[Poll Ended] Should guests be allowed to post in Cox Discussions

Ah. I was not aware of this. I am not entirely up to date on the powers of the admin.

Jacob:

As you become better acquainted you'll find the Administrators and Moderaters very helpful.

Stick around and see.

I think that they should be allowed to post. Not only is it a kind gesture to a member or potential member of our shrinking community, it is also the first step to attracting others to our community. When I was president of my local R/C club I found the greatest tool for getting potential members to join was to bring them into "the group" and be as accomadating as possible with their questions. If we do anything that makes them feel as if we have turned them away then they will most likely stay away.

The small engine community is small and getting smaller. If we wish to have others to lean on for anything, including parts support, we have to show that we still have the numbers to be taken seriously.


Besides, I thoroughly enjoy reading what everyone has to say so a few new people in the mix might give us some new perspectives on things, or at least a little more entertainment.

Bob

SuperDave wrote:Jacob:

As you become better acquainted you'll find the Administrators and Moderaters very helpful.

Stick around and see.

Thanks Dave

nitroairplane wrote:

SuperDave wrote:Jacob:

As you become better acquainted you'll find the Administrators and Moderaters very helpful.

Stick around and see.

Thanks Dave

oui, merci beaucoup.

Since this forum has a "search" funtion on the heading, I see norhing wrong with referring posters there. "Search" is a "library" of sorts open to all that come here member or not.

I've been in organizations that became so "help oriented" than the membersip fragmented because those of experience drifted away and left the "helpers" without much of a knowledge base. Endless repatition beiing the "killer".

The subjects of Cox engines and madel aviation have seemingly endless "horizons" to explore. Why keep "going around in circles"?

Catch the benefit of registering not mention in this discussion so far:

"Why do I need to register at all?
You may not have to -- it is up to the administrator of the board as to whether you need to register in order to post messages. However, registration will give you access to additional features not available to guest users such as definable avatar images, private messaging, e-mailing to fellow users, usergroup subscription, etc. It only takes a few minutes to register so it is recommended you do so." - from forum FAQ's

Hmmmmmm..................

With 13 votes now in is is evident that 15% of those voting favor guest posting. The vast majority, 83%, don't.

Once a trend of that magnitute is established it is only very rarely reversed.

SuperDave wrote:With 13 votes now in is is evident that 15% of those voting favor guest posting. The vast majority, 83%, don't.

Once a trend of that magnitute is established it is only very rarely reversed.

hmmm...setting up a guest area would definitly be the most time consuming option. especially for jacob.

Perhaps you should check out some other forums and benefit from their experience.

I used to run a motorcycle forum for many years and the biggest problem I found was spammers from time to time. These guys are difficult to deal with, because they can join then once a member post away.... as the moderator I would just delete their posts and ban them. not very time consuming.

If it were my forum I would allow guests to "read only" on the Cox Discussions forum but have no access to any other forums. Then once they join they can see the other Forums and post on them all.

But then again you have to ask yourself, is there really any problem with the way things are at the moment? Maybe leave things as they are and change if a problem presents itself.

Warren:

Remember that this forum also needs to maintain the interest of those who have added so much to it as has the thread on diheral angle. Look what has followed. I believe this sort of discussion draws out information beyond the interest of any guest, especially those new to our sport.

To dilute forum content is to kill it. Why re-hash subjects found on the "search" function? The best type of knowledge is that gained, not by "spoon-feeding", but digging it out for yourself which takes time and effort.

Knowledge gained in that manner endures far longer than "spoon feeding".

Dave

You'll never stop it... We just had the which distributor question posed for what must be the 20th time on the Porsche BBS that I hang out on. Which spark plugs should I use is next up followed by which oil...

Banning IP is not completely effective. There is one guy with maybe a dozen different IP addresses that have banned. I use a Verizon MiFi device when I am away from home (I have no wired services at my office) and I'd bet my IP is different every time I turn it on.

Eventually, if ignored, they get bored and go away. Took about 5 years for the big problem child to finally give up... I hope... But we just went yo a new BBS in vBulliten and I have a sneaking feeling he'll be back.

Then I'll go for a "guest area" for posters and stay out of it; the kind hearted may respond if they wish then EVERYONE will feel JUST fine.

(HUG, HUG , HUG as the strains of "Kumbayaa" are heard.)

Where is "Mister Rogers" when we need him? "It's a wonderful day in the neighbor hood.............."

I know banning IPs doesn't always work since my cell phone changes IPs every time I open the browser on it. If it is a member, I'll just ban the member and the IP. If they want to be smart and open a new account, they better make a new email address, use a different IP, choose a different name and better act differently because I'll do it all over again.

Currently guests can read and post in Cox Discussions and can only read (not post) in any of the other sections. Guests can NOT contact anyone (PM or email) unless you post your email address right in the post or they contact you through your website (if you have one listed). They also can't view any of your pictures in the gallery.

If you want to see what a guest sees, log out and see what you can do.


Jacob

if you were to ban a users IP but not the user could they still access the site on mobile internet like 3g

nitroairplane wrote:if you were to ban a users IP but not the user could they still access the site on mobile internet like 3g

I think that is what I just said, or intended to say.

Internet cafe, library... Lots of easy to get around it

Cz10 wrote:

nitroairplane wrote:if you were to ban a users IP but not the user could they still access the site on mobile internet like 3g

I think that is what I just said, or intended to say.

Oh sorry mate shouldve read your post first.

They could still access their account with a different IP if I only banned their original IP. I would have to ban their account as well. Depending on what they did, I would first give them a warning, if they continued, I would suspend them for a day to a week or so and if they continued after that, I will ban. I won't just ban the account, I'll ban the IP as well.

Wake me when this discussion is over. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

SuperDave wrote:Wake me when this discussion is over. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

I think it's over.

TADAAAA ....... (drum roll)

And the decision is..............................................

SuperDave wrote:TADAAAA ....... (drum roll)

And the decision is..............................................

well, I guess we are done talking about banning people, the poll isn't done though. I usually set polls to run for 5 days.

Ultimately "the decision" is rightly made by the Administrators.

I would submit that it should NOT be made by the votes cast (of which there are few) but by the thoughts articulated by those who took the time and effort to express themselves. In a parallel vein, who make the final call in an election? The actual voters or "the great silent majority" (whoever THEY are)?