REGISTERED ONLY AREA - Your thoughts

[mk1]

In recent times, there has been some talk of a "registered only" or invited "members only" area on the forum. This has reared it's head a few times & if I am being honest, I don't really see the point myself.

However, I am asking for your thoughts on this. As usual all views are welcome & a plan of action will be formalised once everyone has had a chance to comment.

To start the debate, I need to make it clear that unregistered users can currently only see some areas of the forum, these are;

GENERAL CHAT, FOR SALE & WANTED

unreg.jpg

All other areas are only open to registered users. It is however essential that some areas are not "Members Only" as if the entire forum went that way, we wouldn't get any new members joining as they wouldn't be able to see what they were signing up for. So, as you can probably appreciate, it's not too straight forward a decision.

Your thoughts are welcome, but as usual, the final decision will be down to me & the other Mods.

Thanks,

Mark F

[trevorhp]

I'm with you Mark.
Unless someone provides a convincing reason for this, I feel that it is unnecessary and could exclude casual visitors who may gain a lasting interest.
T

[mk1coopers]

Difficult one, you have to leave enough of the content available to spark an interest for new members, however, some content could be considered 'controversial' by some, be that a car for sale being discussed, or the history of a particular vehicle, be it red and white or any other colour.

There will always be people who have a vested interest in keeping some information out of the public eye, those people have, in the past, been very vocal on subjects being discussed on this forum, despite there being overwhelming evidence to support what is being said, I think we have all seen threads where there have been comments from people who have recently joined that have been quite aggressive in their nature.

As a moderator I think we are quick to respond to any issues that arise, what we can't see is anything that is sent in the PM or email system, there have been comments made through those systems that have caused others to leave, and that's just the ones we know about as threads / posts were made, unfortunately those with the biggest interests to 'protect' often shout the loudest and get away with suppressing information based on facts.

[Exminiman]

Its not a massive issue for me, but I think, making certain areas a bit more private would help some conversations expand further.

May encourage some people who hold back to contribute more. - its natural to hold a bit back if you dont want the info or detail available right across the internet.

Actually I didn't realise that "unregistered users can currently only see some areas of the forum, these are; GENERAL CHAT, FOR SALE & WANTED" ......

Many of the popular FB groups are private - I dont know if they have the option to just make certain areas private though...

I really think, to make the forum totally private would not be a good idea, just a couple of areas maybe.

EDIT, just another thought, might encourage some of the stuff that stays on PMs to be discussed more in the open with a wider participation ?

[Polarsilver]

It is not for me to suggest any policy changes to this Forum i think it is excellent also in its moderation..i appreciate & value the mk1-forum just as it is ..Cheers N.

[Thorp]

I think this is currently good as it is.

If you have a more private area within the members area, it might simply attract more controversial comments that are perhaps either best left unwritten, or better discussed in person to avoid litigation.

If someone has factually accurate statements to make about a car, then should be no issue posting, and most owners would I’m sure agree.

It’s only if you’re passing off a fake downton rep/cooper car co replica as genuine that you’re going to worry of course, neither of which I have in my garage…

[johnv]

It is not for me to suggest any policy changes to this Forum i think it is excellent also in its moderation..i appreciate & value the mk1-forum just as it is ..Cheers N.

+1 as they say

[Oneball]

I think I read into the “super VIP section” comment a while back that it was wanted to protect “top secret” information about production date changes and the like so people would find it harder to fake cars. Struck me as being daft, as the more widespread the knowledge the less likely people can get away with fakery.

Don’t see the point in changing it from what exists now. Having a club within a club is daft, most of us have been there at it always leads to some sort of animosity.

[mab01uk]

My thoughts are leave as it is.

[Pete]

If someone has factually accurate statements to make about a car, then should be no issue posting, and most owners would I’m sure agree

Depends who decides what’s factual and what isn’t. When you have non members of the forum eves dropping on conversations that take place on here who then make demands that certain subjects aren’t discussed by members of this forum (who are often talking first hand!) especially about their own cars or their own personal experiences then that’s problematic for me. That said, all comments come with responsibility and you should always be prepared to back up what you say. For context in all the years this forum’s been running I can only think of two or three individuals who have ever tried to shut a perfectly factual and reasonable conversation down because it contradicted their own viewpoint. Surely it’d be so much easier to join the forum, join the conversation and correct it?

