be wrong, because I can't read code for shit yet. But as part of trying to work out classes, I started reading LJ code to get used to the patterns.
LJ Change Log, February 27, 2008.
I was looking at this:
+##
+## Returns possible domain for choosing sponsors.
+## Sponsor domain is defined for all users, not only in class 'sponsored'
+## When choosing a sponsor, domain of sponsor and user must match
+##
+sub get_sponsor_domain {
+ my $u = shift;
+ return 'sup' if LJ::SUP->is_sup_enabled($u);
+ return '6a';
+}
+
+##
+## Is user eligible for 'sponsored' account?
+##
+sub can_be_sponsored {
+ my $u = shift;
+ # all 'paid' account types - Paid, Permanent, Sponsored can not become Sponsored
+ return 0 if $u->get_cap('paid');
+ # is sponsors of user's domain enabled?
+ my $d = $u->get_sponsor_domain;
+ return 0 unless $LJ::SPONSOR_DOMAINS{$d} && $LJ::SPONSOR_DOMAINS{$d}->{enabled};
+ return 1;
+}
+
+sub sees_sponsored_in_matrix {
+ my $u = shift;
+ # is sponsors of user's domain enabled?
+ my $d = $u->get_sponsor_domain;
+ return 0 unless $LJ::SPONSOR_DOMAINS{$d} && $LJ::SPONSOR_DOMAINS{$d}->{enabled};
+ return 1;
+}
+
I thought they meant communities. Not so much, since those already exist, so why bother with this?
Sponsored Accounts FAQ (coming soon)
And google search with some fascinating insights into how to go about getting oneself a sponsor. Still haven't turned up a TOS or FAQ yet, but possibly it's not yet online.
And this weird one (shows up on several of the google pages): Sponsored accounts are cool!
Okay, I am perfectly aware I could be reading the code wrong and this is actually plus with a new name. Except I don't think so. Also kind of amused if I'm reading this right that they've been working on the removal of basic accounts since October, the same time they started adding in the sponsored code.
Feel free to correct if I'm wrong; again, I'm reading for pattern, not literally, so for all I know, they're switching names around or something. It *could* be communities, but from what I can read on the classes, this isn't the community based coding. Nor is most of the stuff from google referring to communities instead of users.
ETA: Extra links
LJ Russian Interests Removed, picked up by
mecurtin (supplement to stewardess's post on interests.