[Debate] Guests Must Log-In

[crazychik]

my members can't log out, what shall i do?
Link removed - for all them people who LOVE harry potter

[Snakeair]

crazychik said:

my members can't log out, what shall i do?
Link removed - for all them people who LOVE harry potter

Post in the support board please. I'd suggest you read the rules for this board which are in the header.

[sunidaze]

We have a members only forum, but I still see guests showing up in the info center, I've changed all forums to registered members. Why do I still see guest in the IC?

[kelendria]

These are sometimes 'Bots', search engines like Google index words & phrases from your forum.
Plus you've got to have visitors to be interested in your forum in the first place, they've got to come from somewhere!

[HaloMasta88]

I would make my forums not able to be posted in by guests. I dont want a random stranger spamming. It just causes more trouble.

[Des]

Personally, when I'm looking for a (Note: I usually join only RPG) forum to join, and I see 'Guest must login', I just leave the site without even looking it over. This is because that even if the site has a million posts, I cannot be sure of either the quantity, conduct or administration on the forum from merely viewing the headers and footers. Everyone can get great graphics and act good, it does not mean they are good.

I do not have the time to register for a site, do an elaborate sorting, and then find I hate the site and need to get out of there.

I feel the best thing to do would be to have a few boards, and if you have a RPG, a few RPG boards viewable to guests. We don't need to post anywhere, just look over. In the intrest of saving all your ideas, you can keep the original ideas hidden, so that guests can't view them. (For eg. If you have a cars forum, you can have the normal 'Cars Discussion' viewable, while hiding 'The Mercedes Latest Secret Update') *Sorry I know nothing about cars and have no good ideas*

[hyperblue]

I also think that Guest must log in/register is a bad idea also, cause if a person want to join your forum can't see anything it pointless for them to register. But also it is a good thing cause you don't want spammers to mess up your forum or post inappropriate content. But the best thing to do for both of these things to make them equal I try to keep an eye on the guest and see if they come back. So I agree with some of you that only you do that on some board that you don't want them to see. It is good thinking. So in my opinion The guest must Log in/Register is a bad idea.

[alangrant]

It's not a 'bad' idea though. Many of you must be forgetting that it's optional, therefore can't be 'bad'. I belong to a forum that not only has "Guest Must Log In", but also that any new account must be approved by a staff member before the new user can view the site. It's very useful, and no doubt our Staff would be very busy if such a thing didn't exist.

[Enchant]

alangrant said:

It's not a 'bad' idea though. Many of you must be forgetting that it's optional, therefore can't be 'bad'. I belong to a forum that not only has "Guest Must Log In", but also that any new account must be approved by a staff member before the new user can view the site. It's very useful, and no doubt our Staff would be very busy if such a thing didn't exist.

I agree that with more private forums, community, clubs what ever, that a board that is closed to the public is good, as long as it is something like that, but if it is a forum that is wanting to gain new members, you will need to do what id best for your forum...I have had closed boards and I liked it, but had a few suggestions of opening them, so reluctantly I have them open on a trial bases.

[El ZØRRØ™ - Ron Paul in 08]

As some know Google can get past it and can index the content past that wall but when I click a Google link that goes to a forum unless I can't find help anywhere else I will probably go back and not register. I don't like being forced to register. HOWEVER if I can guest-browse and then see the info I like I may be apt t register later because you provided what I wanted and didn't force anything on me.

So I suggest guest-surfing for most boards.

[Short of Daybreak]

myke said:

Guests Must Log-In

How do you feel about the practice of leaving a forum in Guests Must Log-In Mode?

Some people say they do this to protect their forum's content, to make it more difficult for people to plagiarize it for use on other forums. Some people do this simply to get people to register to view the board, either in hopes the person will stay, or to increase their forum's member count.

Others think that leaving a forum in guests must log-in mode is not the best thing to do. It is thought that if people want to steal content bad enough, all they have to do is register an account and steal away. Some people are of the opinion that a forum should show what they have to offer to guests, so that it may persuade them to join if they like what they see.

So what do you think about leaving a forum in guests must log-in mode?

Debate.

It's better not too, that way, people can see what they're getting into first. For me, if I were to do so, it would only because I want my board semi-private, like if the site was only for me and some friends to hang out with almost no rules (following TOS of course)/

[Fallen Anjel]

I think I might be the only one on the opposite end of the spectrum here.

My board is totally private. Guests must log in, I approve all regristrants, and I even put the code in to hide everything on the log in page.

Why?, you ask....

My board is a "spin-off" board. I used to post on our local News Channel's Sound Off Board. The board is not really monitored by the admins and people are allowed mulitple names per address/IP/whatever. We had an influx of trolls and trouble-makers. There also has been trouble in real life w/ some members. (stalking for one). For this, no one posted personal information or talked about anything of their lives. The board seemed so unfriendly.

My board was meant to be a safe and friendly place where people could post and talk about themselves, their lives, their families as well as posting their pictures. This stuff getting back to the other board would be disatrous.

At first I DID have a "PUBLIC FORUM" AND "MEMBERS FORUM"..whereas the pubic forum was viewable by guests, and the members forum was only viewable by registered members. Well, you guessed it, someone from the other forum came to our board (thru the public forum) and veiwed the profiles and copy/pasted some members profiles onto the other board...stuff she had not shared on the old board.

I then blocked the board being viewwable by NO ONE and I have to approve all members.

The board is invite only and it has been this way from the beginning.

I know I'm stuck somewhat as I'm trying promote the board across the web now, but there's no way I can take a chance opening the board up. I lost almost 15 members when that information leaked, they all got scared and deleted thier accounts. I have a username set up on the board for guests that I can supply if someone wants to look at the board.

Just something I have to deal w/.

[alangrant]

klm9670 said:

I think I might be the only one on the opposite end of the spectrum here.

My board is totally private. Guests must log in, I approve all regristrants, and I even put the code in to hide everything on the log in page.

Why?, you ask....

My board is a "spin-off" board. I used to post on our local News Channel's Sound Off Board. The board is not really monitored by the admins and people are allowed mulitple names per address/IP/whatever. We had an influx of trolls and trouble-makers. There also has been trouble in real life w/ some members. (stalking for one). For this, no one posted personal information or talked about anything of their lives. The board seemed so unfriendly.

My board was meant to be a safe and friendly place where people could post and talk about themselves, their lives, their families as well as posting their pictures. This stuff getting back to the other board would be disatrous.

At first I DID have a "PUBLIC FORUM" AND "MEMBERS FORUM"..whereas the pubic forum was viewable by guests, and the members forum was only viewable by registered members. Well, you guessed it, someone from the other forum came to our board (thru the public forum) and veiwed the profiles and copy/pasted some members profiles onto the other board...stuff she had not shared on the old board.

I then blocked the board being viewwable by NO ONE and I have to approve all members.

The board is invite only and it has been this way from the beginning.

I know I'm stuck somewhat as I'm trying promote the board across the web now, but there's no way I can take a chance opening the board up. I lost almost 15 members when that information leaked, they all got scared and deleted thier accounts. I have a username set up on the board for guests that I can supply if someone wants to look at the board.

Just something I have to deal w/.

Go just four posts up and you'll find that I'm with you on that

[Fallen Anjel]

alangrant said:

Go just four posts up and you'll find that I'm with you on that

Aaaaaaaaaaaah. LOL.... I read the first page of posts and didn't go thru the rest!

[Yoshimo]

After an incident on my proboard, I turned all of these saftey features on for about a month. Well, I didn't get any members during that month. So, I think it's a double edged sword. You protect your proboard and ideas and yet you don't get any new members. You have to decide which is more important before you enable them.