Poll: Unregistered Posting

[Anonymous Poster]

Muhammad, Thanks for responding and offer to upload attachments, however I still do not understand why unregistered users can not post pictures. You mentioned issues of authentication, could you elaborate. I have seen pictures posted by registered users that are scaned pages from purchaced repair manuals, does "authentication" mean that the poster obtained a release from the publisher of the manual and filed it with you to avoid copywrite infringement?

E-mail address's are easy for anyone to obtain, even with fake information and done from a public computer, I don't see how that provides for authentication. Even legitmate email address's change all the time as people switch internet providers.

The only photos I would be interested in posting are ones that I took myself, although it sounds like this poll may keep me from even posting words.

In the past I have posted in other forems and included my email address. That results in emails asking questions. I don't mind answering the questions, but when you get variations of the same question in several emails it proves the point that the question and answer should have been on line for all to read. I remember many teachers in school encouraging questions by saying that for every person that asked a question, several others had the same question but did not ask.

I agree that the way the forem is set up there are advantages to being registered, however, the advantages could be extended to unregistered users too.

I am not hiding anything, if you want my email address I will send it to you privately. You may already have it since we exchanged several e-mails years ago.


Andy

 

[ronjhall]

Muhammad
I have noticed a lot of threads start out with unregistered post. I think that requiring registration before posting will stop a lot of what makes TBN what it is. I understand that requiring registration will help to filter some of the trolling and unwanted post. But I sure would not want to change what a great place this has been because of that one concern. And of course there is the JM3 problem along with a few others who post without logging in. /w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif Would this change stop them from posting? I hope not.

 

[Muhammad]

Well, there are technical issues that do in fact require registration for features to work ... and this includes attachments. Most of the features we are adding, are only available to registered users since the user needs to be tracked with a username, because of issues with cookies and dynamic IP addresses being less reliable than the sure-fire username authentication (meaning that the forum knows who the person is FOR SURE). This is the way the forum has been constructed so we're not going to go back in time and change things, since it's doing what it's suppose to do, and doing it well.

You can in fact hide your e-mail address once registered, so it won't display on any posts or in your profile. You can also set an option to not receive private messages from other users, if you wish. I understand some people's concern with being e-mailed as a result of registering for a forum ... that's not the case here, if that's your concern.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Bird, I have been reading and contributing to this and other forems for years, longer than almost all the registered users here. Registration was never even available much less required in years past. The forems worked fine with much information being shared. Some forems had problems with beligerent individuals, but that could be cured by the administrator if they wanted to. This forem has never had that problem, maybe because of the administrator here. When registration became an option, I just did not see the need to divulge personal information on line, and it was easy to take part in the forem without being registered. I do not want another password, I have to many of those already. If I am left to my own free will, I may decide to go down a path, but if I am being pushed down that same path, then I resist.

Maybe I am wrong, but contributing something worthwhile to an open forem that you have been part of for years, and signing your name, is nothing like butting into a discussion in person with people you don't know.

Andy

 

[MChalkley]

Andy,

The reason your argument is invalid (in my opinion, of course) is that you are not representative of unregistered participants, and your posts are not typical of posts from unregistered users. If they were, your points would be well taken and there would be absolutely no need for registration. Your argument is akin to saying that, because you are a law abiding citizen, there is no need for a police department. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way.

Most likely, you aren't aware of the posts that have raised the hackles of many of us because Muhammad was so quick about deleting them, but it shouldn't be necessary. If not for the anonymity allowed by unregistered posting, it wouldn't happen. I don't pretend that it's fair to you to have to do something you don't like because of idiots who don't share your principles, ideals, or manners, but nobody ever said life was fair. You deal with the same situation every day in practically every aspect of life, and so do I.

MarkC

 

[glennmac]

I don't care whether people register or not.

I am hanging around more sites as I use the net more and more, but I've only registered at three. Frankly, I find registering, passwords, usernames, passwords, form-filling-out, passwords, secret questions, what's your mother's maiden name, passwords, passwords, passwords--a hassle, an irritation, a pain in the neck and a modest invasion of privacy. There is also always the concern that you'll end up on some spam list.

I'm just speaking generally--not about TBN--so I can understand how others may feel likewise, or even stronger.

 

[Boner]

There will be an exception for Mr. Miller, right?

I could not bear to see Him succumb to mere mortality.



-Ben

 

[MossRoad]

My comment about butting in was not directed at you in particular. Please accept my apology if it offended you.

I believe the only information that needs to be in your profile is the user name. You don't have to give out any personal information at all. It is just kind of interesting to look at someone's profile and find out a little about them. I, for instance, have left my real e-mail address blank. If anyone wants to send me a private message, I have chosen to accept them here at TBN. Plus, if I want to exchange my real e-mail address with someone here on TBN, I can do so through the private messaging without posting it for all to see.

I forget how the password thing works. It has been so long since I had to log in that I can't remember. Can anyone refresh my memory?

<font color=green> MossRoad </font color=green>

 

[MChalkley]

glennmac - I agree with your sentiments entirely, generally speaking. I hate registering on forums, in general. I once traced a whole raft of **** advertisements I got bombarded with a long time, and still get occasionally, back to a shareware site I registered for software news on, who in turn sold the e-mail addresses to others.

But, changing the subject from "in general" to "TBN specifically", it's an entirely different situation. Some of the unregistered posters obviously consider TBN the Internet equivalent of an Interstate rest area - they can pop in and "relieve themselves" when they feel like it. The result is that TBN sometimes (and very briefly, thanks to Muhammad) resembles an intellectual sewer, almost always entirely because of poster anonymity. I feel that's squandering the uniqueness, the comraderie, and the many other benefits that make TBN the only forum I'm a regular contributor to. I get the feeling many others here view TBN the same way, and I see nothing wrong with taking some simple, relatively painless steps to ensure it stays that way. In fact, I think it's important that we do so.

MarkC

 

[Muhammad]

In addition, the registration and initial login pricess takes about 30 seconds on a dial-up connection (that includes typing /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif). We allow you to specify your password on registration, and don't have any activation links ... don't have to wait for an e-mail, etc (although one is sent as a confirmation). We made it as painless as possible. As painless as I want registration on any site to be. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif