Inhibit Guest posting, but all PM to Admin/Moderator?

[chrisgreaves]

Forum URL: (private)

Still finding my way ... I used the Search functions and found three posts that are relevant to my inquiry:-

support.proboards.com/post/7274483
support.proboards.com/post/7267605
support.proboards.com/post/7264407

These will, I believe, allow me to deal with unregistered voyeurs ("guests") so that anyone who comes along can see what, how, and why we discuss what we discuss on this fledgling forum I set up a week ago.

I don't mind guests reading posts before they register; our boards are our shop-window.

But although a Guest can't post or reply, I want to maintain some channel of communication, so I would like to allow Guests to PM me (as Admin) or later on any Moderator so that they can make an inquiry about membership, an inquiry that may contain private data.

Question: Is this possible with ProBoard software as it is today?

I don't want to ban all input from guests; indeed I would be happy if al 8,000,000,000 of us came to have a look.

But regardless of whether or not I give Guests the benefit of the doubt and allow them to post/reply until they get obstreperous, I would like always to be available for communication in private, hence by PM.

Thanks, Chris

[Michael]

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately it is not possible for guests to send PMs as they do not have a inbox in order to receive a reply.

What I would suggest is a singular board that is open to guest posting if you want to communicate with guest posters.

[chrisgreaves]

Jan 30, 2023 10:29:59 GMT -8 Michael said:

Unfortunately it is not possible for guests to send PMs as they do not have a inbox in order to receive a reply. What I would suggest is a singular board that is open to guest posting if you want to communicate with guest posters.

Thank you Michael.

If I understand you, I would create a public Board within a Category and make that board available only to Guests. But it would be public, and so everyone could see the posts (and even respond to them).

I was thinking of a channel where people who were considering registering as Members, but who had never joined any online organization might address their fears.
That's why I thought of a PM.

My options seem to boil down to:-

(a) A public board where guests [and optionally members] can post.
(b) making my email address available (in an image file) so that I can be contacted privately that way.
(c) Suggesting that membership is free, and if you don’t register, we can’t communicate. This is a type of “get over it!” approach, I know.

It seems to me that if I declare open-house for Guest, I may be faced with a need to purge Guest postings from time to time. Hence an ability to:-
(d) Delete and re-instate the “Guest” board (a) above from time to time or
(e) Trim “Guest” postings by deleting stale postings on a periodic basis.

Thanks, Chris

[Craig]

Hi

A board as Michael described is a route that many forum owners go down. There are options available whereby you could make it so only staff and guests can see the board, or you could allow members too. Everyone would have access to view the posts and reply to them.

If you opened the whole forum to guest posting then you would be open to undesirable posts showing up. Those advertising sites, or scams for example. There are systems in place to catch most of these, but some do get through. It's a constant battle to adapt the system to stay ahead of them.

I would suggest giving the singular board open to guest posting a go. If you decide to go the email route, i would suggest creating a secondary email account that people could email you at, so you don't have to publicise your private email address.

Craig