Pros and Cons of Hidden Boards

[Boom]

It is an immediate turn off for me. If the roleplaying boards, character accounts, or applications that were accepted are hidden I will usually not join. This is because I like to see what kind of boards I am going to be able to make threads in. I like to see the type of characters on the site and see how people post so I know what I'm getting in to. Also, I like to see what sorts of applications were accepted and sorts of characters on the site... before I register and decide if I want to work on an application and such. I like it when I can see everything as well as ooc things so I know what else the site has to offer other then rp's. Like if people are making graphics, if there is games, and general talk. To see how the community is outside of rping as well.

I don't feel there should be anything to hide on a rp forum. I've seen some people mention that they don't want people to see certain threads... which only can clue me in to one thing and that's that they are breaking some sort of proboards rules and trying to hide it from proboards.

I guess all in all... I just like to see what i'm getting in to before joining. I can however understand locking certain boards with passwords like for staff members so they can have meetings on how to better their site!

[Former Member]

I'm inclined to agree with Boom. I often feel that as a guest looking at a site, I feel...uncomfortable when the boards are hidden, more so because I can't judge the activity of the site. Now...I'm not one to join a site because I want to see how active it is, so quite often, I will pass over these sites completely. And while I understand that people often hide boards to protect their work, it often feels to me like they are overly protective.

So, I personally like to see the boards, get an idea of how people post on a site, and how often. And while you can ask in the cbox about this, it is often nicer to be able to see the boards yourself to make your own judgment.

[Former Member]

I have only two hidden boards on my Ben C forum. One is for pictures, audio, and videos and it's hidden because I want people to freaking join to see the really good stuff. The second board if for misc stuff and Staff discussion which I don't want any members to see.

I don't think I have gotten any members because of the hidden media board with the pics and stuff, but if I have I'm keeping it that way!

[peteetongman]

just my .02, but an admin should not compromise just because you are desperate for new members. I keep all of my boards visible to guests except the most active board which requires registration. If that bothers people I couldn't care any less. If you can't take 30 seconds to register, keep steppin'

[Former Member]

Jul 16, 2014 14:27:45 GMT -8 peteetongman said:

just my .02, but an admin should not compromise just because you are desperate for new members. I keep all of my boards visible to guests except the most active board which requires registration. If that bothers people I couldn't care any less. If you can't take 30 seconds to register, keep steppin'

This! It's really bothering me that people can't take two seconds to register and post, but will lurk like a mofo. I even have a board that allows guests to respond to posts and only one person did that

And right now I have about 40 people lurking and only 3 of them are members (myself and 2 others) smh

[peteetongman]

Jul 16, 2014 14:52:15 GMT -8 @hadesolympian said:

Jul 16, 2014 14:27:45 GMT -8 peteetongman said:

just my .02, but an admin should not compromise just because you are desperate for new members. I keep all of my boards visible to guests except the most active board which requires registration. If that bothers people I couldn't care any less. If you can't take 30 seconds to register, keep steppin'

This! It's really bothering me that people can't take two seconds to register and post, but will lurk like a mofo. I even have a board that allows guests to respond to posts and only one person did that

And right now I have about 40 people lurking and only 3 of them are members (myself and 2 others) smh

If you look at the IP addresses you will find that 60-70% of those lurking are just bots from Google, Anazon, et al.

Not necessarily a bad thing but definitely don't take it personally, they are just doing what bots do

[Former Member]

Yeah I peeked at the IPs right after I did some meta tags for Google and Bing and they were all from the same IP (or at least the first 2 digits were the same). That was yesterday. Today I know for sure most of my guests were actually people *weeps* peteetongman

[Emerald]

I have a hidden Staffroom, but that's hidden for an obvious purpose. But other than that, guests are welcome to post. I feel it lets them discover the community and make them want to sign up. Although I prevent guests from viewing user's profiles, as I believe guests shouldn't be able to see any of their personal information.

[bellsprout]

On my forum I prefer to keep all boards/threads open for guests to view. If I end up hiding a board, a member may think that the board is hidden to them for a reason, so they just leave the site and go to a new one.

I do, however, have one hidden board, but it's a staff board. I prefer that members don't see the staff board at all. Especially if there is a surprise- such as a new shop item or theme. That way, they'll be surprised and happy when we release whatever we've been talking about.

