Anonymous posting...

[RET]

After a bit of investigation of the program code behind YaBB, it seems that the facility is there to deny guests from posting messages in none, some or all boards.

I'd like to know what forum members think about this.  Do you want to force people to register before using the discussion areas, or all areas?  Or will we leave things like they are now, open to everyone?

I'll leave the poll open until Friday and accept the wishes of the majority.

cheers
RET

[FC0058]

Hi Ret
I personaly as a very junior member of this board, but soon to be Guru, do believe that you should limit guests to some areas.
I think this board encourages people to join thier local clubs and also to become a registered forum member.
If it were me I would limit guests to the following:

Members Only Area:
Stays as it is.

General:
General Board: Full Access
Rants, Raves and Dummy Spits: Nil Access
FE - FC Nationals: Full Access
Events and Shows: Full Access

Technical Board:
Full Access all areas

Galleries:
Full Access all areas

Cars For Sale and Wanted: and Parts For Sale:
I was thinking full access in all sub folders, however if you made it view only it would encourage people to become members of the forum and there for become accountable for there ethics when buying or selling.

I have not voted as none of the choices fit my view.

[slim]

If the trouble or conflicting posts come from people who are guests to our fine forum , then the guest should be made to be accountable. After all the majority of us know  and respect each other, Why should people with no faces or some who dont even like Fe/FCs be given an oppurtunity to cause discomfort to the real enthusiasts on this forum.Even though the majority of our guest are fine people , there are those who just post to bait for trouble and begin in fighting , which ultimately affects the Various Clubs affiliated with this Site

[RET]

Just a minor clarification:

For the purposes of this poll, the term "Member" refers only to Registered Users, who do not necessarily have to be financial members of one of the FE-FC Holden Car Clubs of Australia.

If that affects how you voted, you can delete and re-cast your vote in this poll.

cheers
RET

[JB]

Hi Ret,

Considering that it is very simple to register to the site and to stop the odd sniper who tries to bait us all, I think that everyone should have to register.
After all it doesn't cost anything.

Just my bit.

Cheers
Jason

[Murray]

How many times has a guest caused a problem on the site?
Do we really have to change things because of 1 person not game to put his/her name to a post?
Just my two bits worth.

[slim]

This was not the first time a nameless has created a problem. But it will make not much difference , only annonimity allows people to say things that they wouldnt say if we new who they were .  It might at least make them think of other peoples feelings before they let fly with a barrage of abuse (mainly directed at me ) Especially  Abuse directed at someone they have never met and know little or nothing about.

[Effie C]

Had a re think, hence why I deleted my previous post,  :-/
I have the habit of checking the site without logging on, only log on when I want to put my foot in my mouth.

If limited access I will have to log on all the time, fingers will wear out bashing all those extra keys

Will go with group decision, but may sue for finger RSI
John M

[RET]

John,

Check the "Always stay logged-in" box.  That way you'll:
a) never have to log in again on that computer (I presume you're always using the same PC)
b) see immediately which boards and threads have newer posts since last time you logged in.

There's no down side.  And think how you'll avoid carpal tunnel syndrome by not having to click on every board and topic to see what's new

cheers
RET

[Effie C]

Problem, use two possibly three different computers. I have clicked always stay logged on buy seems to make no difference, could it be because I go thru a central server at work to log in?
I can feel the wrists and fingers starting to ache now.

All jokes aside, does not really bother me which way it goes, as being a member I will just log in
John M

[Cat]

What about allowing guests to read, but not participate?  That way they can have a good look at everything and if they decide they want to participate (ie post or reply) they can become a member.  
Having said this I think there should also be a member only area as a support/reward for those people who decide to become members and participate in the site.
Cat

[RET]

Cat,

Sorry, thought that was clear from the title of the thread.  The intention is only to stop guests posting replies and starting topics.  At no stage was there any intention to deny guests from viewing the areas they currently have access to.

For what it's worth nearly every other forum I participate on now expects you to register before permitting you to post messages.  The only exception to this is FastLane, and the difference shows.  I believe it is an accountability thing with most forums - if you want to post content on their site, they have to be able to contact/identify you.

cheers
RET

[Cat]

Cool!  Then I think it's good to limit the ability for people to post to items for sale, and possibly also wanted items.  That way we can still benefit from what parts etc are available out there without members copping flack from some tosser who hasn't the guts to say who they are.  I think that might have been 5 cents worth....  
Cat

[FC0058]

Hi All
I have read every ones responses and have finaly decides which choice best suits my view.

My vote is in.

[FC0058]

I have another question about voting ??

Is voting only open to registered forum users.

[customFC]

I don't think making people become registered members would make any difference. If you want to post anonymously, all you need to do is set up a web based email addy, like hotmail and register. These emails are easy to get, and you could change them at will. Many people on the forum have these already.
Regards
Alex

[Jockster]

I think the forum as it is works pretty good, there is an old saying  "if it ain't broke don't fix it"   I think that applies here pretty well, just my opinion.
Jock
PS some other forums will not accept anonemous emails like hotmail, they will only accept registered ISP Addresses.

[Flamed_FE]

Id like to submit my vote of disgust at RB posting anonymously, but got to agree with Alex that it would be easy enough to register under a different name with a hotmail address to still remain anonymous.

The beauty of this club and this forum was that we arent a bunch of wankers.  People could have different options without people making a big deal of it.  And we welcome everyone whether it was personally at the club or electronically on the site. Some clubs spend more time bitching and moaning about members than talking about their cars.  If you want the clubs to die, keep going.  

Im going to change my vote to no guest allowed to post just to make it that bit harder to post anonymously, but I think its a sad day in history when it comes to this.

[RET]

Jim,

I did not allow guests to vote in this poll, as it's a question for the members.

Alex/Al,

It is true that you can create a hotmail address and use that.  The point is that it has to be valid, and you can only have one registration per email address, so every time you wanted to post abusive rants, you'd have to go to the trouble of creating a new email account (presuming that the forum administrators had banned the old one).  This is usually more trouble than its worth for most people.

I did some analysis and discovered a couple of interesting facts about Guest usage on this site.  Of the 1,000 most recently updated threads on these boards (including For Sale/Wanted), less than 5% of all posters have been Guests.  In the last 2,000 threads, the figure was just over 10%.  So you can see that Guest usage of this forum is declining just as the volume of discussion is increasing.

So to put it in perspective, what we're asking is that the less than 5% of users who aren't registered do so, if they want to contribute.  No-one has to if they only want to read what others have written, and (IMHO) they don't have to if they just want to post an ad.

cheers
RET

[JB]

You've got me in Flamed.... What does ’ represent  

Jason.