what about a visitor/guest account?

[sebastel]

hello a(d)min,

i'd like to hear (read) your point of view.
today, i received some (mild) complaint from a friend who i had given the URL of my blog here. she wanted to comment to some of my pictures only to notice, that for commenting it is required to logon to a registered account on this forum.

while i guess that this is fully OK, considering the blog to be only a forum blog, i still feel a bit uncomfortable with this.
so, i'd like to propose to create something like a guest account for everybody to leave comments in the blog.

there should be certain limits, like 200 words or 1000 characters and no permission to enter pictures, and a restriction to enter comments in the blog only - finally, there should remain benefits from registering.

but looking at the general atmospere in this forum being quite open minded and more focussed on pictures and photography discussion than on brand nitpicking, i wonder what you (and the other forum members) think about opening an input channel for people who do not want to join here, but still want to leave some thoughts and comments.

or ... do we already have such a function, that only escaped from my awareness?

cheers,
sebastian

 

[Bokeh Diem]

It takes all kinds.

Some people join and donate money so that the site can be maintained. Some people want to come here anonymously, use the space, and leave comment without a trace. The full spectrum.

From my perspective, no membership, no service beyond viewing. You don't get respect for giving it away for free. And, if this Site needs help it should be asking for it, not waiting for a few to volunteer. Something like a simple $10 per year dues paid for on PayPal could generate the necessary funds to keep this place sane and running.

I bet there wouldn't be many out of the 1500 current members who wouldn't help out.

This place is unique. It isn't Flickr. I would like to see it stay that way.

Bokeh Diem

 

[Streetshooter]

This probably is not a good idea, no offense. I know your intentions mean well.
It would open the door to spammers. Then I have to work harder to destroy them before they bother you fine members.

 

[sebastel]

This probably is not a good idea, no offense. I know your intentions mean well.
It would open the door to spammers. Then I have to work harder to destroy them before they bother you fine members.

i do not see this risk. comments from a guest may remain invisible to the public until the blog owner or an admin releases them.
this functionality can be activated already for all comments in the blogs by the blog owner.

regards
s.

 

[Streetshooter]

So then why not just join the forum?
It's easy to do. We get a few spammers a day here.
You don't usually see them because the Mod Squad does it's job to keep a clean forum.
By allowing guest to post, in time stuff will filter thru.
You wouldn't like spam posted on your blog. It would appear we are not doing our job very well.

Not to argue the point but I do see the risk.
I am an admin at a site with 150000 members.
We don't allow guest to post there either.
Shooter

 

[texascbx]

The spammers would come out in droves and it would be a full time job to keep the Chinese wedding dress peddlers at bay.

 

[Streetshooter]

This is being discussed in the back room.....
Amin will make the final decision shortly and maybe post his idea here....
shooter

 

[Amin]

Thanks Shooter. Let's sleep on it, wait for Brian to weigh in, and then I'll update this thread once we've reached a decision.

Please note that we are not considering allowing unregistered guests to post on the forums. That isn't going to happen. We are only discussing whether to allow individual members to enable guest posting on their own individual mu-43 blogs.

 

[Streetshooter]

I know Amin......I got it.......
Brian will have to do a post somewhere for all the bloggers to get updated......

 

[sebastel]

Thanks Shooter. Let's sleep on it, wait for Brian to weigh in, and then I'll update this thread once we've reached a decision.

Please note that we are not considering allowing unregistered guests to post on the forums. That isn't going to happen. We are only discussing whether to allow individual members to enable guest posting on their own individual mu-43 blogs.

thanks, amin.
that was exactly my proposal.

cheers,
sebastian

 

[Ulfric M Douglas]

I like the proposal : guest posting of blog comments is very common ... and would be nice to have (if possible) on these in-house blogs.

Posting on threads is rightly for registered members.
I had to read Sebastian's post twice to understand what he wanted...

 

[hodad66]

I, for one, will only allow comments from members..........

 

[Amin]

I made a case for enabling guest comments on blogs on an opt-in, per blog basis, but the other mods either felt strongly that this was inadvisable or didn't have strong feelings. So, for the time being, we're going to keep things as they are.

Feel free to continue to give your input on this thread. All of us on the mod team greatly value member preferences.

 

[sebastel]

thank you for the discussion.
bye.

 

[Brian Mosley]

Hi Sebastian,

I'm sorry the security and comfort of the forum as a whole outweighed our desire to accommodate your request for now... your friend can register very easily and make comments, or e-mail you directly.

You're a great photographer, and an asset to the blogosphere I hope you'll continue to enjoy the free facility here (where we can all enjoy seeing your work easily), or include a signature link to your personal blog if you prefer to go that route.

Cheers

Brian