[Debate] Guests Must Log-In

[cecim2007]

To be honest, a forum always has to be open to guests in order for them to look over the content of the site. How are you going to attract new members if it is left in "Guests Must Log In mode"? What I would like to see is improvements in protecting the site so that guests can participate without having any terrible repercussions on your forum.

[smartestdumbpreson]

If guests have to log in then it would make the site run slower. Also there could only be one guest logged in at a time. And how would guests know how to log in

[lurn2spel]

They would log in the exact same way as before and what do you mean how would more then one be logged in at a time?

Is your name supposed to be preson?

[Gamoc]

cecim2007 said:

To be honest, a forum always has to be open to guests in order for them to look over the content of the site. How are you going to attract new members if it is left in "Guests Must Log In mode"? What I would like to see is improvements in protecting the site so that guests can participate without having any terrible repercussions on your forum.

Well, can't the guest just join, then look to see if they like it. I mean, it isn't going to kill them to make an account on a place to see if they like it, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to keep to that place, they can just delete the account or never come if they do not like it. It is that simple. If they do like it, then it was worth a shot, because anything that you do can be a good thing that will benefit you in the long run.

yes I know I changed my thoughts around here.

smartestdumbpreson said:

If guests have to log in then it would make the site run slower. Also there could only be one guest logged in at a time. And how would guests know how to log in

If you have it as guests must log in, then the only thing that the guest can see when they come to your site is the log in page, and nothing else. More than one guest can log in.

[lexigrint]

I haven't read every post in this thread yet, so sorry if this was already said. But what I think is that if people click on a link to your website, just to check it out, but they aren't really interested in it, and they have to register most people are too lazy (I know, sad.) to join. What is the point of joining though if you may not be interested. But, on the other side, if you have a popluarr site you may want to do this because so you don't have a ton of unactive accounts.

[►V¤ltage◄]

I feel that it is not either "good" or "bad", but it is more dependant on the situation. If you feel that your forum is available to guests to show a sample of it, or if you want to advertise your topics and categories to anyone who has the url, the guests can see it without a problem. But if your forum is more based around a group and private talking, like a general board or even a gaming clan, then your member count doesn't matter since anyone who wants to join the board will want to join the club!

[Fish Troll]

I don't see how putting Guest Must Log-In will decrease the number of inactive accounts. I think it will actually increase the number of inactive accounts. The guest that are not lazy enough to register will have no way of telling if its a board that will intrest them, so they must register to find out. If they don't like it, then there you go, not only did you scare 3/4 of guests away, but your also getting more inactive accounts then usual.

[uoʇɹo]

Marlin's Troll-

100% agreed, if you have guest registering because it only looks like a good forum then they [probably won't come back because nobody wants to go to an inactive forum...

I think it would be a good idea if there was a list you could use to limit use of GUEST names, because of those damn spam bots...i know there is the "reserved names" list but that doesn't work...

I don't know but I personally think that the guests must log in feature is kind of stupid, especially when you want to go to a forum and it is on!! god that pisses me off because I am now a member of 35 forums that I can think of off the top of my head and most of them are because of the "guests must log in" feature!! enough said...I HATE IT!!

[smartboy]

To be frank I don't think It is a good Idea to force guest to log in before they can view the site.
I mean most of the people already have a site and they the one who search for new sites just wanna have a look on the site and see whats happening etc etc.
They are very lazy and If I force them to log in they would just quit and go to a site where he can view everything easily.
They are the ones just browsing around different forums for fun.

I think If a guest sees my forum and is interested after viewing the board he would sign up anyway.
So I don't find it necessary to force Guest to log in though this should be used only for new sites.
Popular sites with lots of members should always make guest to log in before allowing them to view the board.

[Timelady84]

I dont think you should make them login first. Because they are just browsing around first, before they decide wether or not they would like to join. They dont want to be stuck with some membership to a board that they dont like or want to be in. Most people are like me. When they go to check out a board and they see that they can't look at it until they join, they leave.

[Venotica]

Personally, any board that requires me to log in before I can look at, I don't even consider. I always want to know what I'm joining, and not only that, but the admin is able to see your e-mail, and If I don't like the content this person is putting into their board, I really don't want them knowing my e-mail. It doesn't even have to be bad, but you get my point. Also, you would end up with tons of inactive members, which just bugs me.

[Lord of Fire]

I don't really like this feature myself. I like to see what a forum has to offer me, not have to register and view the forum, only to dislike what I see and delete my account again. That (IMO) totally defeats the purpose of joining a forum and that could've been prevented if I could've seen what it had to offer me beforehand.

I'm sure it can be helpful in some cases, but I frankly think you're better off limiting certain boards for registered members only and allow guests to see a few sections to give them an indication of what's going on.

[Ann Ominous]

In my opinion, this feature is bad. Forums that force guests to register usually do not generate as much activity. And if a guest cannot view the content of the site and make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to join, they most likely will not join.

However, when paired with the "accounts must be approved" feature, it can be extremely useful if you have a forum for a school, club, team, etc., where all the members know each other and you only want people of the orginazation/group to join. This can protect members, especially if there is exchange of personal information on the forum.

Basically, I wouldn't use this feature for a general/RP forum, but I'd use it if I made a forum for my school!

[RedBassett]

It really depends on the situation. I have two forums. One is completely a private group that wants an on line discussion space. I have it in the top-notch security level. Meanwhile, my main forum, I have a good number of discussions open but to get support or access databases of content etc. requires registration. I recommend to leave some boards open but close enough so that guests get only the sample (restrict your best features for the members).

A good debate topic ;D

[Wesley2005]

In my opinion I would not find that boards should use this, I make the boards viewable, but NO GUEST can make a post. A useful feature, because I believe that a guest must see what he/she is registering too rather than just registering just because you want to see it. I have had a few bad expieriences with guests before, and that is what drove me to make the boards viewable but not Postable to guests, unless I made that specific board just for guests, in which case..it would not matter.

It is useful to some, I am not going against you, but I in my opinion you do not need it with the function that ProBoards provides where you can see the boards, or maybe not even make the board viewable to a guest. But he/she can still see the layout

There is my little spin on it