Just an idea

[NSX05]

"Good things come with sacrifices."

[Ryan Roos]

Aug 2, 2012 19:15:17 GMT -8 Rick Ace said:

I'm still pissed that we lost a basic function. We receive all these customization options, and then we sacrifice a lot to get them.

You aren't losing a basic function. The ProBoards TOS forbids the harvesting of personal information including emails, right now. You aren't supposed to be using people's private information for personal use. I would speculate that you currently don't respect the members that have their emails hidden vs the members that don't. That's technically a TOS violation. In v5 we protect the users further by eliminating this entirely. As I explained in the other thread where this was so fiercely argued we are protecting users private information and increasing security. If you create a custom field and the users want to provide you with an email (not necessarily the one tied to their login, see the difference?) then that is up to them. Currently you are abusing the fact that they are required at sign up to provide an email address and that you as an admin can see that address. That is not a feature of v4 for admins to abuse.

[Rick Ace]

Aug 3, 2012 8:05:20 GMT -8 Ryan Roos said:

I would speculate that you currently don't respect the members that have their emails hidden vs the members that don't.

Aug 3, 2012 8:05:20 GMT -8 Ryan Roos said:

Currently you are abusing the fact that they are required at sign up to provide an email address and that you as an admin can see that address.

...I am abusing?


1. I'm glad you mentioned the word harvesting. I haven't seen anyone code a script to copy and distribute all the e-mails. And that certainly isn't my purpose.

2. If someone wanted to do something malicious with the e-mail addresses, the mass pm would be enough.

3. Most major forum software allow the main admin to see the e-mail addresses. Users are usually made aware that the staff can see e-mails. Don't like it? You can create an e-mail address faster than you can join the global login.

I am very surprised that you felt the need to take it out on me. You must know that the legitimate uses for e-mails are plenty. For example, if you had a member from a different service join your forum, an easy way to confirm the identity is to check the e-mails.

[Ryan Roos]

I apologize if I said 'you' as in 'you' are abusing that. I have no evidence to support that claim. I meant more the fact that admins are abusing that. You seem adamant about emails and the fact that you do use them. I apologize if I made that leap in logic. Sincerely.

I am not taking it out on you. But you have complained across multiple threads and have been quite negative. It is what it is. Emails are private. I'm sorry if you don't like that. I've provided multiple solutions to dealing with this in v5. I've explained in detail why this is the way it is, but you persist in posting about it, even in topics where it is not brought up. So how about we both just drop it, as nothing involving this is going to change. Sound good?

[Rick Ace]

Thank You. I appreciate that it doesn't have to be personal to me now.

I'm very sorry if I sounded negative in the topics. It was really not my intent. But e-mails are something basic that an administrator usually has access to. It has a multitude of purposes. It's identification. And users can be safe by creating another e-mail for forum accounts. The question left in my mind is... Are we administrating a forum? Or are we a user of a social network?

But I will drop this topic because as you said, it won't change. Thank you for your time though.

[Ryan Roos]

You are welcome. And if you do need to discuss it further please feel free to PM me. Though like I said it won't be changing so all I can do is try to explain it more. I'm sorry that this may be an inconvenience for you in v5. If your members really want emails then they can provide you with emails. That's about as good as it's going to get.

Edit: You are administrating your forum. I'd like to think we've given you more tools than ever to do that.