Please read everyone.

[Chrissie]

Due to a very lovely person having problems activating their account I have disabled the need for activation.

However, if people want to receive forum emails, then it would still be better to activate your accounts if you have not done so already.

"Selecting yes will disable the forced activation process. Users will still need to activate their accounts in order to receive mass emails, and thread notifications." So I selected "yes"

Secondly, I'm thinking of making the board only available to registered members. At the moment, we often have more guests actively on line than members. Part of me doesn't want to stop anyone gaining access to any info here but on the other hand, maybe if the guests had to register they would feel they belonged & more inclined to join in?

What do you all think? I am so much in 2 minds about this.

[Deleted]

Hello everyone, Isaac here (Chrissie's most intelligent cat)

I'm just trying to make sure you can now post by just registering & not having to activate your account

[Scylla]

(((Isaac))) welcome

As you've made it easier/quicker for people to register, then I think it should not be too unwelcoming to require that they do so.

But I have no fixed preference

scylla

[Chrissie]

Thanks Scylla, I hope we get a few more thoughts on this.

OMG look how popular Isaac is

[marian]

what do you expect chrissie he is such a handsome boy

[Tetsab]

I'm inclined to the view that just as I believe we would welcome anyone as a member, we should not reduce that welcome for any who choose not to register.

I lurked for quite some time at ECF reading and researching before registering in order to be able to post, and that was the first forum which I ever joined. It isn't too much of a stretch to imagine others doing the same simply to get a 'feel' for the place before joining.

Also, despite the membership at the eBay group going over 600 now, I do recall occasional posts from some of the less gabby members there which said they simply enjoyed reading without feeling inclined to post themselves. A check of the 'members list' there often shows people have called in but not posted and of course others who join but never post at all.

So overall, I'd be in favour of leaving the welcome mat out and hope our visitors will join in when they choose - otherwise they would be denied the chance to see for themselves that we don't ever tell people their questions are foolish or criticise their spelling if it isn't perfect etc.

...as for Isaac, I am confidently predicting his popularity will continue to increase...

[Chrissie]

Isaac says thank you Marian & Tetsy

Some excellent thoughts there Tetsy I also lurked on ECF for a long time before registering & posting for the first time.

[magicma]

Well helloooo Isaac!! What a handsome fellow you are!!
Back to business, I think it is probably best to make it easy for folk to have a look around. More often than not, I am a lurker on other groups. I just like watching and learning.
But, Chrissie, do what you think is best- you've kept us on the straight and narrow so far!!
(for Isaac) MM

[Scylla]

There! I knew others would sort my thoughts for me

scylla

[Chrissie]

Thanks MM

Just what I was thinking as well Scylla

[fishinahat]

Hi - I am in 2 minds about it - but think for the moment it is probably better to stay public

I think it is possible to have bits of proboards which are accessible only by certain people - and if we felt the need perhaps we could have a members only sub-boad?

I can't think of a reason why we might want to right now - but perhaps the situation may arise. And it is worth remembering that the possibility is there (as far as I remember).

[Chrissie]

Yes the option is there Migsie if needed

[Chrissie]

As we now have Marj with us & fully activated, I'm going to change it back to the forced activation option.

[magicma]

OK MM

[TetsabAsAGuest]

Chrissie, I believe that is a wise decision.

Just out of curiosity, I logged myself out so that I could look at things from a newcomer's perspective in case any others have a problem getting themselves registered and activated.

We do not have a 'contact point' (as in an email address) anywhere that I could find, but as a 'Guest' it seems you CAN post a reply here without registering. There IS a security check of scrambled letters and numbers to complete, but this facility should allow a non-member who is having difficulties to alert us to their wish to join our merry band so we can offer assistance if needs be.

Should spammers make use of this facility (I rather suspect any expert spammers are already well aware of this) the posts can simply be deleted exactly as happens on ECF. Hopefully there will rarely be a need to do this.