[tcave]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it. As a new com
er, I think it works great as is.

[Pandora]

My thoughts are, in short, leave as is. The current arrangement has a definition between 'window shoppers' and those who come in.

Longer answer is that I appreciate there are a few issues here and there where emotions get the better of folks, miscomunication and poor punctuation are as often the cause as malice. Or one man's dry sense of humour is another's sarcasm or piss take.

I am pleased to say that as a moderator I very rarely have to do anything, and when it is necessary I (as do the others) look to resolve rather than punish or shame. If you are being a total dick though, I might mention it....

So, in a wider context though, I think the thorny issue of who says what about certain cars, not ONLY works cars, but whilst opinions expressed here are those of the people at the keyboard, it is possible that it causes more than just arguments between forum members, but at times could potentially have ramifications for others, not least our genial host and benign dictator Mr F (standing on his stool behind his green velour curtain ), and I think that would be something we would all agree is far from fair, nor something we would want anyone to even have concerns about.

So, what to do? My legal training is a bit dusty, but I do wonder if any members posting should have to agree to a basic rule that provides a level of indemnity to the forum, others and indeed Mark? I don't imagine it would be too tricky to have a banner that says something along the lines of "all views expressed are those of the forum users and should not be taken to represent the views of the mk1 forum collectively any other members or the forum owner(s)" (that sort of thing anyway). It might not deal fully with the most aggrieved, but may go some way to separating the voice of the individual from the responsibility of others..

I must emphasise, 99.9% of the time there is no need, and the knowledge shared here is second to none. Facebook as we know is akin to a rough pub in comparison, and other forums to the gutter outside it, but on those rare ocassion where 'historical accuracy' to one man is 'financially detrimental to the history of the car' to another, things can go south quickly. And yes, I used to work for a major London classic car dealer and auction house, and yes, our lawyer was a busy man and drove nice cars....

So, we have to balance freedom of ideas, thoughts and expression, which is what makes the forum great, with a sensitivity to others viewpoints. That's not just financial, but general. Like being a grown up. And for the most part moderation duties are light, but I do wonder about the need for some kind of indemnity, and where the balance lies?

That is a long answer and an even bigger question, and I know also that Mark has given us all very huge gift in the various forum iterations over the year, and in my mind at least, it's his ball and if he ever choses to chuck it we are all the worse off, so what he decides, it will be the right answer.

Al

[Pete]

I do wonder if any members posting should have to agree to a basic rule that provides a level of indemnity to the forum, others and indeed Mark? I don't imagine it would be too tricky to have a banner that says something along the lines of "all views expressed are those of the forum users and should not be taken to represent the views of the mk1 forum collectively any other members or the forum owner(s)" (that sort of thing anyway). It might not deal fully with the most aggrieved, but may go some way to separating the voice of the individual from the responsibility of others..

Totally agree with that.

[Pandora]

(I also think Mark Feetham should give me another shot in my yellow sprint! OK, that's a separate issue, but moderators perks and all that.)

Al

[snoopy64]

Leave as is, the current restrictions are spot on in my view.

[mk1coopers]

(I also think Mark Feetham should give me another shot in my yellow sprint! OK, that's a separate issue, but moderators perks and all that.)

Al

stay on subject or I will be forced to moderate your posts

[Stopped-again]

To save me doing too much typing can I just say DITTO to Polarsilvers post.

[irlmin]

My views are simply, leave it as-is . we have decent and effective moderators and should their input be needed they will step in and sort any issues . if the tiny minority that want to frustrate debate for personal /ego reasons don't like it they have an option - leave ! G

[Spider]

From my experience on TMF, personally, I find it couter-productive to the forum to have too many boards.

I'd suggest leaving things as they are. There are a few 'private' areas as things stand.

[winabbey]

On the Ausmini forum unregistered users can see most (maybe all, I would have to check) of the content of folders and topics but cannot see posted images on many. So they get some benefit by reading the text of the posts but maybe miss important bits that are in photos. I believe many people join so they can get "the icing on the cake" (the images) after reading the narrative. We don't charge to be registered so its not like some are getting stuff for nothing and others pay. This is an admin option in the phpBB software.

My vote - leave as is.