Rational for Making Forums Invisible to Guests?

[christopher:::]

Hi. I was just wondering what the rationale is for making certain forums/discussions invisible to guests, while others are visible? I was surprised to find that the masterbation discussion has stayed visible while others such as the one dealing with Buddhism and tolerance was made invisible immediately.

I hope its alright if I ask, did you all have a discussion of that sort? I ask cause when we had the tolerance discussion going it was a strange feeling, to suddenly have the thread closed to the larger public, like a door had been closed.

Over at ZFI we do have a few forums not visible to guests. If I recall correctly our rational was to protect the privacy of members revealing personal information. If your purpose is similar I would suggest moving the masterbation discussion to a less "public" forum.

[Ben]

Hi Christopher, hello all

A decision was made a few weeks ago to make some fora on Dhamma Wheel viewable to members only. The reason was because it would discourage lurking and encourage membership (and hopefully) contributions. My colleagues and I (Retro was on holidays at this point) went through the fora and nominated which fora would ideally be viewable by members who were logged in. Nothing new was added nor taken away. Its just a means to encourage membership and for members to log in. If you are logged in, you are more likely to join in the discussions - which was felt to be a benefit.

As the ex-privacy officer of a large municipality in Australia, my advice to all members is that one should only post or retain on their profile only personal information which one would be comfortable writing on the back of a post card. Be judicious - don't be paranoid.
Kind regards

Ben

[mikenz66]

Which ones are invisible (to save me the trouble of working through them)?

Mike

[tiltbillings]

Which ones are invisible (to save me the trouble of working through them)?

Mike

If you are signed, none of them. If you are not signed in, as would be so of a "guest", you will see that there is, for example, a Dhamma-free-for-all section, but you'll not be able to read unless signed in.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Mike, all,

Classical Theravada is another that guests cannot currently access.

It's all subject to change though (as is anything), so if there are any alternative methods by which to achieve the ends that Ben describes in his post above, then please let us know your thoughts.

Metta,
Retro.

[Jechbi]

... and encourage membership (and hopefully) contributions.

You mean contributions as in thoughtful posts?

[Ben]

Hi Jechbi

... and encourage membership (and hopefully) contributions.

You mean contributions as in thoughtful posts?

Ideally, yes. However, i realise that the reality may be a little different and the ideal may take a little longer to actualise.
Cheers

Ben

[Jechbi]

Cuz actually at first I thought you meant dana.

[Ben]

Cuz actually at first I thought you meant dana.

Oh, dear me! No no no no!!!!!!!
I wouldn't even make a hint that anyone should give dana!
Kind regards

Ben

[Mawkish1983]

Oh, dear me! No no no no!!!!!!!
I wouldn't even make a hint that anyone should give dana!

... but if we wanted to donate some money via paypal without our wives (who might forbid all financial transactions of a selfless nature) knowing, is there a system in place? How much does this place cost to operate (or is it secret?)?

[David N. Snyder]

I have moved the discussion about dana and suggested places to make donations to the Announcements forum.