Then again, keeping some boards hidden erase the chance of spammers to come in, but keeping every board hidden from guests is just kinda suspicious, ya know?

[Bütch]

I know there are a few forums out there that was started up just for certain help, writing groups or something similar, so I understand. But people that do it just because they can, I don't get it. My forums are open for everyone to view but only members can post. Yes I have a category with sub-sections that are hidden that only I or my one admin can view with all of this section hidden from everybody they never know they even exist, because saved files and settings I have made learning to run the place nobody needs to see at all, otherwise everything else is open for viewing

[vectorwoman]

We have a hidden section that is just for moderators. It has tutorials, a practice area to learn to use the moderator tools, a hang out area and such.

We also have a hidden section that is just for Admin. We have 2 administrators and this is handy for she and I to discuss ideas and such.

Other than that, nothing is hidden.

[TrollhunterX]

May 3, 2010 18:56:32 GMT -8 Artemis said:

Disabling the ability for guests to view certain boards on your forum can be used in creative ways. You can hide certain boards for privacy purposes, or as a tantalizing offer to get guests to register to view everything you have to offer.

However, this could also get possible members to avoid your forum. Many who look around may not join if they can't see everything because they don't want to have to register just to see hidden boards. This is especially true when they come across forum where every singe board is hidden from view.

Do you hide any boards from guests? What do you think about hidden boards convincing guests to register, or turning them away?

Discuss!

I had one board hidden - the moderation board, for spam (which soon died down). I wish I'd been given the opportunity to hide everything, rather than have it deleted without warning.

[nariadreaming]

We have a handful of hidden boards on my forum. Mostly for people who are planning meet-and-greets in real life, to protect their personal information a bit more than just having it all out there for the world to see.

[Teg]

Because of the design of my Harry Potter forum, I had hidden every board so they would not display on the boards list. However instead of doing that, I opted to make all of the main forums visible, then removed them from the home template page wher I now display forum updates.

Making boards "hidden" as the topic implies is different than making it so that guests can or cannot view boards. Some of my boards have groups assigned to them so that only specific groups can view the contents of the boards. Again, that is because of the type of forum and the way my forum is set up. Main forums in general sense can be seen by guests.

Now, as I stated, the forum does have hidden boards. This is simply because between the main boards and all the su boards, I have over 200 boards. I'm pretty sure that displaying over 200 boards would discourage users from wanting to join and participate in such a large forum.

That being said, the boards that are visible, are only displayed as a board list on mobile devices. As I said before, I removed the board list because everything can be located, on the members side, through the sidebar area and image maps in particular sections

[purpleiris]

My forum is for business owners selling their wares and/or services online who wish to network with other like-minded business owners. We share thoughts, ideas, suggestions, information, news, etc., and ask questions of fellow members. All current members sell their wares on some of the same sites, so they're each aware of what other members need and are trying to accomplish. We work as a team to keep each other informed and offer assistance when needed.

For such a forum, it's paramount to have hidden boards where members can freely discuss that which should not be publicized. Particularly since many sell on a marketplace that shall remain nameless where they used to have forums for sellers to discuss everything we do now. They began censoring sellers that discussed problems with the site and would even hold it against them in various ways -- like hiding their listings from Google and internal searches, which basically killed their sales and any potential for growing their business.

It was when they shut down their forums that we created our own and members of the site's management joined the private forums to lurk and keep tabs on who was saying what, taking action against those who spoke ill of their site. The creator of the first private forums was allowing it and sellers on that site were finding their shops suffering. She was also allowing members to harass other members, so many members left. She ended up deleting the forums without any notice, so it was a good thing I had already created a separate forum several months prior for us to move to.

The forum I created was for a broader business purpose, but it didn't have any active members. So I just repurposed it for my fellow seller friends looking for a new home -- a place where they could speak freely without the threat of any backlash or member harassment (no drama allowed LOL). One staff member from the nameless site tried joining, despite knowing that I wouldn't tolerate their mess (I already closed my store on their site due to all of their shenanigans). He was instantly banned without question and no other staff member has tried joining since.

So, yes, there is a serious need for private boards to protect our livelihoods, but there are also several informational boards that are shared with the public. However, in order to post, one must be a registered member. Participating members must do so transparently. Considering everything current members have already been through on two other sets of forums, they're leery of newbies who don't. For those who are transparent, they welcome them with open arms and make them feel right at home. They're certainly a friendly and reasonable bunch. LOL