A quick Poll

Hi all,

Based on a number of comments in the "where is everybody???" threads it got me wondering.Should the site be content only available for logged in members??

So I'm posting a poll to see what members think, the poll will be open to non-members as well. Please vote and met me know, I'll keep the poll open for 2 weeks.

Thanks

Fats

I've sorted out the problem with the poll so it should work.

let me know if it still doesn't

Fats

I went with stories only. If I'm logged in while reading the forums, I would drop a lot more thank you's and probably not lurk so much. The stories I think should be available to as many people as possible who might be looking for this kind of material.

I'm unclear what we gain by having barriers to entry.

Do counters showing logged in people somehow contribute more to the site than counter's showing guests?

Having to sign in to post makes sense, as it reduces bot-spam.

at the moment visitors have access to the whole site, which means that they can view the forums, read the stories (and when I upload the image galleries view them)

what I'm asking is should visitors be able to view the forum without logging in or should they need to log in. you need to login to view any attachments on the forum, that will not change.

Fats

Sure. I'm just trying to understand what's gained by locking the door. Does a shift in the metrics from guests to registered users offset the people you lose by their not being able to put a toe in the water (lurk) before they commit to making an account? If there's tangible advantage, then we probably need to seize it, I just don't know what it might be.

I do a fair bit of pre-library sharing of incomplete tales and related chit chat via forum thread. Are notebook threads like that something you'd see as premium content encouraging people to sign up and become a more definite part of the community? If the forums were locked to those without an account would people wandering into the site for the first time have any idea what they were missing? If the forums were locked is there some way we can still tell new folks, "dude, you want into this party, and it's easy..."?

My recollection is I read the library from time to time for a year or so as a no-account lurker. It was something I happened to read in the forum that prompted me to make an account. If I'd been barred from the forums back then, I don't know if I'd have become a contributor at all. Probably a few less loose feathers to sweep up, but still, I'd hate to lose other potential contributors that way.