Messages are publicly viewable

[ShyWolfie]

Hey... I wanna thank all the guys that made this forum work. This place is awesome and I really don't want to criticize.

I notice that messages are publicly viewable... that is you don't have to be logged in to read everyone's messages. Would this be an easy thing to change? And how do the rest of you guys/girls feel about it?

[Red]

Hey... I wanna thank all the guys that made this forum work. This place is awesome and I really don't want to criticize.

I notice that messages are publicly viewable... that is you don't have to be logged in to read everyone's messages. Would this be an easy thing to change? And how do the rest of you guys/girls feel about it?

Are you saying that you want the forum to hidden from public view and that log-in is required to view the posts? Well, I don't think that is a good idea unless you are referring to a certain part of the forum that you want hidden, such as the arrangement forum which might be a valid reason or not depending on what the posters and arranging in it.

Cheers, Red.

[Valerion]

I often only sign up for a forum when I actually want to post something, even if the forum is something I am interested in. Yeah, professional lurker on several of them. Also, I dislike giving my details to everyone who asks, and if a forum asks me to sign up before I can read the posts and at least get an idea of the nature of the people, or if I will be able to fit in, I will likely just go somewhere else. Also, it sometimes indicates an insular environment where outsiders aren't always welcome.

To be honest, if it wasn't a good furiend that asked me to join here, I would likely not have created a user for quite a while, and just lurked, and not posted here at all. Without a user I would not have a reason to post, and just adding a simple joke here and there is no reason to join. Since I have a user already, adding a post here and there is not much of an effort for me, so I do contribute, whether it be good or bad or indifferent is a different argument entirely.

So I would say no to this idea, keep it open, so we can attract new blood and grow the forum even larger.

Now for certain forum areas, I can fully understand that it not be publicly accessible (the yiffy section being the only example now), but then it is for specific reasons, often legal. No yiffy talk unless you are 18 is a good way to cover the owners. Other reasons may exist as well, though I can't think of an example this time of day.

Also, I can understand why people would sometimes want this. Lives have been ruined by postings on the net that was later a cause for dismissal/no job/family argument/whatever, because you put your thoughts online, and being a furry (and reading the profiles often a gay furry) is not exactly mainstream acceptable behaviour today. That is the reason I rarely participate in forums. I do have an LJ account, but without any entries in it (was used to track friends only), and I do not plan to create a Facebook/Myspace/etc account. This is the only non-technical forum I am a frequent poster in. I prefer to leave as few traces of myself on the net as I can. Guess I am just a paranoid person

[Keita Haruka]

Well...Val, wonderful post! You pretty much summed up why I personally wouldn't want to hide forum topics from "guests". The idea is to grow the community and that means we should be open to all comers, whatever their reason for joining, and that means showing an open "face" to the world.

I'm personally not all that worried about internet trails since...well, I really don't care what people think and nothing I do online is illegal. If people want to get in my face about stuff...well, then they should be prepared to be bitch-slapped. Current exception being my family because at this point we still need each other. What they don't know can't hurt them...and the chances of somebody I know online talking to them about me is virtually zero.

[Red]

I have to agree, it is a very well put post you did there, I have in the past come to forums that require me to register so that I can see the content. Guess what? I instantly go back or close the window, I am not going to waste my time with registering on a site that I don't know what it is all about completely.

But if people are concerned about their privacy, there could be a sub forum that could be "General Personal Help and Questions" or the "Arrangement" sub forum (or something related to this idea) which could prevent undesirable people from gathering details about the members on the board while keeping the majority of the forum open for the targeted viewers which would be the general public browsing the site.

(I hope I made sense here...)

Cheers, Red.

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I also agree with Valerion. If you can't see the site you can't tell if you want to join it. In the forum there are areas that you can only see when you're logged in (e.g. profiles if I remember right) and areas you must request permission for (yiffy section). If you hide the forum from people no one will be able to see and join, or you'll get a a bunch of people joining just to see what's here and then leaving. Neither of which is desirable. One of the best things about the internet is the information is freely available.

[anoyomouse]

I was invited to join another South african furry forum, and i couldn't see any information on it, and yeah, it wouldn't let you do anything till you logged in, so i closed the window and forgot about it.

I like the idea of freely available information, and yes, maybe we need to make the events and meet topics private, because we'd be giving out addresses, tho that would also make anyone that doesn't want/need an account not be able to see any information about events (even though we encourage everyone to get an account)

[Rakuen Growlithe]

Once you get to the address stage of organising a meet you could just send them through a PM. That way they only go to the necessary people. And after they've been sent you'd never need to send them again.

[Keita Haruka]

Mmm. Well, I could hide the regionals section from view I guess. It's no problem. Consider it done!

[ShyWolfie]

I agree with like every single response I guess I'm just a very private person... but I just wanted to see how you guys feel and I think I'm also now convinced it's a lot better to keep things open.

Thanks for the brilliant posts everyone.

[Dracius]

*nods to shywolfie* I consider myself that same type of person too, but I really dont care about any negative opinions that come my way (if any..)

I dont think we should hide any information, especially the regional stuff. I love to know where the fur/scalie originates. ^..^

Just my 5 bob!

[Valerion]

Hiding the Regionals section to all guests and making them accessible to all registered members may be good. I agree with the fact that addresses and phone numbers such will likely be posted. It can be conveyed via PMs, but a PM requires a registered user in any case, so the effect would be the same, except that on the forum it's archived, so you don't need to resend the PM every couple of meets.

Maybe a sticky note similar to the one about the Yiffy section could explain to guests what the Regionals section is and how to access it?

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I hate to break up the happy feeling about hiding the riegonals section but let me just say this. You want to keep addresses and numbers hidden from people. Which people? The fur bashers and stuff. If they have found the site and want to find you they will just make an account and be able to see it. Also in all the stories of internet crimes I've eheard the criminals joined the sites/chat rooms and then tried to make friends before meeting. That's why I say it's a lot safer to only send your info in a PM to someone you trust. If you only trust one fur at a meet then go with that fur and don't let others know where you live. At the meet you can tell others your details and they can just write them down. The less you put on the internet the better.

[Dracius]

*nods to Raki* I'd only give out my personal information to people I know and personally trust. I dont even give such things out on Facebook. And I really dont recommend anyone adding their information neither. I can name a few furs that could hack the site and steal the entire forum database. Not a good idea.

If details need to be exhanged, I highly recommend via PM, e-mail or IM's.