Lichess, please remove "DONATE" bar from header

Hello, hope that you won't ban me for this post, but I really don't understand "DONATE" bar.

You say that Lichess is FREE website WITHOUT ADS (lichess.org/features). But then, why you put option "DONATE" in navigation bar?

Maybe you will say that it's just ad. BUT, Lichess is the site without ads. So, I ask you to remove the "DONATE" button from top navigation bar or recognize that Lichess now becomed regular site with ads...

I'm likewise somewhat confused by lichess.org/ containing three donate links.

Lichess may be free, but it requires support from people. You know our devs, requires effort and money to bring us lichess.
So people may support at patron, but the problem is, some people don't know where the donate page is. Its not an ad. If you don't want to donate, thats fine. Lichess goal of that is mainly not to ask or force people to donate.

Yeah, the DONATE is because while lichess is a free website, it still needs money to function, and it gets a lot of the money from donations.

Yeah we love donating to the cult of lichess. Who doesn't?

@IvanSlavaUkraini said in #1:
> Hello, hope that you won't ban me for this post, but I really don't understand "DONATE" bar.
>
> You say that Lichess is FREE website WITHOUT ADS (lichess.org/features). But then, why you put option "DONATE" in navigation bar?
>
> Maybe you will say that it's just ad. BUT, Lichess is the site without ads. So, I ask you to remove the "DONATE" button from top navigation bar or recognize that Lichess now becomed regular site with ads...

Is this bottom a problem for you? Lichess has to be financed by donation. Lichess can't stay if there are not enough people who donate.
I think if you remove the "donate botton" most people won't know how to donate and it is good for attention

It prevents me from concentrating on the game.

@IvanSlavaUkraini said in #7:
> It prevents me from concentrating on the game.
Why?

You won't see it while a game

The donate link is not an ad unless we expand what is classified as an ad to a degree where the word no longer applies as is normally is used.

Lichess does not pay anything extra for the link and it leads to a page on their own site. The link no more "advertises" something than other links here to information or services on this site. But we don't call those links (or the Lichess logo on its own site) ads, though they do in effect to some degree promote something. The fact that the link leads to a page asking for money isn't relative. You can have ads for products / services that require money or are free.

If you want to complain about Lichess asking for donations or opine about whether Lichess is really "free", well, that's one thing. But claiming that Lichess is violating its no-ads policy simply by displaying a navigation link to one of its own pages requires applying the word "ad" in verrry atypical manner and one obviously and quite reasonably not intended by Lichess. It's just not a fair accusation.