[Debate] Password Protected Boards: Good or Bad?

This is a how to and usually be directed to support, but you should be able to enable it or able it from your admin panel...goto modify that particular board and you will find the option there...dont forget to save...

ok i think i found it thank you

Password protected boards. Well, I can see use for them in many ways.

Good things for a password protected board

Well, a password protected board can be very useful for RPG when there are certain things that you don't want any member just getting into and doing what is in there. On my board, one of the password protected boards are password protected so not all of the members can take the lone masterball or fight the legendary pokemon that Xephyr and I have set up in there.

Other uses I can see it for, well, if there is a board that you only want certain members to get into but want to add others and take some away is good ones. Say, prize boards. People who have won MOTM, SOTW, etc. multiple times before is some good reasons. I can also see it being used for boards that are under construction, but you want to show your members that you are making it instead of hiding it, it also makes getting to the board easier than hiding it.

One other use I can see for it would have to be a recycling bin. Moving old threads or "bad" talked threads to send to. That way if someone hacks a mod, and wants to move it back, they would have to crack the password for that, which I always just type in random numbers and symbols for a password protected board so chances are that they would not get it right, anyway.

Bad things for a password protected board

Well, there are quite a few of these. The first would be putting a password on the general board. That would have to be the stupidest thing to do to it aside from removing the general board and never putting it back. A lot of members like to talk to the other members of the board with ease about other things other than the theme of the forum.

Now, the stupidest thing to do is to purposely put a password on every board on your forum just to keep certain members from spamming it up. If you do not want certain members in, just ban them, don't password protect every board, that actually drives members away, a board can have some of the best content, but that could really scare people off.

Making a password protected staff board: Well, it seems stupid to me, if you want a staff board, either modify it to where only staff can see it and post in it, or better yet, make a category that is hidden to normal members and place the staff boards in there. The reason I say this is because if you let members in because they know the password, then that completely ruins the significance of a staff board.

Password protecting boards about nothing of importance: Well, I think that it is stupid to password protect a spam board just so only certain members can spam, which really does not help in the first place, or password protecting a board for only members that you like, that definetely is not fair to the other members.

Those are some of my opinions on password protected boards.

I've always steered clear of password protected boards. If I don't want someone to see it, e.g. a staff board, I make the staff board only visible to the staff.

I only have one password protected board on my forum. It works really well. The idea is that I put loads of interesting stuff on there, maybe special games, or work in development, or a chance for people to have their say on what happens on the forum. That way, people really want to get on the board.
I bring out a puzzle every month which, when cracked, will give the member the password. This changes every month so that there's always something new.

Puzzle solving seems to work a charm on forums, and brings about great competition, while in some cases great teamwork across the forum.

The trouble with password boards is the same as trying to keep a secret. You don't have any identity based access control, just whoever happens to have the key. If someone leaks the password, you have a free-for-all, or worse, a guild.

However, given the lack of support (so far) for users being in MORE than one group at a time, passwords do work. Just make sure that you have the means to keep access secure.

I've seen a few Potter sites that do that common room thing, but it annoy me, personally. If people go board password crazy, it gets to be a hassle to the members and they stop using that site or don't come as often because they don't want to have to remember a gazillion different passwords.
I only use passwords for staff rooms, like has been commonly mentioned. For common rooms (I run a Harry Potter forum) I just make them their own categories and hide them from certain member groups. I know it's not foolproof, but it's easier on the users.