Should Registration be required before posting?

[borisattva]

On one hand registration-les posting makes it easier for the visitors to drop quick questions/responces.

But on the other hand having them registered allows people to follow up personally, makes it easier to differentiate between posters, and builds our user base.

What do you think?

[andyw]

Interesting that 50% of the people that have made the effort to register have never posted a single post!!!

And only 12 members care enough either way to vote! :shocking:

I've voted for registration before being able to post........

[phlat65]

yes, that may help stop the spam posters too....

[cat]

Didn't I have to register? ...You must be kidding.
Something has to be done about the spam posting or it will become a flood. Not just hope it doesn't.

I registered on one of the German MZ sites a couple days ago...the usual - fill in the form, including ..one of those 'read the text image' things to prevent the spam software auto registration, get an email with a URL to click to complete the registration.

50% ? It must be more than that. I can't remember exactly, but the norm is about 1 in 10. The same at advrider, and forum you try. No problem. If they haven't got anything to say, that's ok.

[F0ul_Oli]

You need to get your visitors to register - if only to ensure that people don't post libelous comments!!

it also makes the forum seem for authoriatitve - besides, if you are not willing to make up a name and receive an email, why should we answer a question?

Am I being too negative?

[andyw]

You need to get your visitors to register - if only to ensure that people don't post libelous comments!!

it also makes the forum seem for authoriatitve - besides, if you are not willing to make up a name and receive an email, why should we answer a question?

Am I being too negative?

Not at all.........a certain amount of control is necessary to maintain quality. Even the simple registration process won't stop a**holes from time to time but it helps.

[DAVID THOMPSON]

time to shut off the guest posting as the latest is now
dirty pictures links

[Sourcer]

Interesting that 50% of the people that have made the effort to register have never posted a single post!!!

You remember the email you received right after the registration.

Your account is currently inactive, the administrator of the board will need to activate it before you can log in. You will receive another email when this has occured.

The problem is that you will never get the second email, and I think many people simply gave up. For me it took several days until I could log in to the forum.

[stephendacosta]

NO! there needs to be a way to communicate without a log-on, even if it is just a seperate message board. I have just today been able to register. Numerous attempts since aquiring a 125rm in July. I have been very unhappy with the registration process.

[borisattva]

NO! there needs to be a way to communicate without a log-on, even if it is just a seperate message board. I have just today been able to register. Numerous attempts since aquiring a 125rm in July. I have been very unhappy with the registration process.

hello Stephen and welcome to the board.
the reason for the 'lengthy registration process' is outlined in point #2 here:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=2140

at some point automated web 'bots' became very effective in finding Message boards/communities on the web, and automatically registering on them and flooding threads and posts with ads and pictures for stuff like viagra and online casinos. it has gotten so bad that i found my self seeping through 300+ registrants in 1 week alone, trying to identify who is a legitimate rider and who is an automated spamming script.

eventually i succumbed to simply disabling new registrations all together as it was taking away too much of my time.

this was about a year ago, and at the time the type of community forum we use did not accommodate many effective security features to keep the spammers at bay. with the Announcement above, we've marked a transition point at which the current board is able to automatically identify the feasibility of a spammer registrants and only allow genuine riders to sign up.

its a sort of a cat and mouse game of spammer tools and remedies against them. but believe me, had the registration been left as it was or even completely unrestricted as you suggested, this board would not have been much use at all to any legitimate members; as there would be (literally) thousands of posts in every thread urging you to buy xanax, genitalia enlargements, online gambling, offers at millions of $ to be transfered to your bank account from some 3rd world nations royal family and unending streams of online porn...

sorry for any inconvenience and i hope you find our community fun, safe and informative.

cheers,

[keithcross]

I think registration should be required.

Keith